Glen, Kent and I attended some or all of our Rotary District 5960's annual conference in St. Paul this past weekend. There were good speakers and great opportunities for networking with other Rotarians. Our district's exchange students played a big role on Friday, with their "Country Fair" and a flag ceremony at dinner. The latter was quite a highlight for me -- very moving to see the kids enter the room (some in native costume) in the manner of the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Each country was announced separately, followed by the kids bearing a large flag of their country and receiving loud applause from the audience. It was a good reminder of the positivity this program represents and why it is worth the time and treasure we put into it!
At the end of this month seven new members will have taken part in a Rotary orientation. These orientations are also good for the other members who attend because it can reinforce what attracted us to Rotary. For instance, through Rotary I can volunteer my skills, improve my community and build my network. There are more than 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide, 34,200 clubs and 532 Rotary districts. We are members of a great worldwide organization. Wear your pin with pride.
Each year, our Club participates in the "Cooks for Kids" program at the Ronald McDonald House located in the Minneapolis Children's Hospital. On Wednesday, April 19, 2017, nine Arden Hills-Shoreview Rotary Club members plus three additional family members volunteered to serve approximately 80 families. The Ronald McDonald House supports families while their baby or child is in the hospital, providing food and shelter free of charge. Organizations around the metro area sign up to buy, prepare and serve a meal at the House for attending families. These families are experiencing a stressful and challenging time; a good hot meal that they don’t have to worry about preparing can be quite comforting.
Once again, Coleen Lavin led the activity, organizing the purchase and preparation of a lasagna dinner, working both shifts, and even brought along her husband and daughter in the bargain. All are urged to join in this very rewarding annual service project. And to Colleen, a tip of our collective hat – THANKS!!
There was a club assembly where Kevin Keenan discussed the planned Club Fundraiser scheduled on August 18th called "Rotary Taste of the Hops". Kevin indicated that it would be held at Snail Lake Park from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. He noted a few of the craft beer establishments that were either committed or had expressed interest in being at the event. He also noted that Green Mill had agreed to provide pulled pork sandwiches at the event. Following the club assembly, Club Member Michael Anuta provided a brief classification talk. He noted that he had served in World War II in the Pacific. His first experience with Rotary was in 1939 in Menomonie, Michigan when he was sent to Boy's State. He belonged to the Rotary Club in Burlington Wisconsin and has been a member of the Arden Hill/Shoreview Club for 20 years. He has been married for 67 years this August. His career was primarily in industrial transportation including working with Inland Steel and Schlitz Brewing.
The Club welcomed District Governor Jim Hunt and guests Don Martin and John Doan. The District Governor talked about the upcoming District Conference that would be held in about two weeks. Don Martin discussed the upcoming Feed My Starving Children Mobile pack that would be held at Incarnation Lutheran Church. It is the 10th year for this event at the Church and this year is called "All Hands on Hope" with a goal of packing 1 million meals. It was noted that the Rotary Club would be participating in the mobile pack event on Thursday, May 4th. The Club also formally installed new members Shelly Myrland, and Joe and Betty Ziskovsky.
The guest speaker was Shoreview City Planner Kathleen Castle. Kathleen talked about the City's Comprehensive Plan Update. She noted that all cities in the metropolitan area need to update their Comprehensive Plans by 2018 and they must be submitted to the Metropolitan Council. The plans are updated every 10 years and establish a blueprint or framework for the vision of the City in several areas including land use, housing, transportation, economic development, parks and open spaces, as well as things like water, sewer, and surface water utilities.
Ms. Castle reviewed the process that would be used for updating this plan and that the City was seeking public participation in the process.
The Club welcomed visiting Rotarian Ron Hughes from the Excelsior club and the guest speakers Annette Kuyper, Director of Military Outreach for the Minnesota National Guard and Terry Lynn Eggert, Volunteer Chair of Suburban Ramsey County's Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Group. Annette discussed how they have helped build the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program throughout the state. The program is designed to help service members with reintegration after they have served. There are now 89 Beyond the Yellow Ribbon groups in 200 cities throughout the state. She noted that the Minnesota program is often held up as one of the best programs in the nation. It will be increasingly important since the National Guard is anticipated to be deployed more frequently.
Terry indicated that she is the new chair of the suburban Ramsey County yellow ribbon program. She serves as an Assistant Registrar for St. Thomas University. The Yellow Ribbon group now hold board meetings once per month. They have sponsored several activities and events for service members and hold monthly Build a Burger Nights at the White Bear Lake VFW.
We once again had the pleasure of hearing from Andreas Ostenso, MD on the subject of healthcare in America. Dr. Ostenso is Michael Anuta's grandson-in-law and had spoken to us once before about two years ago. With the debate over healthcare policy raging in this country, the topic couldn't be more timely. Ostenso practices at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis and feels strongly that the "single payor" model represented by the VA system is the direction we must ultimately head and provides the only real solution to significantly reducing the cost of healthcare in this country. He started by pointing out that his comments represented his thoughts as a private citizen, not as a representative of the VA. While the U.S. continues to lead the world in medical innovation, we do not stack up particularly well against the rest of the world on important statistics such as average lifespan and maternal mortality rate. Yet per capita expenditure for healthcare in the U.S. is twice that of most of other developed nations. While the ACA, or "Obamacare" was supposed to fix this situation, it clearly has fallen short, as health insurance policies are still prohibitively expensive for many people. He argues that our country's obsession with "choice" in healthcare has meant we've lost out when it comes to cost, quality and accountability in our system. Ostenso closed his remarks by asking us to think of Rotary's 4-Way Test when thinking about our country's healthcare - a thought provoking closure to this timely presentation.
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Each year, our Club participates in the "Cooks for Kids" program at the Ronald McDonald House located in the Minneapolis Children's Hospital. On Wednesday, April 19, 2017, nine Arden Hills-Shoreview Rotary Club members plus three additional family members volunteered to serve approximately 80 families. The Ronald McDonald House supports families while their baby or child is in the hospital, providing food and shelter free of charge. Organizations around the metro area sign up to buy, prepare and serve a meal at the House for attending families. These families are experiencing a stressful and challenging time; a good hot meal that they don’t have to worry about preparing can be quite comforting.