Meeting Recap - September 27, 2106
Jeff Benson opened the meeting with the Pledge and invocation. Mark Lampman introduced Garry Johnson's guest, Gary Frederick.
Cindy Carlson reported that our recent visioning event revealed a very strong youth focus. Today the board discussed the alarming rate of homelessness in the Mounds View School District and authorized the formation of an ad-hoc committee to gather information and RFP's from community groups to address the problem. Cindy, Gerry and Amy form the nucleus of this committee and they are seeking others who would like to work on the homeless youth problem.
Cindy also thanked the club for its support for the Syrian Refugee Children Classroom project, which hopes to be fully completed by the start of the school year in November of this year.
Dana Rebelein recently made inquiries about the current status of the Guatemala Literacy Project, which we have supported for many years. Dana summarized the written response that she received. Guatemala has the second worst literacy rate in all of Central America, with the average adult having only 4 years of education. The project is focused on textbook and computer projects and primary reading programs. The 2016-17 goal for these efforts is $450,000. We hope to use matching funds from the District and International to maximize our contribution to this worthwhile project. You can read the full text of the response by clicking here.
Gerry Tietz announced that Char and Gerry Samuelson will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary soon and he will be attending the celebration. A card was circulated today for club members to convey their best wishes and/or fond memories.
Nils Friberg reminded us that the annual Foundation Event will be held on November 12th and he hopes that our club will equal last year's 18 attendees or even exceed it. John Ordway reminded us that club member's admission is paid by the club and guests are $50.
Beverly Aplikowski revealed that the sale of Lakeside Homes is now complete. The sale is bittersweet for Bev who, with her husband and family, built the business from scratch and managed it for 53 years! Those of us who have sold a business can sympathize with Bev when she describes the business as "her baby". What's next for Beverly? We can only wait to see how she might apply her legendary skills in the future.
Jeff Benson reported that the board has agreed to be a founding organization for the newly reorganized Community Support Center. The CSC provides emergency assistance and counseling to keep people in their homes. Formerly a part of C.E.A.P., the CSC has separated itself from CEAP and is now its own 501c3. For many years we have financially supported the CSC, but now we are a founder and we have the opportunity, if we choose, to have a representative on the CSC board of directors. If anyone is interested in serving on the board please contact Iris McGinnis at 763-754-1555.
Cindy Carlson said that the Gold Plate Dinner will be on March 31st, 2017 and the first planning meeting will be next Tuesday, October 4th, 11:00AM at the Exchange. Please join in to ensure a successful fundraiser.
Finemaster George Winiecki was having so much fun with Trivia the he used most of the time allotted for our speaker, Mark Lampman. Mark wasn't too upset, though, because he was a little concerned about how the topic of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation might be received so soon after lunch. Maybe Mark can fill a future scheduling void.