On this Veteran's Day we honored our veteran members, Geoff Hollimon, David Hoel, Mike Abel, Mark Beisswenger and Jim O'Brien. Geoff, Dave and Mike were present to accept our thanks for their service to our great country. (see photo above)
The Rotary Area 9 Social, hosted by the Arden Hills/Shoreview club, was well attended by our club and others. Cindy, Jason, Dana, Mike N. and Margaret attended from our club and reported that it was a great opportunity to meet Rotarians from other clubs in our area.
A group from our club will join the Roseville club this Saturday at Bridging to assemble dressers. The "dresser build" will run from 9-12Noon at Bridging's Roseville location.
Some of you have signed up for the food bag filling at Ralph Reeder Food Shelf on November 25th from 9-11AM. There may be room for one or two more so, if you are interested in helping, give Gerry Tietz a call.
Mark your calendars now for the District 5960 Leadership Academy/Mid-Term Assembly to be held on January 30-31, 2015 at the Radisson Roseville. All Rotarians are encouraged to attend - there is something for everyone. It would be great to have a good turnout by our club for some or all of the activities. Click
here for information about the event.
On the evening of Tuesday, February 3rd, we will be recognizing community volunteers for their service at our "Rotary Day" Event. This event will be in lieu of the regular club meeting on that day, and we hope that all will be able to attend
Corrin Secrist presented the Clubrunner Website Tip of the Week. Today's tip: How to upload your photo to the member profile section of the website. If you missed today's meeting, contact Corrin and she will email you the instructions.
Dana encouraged us all to sign up for a Rotary Fellowship Group. Dana has joined the Quilters and Fiber Artists Group. A list of Fellowship Groups can be found
here. Val chimed in that Rotarians also have the opportunity to join "Rotary Action Groups". Val is, of course, partial to the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group (WASRAG) but you can find a complete directory of the Rotary Action Groups
here.
Gerry led us in the "Heads and Butts" game to help fund this year's commitment to Polio Plus. Jason kept a firm hold on his "Butt", winning the $10 prize as he watched all challengers fall by the wayside. Just a few minutes later, he won the Raffle as well. If we could get Jason to Vegas, we could really make it big!
Several Rotarians offered happy fines in honor of loved ones who have served their country in the armed forces and in other ways as well.
There were no birthdays for the second week in a row, and the birthday hats were feeling very lonely.
SPEAKER
Our speakers today were Ruth and Carmen Marg-Patton. Ruth and Carmen shared the story of their walk along the el Camino de Santiago to celebrate their 60th/30th birthdays. The el Camino de Santiago is a network of routes in Europe, all leading to Santiago de Compostela in the Northwest corner of Spain. During the middle ages, these routes served to guide Christians on pilgrimages to St James' tomb which is located in Santiago de Compostela. Tens of thousands of modern-day "pilgrims" walk the Camino each year, and the people who live along the route provide accommodations and food at a very reasonable cost. Ruth and Carmen chose to walk the last 200 miles of the Camino, starting in Leon, Spain. Their ten day trip required that everything they needed, except food, be carried in their backpacks, but conversations with fellow hikers revealed that there are services that would shuttle some of their gear to the next hostel. Less weight on their backs made it much easier on their already blistered feet (200 miles is a LONG way to walk in ten days, even without a pack). Ruth described all the gear and pharmaceutical aids that helped them survive the blisters, heat, sore muscles and chaffing. Although it might seem that hiking the el Camino is just about surviving the journey, it was clear that, for Ruth and Carmen, it was a great mother-daughter bonding experience. Thanks to Ruth and Carmen for sharing the experience with us. Ruth and Carmen are pictured below.
