Our guests today were newly elected New Brighton City Council Person Abdullahi Abdulle and New Brighton Public Safety Department Director Tony Paetznick.
President Ed James’ Quote of the Day: “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us, what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” - Albert Pike
Check your email for this week’s Important Rotary Dates or you can download it here.
President Ed mentioned White Bear Lake Rotary’s Jingle Bear Online Auction. You can sign up to participate by clicking here.
Geoff Hollimon reported that the Suburban Ramsey Emergency Coalition has received a third donation from the New Brighton Lions Club for a total contribution of $15,000. The Coalition recently approved a $2,500 grant to the Roseville School District’s Meals on Wheels program as it works to bring needed food to disabled and elderly residents impacted by the pandemic. Geoff reminded us that the Mustang Raffle will be held at 8PM, Thursday November 19th at the Mermaid. In observance of pandemic guidelines, the raffle will be live-streamed on the Coalition’s website. Geoff said that a small number of tickets are still available and can be purchased at Adagio or the Mermaid.
Geoff also noted that CPY will be continuing its Distance Learning Support Program as the District transitions to total distance learning mode. He said that CPY’s Fall Gala will be replaced this year with a virtual silent auction, featuring many of the same items which you have bid on at previous Fall Galas. Stay tuned for more info on this.
Jed Hamoud and John Ordway reported that our donation to the Beirut explosion relief effort has been received by the L.A. Cedars Rotary Club and we have received a thank you. Jed will update us as new information is available.
Newly elected New Brighton City Council Person Abdullahi Abdulle was present today to meet the club. The thanked us for our commitment to community service and said that service was the primary objective of his candidacy. He is employed by the City of Minneapolis as an associate Transportation Planner and served in the Army National Guard for 6 years. He is married and has a 20 month old son.
New Brighton Public Safety Director Tony Paetznick offered us a public safety summary. Tony said that the primary mission of the Public Safety Department has been, and will continue to be, prevention and preparedness, and that mission has been especially important this year. Trying to stay ahead of Covid-19 has been a challenge, with 1,000 positive cases reported and 46 Covid-19 related deaths so far in New Brighton. An uptick in reported minor crimes has also been noted. Possible political unrest and the potential for polling place conflicts were, thankfully, not an issue for New Brighton and, according to Tony, 90% of registered voters cast their ballots this year! As always, Tony is available to discuss your public safety concerns and suggestions. mailto:tony.paetznick@newbrightonmn.gov
Nyle Zikmund introduced our speaker, Mounds View Arborist/Forester Daniel Watenhofer. Dan suggested several reasons why we care, or at least should care, about trees. Some reasons are:
- Trees lower heating and cooling costs
- Trees increase property values
- Trees reduce stress
- Trees filter the air of pollutants
- Trees are a tool for climate change management
- Trees help manage storm water runoff.
We sometimes think of trees as having a very long lifespan, but in a city setting trees have an average lifespan of just 19 years. We’ve all seen the demise of the Elm trees and now the Ash trees and the reason they are gone is mostly because we planted the same trees side by side. Current wisdom is to plant a variety of trees to prevent insects and disease from spreading easily from tree to tree. Other challenges to trees surviving the first few years are improper planting and post planting maintenance.
Proper mulching, watering and pruning would improve the lifespan of city trees dramatically.
Proper mulching, watering and pruning would improve the lifespan of city trees dramatically.