Jim O'Brien opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and MaryAnn Bawden delivered the invocation.

Our guests today were Shoreview/Arden Hills Rotarian Frank Mabley and Roseville Rotarian Marv Sorvala.

Gerry Tietz thanked the sixteen NBMV Rotary representatives who attended the Rotary Foundation Dinner last Saturday. Not only were we the largest club contingent at the dinner, Gerry was proud to accept the EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) Award for our club.  This award is presented to clubs where every member donates to the Foundation. Well done, NBMV Rotary!

Nils Friberg followed up on Gerry's announcement with an appeal for support of our club's Polio Plus fundraising effort during November.  Contributions to the Foundation this month will earn double points!  Nils noted that the points earned for Foundation contributions can be given to others to help them earn a Paul Harris Fellowship. See Nils for details.

Mark Lampman said that volunteers are needed at the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf on Tuesday, Nov. 22nd, from  9-11AM.  Let Mark know if you can help out.

New member Amy Janecek noted the many opportunities this holiday season to experience youth activities.  She also touched on challenges faced by some students, including homelessness and housing instability.  Cindy mentioned that we are in the beginning stages of developing a project to address homelessness among students.  Amy said that there are 30 students at Irondale who are either homeless or have unstable housing.  We hope to coordinate with the staff person monitoring homelessness at Irondale.

We've had a thousand "Rotary Values" note cards printed to use for handwritten communications.  The cards are available for everyone to use and can be found in the storage cabinet at our meeting place.

Our first speaker today was Mike Neeley.  Mike's topic was "Why Join Rotary - An Historical Perspective".  Mike joined Rotary in 1971, at the tender age of 22.  Since 1971, Rotary has changed in many ways but the core values have remained the same.  Here is Mike's "Top Ten Reasons to Join Rotary"

     10. Because you were asked by someone you respected. This is as true today as it was in 1971.

       9.The attendance challenge - In 1971, attendance was very important to Rotary Clubs and Mike accepted the challenge, maintaining perfect attendance for 45 years!

       8. The Rotary Club was, and in many communities still is, the pulse of the community.

       7. International Focus - In 1911 Minneapolis Rotary (#9) sponsored the charter of the Winnipeg Rotary Club, the first Rotary Club outside the U.S.  The international growth of Rotary is nothing short of amazing.

       6.  The Rotary Foundation - In 1971, Paul Harris Fellows proudly wore their Paul Harris medallions on a ribbon around their neck at Rotary meetings.  Nowadays, a lapel pin seems more appropriate but the Foundation, and being a Paul Harris Fellow, is still a great source of pride for Rotarians.

       5.  Fun - A great reason to join and a great reason to remain a Rotarian.  Some clubs add "Is It Fun" to the end of their weekly "Four Way Test".

       4.  The Four Way Test - This speaks for itself!

       3.  Make-ups - As mentioned above, Mikes quest for perfect attendance has made make-ups a regular part of his life.  Mike shared several stories about how making up missed home club meetings has changed his perspective on Rotary, resulted in new friends and even got him a new career.

       2.  Networking - While it's not the primary reason to be in Rotary, networking is a very valuable benefit of Rotary membership.  Rotary membership opens doors all over the world.

       1.  Inclusion of Women - United States Rotary Clubs fought international resistance to bring women into Rotary and Mike believes that its one of the best things to happen during his 45 years in Rotary. It surely is true for this club! 

Our second speaker was Paul Fournier.  Paul shared the story of his medical odyssey this past year.  Paul's heart issues were discovered when an eye problem alerted doctors to clogged coronary arteries and a poorly functioning aortic valve.  Open-heart surgery was recommended but a second opinion offered a non-surgical approach, which Paul accepted.  He was scheduled to have the first two stents placed but came out of anesthesia with four.  Paul's heart stopped the following day and it was determined that a pacemaker was needed immediately to keep his heart beating normally.  When he was well enough to continue he was scheduled for the last two stents but once again came out of anesthesia with more hardware than he bargained for.  This time he had 6 stents placed!  Ten stents was a new record for Paul's surgeon.  Three weeks later Paul underwent a Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), a less invasive approach to heart valve replacement.  Paul noted that he could feel the better circulation immediately after waking up from anesthesia.  The road to recovery is long for these kinds of procedures but Paul feels as though he is getting better gradually.  He jokes that he still needs to take a morning nap to prepare for the afternoon nap.  Paul, we don't care how many naps you need...we're just glad you're with us to joke about it!