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       Upcoming Meetings

10/20/2022 - Mason Schwartz - 

Central Minnesota Jobs & Training Services, Monticello, MN
Greg Gapinski-Employment Specialist
David Miller-Employment Specialist
Bridget Paulson-Business Service Coordinator

10/27/2022 - Club Assembly

11/3/2022 - Adam Stumne - Representative from Elk River Squatch

Our Motto:

Serving Humanity 
Strengthening Youth 
Enhancing Lives

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Bob Maxwell
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Inspiring leaders with passion to serve humanity; strengthening youth for tomorrow's leadership and enhancing lives in our world.

FYI - I, Bob Maxwell, will be having a bone in my foot screwed together on 10/19 and will be on injured reserve - the doctor says about 8 weeks. I am not certain of my return especially since I want to haul the video equipment too. Will keep you posted. Hope to see you soon. 
 
Regular Meeting -Thursday October 13, 2022
 
Attending:  Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Katie Franaschouk, Neil Gagnon, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, Dr. Laura Mullennex, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Theresa Slominski, honoraries David Anderson, Glen Ertel and Bruce Tyler
Guest/Prospective Member: Bill Yueill

 
Program

imageToday our program was a comedy show by Lance Lindbergh.  John Osterman gave a briefing about Lance.  Lance graduated from Elk River High School with JohnLance is a real estate agent for Keller Williams and is the founder of The Old Thompson Club.  Rotarian Katie Franaschouk reported that we should mark our calendars for a fun upcoming event that will take place at Rockwood’s on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, where an Old Thompson Club event will be held.  Image result for lance lindberg keller williamsStay tuned for further details . . .  Lance told us he was excited to be here!  He admired those who rotate! He filled us with a wealth of humorous moments as he shared his life story with stories galore! Some of us laughed until we cried! My personal favorite part was when he did a demonstration of Three Stooges Kung Fu!  Thank you Lance!
 
Announcements
• A sympathy card was sent around the room and will be sent to the family of Rotarian Curt Boysen.  May he rest in eternal peace!
Community Connect is next week on Tuesday, October 18th!  If you have items to donate, please drop them off at the CAER Food Shelf!
President Theresa Slominski reminded us of the mock interviews at ERHS.
• Donations Committee met and the donation application form is on our website!  There are also some printed copies in the cabinet at Rotary.  We are taking applications for donations until November 30th!   Please help pass the word of this opportunity to receive a donation from Elk River Rotary!
Dictionaries - Katie Franaschouk reported that she has been in communication with some third grade teachers about the dictionaries and has received some feedback.  Twin Lakes doesn’t use them in the classroom.  Parker doesn’t use them either, but acknowledged that the kids enjoy them and offered other ideas.  The dictionary/service committee will gather and come up with a new plan to move forward.  Thank you Katie for doing the research!
image
Card draw was a six of spades and there was not a match!
 
Happy $$
- Theresa Slominski was happy that Julie Fish was able to give her a ride today while her auto is in the repair shop!
- Tove Lichty paid some I.O.U.’s and had some new happy bucks!  She was happy for a solo hike last Thursday to Lake Maria State Park near Monticello!  She was also happy for Saturday when she got together with some rotary friends in Carver County!
- Julie Fish had a happy buck for her mom’s upcoming 90th Birthday and an I.O.U. Buck for Lance Lindberg’s performance and the much needed laughter it involved!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy for an upcoming trip to Mankato where she will run a half marathon, unprepared.  She was also happy that after Rotary, she was going to the Sherburne County Government Center to meet her fiancé to get their marriage license!  Down to 16 days away!
- Dirk Barrett was happy to have enjoyed John Osterman this football season as he announces the ERHS home football games once again!  Dirk was also happy to have known Lance Lindbergh for 50 years and feels like today at Rotary it is “Elk Riverite Day”!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the Things we Think, Say and Do!

 image
 
Join Zoom Meeting - October 6, 2022 -12:00 Noon
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88184113854?pwd=QytKMUVEZDZ5WWh1eUlaTEtrM0wvUT09
Meeting ID: 881 8411 3854
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting -Thursday September 29, 2022
 
imageToday John Osterman led our song, and President-Elect Debbi Rydberg led our prayer and our meeting!
 
Guest:  Bill Yuehl - long time Rotarian in Princeton, who closed and will be filling out an application for membership!
 
Attending:   Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, honoraries Dave Anderson, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson
 
Program:
Today our program was arranged by Debbi Rydberg, who presented us with Amy Lord!  Amy is the CTE Coordinator with ISD 728.  She was hired 4-1/2 years ago and was hired by career wheel requests of the community to help to get students into high tech and high wage jobs.  ISD 728 Career and Technical program is a stand out in the State of Minnesota! 75% of ISD 728 students go to college.  Of this, 40% go to a 4 year college and 20% go to a 2 year college.  There is a decrease throughout the State of post secondary attendees.  Probably due to covid.  Amy helps the students go on to college. They have created a program for ISD 728 students for pathways offered.  Classes start in high school.  There are internships available and many opportunities for students.  They currently have 60 students interning.  They partnership with ISD 728 Adventure Club/child card and machine companies such as Metal Craft.  They offer OSHA certification and culinary certificates for students.  They have seven advisory committees.  If you are interested, email her amy.lord@isd728.org to discuss opportunities! Rotarian Debbi Rydberg is on the business marketing committee.  Amy was hired as part of the strategic action plan 5 years ago and now they are working on the new plan for the next 5 years.  There is a QR code on a handout she gave.  You can get more information by using it.  She also shared a sheet of upcoming dates such as mock interviews, hosting a student, career fairs, outside events, tours, donations, or sign up for the CTE newsletter.  Amy shared that October 14th and December 2nd, all 8th grade students (over 1100 students) will be bussed to ATC and ARC for a career fair.  This event is funded by college dollars.  They will take 550 students each day.  October 27th is the Cool Jobs Tour, held at Elk River Machine, CDI Curbs, TimRon Precision Gear and Metal Craft.  Anyone over 11 years old is invited to come!  They love to see parents and students sign up!  Last year 50 people attended and it generated a lot of interest.  Debbi thanked Amy for being our speaker today!
 
Announcements:
- Donations Committee is meeting after this meeting!
- Nicole Rasmussen shared that we have a SOCIAL! Double Header coming up on Saturday!  Noon to 5 is the CAER Pub Crawl and 5 to 8 is the YMCA Comedy for a Cause @ Lupulin.
-Debbi Rydberg shared information about the Ride for Rotary in India.  For more information, contact Debbi!
- Nicole Rasmussen remembered to bring the wine bottles from First Bank Elk River for Dirk Barrett for leading the Taste of Elk River and a bottle of wine for Julie Fish who boasts the most ticket sales for 2022!  Dirk gave his bottle to John Osterman, team captain for the most ticket sales team!
- Dictionary Project - Pete Reiner reported that Katie Fraunaschuk will be reaching out to some of the 3rd grade teachers to see their thoughts about dictionaries!
- COAT DRIVE! Don’t forget the Coat Drive that is going on!  Bring new or gently used coats and boots to Rotary and Rotarian Heather Kliewer will get them to CAER.  Deadline for bringing them to Rotary is Thursday, October 13th.  If you would rather, you can drop them off at CAER Food Shelf as well.
 
Happy Bucks!
- Tove Lichty was happy to pay the “wheel tax” for her new vehicle that finally arrived! She also reported that she met Cal Portner’s doppleganger on the airplane!
- Bob Maxwell had a $10 spot for his 50th Class Reunion last weekend!  He was his class representative for being a speaker at the All Class Reunion Breakfast, which went off very well!
- Julie Fish was happy for her parents’ 71st wedding anniversary, today!
- Cal Portner was happy to have attended a conference in Columbus, Ohio and shared that it was an interesting town. Next week he will travel to New Jersey to see a nephew play on a juniors hockey team.  He is traveling with his parents who are 79 and 80 years young!
- John Osterman was happy to announce that the Elks will play the Rogers Royals tomorrow night in football and next week is homecoming!
- Heather Kliewer had sad buck for the devastation in Florida.  Happy bucks for attending the Anoka Rotary Leadership class and had a great time!  She was also happy to have enjoyed The Loons Friday night and some apple pie moonshine!  She also shared that at CAER yesterday, they was 58 families and later another bunch for a total of 80 families!  Also yesterday, they did a produce drop at St. Andrew’s @ 16,000 lbs of food and 982 people served!  Heather also had a $20 for being the media darling in the Elk River Star News!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy about the September SOCIAL! held, despite the rain!  She and Marc are one month out to their wedding in Florida and it has been confirmed that they wedding location was not damaged due to Hurricane Ian! Dress and shoes can be checked off of her to do list!  She was also happy to have attended the first planning committee meeting for her upcoming 30th Class Reunion next year!
image- Card draw was a 4 of diamonds and there was not a winner!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test and Debbi gently rang the dismissal bell!
 
image
 
Bob Maxwell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
September 29, 2022 11:45 AM
Join Zoom Meeting

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Meeting ID: 868 1314 1680
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting -Thursday September 15th 
imageToday our meeting was led by President Theresa Slominski.  Julie Fish led our song and Beth Richards had a solid prayer and arranged for our program.
 
We had no guests.
 
Attending: Dirk Barrett, Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Katie Franaschouk, Neil Gagnon, Bonnie Koste, Dr. Laura Mullennex, Pete Reiner, Beth Richards, Theresa Slominski, Marv Sorvala,, honorary Bob Maxwell
 
Rotary Moment
Theresa
shared that in the forward of the Rotary book that is stored in our cabinet, it shares the evolution of rotary. Rotary has survived World War I, the Great Depression and World War II by applying all of the avenues of service.
 
Program
Our program today was arranged by Rotarian Beth Richards.  Beth introduced us to Jeremy Hinton with Hometown Hero Outdoors. Jeremy
is an Elk River native and currently resides in Zimmerman.  He served our country for 9 years through the Minnesota National Guard and did a tour to Irac in 2003.  Hometown Here Outdoors is non-profit group.  Their mission is to provide veterans, military service members and law enforcement officers, outdoor opportunities to assist in healing and building healthy relationships within the community. They started in 2017 and work with land owners, businesses and volunteers to set up outdoor events such as hunting, fishing, camping, etc. to provide recreational therapy to our heroes! Jeremy started volunteering with this group for four years and is now a staff member, however, he also has a 40 hour/week job as well.  This group is his passion and that is why he volunteers!  In Minnesota they take four to five trips per month and those include two people and up.  They have a winter event that includes 60 people.  They service Minnesota from the Iron Range to the South. They are 100% funded by donations and fund raisers.  Most events are free or of little cost to the participants.   For more information - hometownherooutdoors.org
 
Happy Bucks!

- Theresa Slominski was happy for her staff person with five apple trees who shared apples with her.  She loves to make apple pies and made many to bring in to work to share with staff!
- Pete Reiner was happy for a trip to the Black Hills with his little brother!  He put on a lot of miles and it was a good time!
- Julie Fish was happy for a fun Rotary SOCIAL! event at Rockwood’s last night!
- Katie Franaschouk was happy for attending three weddings in twelve days! She was also happy for the donations gathered at Rockwood’s last night that went to the Magnus Veterans Foundation where they are very close to collecting their goal of $30,000!
 
Announcements

image- Card Draw was an 8 of diamonds and no one won the small pot of dough!
-
SOCIAL!  Saturday, October 1st, we have two opportunities to SOCIAL!
CAER Food Shelf is having their Pub Crawl!  Here is the travel path! Noon to 1 @ Eagles Club; 1:10 to 2 pm Sunshine Depot; 2:10 to 3 pm McCoy’s; 3:10 to 4 pm American Legion; 4:10 to 5 pm Eagles Club!  The second opportunity is a YMCA Fundraiser with their Comedy for a Cause from 5 to 8 pm at Lupulin Brewery, 570 Humboldt Drive, Suite 107 in Big Lake.  There will be live music by Ezra James Mystery Box Game and the Comedian is Tommy Ryman!   Tickets on sale at: ymcanorth.org/Comedy2022

 

- Dictionary Project - Pete Reiner shared that for many, many years, we have bought and distributed dictionaries to all third grade students in the elementary schools in Elk River.  The cost of this service project was around $1700 in previous years.  Pete has received feedback from third grade teachers in the past, that they love the dictionaries., but he questions if this is still a good project for us.  Elk River Senior High Principal Terry Bizal suggested that he ask the principals at the schools to see how they feel about them.  Pete will come back to us with further information.
 
- President Theresa Slominski is asking for a volunteer to be the Service Committee Chair.  Please consider the position and let Theresa know if you are interested.
 

Cold Storage Parka - Large, Navy - Refrigiwear - S-21700-L- COAT DRIVE! Don’t forget the Coat Drive that is going on!  Bring new or gently used coats and boots to rotary and Rotarian Heather Kliewer will get them to CAER.  Deadline for bringing them to rotary is Thursday, October 15th.  If you would rather, you can drop them off at CAER Food Shelf as well.
 
President Theresa led us in reciting the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do then rang the dismissal bell!

 image
 

 
Bob Maxwell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting

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Meeting ID: 844 0153 1561
Regular and Zoom Meeting - September 8, 2022
Bob Maxwell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
 
Thursday September 15th 11:45 AM 

imageJohn Osterman led our song, Nicole Rasmussen led our prayer and President Theresa Slominski led our meeting!

We had no guests!

Attending: Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Mark Kuyava, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, honaries Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler

Today our program was arranged by Nicole Rasmussen!  We received an ISD 728 update from Dr. Dan Bittman.  Dan started by asking us if there was anything in particular we’d like him to
speak of and also to ask questions as he goes along.  Currently ISD 728 grows!  During the pandemic there was a loss of 400 students, which was a $3.1 million hit!  They reached out to families and learned that 80% of the issue was directly related to the mask mandate.  The mandate is off and the numbers are back up.  They continue to grow! Prairie View, the newest school in Otsego had 810 students enrolled as the southern part of the district continues to grow, the center has declined and the norther has grown a bit. This year, they are doing a study to determine enrollment plus and minuses. This fall there are 4 of 7 positions open on the school board so be sure to get out and vote! They are in year 5 of the strategic plan so they are meeting with about 25 different groups to develop a new plan.  They will send the data to a consultant to get the results and that information will go to the school board. The district has a new executive director of business services and that person controls the money in the district!  Referendum projects are going along well.  All projects are on track and promises are being made!  On the south end, all of the elementary schools have moved their 5th graders to middle school to leave room for the elementary schools to grow a bit.   Dr. Bittman finished by thanking us, on behalf of the district board of directors, for all we do as Rotarians for our community!   President Theresa thanked Dr. Bittman for speaking to us today and for all that he does!

Rotary Moment
Today the Rotary moment was about the evolution of the Rotarian magazine. The first issue was in January of 1911.  After it caught on, every rotarian paid 25¢ For an issue.  The publication attracted new members!

Club Announcements
- Coat Drive!  Remember to bring coats and boot to Rotary or to CAER for their drive!  Rotarian
Heather Kliewer will gather them each week from our meetings and bring them to CAER.  Please bring them by October 15th!
- SOCIAL! Next Wednesday, September 21st at Rockwoods for their last Bonfire Wednesday music night!  This is also a benefit for the Magnus Veterans Foundation. Rockwoods will be donating 10% of their sales that night!  Be sure to attend!  Come early!

 
- Happy Birthday to Bonnie Koste!  She chose for us to sing the $10 version!
 
 
 
 
image- Card Draw was a 3 of hearts and there was not a winner!

Happy Bucks!
- Bonnie Koste
was happy for a happy birthday!
- Mark Kuyava was $5 happy for celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary!
- Bob Maxwell was happy for celebrating his 46th wedding anniversary!

 
 
 
 
- Heather Kliewer was happy for a great job that the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce did with their annual meeting, held this morning at the Crown Room in Rogers!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy for the same reason!  She was also happy that it is her daughter’s birthday this weekend!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy for the new deck project at the camper to be completed by her fiancé! They now have a $20,000 deck on their $6,000 camper!  Lol!  She was a also happy that their wedding date of October 29th in Florida is coming up!

President Theresa led us in the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do! 

image
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - September 8, 2022
 
Today, President Theresa Slominski led our meeting! 

imageVisitor: Bill Yuell, past Princeton Rotarian who may join our club!

Attending: Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Kat Sarff, Theresa Slominski, Marv Sorvala, honoraries Dave Anderson, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler

President Theresa shared a Rotary Moment with us about how singing came to be in Rotary.  Rotarian Harry Ruggles did a spontaneous act while there was a lul in the meeting and he sprang to his feet saying “Hell fellows, let’s sing!” And so it began!  In 1910, the first Rotary song book was put together.  Other clubs around the world sing songs at meetings still today and many have a book of songs!

Pete Reiner had the program today and a representative from the was supposed to be our program. They couldn’t make it so Pete gathered information to share with us about them.  The River Clean Up that our club does is a spin off of the Conservation Corp as we report to them.  Pete has found that the History Channel has a lot of great information and he encouraged us to google it! The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) began in 1933 by executive order of President Roosevelt.  April 5, 1933, the army helped to get this plan organized and by July 5, 1933, they had 14,033 camps established and 300,000 people put to work.  They enrolled young men, unskilled, and  unemployed and from families on government assistance. It was a six month commission where they received $30/day and were required to send most of it home. They received an education and 57,000 learned how to read.  They did all kids of things such as, built the Handke Stadium, planted 3 billion pine trees, of which some are located in the Sherburne Wildlife Refuge.  According to a Minnesota History magazine article, they built a stone chimney at GreenHaven Golf Club and it is still there today.  Fergus Falls has a stone wall along the highway on their golf course, also built by the CCC.  There are many State Park shelters, such as the one in Jay Cooke State Park, that were built by the CCC.  Pete shared that his oldest daughter got married there and he appreciated the rental cost of only $35! The CCC built trails, 800 parks and shaped the State of Minnesota’s park system.  This program lasted 9 years.  In 1942, congress discontinued funding for the CCC. The AmeriCorp group came of this.  They have many different corps such as math, peace, reading. Walter Matthau and Raymond Burr and rotarian Marv Sorvala’s father, were all members of the CCC.  The Conservation Corps annual meeting will be held at Summit Brewing on October 6th.  Pete has attended this meeting in the past and is unable to attend this year.  If you are interested in attending, please reach out to Pete to get registered!  The first beer is free!  Theresa thanked Pete for his wonderful presentation!

Next she called up a new transfer member, Marv Sorvala and presented him with the new member presentation and gave him is official name badge and lapel pin.  He is officially welcomed!

Club Announcements
- President Theresa Slominski has a challenge for each of us!  She
has challenged each of us to help out the CAER coat and boot drive by bringing coats, snow pants, boots, etc. Bring them to Rotary to giv e to Heather Kliewer or bring them to CAER.  The deadline is October 18th!

- CAER Open House will be held on Tuesday, September 13th starting at 3:30 pm.  It is sponsored by the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce.

- FREE Wall of Wine!  Does anyone know of anyone that could use a donation of our Wall of Wine from our Taste of Elk River?  If so, please let Theresa Slominski know!

- Committee Sign Up Sheets were sent around the room.  If you haven’t gotten your name on a list or two, please be sure to do so!


image- Card Draw was a draw until we have a winner draw and after a couple of cards, we had a winner with the queen of spades . . . Theresa Slominski won and then donated back her winnings!  The Rotary Foundation thanks you!  We put $137 into our fund!  Great job and great fun!

Happy Bucks!
- Debbi Rydberg was $3 happy!  Next week is the Chamber’s annual meeting and we are all
welcome to join in on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 8 am at the Crown Room in Rogers. She was also happy for a trip to Kansas to see her mom who is doing great and lives on her own at 91 years young!  She was also happy to share some posters to hang up re: 169 Construction.
- Julie Fish was $5 happy for her 17th annual sister/mom weekend coming up this weekend. She had a sad buck for learning of the passing of Queen Elizabeth.
- Cal Portner had a few happy bucks!  He was happy to be back!  He shared that at a recent Twins game, he caught a foul ball and the media caught it on TV!  He snagged it out of mid air and Bob Maxwell happened to have the video to share with us!  It was quite a grab!  Cal was a true Rotarian - service above self - and gave the ball away to a kid!  Cal was also happy to tell us that his dad is cancer free!  He also had a fine from the floor to Neil Gagnon for having his photo on the board near the new Caribou Cabin that is being built in town!
- Marv Sorvala was happy to be an official Elk River Rotarian!
- Heather Kliewer had a couple of sad bucks - one for the news of Queen Elizabeth and one for a few tears she had as her grandson went off to kindergarten!
- Pete Reiner had a happy buck for the holiday weekend where he spent two days in the bathroom . . . doing a tile job!  Lol!  He was happy to be the tender, not the tiler!
- John Osterman was happy for the ER Elks football victory over Cambridge, where they won 52 to 7!  Tomorrow they play Andover.  John is the announcer and shared that Tarz Peterson, who is in his 53rd year as a line man, left at half time and later had an ambulance ride to the hospital.  Keep him in your prayers as he recovers from pneumonia and covid!
- Tove Lichty was happy to share that at her past rotary club, they had a song book and would sing songs every week.  She was also happy for the mention of AmeriCorp, as that is who her husband works for in the Minnesota Reading Corp.
- Kat Sarff was happy for her son to start kindergarten and shared that he and his friends didn’t get on the bus so he didn’t get off the bus, which created a panic attack!  Boys were located and all is well!  She was also happy to share that she is in the early stage of possibly starting a new business!
- Dirk Barrett shared with us a story with a happy ending!  42 years ago, he took off and lost his wedding ring.  He and his wife assumed it was the babysitter and never had that sitter back.  30 years later, his wife found the ring in a box of nails!  It has recently been resized and he is now wearing it again!
- Theresa Slominski had a happy buck for winning the Card Draw today!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
image
 
 
Bob Maxwell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting - Thursday September 8th

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Meeting ID: 871 9651 4724
 
Today our meeting was led by President Theresa Slominski.

imageAttending:   Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Katie Franaschouk, Neil Gagnon, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Theresa Slominski, honoraries Dave Anderson, Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler

Today our program was a Club Assembly.  President Theresa asked Taste of Elk River Chair, Dirk Barrett to come up and give us an update on our event!  Per Dirk, we had a good year. 
Total revenue @ $56,489, minus expenses of $14,200 for a net of $42,250.   All funds are donated back to our community.  This year, Thumbs Up received our significant donation of $10,000!  Dirk shared the ticket sales winners!   Team Burbot led by John Osterman, had the most ticket sales, by far!  Team member, Julie Fish, had the highest ticket sales.  There are wine bottle prizes for John Osterman for his team lead and for all he does for the liquor vendors during the Taste of Elk River; Julie Fish will get the highest ticket sales bottle and Dirk Barrett has a bottle coming to him for being the chair!    The silent auction was fabulous and doubled their revenues from the previous year.  The liquor raffles, although they were a very unorganized  and quite a confusing cluster, it managed to net more funds than the wall of wine normally did!   Dirk asked the small group attending for suggestions for improvement.  Challenge: to get food vendors.  In 2022, we had only 9 vendors.  In years past we have had 13 to 18.  It was suggested that we offer the food vendors a stipend.  It was also suggested that we check into a way to allow food trucks to participate in our event. Next year, the silent auction could use help with prize solicitation and don’t put the band in the same tent as the auction.  Music - YES!  but maybe outside instead in a tent with other things.   A few folks stated that they missed the wall of wine.  2023, we will need to get a gambling license to hold the booze type raffles.  Winners will need to be posted and their entries must have their names and phone numbers on them.  Sponsorships:  the plan is to get the letters out this fall to prospective sponsors so they can budget funds for 2023.  The next event will be Thursday, May 18, 2023!  Get it on your calendars!   Thank you,  Dirk for all of your leadership!
- Survey Says - Theresa shared how our survey came out.  There were 19 participants.

Image result for surveyPrograms - some would like to see more program diversity.
People Attending - scheduling is sometimes the issue for attending; some feel the lunch menu is too expensive.   Theresa shared that we won’t be moving our location but she will be checking in to different food options for our group.
Service Suggestions - we need a Service Chair.  Please bring coats, boots, etc. to rotary from now until October 18th to help with the Community Connect event.  Give your items to Heather Kliewer.  Have ideas?  Bring them forward, please and let Theresa know if you would be interested in being the Service Chair!
- Dirk Barrett brought up a thought about us having another fund raiser so we are not 100% dependent on the Taste of Elk River.  An idea was talked about, but it was based on the Taste of Elk River happening, so if you have any ideas, let Theresa know your thoughts.

Announcements:
- Theresa
noted that we should pay attention to the screen as we enter rotary.  We have a new
deal!  Tove Lichty has put together information that Bob Maxwell will run on the screen before our meetings.  It tells things such as SOCIAL! dates, service doings and other rotary information so be sure to check it out!
- Heather Kliewer shared that the Community Connect event is coming up Tuesday, October 18th from 11 am to 2 pm at ERHS.  This is to help families in need with winter wear, hair cuts, essentials and more.  Lunch is also provided.
- SOCIAL! Wednesday, September 21 @ Rockwoods.  The band Hitchville will be performing.  Plan to get there early!  10% of the proceeds from the night will be donated to the Magnus Veterans Foundation.
- President Theresa shared items from our Assistant District Governor, Sandy Campbell, who visited us a couple of weeks ago.  She has lapel pins and passports for all!


Happy Birthday, a bit belated, to Glen Ertel who chose the $10 version!

 
 
 
Happy Bucks:
- John Osterman
was a couple of bucks happy!  Tonight is the first Elks High School football
game and they play Cambridge.  He was also happy to tell us about a time last week where he was watching the MN Twins game and saw Cal Portner on the screen catching a foul ball!
- Heather Kliewer was happy that Theresa taught us the coin game.  Heather has already used it a couple of times.
- Glen Ertel was happy for a family vacation in Colorado and was also happy for an upcoming trip to the Black Hills for a week!
- Bob Maxwell was happy for new business cards he received from Elk River Printing.    The new cards are for his new endeavor with fuel caps!
- Tove Lichty was $5 happy to be going to the State Fair on Friday!
- Mark Kuyava was happy because a couple of weeks back, he had a staff person quit which created trouble.  He was happy to have received a referral for a new and improved staff member!
- Heather Kliewer had another happy buck to ask for shirts of all kinds of trade businesses for someone she knows at ERHS who wants to wear a trade business logo shirt every Friday of the school year!
- Bonnie Koste was happy to have gone to the State Fair last Saturday.  The deep fried oreos were great!  She was also happy that her daughter is enjoying her second week of college at Mankato State!
- Theresa Slominski was $4 happy!  Happy to have her window fixed from when it randomly got a hole in it and shattered on her way home from Alexandria a couple of weeke3nds ago.


imageCard Game - a 7 of clubs was drawn and there was not a winner!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test!
 
image
 
 
Bob Maxwell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Thursday September 1, 2022 at 11:45 AM
Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82951079516
Meeting ID: 829 5107 9516
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - August 25, 2022
Today President Theresa Slominski ran our meeting for us. 

imageGuest:  Bill Yueill, former Princeton Rotarian - the Princeton club has closed up.  Bill lives in Zimmerman and thought he would check us out!

Attending: Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Katie Franaschouk, Neil Gagnon, Heather Kliewer, Mrk Kuyava, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, honoraries Dave Anderson, Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler

Due to illness, there was a program switcheroo!  Theresa led us through a fun program.  She asked us to each find a coin.  Look for the year on the coin and share with the group, some of your special memories from the year on the coin!  It was an awesome amount of fun! Great stories were shared which created lots of laughs, fellowship and fun!  Way to go Theresa!

Rotary Moment
Theresa shared a Rotary moment from the book in the cabinet.  Today she shared that during World Wars 1 and 2 and the great depression, rotarians were called on by the government as a force for good.  The government quietly brought rotary leaders to Washington DC to come up with a plan to host soldiers and sailors.  They raised four million dollars to provide meals and sleeping accommodations.  Rotary was a true life saver to soldiers across the world!

Announcements

- SOCIAL!  We have a date!  Wednesday, September 21, Rockwoods for Bonfire Wednesday night.  That night, 10% of the sales will be donated to Magnus Veterans Foundation.  Get this on your calendar and plan to attend!
- Anoka Rotary is sponsoring a leadership event - Wednesday, September 28 from 8 am to 11:30 am at Greenhaven Golf Club in Anoka.  For more information, please contact President Theresa.

Happy Birthday to the following!

- Terry Bizal
- Theresa Slominski
- Neil Gagnon

They each chose the $10 version for our quality singing!

Happy $$:
-
Julie Fish was happy for canning season of pickles, pickled green beans, plum jelly and marinara sauce.  She was also happy for the upcoming wedding this weekend of her only God-son!
- Katie Franaschouk was happy to have worked with the owner of the new MN Squatch team, which is a Junior Hockey team.  Rockwoods will provide the bar for their 16 games this winter!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy for a plumber at her house from Ace Handyman Service, in which Rotarian Mark Kuyava works for!
- Terry Bizal was $3 happy!  School is starting; he went to Nashville and came back with less cash and a positive covid test; their twins are back at college so they are again empty nesters!
- Heather Kliewer was happy that on Tuesday, CAER delivered 257 back packs to 96 families!  They also hosted a produce drop this week and handed out 10,000 pounds of produce to 164 families!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy that her daughter had her wisdom teeth successfully pulled. She was happy for a road trip to Iowa for the state fair and to see Carrie Underwood perform.  Tonight she and her mom and daughter are going to a show at the Chanhassen and this weekend, she will star in a Murder Mystery at the campground!
- Theresa Slominski was $5 happy for a fabulous week of vacation spent with just her siblings!  It was so much fun to reconnect with them in this way!


imageCard Game - a 4 of spades was pulled and there was not a match!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
image
 
 
 
NOTICE: There will be no Zoom meeting today. I (Bob M) have to get into the cardiologist to check out a discomfort in my chest and the only time I can get in is 10:30 on Thursday. I trust it is nothing serious but I cannot take any chances.  I may make the meeting at some time but not time to set up the camera, etc. 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - August 11, 2022
Today our meeting was ran by President Theresa Slominski!
 

imageGuest:  Tracy Larson with Guardian Angels of Elk River.  She is the new Dan Dixon!  She has a background in nursing and administration.  She likes Elk River because it is a smaller community!
 
Attending: Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, Dr. Laura Mullennex, John Osterman, Pete Reiner, Debbi Ryberg, Kat Sarff, Theresa Slominski, honoraries Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson
 

President Theresa conducted the New Member Induction for new member, Mark Kuyava and presented him with his lapel pin and his official name badge!  Welcome Mark!
 
Program
Our program today was arranged by John Osterman.  We heard from Aaron Osterman and Ryan Servaty who are coaches in ISD728, specifically Elk River.  Aaron spoke first.  He shared some information about the ERHS football head coach, Steve Hamilton, who is on vacation and was not available to come and speak to us.  Aaron shared that this coach has more success than any other school in the state!  The kids believe in themselves and their team so they keep winning!  He shared a story of victory at the last minute during play offs. The senior class is led by Aaron’s son who plays many positions.  Aaron has coached this group of kids since they were in second grade!  He is excited for this year and hopeful to be in the State tournament!  Andover is usually a tough team to beat!  Aaron reminded us to be sure to buy the Gold Card from your favorite fall athlete.  Sales start August 15th!  Next we heard from Ryan who is the head basketball coach at ERHS for the past four years.  They are gaining in their success of games and the energy and excitement is on the grow.  There have changes in the environment of basketball and they shared conference change created progress! Last year their win/lose was about 50/50. Ryan replaces two 20 year legends - Wally Trochel and Randy Clausen so he feels he has rather large shoes to fill!  Basketball and football share a couple of good seniors and they have a lot of new athletes coming up and they will work hard!  Ryan thanked us for our time and support of their sports.  They opened up to question/answer time.   Stewart Wilson acknowledged that both Aaron and Ryan are ISD 728 alumni, athletes and now coaches!  He thanked them and congratulated them both on their success!   President Theresa thanked them for speaking and showing Service Above Self in our community!
 
Announcements

- Pete Reiner thanked those who helped out with the annual River Clean Up on Wednesday.  They found about 50 pounds of trash and noticed that the area around the dam was very clean.  The river was also pretty clean but they managed to find a few treasures! Stewart Wilson found a kitchen sink.  It was doll house sized but a kitchen sink none the less!  They also found a very creepy mask! Special thanks once again to Bonnie Koste who was our Social! Hostess! 
- Theresa Slominski reminded us to watch for the survey to come to our emails.  Please take a moment to answer it.
- Julie Fish will be missing Rotary next week, so hopefully someone will take notes and attendance in her absence.  John Osterman?
 
Happy Bucks

- Bruce Tyler was happy that tomorrow, he and his bride, will celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary!  Congrats!
- Kat Sarff was happy for her upcoming event next week for Sherburne County Area United Way!  She thanked Mark Kuyava for a raffle item! Tickets are available - please come!
- Stewart Wilson was happy to have attended a Twins game on Sunday with his son and grandson and Stewart got his hands on a foul ball!
- Theresa Slominski was $10 happy for the found creature and lots of laughs at River Clean Up, and was glad that Tracy from GA could join us today!
 
Card Draw  was an 8 of clubs and there was not a match . . .
 
President Theresa shared a Rotary Moment with us and shared words from Mother Theresa from he 1981 Rotary International Conference.  In a speech, she shared that loving is serving so take time to serve!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
 
image
 
 
Bob Maxwell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
August 11, 2022
Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85747565470
Meeting ID: 857 4756 5470
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - August 4, 2022, 2022
imageToday our meeting was led by President Theresa Slominski.  She welcomed a guest and a visiting Rotarian!

Guest - Logan Utecht with Coborn’s (guest of Bob Maxwell)
Visiting Rotarian - Melissa Stricherz with Boy Scouts of America (guest of Beth Richards)

Attending - Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Katie Franaschouk, Neil Gagnon, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Tove Lichty, Dr. Laura Mullennex, John Osterman, Beth Richards, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, honoraries Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler

Theresa shared about Service Above Self and the avenues of service in Rotary that came along in 1923 when the International President wrote a book telling about Rotary.  Theresa shared a bit about each of the avenues.  For more information - check out the cool book of Rotary knowledge in our cabinet!

Program
Coborn's
Bob Maxwell was our program arranger today and the first part of his program was a Taste of Elk River testimonial from Logan Utecht with Coborn’s.  Logan reported that he and Coborn’s are excited to always be a part of the Taste and have been a part since the beginning!  They are happy to do it and use it as a team building event where they have fun and enjoy coming up with better and new ideas.  Community giving is a core value of Coborn’s.  This year, they received the Taste of Elk River award for Best Deli/Catering 2022! Congratulations and thank you, Coborn’s and Logan, or your continued support of our event!

The next portion of Bob’s program was done via zoom!  Kevin Hunter spoke to us from the Dakota’s!  Kevin lived in Elk River for four years and has fond memories of the Taste of Elk River. 
 Kevin is mostly recovered from a very bad case of covid over the past year.  Kevin spent time in the US Army through the National Guard and in 2003, ran a program for new soldiers. While in Elk River, Kevin created a show - The Homework Guy Show, due to involvement in car sales in St. Cloud.  He was discouraged by their training and that is how The Homework Guy was born!  it was his way into sales of cars.  He was fired from a car dealership for being too honest!  In 2014, he moved out wast and launched the NW Digital News, still working live stream broadcasts.  While in Washington, the government shut down the state and paralyzed many businesses.  He was tired of a tyrant governor so they moved to South Dakota, 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. Life came to a halt in August 2021 when he got pneumonia which evolved to covid and he spent close to five months in the hospital.  His daughter Grace was born while he was hospitalized. After 59 days in bed he lost all of his strength.  He’s determined and he plowed through recovery/rehab. It was a frightening experience to walk for the first time again!  He works out daily and is getting his strength back!  He shifted conversation back to The Homework Guy. In 2020 there were new videos and he has 100,000 new subscribers in that one year!  There was a new video out and they have over 8 millions views.  This video is about fuel economy and how this capsule that goes in your gas tank, helps with fuel economy.  The you-tube video is called Tired of High Fuel Prices?   Kevin shared a story of his experiment with fuel capsules and that they show 22% improvement in fuel economy!*  Go the The Homework Guy channel to find the video!  Thank you for joining us Kevin!

Announcements

-HELP NEEDED!   Secretary/Note and Attendance Taker, Julie Fish, will not be able to be at Rotary on Thursday, August 18th and needs someone to take some notes and attendance!  If you can lend a hand, please let Julie know.

- RIVER CLEAN UP is on Wednesday, August 10.  Meet at the dam at 5 pm.  Bring boats, canoes and friends!  Contact Peter Reiner for further information!

- COMMITTEE SIGN UP sheets were sent around the room.  Please be sure to get your name on President Theresa’s roster!

- SURVEY SAYS . . . President Theresa told us to watch for the survey to come to you with some Rotary meeting questions.  It will only take a few minutes so please be sure to take the survey!

- PROGRAMS - Honorary Rotarian, Bruce Tyler is organized and ready to handle programs for the year!  He has the calendar out through next May!  If you have a program question, contact Bruce!

- CARD DRAW . . . a 7 of spades was pulled and no one had the match!

Happy Bucks!

- Dirk Barrett was happy the Heather Kliewer, Neil Gagnon and himself, were able to present the real check for $10,000 to Katie Shutusky and her group at Thumbs Up!   Thumbs Up was our significant donation recipient for the Taste of Elk River 2022!
- Bob Maxwell was $20 happy for his “shameless plug” speaker because Bob in getting into the fuel capsule business with Kevin Hunter!     * MPGXteme.com/rcmaxwell
- Tove Lichty was $10 happy because last week she was on the road and logged into the zoom for the Rotary meeting and was happy to give Bob Maxwell a “way to go Bob” for his efforts to keep us connected!  This is valuable to have! She was also happy for her nieces and nephews all under 5 years of age, who are happy to se her when she goes to visit!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy that her daughter made it safely back to India!  She was also happy to tell us that the t-rex new chamber mascot, is not her!
- Theresa Slominski was $5 happy that there are more people at our meeting today and it is great to see everyone!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do and Theresa adjourned out meeting!

image
 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - July 28, 2022
imageToday our new President Theresa Slominski ran our meeting.  John Osterman led our song and Mark Kuyava had a solid goosebump type prayer.

Guests: Rob Rydberg, husband and guest of Debbi Rydberg
                Katie Franashouk, General Manager and Event Center Director at Rockwoods
                *Katie is a guest of Debbi Rydberg and a prospective member

Attending:  Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Heather Kliewer, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Kat Sarff, Theresa Slominski, honoraries Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler


Theresa shared from the book that past president Tove Lichty left us.  She shared the story of how the 4 Way Test came to be.  In the 1930’s, Herbert J. Taylor from Chicago was challenged with a job to turn a company around and he created the 4 Way Test for his new team.  Everyone bought in, throughout the whole company and turned the business around to a worth of 2 million!  In 1943, when Herbert was the Rotary International President, he introduced this to the board and it has been going on since!

Program - Our program today was arranged by Rotarian Mark Kuyava.  He introduced us to Joe McKenzie.  Joe is the director of philanthropic partnerships for Cars for Neighbors and is also President-Elect for the Coon Rapids Rotary. Joe comes from a large family of 8 siblings and he and his wife have 20 year old triplets. He joined the board for Cars for Neighbors in 2016. This organization was founded by four Anoka County residents.  They are a resource for tech assistance for auto repairs.  They repair vehicles for those who can’t afford to fix them.  People are delaying car repairs because of the expense. Prices have gone up so people delay.  We all need reliable transportation for jobs and families suffer without having wheels to roll. Many rural areas need extra assistance as there are not many community ways to transport.  Joe shared stories of many successes through their organization.  Those they help are 3 to 1 female to male. They work with reputable garages around the area and help to build garage relationships with the auto owners.  Joe also helps with project CAR (clean air repair) where together they update emissions.  They have removed 6 tons of pollution in Anoka County!  Updating emissions also improves fuel efficiency.  He is the director fo philanthropic partnerships so his job is to further their mission.  They are also connected with the Anoka County Sheriff Department and wants to be connected with all schools, churches, etc. to help with outreach and to further their mission.  They also have a network of non-profit resources to help out. There is a lot of civic buy in.  Theresa thanked Joe for coming!

Announcements

- SOCIAL! tonight is the night!  Meet around 5 at Lupulin in Big Lake.
- River Clean Up - Mark your calendars to attend the River Clean Up which will be followed by a SOCIAL!  Lead river rafter, Pete Reiner informed us to meet in the parking lot on the south side of the dam at 5 pm.  A sign up sheet is going around so be sure to get your name on it so plans can be made to determine if we will have hotdogs or steaks for the SOCIAL!!!!  We are in need of canoes or boats.  We will travel from the dam to Bailey Point.
- President Theresa told us that the Board of Directors met last week and that we should watch for a very short survey that will be coming your way!  Please take the few minutes to answer the questions.
- President Theresa passed around a notebook with sign up sheets for all kinds of committees.  She asked if each of us would sign up for multiple committees.  This sign up will go around for a few weeks so please be sure to get your name down!
- Neil Gagnon, treasurer, had some Taste of Elk River information!  He shared that the team led by John Osterman, the Fighting Burbott are the #1 sales team.  The top three individual ticket sales goes to 3rd place-Dirk Barrett; 2nd place-Terry Bizal and 1st place-Julie Fish.  Neil also reported that the online ticket sales managed by Bob Maxwell, was a third of the total ticket sales!  Way to go Bob!
- Happy Birthday was sung to Pete Reiner!  Pete choose the $10 version but stopped the singing part way through because he only had $8!

Happy $$
-
Kat Sarff was happy to have survived the last 12 days at home with her two kids.  Her son had a random bad reaction to something yet to be determined and ended up in the hospital.  He was released just in time to go back in with his sister to have their adenoids out and tubes in their ears.  Her son is now healthy and they will celebrate his 5th birthday on Sunday.  She also had a shameless plug for an upcoming event for Sherburne Area United Way - Cheers for Reading Fundraiser on August 17th.  She has tickets!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy to borrow money from her hubs; happy for a party held on Saturday for her daughter who went back to India for work; happy for a full Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce golf tournament and a last minute “rotary team”!  She also had a shameless plug about the Chamber’s new leadership program for advanced leadership.
- Theresa Slominski was happy for her son and his new apartment that he will move to on Monday.  He’s had some life struggles but is now doing well and on the path to success!
- Julie Fish was happy for another successful fishing trip with her dad and four sisters, where in an hour and a half, they caught and released around 150 sunfish; happy to share a story about giving $40 to the food shelf and getting an unexpected match to make it $80; happy for Pete Reiner’s fabulous sense of humor!


imageCard draw was a six of spades and there was not a match!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do and President Theresa rang the dismissal bell!
image
Social at Lupulin Brewing 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - July 28, 2022
Join Zoom Meeting using this link. 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86264328169?pwd=TEhWTjEybmZya2ltVk5nZEM4WVQ4dz09

Meeting ID: 862 6432 8169
Passcode: 447147
Regular and Zoom Meeting - July 21, 2022
imageToday our new President, Theresa Slominski led our meeting!  Julie Fish led the song and Bruce Tyler had a solid prayer for us!

Attending
Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Mark Kuyava, Nicole Rasmussen, Beth Richards, Mason Schwartz (board meeting attendee), Theresa Slominski, honoraries David Anderson, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler, Stewart Wilson


Guest/Visiting Rotarian Alex Rothschild from Anoka Rotary. He is checking us out to perhaps transfer clubs as he lives in Otsego and out meeting time/date would work better with his work schedule.   Welcome!

Program
Today
our program was put together by Rotarian Bruce Tyler.    Bruce is our new Programs Coordinator and he wanted to have a conversation with us about the past, the present and the future of programs.  He gave us a brief history of how Elk River Rotary was when he joined in 1989 where he gave his 10 minute intro speech and that was the last time he spoke of his profession because that was a fineable offense and would cost you money.  Now, we can talk about our professions and that is why he wanted to be the Program Coordinator this year.  The days of fines are over and Bruce made it clear that programs about your profession are welcome!  In a few weeks, new Rotarian Dr. Laura Mullennex who is a chiropractor will be presenting on the benefits of chiropractic care. She will share about her field.  Bruce shared a list with us that he got with the help of Debbi Rydberg and made note that it is not complete yet.  The list is available for program ideas.  Bruce thought that this list would also be a very helpful tool for the Membership folks to use for recruiting.  Bruce shared the process and that the weekly schedule rotates alphabetically through the membership roster and it is currently in the “K’s” as in Mark Kuyava who is lined up for the program next week. Bruce will give Rotarians a month or two to get their programs together and reported to Bruce.  Bruce is also the person to reach out to if you need some ideas for your program. He then shared with us, what a good program is!  It is 15 to 20 minutes long. After that, he says to drag them off!  Lol!  We do have a lot to do in our meetings so sticking to the time frame is very important. When you bring in a speaker, our club will pick up the speaker’s lunch tab.  Neil Gagnon, treasurer will handle that and in his absence, Julie Fish, secretary will take care of it.  On occasion we have multiple speakers for the program and we pay for their lunches as well.  Some times something special will come up and a particular speaker that you may have in mind, needs a certain date, feel free to contact the person on that date to see if they will trade with you.  Once the details are worked out, contact Bruce and he will take it from there.  Bruce talked about programs that have not been done for years are off-site tours such as lunch at Guardian Angels Dining Site or Sherburne County Jail lunch and tour.  He asked us to be creative and to come up with new and fresh ideas.  Thank you, Bruce for taking on the Program Coordinator position!

Announcements
-
SOCIAL!  This week, Thursday, July 28th we will gather at Lupulin Brewing Co in Big Lake to socialize starting around 5 pm and ending unknown. There will be a food truck there called Thai 1 On. The sign up sheet will be sent around the room again on the 28th but if you missed the sign up, please come!

-
HELP IS NEEDED!  Secretary/Scribe/Note Taker Julie Fish will not be at the Rotary meeting on Thursday, August 18th and is looking for a volunteer to take notes and attendance that day.  If you can assist, please contact Julie!  Your help would be much appreciated!

- RIVER CLEAN UP!  The date should be announced soon for the River Clean Up which is held in August.  Pete Reiner will let us know a date soon!  We are planning a SOCIAL! to follow the clean up efforts.

Happy Bucks!

- Theresa Slominski started us off!  She is happy that we have all read in the newspaper that she is retiring from her job at the end of the year!  She is happy that the new person taking her place has started the job and it gives them a nice window of time for training!  His name is Mark Hanson and she will bring him to meet us soon!  She was also happy for Bruce’s program today!
- Heather Kliewer was happy that her daughter who lives in Georgia and got engaged two years ago, got married at the courthouse on Monday!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy that her step son is at week 6 of basic training! Two more weeks!  She was happy for a truck successfully sold on Marketplace and for going camping this weekend in Moose Lake. Final happy buck was for an official wedding date of October 29, 2022!  Flights are booked!
- Bonnie Koste was happy to be back as she has been gone a bit.  She is glad to be back!  She was also happy that her daughter is going to be going to college in Mankato this fall!
- Beth Richards was happy that last Saturday her sons graduation party went off without a hitch and this weekend she is leaving for Tennessee to the National Order of the Arrow Conference for Scouts of America!


imageCard Draw was a five of hearts and no one had the match!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!  Theresa rang the dismissal bell!
image
 
 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - July 14, 2022
imageToday was our Passing of the Gavel meeting where current President Tove Lichty will pass the leadership gavel to President Elect Theresa Slominski!   Tove began our meeting for us, wearing a mask and sharing with us that upon their return from their trip to Sweden, her husband, Adam, tested positive for covid, so she is being proactive and wearing a mask!

Tove welcomed our guest and prospective new transferring member, Marv Sorvala.  Rumor has it that Marv is wanting to join our club!  Yahoo!!

Attending
Dirk Barrett, Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, Dr. Laura Mullennex, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski and honorary Rotarians - Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson


Program
Tove
began the Passing of the Gavel program with a reflection on the past year, to share our accomplishments, hours and energies put in and a long list of reasons to celebrate today!   Her year in review . . . A year ago, we were gearing up for the Taste of Elk River (September 2021 event); we had service events and socials such as serving with Community Table; river clean up; a social at Aegir; dictionary give away; bowled for polio plus and raised $4,264 as a club and it all was for polio plus, which was matched two for one by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; finalized our donation giving, which Tove shared a very long list of recipients that we donated to; we did a service project at CAER; had a great holiday celebration; the district hosted a Taste of Rotary event;  Magnus Veterans Foundation received a grant for their people transporter (thank you Heather and Casey); held two visioning sessions; service project with Thumbs Up; service project serving hot cocoa for United we Shiver; the February foundation fundraiser with matching funds; service project with Open Doors for Youth and Ruff Start Dog Rescue; the May 2022 Taste of Elk River; a social held at Tove’s home; and added six new members!  New member Dr. Laura Mullennex was present so Tove called her up and read the new member proclamation and presented her with her official name badge and lapel pin.  Tove shared that she had received a book about the history of Rotary and that she was going to donate it to our club and it will be in the cabinet for anyone to use for reference!  She was floored when she read the list of world-wide Rotarians, which include presidents, prime ministers and more!  Tove shared that we also gave hundreds of hours and gave financially like never before.  Together we gave $9,724, which is three times our average giving.  $4264 was raised for polio plus and $5460 was giving to the annual fund.  There were 27 unique donors from our club, and we usually have five.  Fund raisers were
asked for giving and we followed through.  In the history of our club, we have given $103,600.  Tove then recognized a few Paul Harris Fellows and called up Heather to receive her new Paul Harris Fellow recognition name badge; Stewart Wilson to receive his second and third PHF pin; Julie Fish to receive her third (actually fourth, but she gave one away in 2013); Cal Portner to receive his third and Tove received her pin for her fourth time PHF.  Next Tove thanked and called up the following to receive a token of her appreciation - Nicole Rasmussen, past president; Julie Fish, secretary; Neil Gagnon, treasurer; Dirk Barrett, director-Taste of ER x2; Molly Hanson (not present), director-Youth; Heather Kliewer, director-membership and grants; Theresa Slominski, president elect.  Tove called up President-Elect Theresa and shared that leading is constant work and she is excited for the future of our club, led by Theresa Slominski and that Tove will be here to cheer and support her!   She thanked Theresa for accepting the Presidency and wished her good luck and passed the gavel over to her! Theresa recognized Tove with a personalized gift of appreciation for her past service as President.  She presented her with a new Past President name badge and lapel pin. Theresa shared that Tove will be a tough act to follow and is looking forward to it with the leadership of President Elect Debbi Rydberg and Taste of Elk River new chair Mason Schwartz.

Announcements
- SOCIAL! Save the date and get your name on the sign up sheet!  Bring a spouse, family, friends on Thursday, July 28 at Lupulin Brewing in Big Lake.  They are a long time Taste of Elk River vendor so let’s show our thanks with our attendance!  They will have a food truck - Thai 1 On, so get it on your agenda and come and have a great time with your fellow Rotarians!

- CAER Classic Golf Tourney is coming up on Friday, July 29 at 8:30 at the Elk River Golf Club and they still have some openings for golfers and are looking for some silent auction items.  Contact Heather Kliewer if you want to golf or have an auction item.
Heather also reported that the food shelf has been super busy.  They are serving about 55 families in two hours and are up 28% of those served and of those, 73% are new families.  It is a tough situation in our world.   If you have some funds to donate or food to donate, CAER is always grateful for your gifts.

image- Card draw was a 6 of hearts and the man with the horseshoe in his back pocket, John Osterman, had the matching card so he won half the pot of money and the other half is donated to our foundation funds!  Thank you all for playing!  A new fund starts next week!

- We sang a fabulous Happy Birthday to Cal Portner!


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Treasurer Neil Gagnon shared with us that the Taste of Elk River net will be around $41,000 and that the Fighting Burbott team sold the most tickets by far!  “They killed it!” Stay tuned for more information in the near future!

Happy Bucks
- Julie Fish was happy for her 27th great to be born!  A nephew, Dawson Dane Plifka, born 7-11-22.  Mom, dad and baby are doing well!
- Theresa Slominski was happy for the passing of the gavel; happy her daughter has moved to her new place and started her new job; happy her son is moving soon and will be getting a cat!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy for a vacation for relaxing and a girls weekend; for kayaking; for her step son still being in boot camp; for figuring out said stop son’s boot camp graduation schedule/flights; and a prayer request for a friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  Prayers for her friend Connie, please.
- Dr. Laura Mullennex had a happy $5 because she has been officially inducted into Elk River Rotary!   Congratulations Dr. Laura!
- Cal Portner was happy for some group buys tickets for events and he was able to attend the Rod Stewart/Cheap Trick concert, Twins baseball games; MN Loons soccer game and a trip to Canterbury!
- Marv Sorvala was happy for a vacation in Utah!
- Tove Lichty was happy that her presidential year is done!  She was also happy for a wonderful trip to Sweden with her husband and they are still married after driving cross country with a foreign speaking GPS!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy for also traveling with her spouse and that they are both still alive.  Her hubby hates her car and is no longer allowed to drive it ever again!  She was also happy that for the first time ever, the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce golf tournament is sold out! She also had a buck for a fun trip to Kansas to see family and celebrate the 4th of July!

Together with our new President Theresa Slominski, we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do and she gave the dismissal bell and nice ring!

image
 
 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting June 30, 2022 
My apologies - If anyone tried to access the meeting today on Zoom there were internet connection issues at CHOW and I was unable to get it to work. Hopefully it will be corrected by the 14th.
 
Attending
imageTerry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Mark Kuyava, Dr. Laura Mullennex, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, honorary Dave Anderson, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson

Today our song was led by John Osterman, a very solid message was given by Neil Gagnon and our meeting was led by President Elect, Theresa Slominski.  She welcomed our guests!

Guests
- Marvin Sorvala.  Marv
recently moved to Big Lake and is a past Roseville Rotarian where he served as president and was a member for 22 years!  Welcome!
- Danielle, daughter and guest of Theresa Slominski
- Amanda, daughter and guest of Debbi Rydberg


Program
Neil Gagnon
arranged for our program today and we had a nice group from Sherburne County.  Past Rotarian and forever a Paul Harris Fellow, Dan Weber; Jessica Barthel, new economic    dClick to Homeevelopment person at the County; past Rotarian, past Rotary      president and forever a Paul Harris Fellow, Amanda Larson were with us.  Amanda began our program today as she leads Sherburne County Health and Human Amanda Larson photoServices.  She introduced us to her co-worker, Jody to tell us about a future idea of a Family Resource Center.  She explained what it is - a community or school based welcome hub of support, service and opportunities to families with needs.  There are 3,000 of them throughout the nation, but Minnesota has only a few.  Some of what they do is to enhance parenting skills, foster healthy development and well being of children, youth and families, prevent child abuse and more.  The center would provide support at no or low cost for participants.  It would reflect and be responsive to community needs and interests and would be very flexible.  This type of center would build a community of peer support for families to develop social connections that would reduce isolation and stress. They shared a few visuals with us showing what type of connections can be made.  Scott County has recently pulled a center together and they are researching their process as they proceed with a process for Sherburne County.  Jody shared some financial stats with us and then opened for question/answer time.  President Elect, Theresa, thanked Jody and Amanda for coming and presenting!

Announcements

- NO MEETING ON THURSDAY, JULY 7TH!  HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
- Nicole Rasmussen is on the look out for Dirk Barrett, as she is still keeping his bottle of wine that John Houlton brought him for a gift. She is also safe keeping the bottle of wine for the person with the highest ticket sales for the Taste of Elk River.  Today, she is turning in her manager ticket box to Treasurer Neil Gagnon so he can tally things up and get our final Taste of Elk River 2022 numbers to us.
-
Mark your calendars for the next SOCIAL! It will be held on Thursday, July 28th at Lupulin in Big Lake.  They have a food truck - Thai One On and some very delicious beverages!

Bullhide Buckaroo 6X Premium Wool Cowboy HatHappy Buckeroooooos

- Debbi Rydberg was happy that her daughter Amanda is her guest today. Amanda is home forthe summer.  Debbi was happy for a Tea Party Bridal Showe
held at the Mad Hatter in Anoka and was also happy to be heading to Kansas City
to visit her family over the upcoming weekend.- Stewart Wilson was happy that he sat down to watch the Twins and was checking his emails and was delighted to see that Bob Maxwell had made a video of our meeting and shared it.  It was a meeting that Stew had missed so he was happy to watch it on demand!  Yay, Bob!
- Heather Kliewer was happy for our presentation today!  She was also happy that her grandson from Georgia came to visit but sad that he threw up in his bed!
- Nicole Rasmussen had bucks.  Apology bucks for missing the last SOCIAL! At Tove’s house. Happy to have the next week off work and to relax.  Also happy for her soon to be step son to still be in training in San Antonio where they will travel in August for his graduation and her final buck was that her fiancé Marc has moved in and it is going well!
- Theresa Slominski was happy that her daughter was with her today and happy for the 4th of July!


imageCard draw was a 6 of clubs and there was not a winner.

Together we recited the 4 Way Test and Theresa gave a nice solid bell ring!
image
 

 
President Tove Lichty led our meeting today.
 

imageAttending
Julie Fish, Heather Kliewer, Mark Kuyava, John Osterman, Beth Richards, Kat Sarff, Theresa Slominski, honorary Dave Anderson and Bob Maxwell
 

Program
Today our program was about Big Brothers Big Sisters program.  We met Emmitt Edwards who is a recruiter from the St. Cloud
office.  Also with him was Emily.  BBBS is a one on one mentor program for youth and they received referrals from schools, friends and churches.  Adult mentors in the program are referred to as “bigs” and the youth is referred to by “littles”.  Emmitt’s job is to recruit and get the bigs and littles together.  It is touching to see the youth be impacted by the adult volunteers.  Their vision statement is that all youth achieve to their full potentials.  They have been around for over 120 years and the St. Cloud location was started in 1969.  They have 14 staff plus many, many volunteers who help with committees and boards.  They serve ages 5 to 21 and serve over 600 youth per year.  In our area there are 10 matches and they have 30 to 40 littles waiting for their bigs. Most of the littles have experienced let downs and abuse in their lives and each little is unique.  A big takes 2 to 4 hours of time a few times a month to connect with the little.  It is a 12 month commitment, but most relationships go on for many years. They have many programs - high school, sports buddies, bigs on campus, and a lot of programs to change the lives of the littles.  87% of littles feel that bigs impact their lives.  84% of littles express that they have high self esteem. There is a lot of opportunity in our area.  On average, they have around 100 littles looking for their bigs. Check out their website - BigDefenders.org
For further information, please contact Emmitt at 320-258-4537 or email him - emmitt@bigdefenders.org
President Tove thanked them for coming!
 
Announcements

Dates to Note:
- Thursday, June 30 - President Elect Theresa Slominski will lead our meeting!
- Thursday, July 7 - NO MEETING due to 4th of July Holiday
- Thursday, July 14 - Passing of the Gavel Meeting - Please be sure to attend!

 
The SOCIAL! was held at Tove’s beautiful home in Maple Grove.  She thanked those who attended!  We had great food and thank you to our great host, hostess and kitty hostess!
 
Bob Maxwell emailed out two videos last week for you to look at.  One is the recorded Paul Harris Fellow meeting from June 16th and the other is an amazing video that Bob put together showing the highlights from the Taste of Elk River 2022!   Thank you Bob!
 

imageCard Draw - a 4 of diamonds was drawn and John Osterman had the match!  However, there were only $2 in the box, so he declined and rolled things forward!
 
Happy $$

- Bob Maxwell was happy about his granddaughter who was at basketball camp at St. Thomas and was doing well!
- Julie Fish was happy for the successful SOCIAL! at Tove, Adam and Blanche’s home. She was also happy for Theresa Slominski as president elect and happy for Bob Maxwell for all of the amazing and kind things that he does!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy for the SOCIAL! at Tove’s also and was happy for an ice cream social that the Elk River Chamber of Commerce hosted!
- Kat Sarff was happy to have survived Grandma’s Marathon and her kids’ daycare closing.  She was happy that today, the kids didn’t cry!
- Tove Lichty was $20 happy. She shared a story about running into Rotarian Kevin Gardner at Grandview Lodge and that she learned about his custom built fiberglass boat.  Tove was also happy for fun and for her mom’s recipe for Waikiki meatballs as they were a hit!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do and President Tove rang her last official dismissal bell!   Where does the time go????
 
image
 
Meeting Recording June 23, 2022
 
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/h74DLeV5_qjGi1goa8ixv5pe4HOoxYdENrM3SA8-ZXXS6URrUXR7RK4OvfLJ2juz.G0NkZTUfdHr-_rRY
Passcode: 2f#$v1iq
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting June 16, 2022
imageOur meeting today was led by President Tove Lichty. 
 
Attending
Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Tove Lichty, Dr. Laura Mullennex, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, honorary Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson
 

Guests
- Doug Kliewer, guest and husband of Heather Kliewer
- Adam Lichty, guest and husband of Tove Lichty
- Katie Shatusky with Thumbs Up, guest of Heather Kliewer
- Don Horvath, past Rotarian, Paul Harris Fellow and all around great guy!

 
Visiting Rotarian
Casey Mahon, Minnesota Military Rotary
 

Program
Today was a special day because we honored two outstanding people that continuously show Service
Above Self in their lives with the high achievement award of Paul Harris Fellow.   Long time PHF, Stewart Wilson, led our program.  He thanked us for coming and shared some history about Paul Harris and who he was.  Rotary is now 117 years old and has over 104 million members!  There are 46,000 clubs throughout the world with the goal of providing service to others!  A $1,000 contribution from our Elk River Rotary Club was contributed to Rotary International as a gift in a special persons name, in which, they are named a Paul Harris Fellow.  Who was Paul Harris?  Paul was born in 1868 in Racine, Wisconsin.  When three years old, he moved to Vermont to live with his grandparents as his parents were too poor to raise him.  He was a prankster in his younger days but settled a bit in Iowa and earned his law degree.  While schooling, he had numerous jobs.  After attaining his law degree, he lived in Chicago and in 1905, he suggested to a few of his business friends that they should meet weekly for lunch and this is how Rotary was started.  Their first service project was to build public toilets in Chicago.  This group had ambitions to expand Rotary throughout the world.  San Francisco was the location of the second club and by 1910, there were 15 clubs, including St. Paul, Minnesota.  The St. Paul club chartered the club in Winnipeg, Canada and that is what made Rotary an international organization. And now, over 1.4 million members!  The Rotary Foundation began in 1917 with a $26.50 donation from Arch Klumph from the Cleveland Rotary.  He was president of Rotary International and at the convention in Atlanta, they established the endowment fund - Rotary International Organization and started accepting funds. Our $2,000 donation goes to this fund. The first Elk River Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow was Bob Kemper in 1980 and since then, we continue with dedicated Rotarians.  Stewart turned it over to Debbi Rydberg to share with us who one of the recipients is!   Debbi shared that it was her great honor to nominate and call upon Casey Mahon. They both came to town about the same time and have stayed connected.  Casey has served on the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Elk River Rotary Board of Directors, Energy City, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, Magnus Veterans Foundation, retired Air Force and is a member of the Minnesota Military Rotary.  He is from Detroit, Michigan and has a wife and two sons. Casey is an all around good guy and we want to honor him for his work and determination to get a District grant for us to help purchase the people mover for Magnus Veterans Foundation.  This was our first club grant!  Congratulations Casey!  This is a well deserved award! Casey spoke and shared that he was beyond humbled, stunned and this was unexpected!  What they (he and Heather) did for the grant was done with Heather’s work!  He thanked us, he misses us and he is truly humbled!
Tove Lichty was next to introduce out second recipient - Heather Kliewer!  Heather joined Rotary in 2019 and she wanted to join because of the Taste of Elk River event!  She is from Elk River and is a part of Elk River.  She has been the executive director at the CAER Food Shelf for five years and before that was an employee of Sherburne County Health and Human Services and ISD 728 reading corp.  She has five children and five grand children and has been married to Doug for 24 years. She is very engaged in our community.  She truly provides service above self!  Tove shared that Heather’s best “service” is she offers her smile and her kindness when needed.  Heather worked endlessly on the District grant also and shared that she has learned so much more about rotary and all who helped with the grant.  Tove told Heather thank you from Elk River Rotary for doing our first grant!  Heather spoke and thanked us and especially thanked Casey.  Rotary is more than she ever expected!  
Back to Stewart - we have honored two tremendous people today as they join others in the room to create a great pride and gratefulness and he looks forward to upcoming years to serve!
Passcode: 6i^s?JM0
Bob Maxwell shared a recap of the Taste of ER 2022, while we enjoyed our meals.  Great video Bob!
TASTE Video:
 TASTE of the TASTE 2022.mp4
 
Announcements

- SOCIAL! Is on the horizon!  Next week, Wednesday, June 23, 2022 our social will be held from 5 to 7 pm at the home of club President Tove Lichty, her husband Adam and their roommate kitty, Blanche.  Their address is 17217 - 79th Place, Maple Grove. A sign up sheet has been going around for a few weeks so be sure to get your name on it!
- There will be a brief Board of Directors meeting today following our regular meeting.
- July 7th - NO MEETING due to the 4th of July Holiday!
- July 14th - Passing of the Gavel Meeting!  Please be sure to attend as we thank Tove Lichty for her service and she passes the gavel to Theresa Slominski to lead us through the 2022-23 year!

- Happy Birthday today to Greg Schultz!
 
 
 
 

image- Card game - a 9 of spades was drawn and Heather Kliewer had the matching card so will receive half the pot.  The other half, goes to the Rotary Foundation!
 

Happy Bucks!

- Pete Reiner was happy to recognize guest Don Horvath for all of the work he continues to volunteer for the Taste of Elk River electrical duties!  Thanks Don!
- Casey Mahon was happy to be here!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy to share that Casey Mahon is cancer free!  She was also happy that her daughter, Amanda, is home for the summer and also happy for an upcoming bridal shower for her daughter-in-law to be!
- Nicole Rasmussen had $10 happy!  Congrats to Casey and Heather; her step son to be graduated and went to the Air Force for basic training in Texas; her fiancé Marc is officially moving in this weekend and they have set the date of 10/15/22 to be married in Florida!
- Julie Fish was happy for her oldest great niece to graduate from high school and was also very happy for Casey Mahon and Heather Kliewer to join the Paul Harris Fellow club!
- Tove Lichty had a happy $5!  She brought her husband Adam to our meeting and then they are on their way for a three day work conference at Grand View Lodge!
- Heather Kliewer was happy for Casey to receive the PHF and was happy to be leaving tomorrow to go to Colorado for a week for a concert at Red Rock and to visit with her granddaughters!
- Bonnie Koste was happy that she invited Heather to join Rotary!  She is inspirational!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do and Tove rang the dismissal bell.

 
image
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting June 9, 2022
 
imageToday we had a summer crowd - some were here some were not!  Our meeting was led by President Tove Lichty.  She thanked Nicole Rasmussen for filling in for her last week.

Attending
Julie Fish, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Pete Reiner, Theresa Slominski, honorary Dave Anderson, Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler


Guest
Marv Sorvala, past Roseville Rotarian and Club President (2008/09) who moved to Big Lake in 2019 and is “club shopping”! Welcome Marv!


Program
Today our program was arranged by Heather Kliewer.  She introduced us to Ken Crabb.  Ken is a retired OBGYN doctor and has delivered over 3,000 babies!  He has served on many volunteer groups including medical groups, rotary and Boy Scouts of America.  He is an Eagle Scout and was awarded the Silver Beaver Award through scouts.  He has many other awards and is a past rotary club president to the St. Paul Rotary club.  He was District Governor in 2004/05.  He serves on the membership committee at the district level and came today to help us learn How To Grow Rotary.  If we aspire to grow our club, we need to do three things.  1. Maintain current membership.  2. Recruit new members.  3. Have a successful onboarding program for new members.  He shared ideas and information with us to expand our membership and to have a plan.  He suggested maybe an Alumni Day and invite previous members and award recipients to a meeting.  Diversity makes for a stronger club. He had us split into two groups  to discuss what we can do to increase membership.  When we came back as one group, representatives from each group shared the conversation.  The keys to success are:  establish urgency; identify a champion; engage a planning committee; let them know you mean it; make it feel like a party; engage all members and keep it fun!

Announcements

Next week we will honor two new Paul Harris Fellows.  Please be sure to attend this important meeting!- Wednesday, June 22 from 5 to 7 at the home of Tove, Adam and Blanche Lichty, 17217 79th Place, Maple Grove.  A sign up sheet is going around.  Please get your name on it and bring a guest!
- Thursday, July 7th - NO MEETING!  Have a great 4th of July!
- Thursday, July 14th - Passing of the gavel meeting where Tove Lichty will hand the gavel over to Theresa Slominski!
- Tove shared that she received a note from a family member to Tom McNair, fellow Rotarian who is resting in peace.  The note was to thank us for a very nice facebook post about Tom, that Bob Maxwell put together.  If you haven’t seen it, go look for it as it is something very special from Bob!  Thank you Bob!

(PS - They also sent along a $200.00 donation)
 
Happy Birthday to Bruce “Buck” Tyler!  He chose the $5 version and it was awful!
 
 

imageCard Draw was a 10 of diamonds and there was not a match!

Happy Bucks!
- Heather Kliewer was happy for representing Elk
River Rotary and attending the Ivan Sand Community School graduation ceremony and presenting a scholarship.  It was a touching event and the scholarship is a super cool gift to those students!
- John Osterman had a sad $5 as he shared that he will not be here next week for the Paul Harris Fellow awards as he will be in a golf tournament for Great River Young Life.
- Julie Fish was happy that gas is still under $5/gallon!
- Bob Maxwell was happy for the nice note received from Tom McNair’s family!
- Ken Crabb was $5 happy to have had a chance to attend the Rotary International Convention in Houston recently,  He encourages us all to attend a convention!
- Tove Lichty was happy for part of the international convention where 40 people talked about the state of the world.  She was also happy to have resolved a math problem from her class at 3:45 am on a Saturday and she passed the test!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
 
image

 
Join Zoom Meeting July 9, 2022
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83019457488?pwd=dm5MbHQ0Rmt2K0x1SDNxbnB3cXdUZz09

Meeting ID: 830 1945 7488
Passcode: 475464
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting June 2, 2022
imageToday our meeting was led by past president, Nicole Rasmussen.  She also led the song and Kevin Gardner had a sold prayer for us.
 
Attending
Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Pete Reiner, Beth Richards, Bob Maxwell and Stewart Wilson

 
John Houlton from First Bank Elk River stopped by to thank us for the great event.  He shared some numbers with us and said that this is by far their best marketing gig!  He had a few prizes!  Bob Maxwell received a gift card for selling more than 86 VIP tickets; Dirk Barrett received a bottle of wine for being the Taste chair and Neil Gagnon received a bottle of wine for handling the finances.  John has a bottle of wine for the person with the most sales which will be determined soon!
 

Our program today was arranged by Kevin Gardner and he had his friend and a visiting Rotarian - Bill Goodwin.  Bill shared a power point presentation for us about the law of intentionality.  He has worked with the Maxwell Leadership team for many years.  He shared a couple of books with our group.  His presentation was fabulous and share all kinds of helpful tips to keep us motivated and keep us moving forward in our lives.  He also asked us to think about what are we doing to develop others?  Everything worthwhile is up til . . . all the way!  He can be reached at 651-331-1502 or bill@prioritylivingmn.com
 

Announcements

- Social! Wednesday June 22 from 5 to 7 at the home of Tove and Adam Lichty, 17217 79th Place, Maple Grove. The sign up sheet was sent around and will be sent around for a couple more weeks.
- Taste of Elk River - no update.  Ticket managers - get your money into Neil Gagnon, Treasurer!   Pete Reiner enlightened us with a rough figure of about $40,000 has been raised over the years through the Taste!
 
Happy $

- Stewart Wilson was grateful and happy for the zoom set up so he could join us over the winter months while he was in Florida.  He encourages everyone to attend via zoom if you are not able to come in person.  Shout out to Bob!
- Heather Kliewer had a second to the above!
- Pete Reiner thanked Bob Maxwell for all he does and that he loves his South Dakota shirt!
- Stewart Wilson had another happy buck for a new dog!  A British lab, named Storm who is 7 years old.
- Neil Gagnon was happy for an upcoming family trip next week to Gooseberry Falls and the North Shore!
- Bob Maxwell was happy to tell us he has the video completed for the Taste 2022 event!
- Nicole Rasmussen had a happy buck for Bob as well and another for her daughter who got a job!
 
A Jack of hearts was pulled for the card game and there was not a winner!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test!
 
image
 
Mark Your Calendars
- Be sure to attend the Rotary meeting on Thursday, June 16th, when we will induct two Rotarians as Paul Harris Fellows!  It is a $1,000 award to a couple of very special people, to show our appreciation for all that they do for Rotary!
 
 
 
 Join Zoom Meeting - July 2, 2022 
 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting May 26, 2022
imageToday President Tove Lichty led our meeting! 

Attending
Dirk Barrett, Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Brandon Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, Cal Portner, Robin Skinner, Theresa Slominski, honorary Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler


Program
Today, Rotarian Molly Hanson arranged for us to hear
Bruce Messelt for webfrom Bruce Messelt, Sherburne County Administrator.  Bruce has spoken to us in the past and came today to give us an update!  Bruce is a past Rotarian from a previous location and is interested in joining our club!  Membership Committee will take note!  Bruce shared a handout of his presentation and highlighted some of the most important things.  Sherburne Conty shows a steady population growth and is one of the fastest growing counties in Minnesota.  The cities in the County showing the largest growth are Big Lake and Becker and Sherburne County also boasts two of the largest townships in Minnesota.  There is steady tax base growth with new construction along with apartment/rentals and industrial growth. Bruce shared things with us about township platting activity, home values and the overheated housing market where homes are selling much higher than the asking price. Sometimes over 106%!  The budget and levy history was next then on to budgeting factors for 2023.  He talked about the ARPA funds for 2021-2024 and the how the funds will be allocated.  Sherco’s transition was discussed.  Unit 2 is expected to be decommissioned in 2023 and Unit 1 in 2026 and the final Unit 3 in 2030. He gave us information regarding the new Election and Political redistributing and had a map showing the changes coming up.  In the fall, there will be 4 county commissioner elections due to the redistricting. There is a lot of energy and activity in our community and Sherburne county has a bright future!

Announcements

- Please remember to sign up for the upcoming SOCIAL! which will be held on Wednesday, June 22, starting at 5 pm at the home of Tove and Adam Lichty at 17217 79th Place N, Maple Grove.  The sign up sheet will go around for a few more weeks so be sure to get your name on it!
- An 85th birthday party is being planned for Rotarian Marilyn VanPatten-Chuba, by her husband, Denny!  It will be held Friday, June 10th at Rockwoods.  4 to 5 pm Social Hour, 6 to 8 pm Buffet Dinner.  If you would like to join in on the fun, please RSVP to Denny at 763-238-1501 by June 7th!  No gifts please - your presence is the present!

- Happy Birthday was sung to Heather Kliewer!  She picked the $10 version!

- Thursday, July 7th, we will NOT be meeting!
 
image- Card Game - a 3 of clubs was drawn and there was not a match . . . Roll it!
 
- Taste of Elk River Update from Dirk Barrett - It went well!  Clean up went very well, lickity split!  The event was well attended and the community appreciates it!  The VIP tent feels that it was their largest crowd ever!  Bob Maxwell shared that he sold $7615 in online sales, which is not a record breaker.  Dirk shared the “chip” count from the vendors and discussed who the winners would be.  The Silent Auction reports $1000 increase - thank you Heather Kliewer!  The Liquor Raffles sold $2200!  Please get your ticket sales items to your team manager ASAP and stay tuned for further updates!

Happy $$
- Molly Hanson
was happy to have a long weekend with Friday and Monday off!
- Theresa Slominski was happy for the upcoming holiday!
- Cal Portner was happy for the end of his dad’s radiation treatment so he can ring the bell!
- Julie Fish was happy that her dad’s 90th birthday celebration was fabulous!
- Tove Lichty was happy that she has cash!  She was happy to be going to Iowa to visit her parents and other family over the holiday weekend!
 - Mark Kuyaya was happy for his friend’s successful fund raiser party for Involve MN!  They served over 200 people at the wild game feed!   
- Bruce Tyler was happy to pay $1 to tell us an Iowa story when he worked for Central Minnesota Jobs and Training, many years back!

Mark Your Calendars

- Be sure to attend the Rotary meeting on Thursday, June 16th, when we will induct two Rotarians as Paul Harris Fellows!  It is a $1,000 award to a couple of very special people, to show our appreciation for all that they do for Rotary!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!  President Tove rang the bell for dismissal!
 
 
image
 
 
 
Join Zoom Meeting Link - May 26, 2022
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81073332329?pwd=YWtsTW9Sblp4NXIzYU10U0ZnMGkxUT09
Meeting ID: 810 7333 2329
Passcode: 596257
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting May 19, 2022
imagePresident Tove Lichty led our meeting today.  She welcomed a visiting Rotarian, Harold, from the Anoka Rotary Club.  Harold stopped by to give us the opportunity to purchase a raffle ticket for $10 to win a $3,000 travel voucher or $2,000 cash!

Attending
Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Kevin Gardner, Brandon Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, Dr. Laura Mullennex, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, honorary Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler, Marilyn VanPatten-Chuba and Stewart Wilson!  Great attendance!


Honorary member, Marilyn VanPatten-Chuba was with us today and shared that her husband, Denny, is throwing her a birthday party and we are all invited!  It will be on Friday, June 10th at Rockwoods.  4 to 5 pm Social Hour, 6 to 8 pm Buffet Dinner.  If you would like to join in on the fun, please RSVP to 763-238-1501 by June 7th!  No gifts please - your presence is the present!

Program
Today is our Taste of Elk River event!  Time to celebrate!  Chair, Dirk Barrett
, shared some thoughts with us.  Set up is going great and there are some things to do yet, such as tables, signage, front end set up, tags on vendor tables, chip pails on vendor tables, get ice and water from Cub Foods to the fair grounds.  Everyone needs to be there no later than 4 pm.  Parking for Rotarians is the same as the vendor gate off Joplin.  Debbi Rydberg has the work list and can get you a copy if you should need one.  The silent auction area from 7 to 9 pm will be rockin’ as The Loons will be playing some tunes for us.  We were all reminded to drink water and stay hydrated.  There was not a ticket sales update.  Tove Lichty reported that she did an interview on BOB FM!  A discussion was held about the process of checking ID’s.
PLEASE GET YOUR TICKETS AND MONIES TURNED IN TO YOUR TEAM MANAGER AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN so Treasurer Neil Gagnon can get the numbers confirmed.  PLEASE DON’T DILLY DALLY!

There were no birthdays but Stewart Wilson was reminded of his anniversary.  He shared that he and his wife will celebrate 45 years with dinner and the new Downton Abby movie!

imageCard Game - a 4 of hearts was drawn and Marilyn VanPatten-Chuba was the winner!

Happy Bucks!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy to have three Rotarians and her husband assist with washing the 1007 beverage glasses for the Taste at Chow; she is excited for Theresa’s leadership and she was thankful to Dirk for all of his hard work leading us into the 2022 Taste.
- Dirk Barrett was happy that David Vinje came through with a wheel barrow for our event!
- Marilyn VanPatten-Chuba was happy that she has learned that she does not have to have hip surgery, it was her back causing the issue and physical therapy is helping her to feel much better!
- Theresa Slominski was happy for her daughter’s graduation from college on Saturday and moving her home and then a move to Mankato!  She was also happy for the great weather today!
- Nicole Rasmussen was $10 happy as she was excited to share that she and Marc got engaged over the weekend!  She said YES!
- Julie Fish was happy for her dad’s 90th birthday coming up on Sunday!
- Heather Kliewer was happy for Nicole’s happy news!
- Pete Reiner was happy to report that he stopped at Elk River Printing to see Julie Fish and although she wasn’t there, he was liking the looks of the remodel and said it looks sharp!
- Marilyn VanPatten-Chuba was happy to invite us to her birthday party and asked us to be sure to RSVP so they don’t run out of food!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the JUNE SOCIAL!
Wednesday, June 22, from 5 to 8 pm at the home of Tove Lichty, 17217 - 79th Place N, Maple Grove, Minnesota!  Hope to see you all there! 


Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
image
 
 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting May 12, 2022
 
Today our meeting was ran by President Tove Lichty.

imageAttending
Dirk Barrett, Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Kevin Gardner, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, Dr. Laura Mullennex, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, and honoraries Dave Anderson, Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson (welcome home, Stewart!)


We welcomed a visiting Rotarian - Dave Christian, from Rogers Rotary. He visited us to let us know about their upcoming golf tournament, Tuesday, June 14th at Fox Hollow Golf Club.  He had raffle tickets to sell for a couple of different events.  It is always fun to see Dave!

John Houlton, First Bank Elk River visited us again to pump up our ticket sales!  He brought a couple of door prizes.  Golf balls went to John Osterman, an embossed portfolio went to Debbi Rydberg and Tove Lichty won a bottle of wine from Pour called Hell Ya! and Bob Maxwell won a wine box with tools and a bottle of French wine for being the lead in ticket sales with 70 Taste tickets and 15 VIP tickets online.  John thanked us for allowing First Bank the opportunity to sponsor the Private Tasting Tent!

Commissioner Cal Portner shared a couple of baseball stories with us and team managers, Terry Bizal and John Osterman were present to give us team updates.

Program
Dirk Barrett
led us in our program today which was
Taste of Elk River updates.  He highlighted a few things. Pre-selling tickets is top priority.  Heather Kliewer gave us a Silent Auction update. We need more items.  She suggested that we hit up the restaurants that are not able to be vendors at our event and we could do a basket of gift cards.  She has many communications in the process but is not hearing back from of the usual folks.  She shared a few names and a couple of Rotarians will reach out to them.  If you need help coming up with an idea for a theme basket, Heather can assist.
There will not be a wall of wine this year but with the help of Elk River Liquors and the $20 that we each tossed in the kitty, there will be three drawings.  Wheel barrow of booze, premier spirits and wine.  Elk River Liquors will provide us with some staffing to handle things. We have a new vendor - Mac’s Mini’s, a mini donut trailer!  Cub Foods will not be able to be with us this year due to staffing shortages.  They are however providing us with ice and bottles of water. 
Dirk asked those that can, to be at the Fair Grounds on Thursday morning at 10 am to begin set up.   We will have our usual lunch meeting at Chow and will then go back to the Fair Grounds to finish set up around 3 pm.  Julie Fish will be at the Vendor Gate at 2 pm to assist the vendors as they arrive.   Bruce Tyler suggests that we have more brooms available for clean up.  Julie Fish reminded everyone of the SOCIAL! time that will occur after clean up.
Dress Code - black bottoms, white dress shirt, black Taste of Elk River vest.  Debbi Rydberg has vests in a few sizes if you should need one. 
Sign Up Sheet - Debbi Rydberg also has the sign up sheet and reports that it is looking good and is nearly filled!  She will send it out tomorrow morning to each Rotarian.


Announcements
- SOCIAL! Calendar
        • May 19th - the After Taste Celebration
        • June 22nd (Wednesday) - 5 to 7 pm at Tove Lichty’s home in Maple Grove

- Membership Update
President Tove
shared that she received an email and phone call from Janet McCarty who let her know that she is resigning from rotary.  She is looking for a service club that does more service than what we offer.  This led Tove to the next conversation for our future planning . . .  Who wants to be on a committee?  We have opportunities for you as President Elect Theresa Slominski gets organized.  She will want some help with the Service Committee, Membership Committee and SOCIAL! Committee.  Tove suggests that each committee meet monthly to keep things running smoothly.


Happy Birthday Debbi Rydberg!  We sang to her, a very fine $10 version!
 
 

Happy Bucks!
- Theresa Slominski was happy that her dock was going in this weekend!
- Heather Kliewer was happy for the donations received thus far, for the Silent Auction.  She was also happy for an amazing girls trip with 7 ladies in her family!  It was a great trip and they survived with only one bathroom!
- Tove Lichty was happy that her niece got a costume and she was adorable!
- Julie Fish was happy for Heather’s trip and the photos shared on Facebook.  Especially the one of them all jumping in the ocean!
- Dirk Barrett was happy that Stewart Wilson was back in town from the winter in Florida!
- Stewart Wilson was happy to be back in Minnesota!  It is good to see everyone and looks forward to a good summer and the Taste of Elk River event!


imageCard game - an 8 of hearts was pulled and no one had the match!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
 
image
 
 
Bob Maxwell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Rotary Zoom Meeting for May 12 Meeting 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting May 5, 2022
 
Today our meeting was led by past, past, past president - Julie Fish.
 
imageAttending:   Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Kevin Gardner, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Cal Portner, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Kat Sarff, Theresa Slominski, honorary Dave Anderson, Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler.
 
We also welcome our two newest members - Dr. Laura and Mark K.
 
Announcements
- Tonight is a SOCIAL!  It is BARGO at Broadway Bar & Pizza and is a fund raiser for Thumbs Up.  It goes from 5:30 to 8:30.  Please come!
- Future SOCIAL! events will be announced in the near future!
- Taste of ER - we are 2 weeks out.  Dirk reports we are doing well.  Get your ticket sales going.  There are articles in the ER Star News.  Food Vendor list is being worked on by Brandon Hanson. Silent Auction is being arranged by Heather Kliewer.  As you gather prizes, please bring them to The Bank of Elk River, Main Street location or to CAER.   Pete Reiner reports facilities are good.  The sign up sheet will be coming via email from Debbi Rydberg.   Set up begins after our regular rotary meeting - 1 pm.  Everyone is asked to take one, two hour shift as a minimum.  Vests - Dirk will check into what we have on hand.  Neil is requesting help to deliver Taste tickets to the sponsors.  There were no manager updates because there were no managers present.
 
HOT REQUEST - PLEASE CHECK OUT YOUR TASTE OF ELK RIVER BLACK VEST TO SEE IF IT FITS YOU!  IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO MAY HAVE ONE AND IS NO LONGER A ROTARIAN, PLEASE REACH OUT TO THEM TO ASK FOR IT BACK.
 
Happy Bucks
-Theresa Slominski was happy for the sunshine, nice weather and choosing to be happy!
- Dirk Barrett was happy for many birthdays in his family - daughter, daughter-in-law and nephew.  He was also happy about the weather!
- Julie Fish was happy for the assistance offered by Theresa Slominski at rotary last week!
- Molly Hanson was happy that the MN Wild won last night!
- Cal Portner was happy to have gone to the Wild game and also happy to be back from two vacations.  He participated in a “mullet (fish) toss) and reports that this is real America!  He also was happy to travel to New York City!
- Bonnie Koste was happy to have traveled to Duluth with some Am Fam friends and was happy to have her pontoon boat in at Big Lake!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy to tell us that her 90 year old mom, flew to Florida!  She was also happy for a get together with her sons and grandkids!
- Pete Reiner was happy to tell us about a fund raiser of Alice Cooper's that he attended in Arizona!
- Bob Maxwell was happy for his trip to AZ, even though he had some scary events while driving in big wind!
 
Program
Our program today was arranged by Julie Fish.  She kept things casual as we were meeting at the Pizza Ranch.  Her program was two questions for each of us to answer.   What would you like for your super power and what was your first car?   We went around the room and everyone shared their information.  It was fun to get to know each other a bit more!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test and Julie rang the imaginary bell!
 
image
 
 
 
NOTE: We will be meeting at Pizza Ranch this week due to a scheduled wedding reception scheduled at CHOW. Join us as we return to the BUFFET. 
No ZOOM Meeting this week. 
 
imagePresident Tove Lichty ran our meeting for us today.  Glen Ertel led us in prayer.
 
Attending in Person: Dirk Barrett, Neil Gagnon, Brandon Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Beth Richards, Debbi Rydberg, Mason Schwartz, Theresa Slominski, and Honorary Glen Ertel
Attending via Zoom:  none
Guests: John Houlton, Ally with the Elk River Chamber of Commerce, Carol with AmeriCorps RSVP 
 
 
John Houlton again visited us to rev us up for the Taste of Elk River. He had three trivia questions about wine again and the winners of a bottle of wine were Tove Lichty, Debbi Rydberg, and Dirk Barrett.
 
Program
Glen Ertel n introduced our program today. Carol, the AmeriCorps RSVP (Retired Seniors Volunteer Program) Coordinator presented.  She has been AmeriCorpswith the organization since February of 2022, and before that worked in the schools for 19 years and so is very connected to the area. She said she is like a Match Maker with RSVP, working with individuals 55+ to assess the needs of the community, and the talents of the volunteers, and match them up!  They currently have about 50 partners serving Benton, Sherburne, Stearns, and Wright counties and approximately 800 volunteers. Their goals are 1) Food Security, 2) Education, 3) Promote Health and Wellness, and 4) Increase Volunteerism.  In 2021 they had 67,532 hours of service, which is still low but pretty good in spite of the pandemic limitations. They serve transportation needs, disaster response, and keeping seniors in their homes. Carol said she doesn’t organize volunteers’ schedules; she connects the people and lets them coordinate their own schedules. They also have events to help spread the word about RSVP. She shared that volunteering increases health and wellness of the volunteers in helping them feel better, and that research has shown that within two weeks of volunteering the heart is actually physically better along with the warm fuzzies experienced. Some new things they offer their volunteers are liability insurance while volunteering and optional transportation reimbursement.
 
Announcements
-Debbi Rydberg passed around volunteer sheets for the Taste of Elk River.  It’s already only three weeks away!
-Brandon Hanson gave an update on the food vendors. We have 8 confirmed, 4 with the appropriate papers provided and 4 verbal. He requested the email, phone number, and address for any other potential vendors.
-Heather Kliewer gave an update on silent auction items and requested help in contacting organizations and providing her with the information on any donations confirmed.
-Brandon Hanson, Drug Czar, stood in for Cal Portner and coordinated team updates.
-Tove Lichty attended the St. Paul Sunrise Rotary Club meeting this morning at 7:00 A.M. to learn about their “Creating a Safe and Just Community Together”.  There were approximately 100+ members in attendance.
-Next week we will be meeting at Pizza Ranch for our Rotary Meeting and will not be able to have a Zoom option.
 
There were no birthdays or anniversaries to recognize.
 
Happy Bucks: Brandon Hanson gave $1 happy bucks for his son and a friend attending Legionville Camp this year!
Nicole Rasmussen gave $2 because she had an unfortunate encounter with a turkey and it could have been much worse, and the water is turned on at the camper now!
John Osterman gave a $1 happy buck because the Twins were winning 3 to 1!
Dirk Barrett was happy to have seen Amos Lee in concert at the Orpheum Theater!
 
imageCard Drawing – a three of diamonds was pulled but there was no winner so the pot increases for next time.
 
We recited the 4-Way Test, rang the bell, and adjourned at 1:01 P.M. 
 
image
 
Sedona, AZ - Rotary Fundraising for visitors
 
 
Debbi Rydberg is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. April 28, 2022
Topic: Debbi Rydberg's Personal Meeting Room
 
Join Zoom Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 805 719 286
 
 Regular and Zoom Meeting April 21, 2022
 
Today our meeting was ran by President Elect, Theresa Slominski.
 
Guests:  John Houlton, First Bank Elk River
                              Mark Kuyava, Ace Handyman Service, prospective member
                              Allie with the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce
 
Attending:           Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Brandon Hanson, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, John Osterman, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Beth Richards, Debbi Rydberg, Kat Sarff, Theresa Slominski, honorary Glen Ertel, Bruce Tyler and Stewart Wilson
 

Theresa welcomed us and wished us a Happy National Volunteer Day!
 

John Houlton visited to rev us up for the Taste of Elk River.  He thanked us for allowing First Bank Elk River to be a part of our event with their Private Tasting Tent.  He shared that this is the best marketing opportunity throughout his whole year.  He gets more business and closed deals through this event, than any other event.  He encourages us to pre-sell our tickets.  The theme for the Tasting Tent this year is a Mediterranean Wine Tour theme.  They will have a wine tour and European liquors and their food will be a bit different this year and will include some outside grilling!  John came with a few trivia questions and winners of bottles of wine were Brandon Hanson, Nicole Rasmussen and Debbi Rydberg and a soft cozy blanket was won by Beth Richards.
 
Program
Bonnie Koste
introduced our program today.  We heard from Rivers of Hope, Hannah and Mel. 
Rivers of HopeHannah is the Executive Director and Mel is the Youth Team Lead/Youth Outreach Coordinator.  Rivers of Hope was started in 1989 in Elk River by some teachers at Elk River High School, who saw a need to help those in abused situations.  In 1990, they expanded into Wright County and in 1991, they added their youth programs.  They advocate to end violence.  They offer support, education and advocacy and have formed many good partnerships in the communities in which they serve.  Mel talked about relationship abuse and what that is.  She encounters this while working with youth.  Family domestic abuse, violence with partner, violence in teen dating or violence/bullying in a friendship.  They have both adult and teen advocates.  The advocates reach out and offer assistance and resources.  The advocate is a cheerleader of sorts to empower them to share their needs on their journey.  There are currently 111 youth in this program, in two counties.  Elk River Schools have two advocates who visit the High School, Ivan Sand High School and Salk Middle School.  They shared a few statistics with us - 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men experience abuse.  1 in 3 teens experience dating violence. In 2021, there were over 25 deaths due to domestic violence and over 80% go unreported!  In 2019, they took a youth survey and shared that 150 of those surveyed in Sherburne County, didn’t feel safe.  650 said “yes” to parent/adult in home verbally abusive; 275 said “yes” to parent/adult slapped, punched or kicked them; 81% parents don’t know their teen is experiencing violence in their relationship and 80% of teens know of someone experiencing teen violence.  In 2021, they served over 200 youth working with outreach and education and they served 750 people overall.  So far in 2022, they have served 355 adults and 111 youth.  It is happening right here in Elk River!  They shared information with us to recognize warning signs.  Rivers of Hope has their Gala coming up next week, Thursday at Rockwoods and they will have a live silent auction that start Sunday. To find it and more information on Rivers of Hope, go to www.riversofhope.org
 
Announcements

- Taste of Elk River team updates were given by John Osterman and Nicole Rasmussen.
- The Taste of Elk River sign up sheet will begin going around next week.  Debbi Rydberg has once again offered her organizational services for this task!  Thank you Debbi!
- Dirk Barrett has a Taste of Elk River challenge for each of us to collect at least one Silent Auction item.
- Reminder to please get your $20 to John Osterman for the “booze raffles”.  Debbi Rydberg suggested that Treasurer Neil Gagnon invoice those who have not paid yet.  John will be in contact with Neil.
 

Some Fun . . .
- Debbi Rydberg
had a Mystery Raffle for us today and raised $25 for the Foundation.  Brandon Hanson was the lucky winner who won a CAER 5K t-shirt!

 
image- Card Game - an 8 of hearts was drawn and there was not a winner!
 
Happy Bucks

- Pete Reiner had a happy story about a phone call to a wrong phone number and after he hung up, he realized that he had called Rotarian Bruce “Buck” Tyler!
- Julie Fish was happy to have met her newest great nephew, Duncan, on Easter!
- Bonnie Koste was happy to give us an update on her brother Tommy.  Tommy is joining a new group home with three others and he seems to be ok with it.  He will be in Elk River1. She was also happy to be traveling to Duluth for the weekend!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy to have spent Easter at her mom’s in Baxter, including a manicure and pedicure for her mom, daughter and herself.  She was also happy that her mom was on her way to a dream vacation in Hawaii for 10 days! It is the 4th anniversary of her father’s passing.  Nicole’s last happy buck was for an 11K race she will be running this coming weekend!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
 
image
 
 
Debbi Rydberg is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
April 21, 2022
Topic: Debbi Rydberg's Personal Meeting Room
 
Join Zoom Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 805 719 286
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting for April 14, 2022
President Tove Lichty led our meeting today.  John Osterman led us in the “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” song and Adam Stumne shared inspiring words with us!

Attending
Dirk Barrett, Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Kevin Gardner, Bonnie Koste, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Pete Reiner, Beth Richards, Debbi Rydberg, Mason Schwartz, Robin Skinner, Theresa Slominski, Adam Stumne, honorary Glen Ertel and Bruce Tyler


Guests
Dr. Laura, Ideal Health - prospective member
Mark Kuyava, Ace Handyman Services - prospective member


Program
Sadly, once again, our program had to cancel on us at the last minute.  Program Coordinator Robin Skinner took the opportunity to be our program and held a discussion about the struggles of being Program Coordinator.  Rotarians that she is emailing for program coordinating purposes, are not communicating back to her.  This makes it very difficult to put together a slate of programs.  She needs us to confirm our dates with her when she sends us an email.  She has the line up done through June, but let us know that she will not be the Program Coordinator for the 2022-23 year, due to the frustrations.  How do we proceed?  A lot of ideas were discussed and the Board of Directors will discuss and make a plan at their next board meeting in a couple of weeks.  Comments/conversations shared - What is a good program?  County, City updates, etc.  TBD’s listed are not a draw.  To some, the program brings them to the meetings, to others, it is the Rotarians that bring them to the meetings.  Perhaps Programs should be part of the Membership Committee and this could help members to engage.  A program point person has to be pre-ordained so there is one person to coordinate.   Knowing a couple of months in advance, that your name is coming up is helpful to line up the program.  Should the coordinator have to line up all the programs and the rotarian is assigned the week?  If you date is coming up and you can’t be there, you need to trade your week with someone else on the list.  A new member asked for clarification on what qualifies for a program.  A long time member shared that the best programs are those presented by Rotarians themselves about their hobbies and interests. He also shared that in the past, random raffles were fun and created the want to come to see what was going to happen next. Perhaps bring back the fine master?  President Elect Theresa Slominski has her radar out to find a new Program Coordinator.  If you find that this person is YOU, please reach out to Theresa.

Taste of Elk River Ticket Sale Updates

Commissioner Cal Portner shared a few baseball stories then called on team managers that were present to give their reports of BS, I mean ticket sales!  Terry Bizal and John Osterman reported in.  Terry feels that when Bob Maxwell* returns from his vacation, that he should be fined for sending out his world wide email to all of Terry’s team players.  This may be reported to Drug Czar Brandon Hanson as is seems illegal!
 
* The ebulletin producer Mr. Maxwell and council begs to differ with the above "illegal" description. Mr. See the source imageMaxwell has been doing the Constant Contact marketing for THE TASTE for many, many years without dispersions of illegality. Consequently, it was only inferred, and also known, that he would continue such marketing efforts. Essentially his processes were "grandfathered" in. The fact that he is one person as opposed to a large team should also be considered prior to rendering judgment. There are other issues but none other than the fact that, as I/ we have heard numerous times. If this.... IS considered "cheating" than I'm told that I'm not trying so.... which is it???? I rest my case and request the fine master render judgement for $1 against Mr. Bizal for slandering my name and ticket selling victories). May I remind Mr. Bizal there is no "crying" in baseball.....or did Mr. Bizal forget that as well!
 
 
That said....
Happy Anniversary to Terry Bizal!  25 Years!  Congratulations!

imageCard Draw was a king of clubs and there was not a winner . . .

Next week, our meeting will be led by President Elect Theresa Slominski in the absence of President Tove Lichty who will be getting a further education for her financial business!

Happy Bucks

- Theresa Slominski was happy for last week, spent in Arizona with six siblings and her mom.  Her mom came back with her and is moving into an assisted living place of her own!
- Pete Reiner was happy that Glen Ertel is here today because Pete finds interest in what Glen drives to the meeting and what he wears on his feet!
- Glen Ertel was happy to be back safely from Texas where he went with a friend to buy a motor home.  They flew to Texas and drove back 820 miles in one day!
- Cal Porter was happy and proud. There is a development in the city in need of some funds for septic failure and it is hopeful that a bill being presented next week will land them some funds for this neighborhood!  He was also happy that next week he is going to Florida to see his eldest daughter and check out her rock band!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy to be traveling to Kansas City to see her mom and brothers! She was also happy to have co-worker, Allie with us today to assist with our IT needs in the absence of Bob Maxwell.
- Robin Skinner was happy for an upcoming girls weekend with her high school friends, to Myrtle Beach!  She was also happy for the winter in Texas and she is pretending that today we have beautiful spring weather!
- Pete Reiner was happy to take note that Robin’s husband, Ben, will be home alone!
- Tove Lichty had a happy buck for each niece and nephew she will see at Easter and tossed in $8!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
 
image
 
Rotarians -
I have to leave town but wanted to get these out.
Note link below for this and the next couple weeks. 
 
Regular Meeting - March 31, 2022
 
Debbi Rydberg is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
 
Topic: Debbi Rydberg's Personal Meeting Room
 
Join Zoom Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 805 719 2861
 
Today, Tove Lichty ran our meeting and welcomed all!

Guests: Mark Kuyava with Ace Handyman Services (prospective member)
                Dr. Laura with Ideal Health (prospective member)
                Allie Nylund with Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce - came to assist with IT for filling in for Bob Maxwell’s upcoming vacation

Visiting Rotarians -    Tracy Pierce with Acorn Housing Services and Anoka Rotarian
                                Valdi Stefanson, District Representative


Attending: Dirk Barrett, Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Kevin Gardner, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Kat Sarff, Adam Stumne, David Vinje, honorary members Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell, Bruce Tyler, Stewart Wilson

We met Valdi Stefanson from our District and works with grants.  He came to recognize our club for its work with receiving a grant for the Magnus Veterans Foundation.  This was our first grant in many years. The grant was led by Rotarians Heather Kliewer and Casey Mahon who participated in a “shark tank” experience and a presentation was made.  Clubs in our district with funds donated to match our funds.  Our project scored very well and meetings began to make the grant happen.  Thank you Heather and Casey for all of your hard work!

Our program today was Acorn Housing Services representatives Tracy Pierce and Carmen Pouliout visited us today to tell us about their services.  Their business started in the midst of covid.  Carmen had retired from her job where she and Tracy worked together.  Tracy was ready for a change and together they began their services business!  They assist with housing stability.  They are a billed service to people on medical assistance and they help those with housing insecurity to live independently.  There is a lack of housing available as rent is up and we have a low minimum wage.  A voucher for assistance can take up to 8 years to attain.  The closest public housing is in St. Joseph, MN but services are not there.  Minnesota is a patchwork of support. We have homelessness in our area.  People are living on the street, in cars, couch hopping, etc.  Acorn Services helps out these folks to get housing. Check out their awesome website at acorn 
housingservices.com

Taste of Elk River Ticket Kick Off
Commissioner Cal Portner led our ticket team kick off by sharing a few baseball stories with us.  Drug Czar Brandon Hanson was not present today, but Cal explained is duty as Czar is to snoop out cheaters and embarrass them!   Team announcements were made.  First up was John Osterman with the Fighting Burbot team, next up was Nicole Rasmussen with the Cocoa Crispers, followed by Terry Bizal with Oops!  I did it again team and then Cal announced Mason Schwartz’s team Brick Mason Team!   Your managers will be contacting you to get your tickets and get selling!   Let the games begin!

Announcements
- Spectrum High School scholarship presentation is Monday, April 25 at 7 am.  President Tove Lichty is looking for a volunteer to represent us.  Please contact her if you are available.
- May 5th, we will meet at Pizza Ranch as Chow has another event at their place.

Happy Birthday was sung to Stewart Wilson and Molly Hanson!

Card Game - an ace of clubs was drawn and there was not a winner.

Happy Bucks
- Molly Hanson was happy that next week she is going to Vegas for her birthday celebration.  She also let us know about a volunteer fair going on tomorrow from 9 to 1 at the YMCA!
- Bob Maxwell was happy to be going to Arizona for a vacation and will be gone next week!
-Julie Fish had a happy buck because she remembered her $20 to give to John Osterman for the Taste of Elk River!
- Dirk Barrett was happy for the sponsors for the Taste of Elk River!
- Tove Lichty was happy her parents are coming for the weekend!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy to tell us the advertising boards for the Taste will go up after Easter! She was also happy that Allie could join us!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy for a trip to Red Wing to the Barn Bluff for a hike!

Together we recited the 4 Way Test!
 
 
Zoom Link to April 7, 2022 
Meeting ID: 869 4595 8822\
 
Regular Meeting - March 31, 2022
 
imageToday President Tove Lichty led our meeting.  John Osterman led us in song and Tove shared a thankful moment with us then welcomed everyone!
 

Welcome back Mark Kuyava with Ace Handyman Services.  Word on the street is that Mark has turned in a new member application form!  She welcomed back Mason Schwartz and Adam Stumne, who have been gone for a while.  Adam reports that we will be seeing more of him and Mason reports that we will be seeing him more regularly, real soon!
 
Attending: Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Kevin Gardner, Brandon Hanson, Tove Lichty, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Beth Richards, Debbi Rydberg, Mason Schwartz, Theresa Slominski, Adam Stumne, honorary Bob Maxwell and Bruce Tyler

 
Tove thanked President-Elect Theresa Slominski for leading out meeting last week in Tove’s absence.
 
We had a program today, but there was some difficulty without zoom connection so the program will be rescheduled.  President Tove took advantage of the situation and called up a couple of our newest members - Beth Richards and Kevin Gardner.  She presented them with their official name badges and read an induction that was very impressive!  Each Rotarian took a moment to tell us about themselves.   Beth is from Zimmerman and has lived in the area her whole life.  She has 4 children, ages 18 to 10 and she for the last couple of years, has worked for Boy Scouts of America.  Her passion is working at the camps.  She is excited to be a part of Rotary!   Kevin is from Lakeville and moved to Elk River 19 months ago to be closer to his daughter.  Kevin owns a pool and spa business in Plymouth.  He joined Rotary to get involved and meet people in the community!  Welcome Beth and Kevin!  Next, President Tove had us go around the room and tell us who you are, what you do, why you joined rotary when they joined.  Many comments were shared and it there was apparent common statement throughout the group and that is that we are family and a lot of rotarians stay because of that and the community connection and of course . . . the fun times!
 
Announcements

- Taste of Elk River Updates
                * Commissioner Cal Portner shared that the team captains met today and held their draft!
                * Ticket kick off will be next week, April 7th.  Please plan to attend so you can receive your tickets to sell and posters, etc.
 
- Strategic Plan Update
* Tove
met with Janet McCarty and they have worked on building the plans for our goals.  The first piece is to get on track with a SOCIAL! each month.  The committee is meeting on Tuesday, April 5 around 4:30/4:45 at Chow.  Please join! The second piece is recruit and retain members and the membership committee is working on updating the membership application and are planning a recruitment in the fall.   Cal Portner and Brandon Hanson reported that they have been working on the new club motto.
 

imageCard Game - card pulled was not a match!
 
Happy Birthday to Julie Fish!  For $20, she requested that her birthday be sung to her backwards so Rotarians turned around and sang to her with their backs to her!  She reports that it was work the $20 to not have everyone looking at her while singing!
 
Happy Bucks:

- Brandon Hanson had a buck because he loved the induction speech that Tove read. He was happy for the friends he has made in our club, especially Troy Adams, who is now in Wisconsin, but he and Troy shared a love of 90’s tunes and they attended concerts together.  This Sunday, Rotarian Robin Skinner’s husband, Ben is going to see Golden Smog at 1st Avenue in Minneapolis with Brandon!
- Bruce “Buck” Tyler was happy that Tove was quick with the great idea to fill the program time and he shared a story about a streaker at a baseball game!
- Pete Reiner was happy that when he went to Hempel Tax Service, he saw a tribute piece on their wall for Keith Hempel who started the business and was an amazing Rotarian!  It was suggested that his son who runs the business should be invited to visit and join rotary.  Pete was going to get on that!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy for several dollars because the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce Gala went well.  She also was happy to thank Bob Maxwell for doing such a fabulous job on Social Media for the Taste of Elk River.  She also shared that a third place has been secured for the black board signs for the Taste.  There will be one at Ralphie’s Minnoco, Coborns and rotarian David Vinje’s land off Highway 10 east!
- Julie Fish had a happy buck for Buck’s Happy Buck joke!
- John Osterman was also happy for Bob Maxwell who had added Venmo to our pay options for the Taste of Elk River!
- Theresa Slominski was happy to be leaving for sunny Arizona to spend a week with her six siblings! 
- Adam Stumne was $10 happy!  Happy for his family and happy for the MN Wild Kaprizov who is two away from setting the MN Wild single-season record for points. It is hopeful that he will do it this weekend!
- Bob Maxwell had a happy buck for the MN Wild also, and a happy buck because he is heading to Arizona!
- Tove Lichty was happy to tell us that while she missed last week for class, she learned how to fly a space ship!  She was also happy that she was already able to use something she learned in the class!  She was happy to be going to a live concert next Tuesday at the Fine Line and it was an impulse purchase!
- Brandon Hanson came up with another happy buck and he was happy that he and his son took an impromptu trip to a MN Wild vs. Flyers game and landed seats in the middle of a huge group of UMD Bulldog players!!
 
Together we recited the 4 Way Test of the things we think, say and do!
 
 
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Zoom Link to March 31, 2022 
 
Meeting ID: 869 4595 8822\
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - March 24, 2022
 
imageToday our meeting was ran by President Elect Theresa Slominski!  Her first meeting today and she did a fabulous job!
 
Guest: Mark Kyuava with Ace Handyman Service out of Rogers.  He reached out through rotary.org and asked to be connected to our club.  He came to check us out today.  He opened his business this year on February 14th and Elk River is in his territory.  He is interested in giving back to the community!  Welcome Mark!
 
Also visiting was Dr. Laura with Ideal Health.  Rumor has it that she has received a membership application!  Welcome back Dr. Laura!
 
Attending: Terry Bizal, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Kevin Gardner, Molly Hanson, Heather Kliewer, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Pete Reiner, Theresa Slominski, honorary Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell and Bruce “Buck” Tyler
 
Program:
Our program today was Tedi Carlson from our District.  She came today to tell us more about the Rotary efforts towards eliminating human trafficking. 
Image result for child traffickingHuman trafficking is usually either sexual or for labor.  It is kept in control by the trafficker.  An estimated 40 million people are enslaved around the world.  It is second only to illegal drugs.  Anyone under the age of 18 that is caught cannot be charged with prostitution.  There are 300,000 new victims each year in the USA.  Traffickers prey on children and those suffering from poverty. They are trafficking “underground” and not necessarily in large cities.  The Midwest is a big recruiting area due to the I-35 corridor that runs from Lorado, Texas to Duluth, Minnesota.  Minneapolis is the 13th largest for trafficking. She shared a list of 15 apps that are used for trafficking.  Often those being trafficked are branded with a tattoo.  Human trafficking is a problem because there is a demand.  There are over 480,000 sites that offer illegal pornography.  Typical buyers are men, aged 18 to 84.  Most purchase for the first time before 21 years old and over half are married or with a partner.  If you notice something, Tedi tells us to call 911 first and let them handle the situation.  There is a hotline as Preventing Human Traffickingwell - MN Hotline 866-223-111 or text 612-399-9995.  How can we end Human Trafficking?  She suggests we raise awareness, education children and adults, reduce the vulnerability/risk factor and stop the demand.  Why Rotary?  Rotary is the largest global service organization in the world. This program is being sponsored by Districts 5950/5960/5580.   She encourages us to have a club champion to lead the charge for our community.  For further information, contact Clare Lillie at clillis1245@gmail.com
 
Announcements


- Taste of Elk River Updates
*Pete Reiner reports that the tents
are secured!
* Treasurer Neil Gagnon has received sponsorship checks from The Bank of Elk River, SPIRE Credit Union, Cornerstone Auto, Metal Craft, Minnesota Optical and Elk River Printing!  Sponsorship deadline is right around the corner!
 
- SOCIAL!
*Nicole Rasmussen
reports that she is looking for an
Image result for socialApril SOCIAL! So please offer her suggestions.  The May SOCIAL! Will be the Taste of Elk River “after party”!  Plan to be there for clean up and the fun!   June SOCIAL! Will be held at President Tove Lichty’s home and the date is TBD.
 

- Grant Update

Image result for rotary Grant Money* Heather Kliewer was pleased to tell us that we will have final approval soon for our grant for the Magnus Veterans Foundation.  Someone from the District will come in person and present us the funds!   Great job Heather Kliewer and transferred to a new club, Rotarian Casey Mahon for all of your hard work!
 
- Happy $$
*Terry Bizal was happy for last weekend when he
watched his daughter’s college hockey team win National Champions when they played in the Frozen Four!
*Tedi our guest was happy to be here with us and loved the environment at Chow!
* Cal Portner was happy also for attending a game of hockey for his daughter’s college hockey team who also won National Champs! He saw a lot of friends that they have missed due to covid.  He was also happy that his other daughter’s first live gig as a cover band in Florida went well and they received five new gigs!
* Heather Kliewer was happy for our guest, Mark and was also happy that this evening is the Elk River Area Chamber Gala at Rockwoods!
* Neil Gagnon was happy because last July, they ordered furniture and it is being delivered tomorrow morning, finally!  He is also happy to be going on a trip next week to Las Vegas.  They also have future plans for a family trip to go to Branson, MO!
- Theresa Slominski was happy that her daughter was home for spring break.  She has a summer job with 3M in Mankato so they went apartment looking!
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy to have ran a race for St. Patrick’s day and was happy that when she opened up her camper this spring, there was only one dead mouse.  She also had a buck to be going to the dentist after this rotary meeting!
 

image- Card Game - there was not a winner today and it was ok because there was a winner last week so we need to build up the funds!  Buy often!
 
Theresa asked us to join her to recite the 4 Way Test and then rang the bell of dismissal!
 
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Regular and Zoom Meeting - March 24, 2022
 
 
Regular and Zoom Meeting - March 17, 2022 
 
imagePresident Tove Lichty led our meeting today!

Guest:  Dr. Laura with Ideal Health

Attending:  Dirk Barrett, Julie Fish, Kevin Gardner, Brandon Hanson, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, Janet McCarty, John Osterman, Cal Portner, Nicole Rasmussen, Beth Richards, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, honorary Glen Ertel, Bob Maxwell and Bruce “Buck” Tyler


Our program today was not able to attend, so it was filled with talk of the upcoming Taste of Elk River event!  Dirk Barrett led us in a discussion of food vendors.  He
read off a list of past and prospective names and we brainstormed together to come up with some additional to add to the list.  Brandon Hanson has the master list and will get the new names added.   We then went on to Sponsorships, led by Bonnie Koste with some wonderful assistance from Kevin Gardner.  Currently we have ReMax, First Bank Elk River, American Family-Bonnie Koste Agency, BeeHive Homes of Elk River, Edward Jones-Tove Lichty, Gateway Financial Strategies, Homerun Human Resources, MidwestOne Bank, North Central Insurance, SPIRE Credit Union and Weber Interiors.  A list of many more was shared and a few people offered to reach out to the connection they had.  Stay tuned for more sponsors to the list next week!  Ticket/Team kick off will be held during the meeting on Thursday, April 7th so be sure to put this date on your “must attend Rotary today” list.  It will be very helpful to the team captains if you can be at the meeting to receive your tickets to sell.  Again this year, our Commissioner will be Cal Portner who may be assisted by Bruce “Buck” Tyler.  We will again follow the baseball theme for our ticket sales so get ready to rumble . . .
Final Taste reminder - get your $20 turned in to John Osterman as he is collecting for the booze/wine raffles that will be held during the Taste of Elk River.  He’s keeping a list!

Service Projects

Image result for Rotary Community Service- Tomorrow, March 18th from 11 am to 1 pm, come join in the fun at Open Doors for Youth to help them refresh with a spring clean!
- Saturday, April 9th, in the morning, come join in at Ruff Start Rescue and help them clean up a hay pile outside on their septic tank.  Bet there will be some cute pups to pet as well!

Share the Love - this District fund raiser has been extended into March so if you didn’t get a chance to donate in February, you can still do it and get in on the promotions going on!  Go to 
rotary.org and in the upper right hand corner, click on the “donate now” button.

Thank you Brandon Hanson for being our Throw Back President for a day while Tove was on vacation in California where she used an app on her phone and found that there was a Rotary meeting in the hotel she was staying, so she attended!  She felt welcome right away and it was fun to see how other clubs run their meetings! She also shared that she felt a little intimidated with all of the very rich folks in the room with her!

John Osterman proposed a “fine from the floor” to Cal Portner because his town is being a title hog with both the girls and boys hockey teams taking State titles! 
Cal Portner proposed a “fine from the floor” to Tove Lichty because she is a financial planner and felt intimidated in a room with a bunch of rich folks!  And this, led to

Happy Bucks!

- Cal Portner was happy to have visited his parents.  His dad, who had surgery, is healing well.  Cal spent Tues.-Fri. In Arizona for a reunion of Air Force squadrons who he spent time with in Germany.  21 gathered for their first get together and he was happy for many great stories!  He is also happy to be leaving tomorrow with his wife and daughter to go to Boston for the Women’s Frozen Four!
- Julie Fish was happy to announce the birth of her 26th Great, who was born on the same day that is this little one’s great, great grandfather’s 120th birthday!
- Dirk Barrett was happy for an upcoming two week road trip to the west and south!
- Theresa Slominski was happy for her mom to have a trip to Arizona to visit with Theresa’s brother.  However, while there, she ended up in the hospital with low oxygen for five days, but is out and doing better.  Theresa was also happy to be spending the upcoming weekend with her kids and the frozen face off, men’s tournament.
- Nicole Rasmussen was happy to have some time off work for spring break.  Happy to be wearing green for St. Patrick’s day, happy to be working her side gig and happy to be doing a 7k race this Saturday for St. Patrick’s Day!
- Debbi Rydberg was happy to give a sales pitch about the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce upcoming gala and silent auction.  She put around a few flyers with a QR code that will take you to their auction items.  Bid often . . .  Bids close at 7:50 on Thursday, March 24th.
- Beth Richards was happy to have spent last weekend at camp with 78 kids who were earning merit badges!  She was also happy for a confirmed speaker for a leadership breakfast in Princeton!
- Tove Lichty was happy for a great trip to California. Napa was her favorite.  She was thankful to Brandon for filling in and reminded us that she will not be here next week as she has some training for work to tend to.
- Bob Maxwell had a happy buck for the fact that the camera that tipped over landed in a box and received no damage!  (Phrew!)


imageCard Game - today we had a winning match in the hand of Dirk Barrett!  Dirk turned his half of the funds back in to go to the foundation so the total funds to the foundation today were at $61!   The Rotary Foundation Thanks You!

President Tove had a challenge for each of us to engage in our community in a Rotary way, to grow awareness of rotary.

Together we recited the 4 Way Test and the bell of dismissal was rung!
 
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Regular and Zoom Meeting March 10, 2022 
imageToday 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.

image- 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
Image result for Thumbs Up 5K Elk River MN. Size: 165 x 170. Source: raceroster.comThumbs 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 thumbs up$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!
 
image
 
 
Regular Meeting - March 3, 2022
imageToday 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!

imageCard 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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