Thanks and appreciation to the committee leadership who pulled off a successful First Annual Rotary Taste of the Hops! On behalf of our Club, I congratulate Kevin Keenan, Ken Hola, Bill Klumpf, John Suzukida, Betty Ziskovsky, Paul McCreight, Bill Kiehnbaum, Sandi Bahr for leading our very successful fundraiser and community exposure builder of Rotary Taste of the Hops. While more revenue and expenses continue to come in, we know net revenue was between $5,000 and $6,000. Just as importantly, we know that customers had fun and enjoyed the night. It was very positive community exposure to a young, active cross-section of our community. Every one of the above listed committee members did a great job of taking Paul McCreight’s suggestion of a “craft beer tasting event” to its successful conclusion. It took leadership and a lot of individual work to pull it all off. I’m hoping we’ll all work to continue and expand toward even more success next year. As a result of this successful fundraiser, we exceeded our modest budgeted projections for this first-time effort. We’ll be able to fund all the normal service projects without dipping into the balance in our Healthy Youth Foundation fund (charitable corporation with a balance from successful, prior fundraisers). We can even start talking about what could be proposed in the future for new or expanded projects for youth and the community as well as international Rotary programs.
When I wandered into my first Rotary meeting at the Arden Hills Shoreview club, a few years ago, I knew little about the organization. But one thing that impressed me right from the start was the interesting programs that were offered. It seems there is always something new to learn each week about our community, our world or social issues. The beat goes on thanks to all the volunteers who are arranging speakers in the current cycle. In the coming weeks our presenters will share a wide variety of topics, including: challenges of one family during World War II, mission work in Kenya, mental health solutions, remarks from a CEO of a major hospital, a presentation about women’s athletics programs at the U of M and the possibility of turning management of your portfolio over to a computer! Invite a friend or colleague to join us on Tuesday mornings. Learning never stops.
This lists shows people responsible to be the "Greeter" for the day, and also to begin the morning. If you are unable to be the Greeter on the assigned day please trade with someone and let me know about the change.
We’re awaiting word on the next volunteer session to sort an pack medical supplies at Mano-a-Mano, the group Valdi Stefanson came to talk about. Their location is on Pierce-Butler Route, midway between Dale and Lexington. They just shipped five full 40-foot containers to South America last month and will be starting up a new batch. Look for a forthcoming announcement of our opportunity to volunteer.
The Board of Directors of the Arden Hills Shoreview Rotary club recently voted unanimously to support the Rotary Global Grant project in Bolivia called the Mano-a-Mano that is organized by the St. Paul Rotary Club. Valdi Stephanson is the coordinator for the project and he recently spoke to us about the project. Among other things, Mano-a-Mano, a Minnesota nonprofit organization, endeavors to acquire, package and ship to Bolivia unused medical supplies received from medical providers in the U.S. where these supplies are apparently used. Since 1994 Mano-a-Mano has shipped 3.5 million pounds of medical, school and construction supplies valued at $14 million to Bolivia that would have ended up in Minnesota landfills. We agreed to provide $500 for the project and have requested information from project staffers regarding potential dates when we might volunteer to help package such supplies for transit to Bolivia.
The Club welcomed new Mounds View High School Principal Stephanie Bruggers and Kay Baker, as well as visiting Rotarian Bill Nielson from the St. Paul Club. The Club was honored to have the colors presented by the Civil Air Patrol Honor Guard prior to the Pledge of Allegiance.
The guest speakers included Mary Albright who serves as the Deputy Commander of the Cadets and three cadets Cameron Dahlstrom, Iva Hammit and Michael Uden. Mary Albright indicated that the Civil Air Patrol serves as the official Air Force auxiliary and has three distinct missions. The first is disaster relief and the CAP handles about 90% of the US inland search and rescue missions. The second mission is to run the cadet program for young people between the ages of 12-18. The third mission is aerospace education.
Mary was present to talk about the Cadet program that is run out of the Anoka County Airport in Blaine. Mary indicated that there were about 80 cadets in the squadron that operates at the Anoka airport which is one of the largest in the State. She noted that the CAP is located throughout the United States. Each of the three cadets that were present discussed their experience serving as a cadet in the CAP program and what aspects of the program that they enjoyed.
We were pleased to have Ramsey County Sheriff Jack Serier join our meeting as presenter today. Jack is a Hamline University graduate who has spent his entire career in law enforcement. He began as a St. Paul police officer, spending a number of years in various roles there before being recruited by former Sheriff Matt Bostrom to join the County Sheriff's department. When Bostrom retired, Serier was named his replacement. Jack had continued his studies over time and ultimately earned a PhD from the University of St. Thomas in organizational leadership. He has a strong belief in the importance of hiring the right people and maintains that most people could be taught to handle the responsibilities of the job but that no amount of training will change a person's character or basic "fit" for the role. He views the #1 role of a peace officer to be an advocate for victims, with the #2 role being to hold offenders accountable for their actions. With that in mind, the primary attribute sought when hiring is an orientation toward service. The 4 character traits sought are Respect, Responsibility, Honor and Truth (sounding amazingly like the Rotary 4-Way Test!). Ramsey County has been providing law enforcement services for Shoreview and Arden Hills for over 40 years and has close working relationships with the leadership teams of both cities. One outreach effort that has been spectacularly successful recently is their "Have a Hotdog With a Sheriff" nights in the summer. They now average 800 hotdogs given away during these regular meet-and-greet events!
The Club welcomed guest Kelly Moller and Bob Overby, who is a prospective member. The guest speaker was Jennifer Scholl.
Betty Ziskovsky introduced Jennifer Scholl who serves as a legacy fundraiser for the Science Museum of Minnesota. Jennifer discussed different types of fundraising that is typically done at various levels including legacy giving, corporate giving, and fundraising from events. She indicated that the Event fundraising, which is what Rotary typically undertakes, is usually time an labor intensive. She noted that some events take a great deal of planning and effort and often need to be established for a few years before they can become institutionalized and be tremendously successful. Jennifer then responded to numerous questions from Rotary members regarding the different types of fund raising.
We welcomed guest Burt Johnson, DFL candidate for the MN House of Representatives in our area. Our speaker was Tim Boehlke, Fire Chief for the Lake Johanna Fire Department which serves the 41,000 residents of Arden Hills, Shoreview and North Oaks. Terry Schwerm noted that Boehlke is the only paid fire chief this department has had, hence he has seen it through a lot of growth and change. The department was originally founded in 1943 as an all-volunteer force. It has been transformed over the years to a current paid on-call staff of 74. There are currently three station houses, two of which have fire-fighters on site 24/7. With an operating budget of $2.1 million, it handles approximately 3,500 calls per year, 70% of which are EMS calls. St. Paul's Regions Hospital provides the medical direction for that aspect of the service. Agreements are in place with Roseville and Vadnais Heights fire departments such that all three departments respond in the case of a structure fire in any of the covered cities. 2016 was a good year in this regard, with only three structure fires in the three cities covered by the Lake Johanna force. Boehlke noted that 44% of fires start in the kitchen, a statistic that has not changed much over the years. However what has changed is the intensity of home fires. They burn much hotter these days because of the fact that such a large percentage of home furnishings are now made from petroleum based materials.
Club members spent the first half of the meeting discussing the recent Taste of the Hops fundraiser which will likely raise in excess of $5000 for the club. The Club concluded that the event was a tremendous success and that the feedback from people at the event was very positive. There was some discussion regarding the overall cost of the event, but everyone agreed that the event should be held in the future.
New Club member Shelly Myrland gave a short classification talk. She indicated that she grew up living on a lake in Pine City, Minnesota and that fishing and boating were a big part of her childhood. Although she went to Technical College to be a legal secretary, she went to work for Community National Bank and worked there in a variety of positions for about 20 years. She now works as Vice President of Commercial Banking for F & M Bank. She noted that she is a strong advocate for Women In Business and has hosted a number of networking events for women and has also been involved in Junior Achievement at Island Lake School, as well as a Den Mother for Boy Scouts. In addition to belonging to Rotary, she serves on both Economic Development Authority and the Economic Development Commission for the City of Shoreview. On a personal level she is married, lives in Shoreview and has three children.
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