Today at Rotary, we had a throw-back Thursday meeting! A past president, Brandon Hanson, ran our meeting in the absence of Tove Lichty, current president!
Guest: Rob Rydberg, guest and husband of Debbi Rydberg
Attending: Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Kevin Gardner, Brandon Hanson, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Janet McCarty, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, honorary Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell, Bruce “Buck” Tyler and Stewart Wilson
Brandon Hanson started us off with Happy Bucks today!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy that her husband Rob could be with us today and was happy about the Chamber’s virtual silent auction! Go check it out!
- Heather Kliewer was happy that yesterday with the Chamber Ambassador’s group, they met a travel agent and Heather booked a flight!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy for a great weekend visiting her mom. Her taxes are done and she gets a refund and yesterday, her boyfriend Marc’s son was accepted into the Air Force and leaves for Texas in June!
- Molly Hanson was happy for having a day off tomorrow to hang out with her sister and niece for a girls day!
- Julie Fish was happy for her Grandpa Fish, who is in heaven celebrating his 120th birthday and she was also hopeful that her newest great nephew would arrive on this day . . . Stay tuned!
- Bob Maxwell was happy that after an hour of time, the zoom in the room is working! We have new equipment that is all ours!
- Bonnie Koste was happy to see her daughter working today at Chow as our server and gave $20! She was also happy for our program today, Katie Shatusky, as she and Bonnie are cousins!
Club Announcements - Bonnie Koste is rallying the Sponsorship Committee for the Taste of Elk River 2022! She encourages us to all assist and she has a spreadsheet to share with names and looks forward to adding to it! Bob Maxwell sent out the packet a week or so ago. If you can’t find it, please contact Bonnie for a packet!
- Janet McCarty reminded us of a couple of upcoming Service Projects! Friday, March 18th we will assist Open Doors for Youth with some spring cleaning projects and on Saturday, April 9th, we will assist Ruff Start Rescue. Please be sure to get your name on the sign up sheet!
- Molly Hanson reported in for the Youth and we have our scholarship checks and forms sent in to ERHS, Spectrum and Ivan Sand School! Thanks Molly for taking care of things!
- Julie Fish shared that the Three Rivers Community Foundation is hosting their annual Golf Tournament and asked if some Rotarians may want to put a team together. Flyers were left on the tables for information and sign up! Funds raised helps TRCF provide scholarships to all schools in ISD 728 and gives grants to ISD 728 non-profit groups at around $60,000 annually. Please help us grow our endowment with your generosity and some fun playing golf! It is a blast!
- Nicole Rasmussen is seeking ideas for an upcoming Social and the group decided that St. Patrick’s Day was reason enough to gather! An email will be sent out with details!
- Dirk Barrett gave a Taste of Elk River update and again stressed the importance of the Sponsors. He also has chatted with Joe with Elk River Liquors and they have some new ideas brewing for raffles. John Osterman is collecting $20 from each Rotarian to go towards the raffles so be sure to get your bucks turned in to him.
- Brandon Hanson reported that he and Cal Portner met to discuss our current Mission Statement and some changes it could use.
- Card Game - an 8 of clubs was drawn and although Pete Reiner tried to cheat, there was not a winner!
Program
Our program today was Katie Shatusky with Thumbs Up. Thumbs Up is our Taste of Elk River 2022 significant donation recipient! She came to thank us for selecting them and to give us an update! They were established in 2014 after she lost her Grandpa Bob to suicide. It all began with a 5K where they had 500 people attend! It was then that they realized that this was bigger than they thought it would be! The first year they raised $10,000. They gave $9,500 to the Yellow Ribbon group at ERHS and kept $500 seed money for the next years event. In 2021, they had 992 people attend and raised $87,000! Wow! Thumbs Up is a 501(c)(3) non profit. They do many things such as bereavement gifts to families who are experiencing a suicide loss. It includes a bell wind chime, worry stones, keep moving forward bracelet and a sympathy card. They have created “calming corners” spaces at each school in ISD 728. These are places for de escalating and calming so the student can go back to the classroom. Thumbs Up gives out cheer bags and also have these at all ISD 728 schools and in Spring Lake Park as well. The counselors at the schools have them. They are customized by age and are to brighten the live of someone who is struggling. Thumbs Up also helps with Emotion Support Dogs where they partner and donate one dog/year to a family in need of a support dog to help with anxiety, depression, autism and more! They also have a referral assistance program where they pay for counseling for those who can’t afford it. It is an application process that is available on their website. They will pay for up to 5 sessions and have had 27 applicants so far! They also assist the Seniors of our community with Smiles for Seniors where they do such things as donate iPads and do things to let them know that they are thought of. They do community outreach through their 5K in the fall and also through a program that will be held on Monday, April 18th at ERHS in the Zabee Theatre. Doors open at 5:30 and the program is from 6 to 8. Keynote speaker i Katie Gladdin and she will teach that resilience is a skill that can be learned and she hopes to empower teens through life’s unexpected, uncertain and unwanted challenges. Most recently they have opened a place in downtown Elk River to help with youth mental health awareness and prevention. The center is open Monday - Friday from 2:15 to 5 pm and is a place for middle and high school students to hang out to do homework, play games, art projects and more. They have had over 100 visits in February! Katie works full time for Thumbs Up and has a part time administrative assistant and many, many volunteers! To learn more -www.thumbsupformentalhealth.org
Throw Back Thursday President, Brandon Hanson led us through the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do and rang the dismissal bell!
Regular Meeting - March 3, 2022
Today our meeting was led by President Tove Lichty who was excited for our board of directors election today!
Attending: Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Brandon Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Tove Lichty, Janet McCarty, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Beth Richards, Debbi Rydberg, honorary Dave Anderson, Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson
Guest: Maddie, who is a physician assistant in Rogers, is also helping out Open Doors for Youth here in Elk River. Maddie and others, have put together a new non-profit health services business to offer to the folks at Open Doors for Youth. She is currently the only provider and is will be there on Tuesdays for scheduled appointments or walk in clients. She will meet with the youth where they are at physically to determine their health care needs. They will expand as they go. This is a free service for youth. If she cannot help, she will refer the youth to someone. They are working with Goodrich Pharmacy and Kemper Drug for assistance with medicine needs. Most of the youth are 18 years old plus, so there should not be an issue. If the youth is under 18 years old, a parental assistance may be needed.
https://www.opendoorsforyourth.org
Dirk Barrett was our program and gave us information for the Taste of Elk River 2022! It will be held Thursday, May 19th from 5 to 9 pm at the Sherburne County Fair Grounds. He has packets for Sponsorships and please watch your email for a Sponsorship Packet coming your way from Bob Maxwell. Bonnie Koste is leading the Sponsorship team, but all hands are needed to gather sponsors. The goal this year is to have $30,000 in sponsorships. If each person could pull in $1000 in sponsorships, we would have it! Dirk shared that John Houlton with First Bank Elk River is committed to a $5,000 sponsorship and says it is the best money spent for promotion! They are having a Mediterranean wine theme in the VIP tent this year! Sponsorship cut off date is March 18th. Ticket sales will launch on April 7th. Cal Portner has agreed to be the commissioner again for 2022 and Brandon Hanson, past “drug czar” will continue on in this position, but with a new title - drug lord! In 2022, the wall of wine will not be held, however, each rotarian is requested to donate $20 to John Osterman. These funds will be used to purchase the booze for the barrel of booze. John collected from a few rotarians right away and is keeping a list. Again this year we will have the silent auction. There is talk of music, maybe food trucks? Dirk is open to all ideas to raise funds. Brandon Hanson is handling the food vendors again this year and John Osterman is handling the beverage vendors. There is a meeting today, following our regular meeting.
Announcements:
On behalf of Janet McCarty, Debbi Rydberg gave us an update on upcoming service projects. Contact Janet to sign up or get your name on the list at the front table. The upcoming events are: Friday, March 18th from 11 am to 1 pm to assist with some update projects at Open Doors for Youth. Saturday, April 9th starting at 9 am, Ruff Start Rescue is asking for some assistance at their center.
- President Tove Lichty was excited to update us on our campaign for the District Share the Love fund raiser. Our club, so far, has raised $1,250! The campaign has been extended through March so if you didn’t get in on the fun, there is still time! Go to rotary.org and find the donate button in the upper right hand corner.
- President Tove let us know that she will be on vacation next week and we will have a throw back Thursday leader as Brandon Hanson plays president for the day! Be sure to come and join in the fun! There is talk that a fine master may be present!
- The donations committee met and Debbi Rydberg gave us an update. There were some funds left from the first run and the committee received new requests and donated the following: $300 to the Boy Scout breakfast coming up in April; $100 to Spectrum High School Graduation Party; $250 to Elk River High School Graduation Party; $100 to Ivan Sand High School; $100 to Zimmerman High School Graduation Party; $300 to the CAER Fool Run fundraiser; $500 to Cambridge/Isanti Rotary for participation in an international project in the Ukraine.
- Board of Directors vote is today and for the first time, probably ever, there will be a campaign for President Elect 2023/24 by Debbi Rydberg and Heather Kliewer as both are interested in the position. One will receive the position and the other will be on the board of directors as a member at large and could be President Elect 2024/25. Debbi went first and told of the reasons why we should vote for her, followed by Heather who had the same opportunity. Ballots were passed out and at the end of the meeting, treasurer Neil Gagnon, who tallied the votes, informed us that we have a winner, by only one vote! Our President Elect 2023/24 will be Debbi Rydberg! Congratulations Debbi!
Card game - a 9 of clubs was pulled and there was not a winner.
Happy Bucks
Nicole Rasmussen started us off with a happy buck for a fun trip to Vegas where she completed a half marathon. She is very sore, but the weather was great! She also had a happy buck to be going to Baxter to visit her mom this weekend!
- Bruce “Buck” Tyler had a happy buck and a story! Yesterday, their clothes dryer quit in the middle of a load with another load to go. Off they went to the store and $1500 later, they have a new dryer!
- Brandon Hanson was happy that over 20 years ago, he coached hockey and now, he is coaching the team his son is on and they are District 10 Champions!
- Julie Fish was happy that the Monticello Moose high school hockey team is going to the State Tournament! Bob Maxwell shared the story about the name Moose!
- Dirk Barrett had a happy buck which was a sad buck as he shared his loss of two people in his life. His wife’s uncle Wayne Eull and an old friend Doug Anderson. Our sympathies to you Dirk!
- John Osterman was happy to tell us that he is going to announce at the Elk River Girls Basketball game tonight!
- Tove Lichty was $20 happy to go on vacation tomorrow! Heading to San Francisco, Napa, Tahoe and is looking forward to breathing fresh air. She was also happy because their contractor is going to be doing some work in their home while they’re gone!
Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do and Tove rang the dismissal bell!
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Rogers, is also helping out Open Doors for Youth here in Elk River. Maddie and others, have put together a new non-profit health services business to offer to the folks at Open Doors for Youth. She is currently the only provider and is will be there on Tuesdays for scheduled appointments or walk in clients. She will meet with the youth where they are at physically to determine their health care needs. They will expand as they go. This is a free service for youth. If she cannot help, she will refer the youth to someone. They are working with Goodrich Pharmacy and Kemper Drug for assistance with medicine needs. Most of the youth are 18 years old plus, so there should not be an issue. If the youth is under 18 years old, a parental assistance may be needed.
