Glenna Dibrell was recovering from a cold and channeled Lauren Bacall's husky voice as she opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation.

 

Gerry Tietz introduced our guests:  

Gerry Tietz's son is not hiking to Machu Picchu, as announced last week...choosing instead to take a four day hike on the Santa Cruz Trail in Peru.

 

John Ordway's older son Erik just finished a curling bonspiel in Spain, his team finishing 6th. The team did, however, come away with first place in the bar bill competition!

 

Sue Ager reported that husband Duane, after 16 months in Benedictine Care Center recovering from Guillain Barre Syndrome, is finally able to go home to continue his recovery.  Great news!

 

Mary Ann Bawden was embarrassed to win the raffle again (3 times in 4 weeks).

 

Nils Friberg reminded us that the little Rotary Foundation Piggybanks on the tables need to be fed often to help meet our commitment to the Foundation. 

 

Glenna Dibrell introduced our speaker, Scott Tilton, co owner of the Exchange Restaurant, our new venue for weekly Rotary meetings.  Scott has been involved in the restaurant business in one capacity or another since he was 15, starting as a soda jerk.  He soon became a short-order cook and continued that work until graduation from college. Even though he worked in corporate sales and later in advertising and design, he remained involved in the restaurant world throughout that time. A catering gig with D'Amico and Sons at the 2008 Republican Convention in St. Paul led Scott to become involved in the catering business full time. The recession dried up the catering business, so Scott went to culinary school and eventually worked at Eli's East, where he met his future business partner in the Exchange, Kyle Olson.  Scott and Kyle often talked about  what a restaurant should be like. They agreed that all items, (except for Heinz ketchup and Hellman's Mayo), should be made from scratch from only fresh ingredients and that the "front of house" (greeting and wait staff) should work cooperatively with the "back of house" (chef and cooks). Scott and Kyle have applied those principals at the Exchange. Scott said that success in the restaurant business also depends on previous restaurant experience, adequate capitalization and loving the work.  The Exchange is now enjoying its second anniversary, so their recipe for success appears to be working in a competitive restaurant market.  Check out the Exchange website here.  You can also visit their FaceBook page here.  Glenna, Scott and John are pictured below.