Meeting Recap - October 25, 2016

Co-President John Risdall opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Nils Friberg offered an invocation.

 

Glenna introduced our visitors, Chris Ledbeter and Mary Jo McGuire.

 

Paul Fournier summarized his recent medical odyssey by revealing the new nicknames his kids have adopted for him.

·  Moses - for the 40 days and nights in the cardiac care unit.

·  Lazarus - he was brought back to life after a code blue.

·  Zombie - unexplained.

·  Pincushion - 15 shots a day for 40 days (do the math)

Paul, whatever nickname you might have, we're just glad you're alive to joke about it!

 

November is Rotary Foundation month, and Foundation Chair, Nils Friberg, presented a "History of the Rotary Foundation".  From humble beginnings in 1917, the Foundation has received contributions of over One Billion Dollars, all of which has been used to help those in need and promote peace and mutual understanding throughout the world.  Next year marks the Centennial of the Foundation and we hope, along with other clubs around the world, to make the coming year a record year for contributions.

 

Gerry Tietz announced that Jason Slama will fill in as Community Service Chair during Amy Wakem's leave of absence.  Bev Aplikowski has agreed to help Jason by leading our Homeless Student Project.  Mark Lampman will step up by coordinating our food shelf drive this fall.

 

Jeff Benson announced that we are officially a Founding Organization for the newly reorganized Community Support Center, which supports families in danger of losing their homes by providing long-term counseling and short-term financial support to keep them in their homes.  Formerly a part of CEAP, CSC has struck out on its own to better serve New Brighton and Mounds View residents.  As a Founding Organization, we are entitled to a seat on the CSC Board of Directors.  Paul Fournier agreed to fill that seat.  Thanks, Paul!

 

Cindy Carlson introduced District Governor Jim Hunt.  Jim became a Rotarian in 1989, as a member of the Prairie du Chien, WI Rotary Club.  A job transfer to the Twin Cities in 1992 led Jim to join the White Bear Lake Rotary Club, serving as its president in 2003-4.  In 2008-9 Jim led a GSE team to India.  His experience there led him to initiate two District Matching Grants, resulting in the drilling of 177 water wells in India.  Jim went on to serve as the chair of D5960 GSE from 2009-13.  Jim has also been involved in our district's Fast For Hope initiative in Nicaragua.

 

Jim began his presentation with his interpretation of the values that underpin Rotary membership. As you would expect, the Four way Test and Service Above Self were high on his list, but Jim also mentioned the Five Core Values that are part of Rotary's Strategic Plan Document. The five core values are: Fellowship, Leadership, Integrity, Diversity and Service. On each table were cards that visually represent the results of the Club Values Survey we filled out prior to the DG's visit. Jim suggested that we use the cards as thank you cards or for other Rotary communications and emphasized the public relations value of hand written notes in today's electronic world.  The card is shown below.

 

Jim revealed that, although Rotary membership is increasing in some areas of the world, District 5960, like almost every District in the U.S., is declining slightly in membership. Jim's goal is that clubs of our size strive to have a least a net +1 membership growth for the 2016-17 Rotary year.  Jim suggested that we evaluate our projects and outcomes to make sure that they are attractive to prospective Rotarians, especially younger ones.  He also urged us to focus on our public image, telling our story in ways that will be attractive to service minded individuals.

 

Last, but certainly not least, Jim encouraged us to continue and, hopefully, increase our financial support for the Rotary Foundation. He used Polio Plus as one example of the many ways the Foundation does good in the world.  The Foundation also has the highest possible rating (100 out of 100) from Charity Navigator.  It's the best bang for your charity dollar out there and local Rotarians have the benefit of helping to determine how some of their donations are spent.  One additional way to painlessly contribute to the foundation is to participate in the Amazon Smile program, in which .5% of eligible Amazon.com purchases go to the Foundation. Get more information by going to https://smile.amazon.com/   John, Jim and Cindy are shown below.