Club Bulletin - October 2024 (Nov 04, 2024)

Sep 08, 2026

Michael-Jon Pease

District 5960 Update

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Kids in Need Event

Sep. 08, 2026
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

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President

Don Martin

President Elect

Jim Zappia

Past President

Matt Rossetter

Secretary

Paul Bartyzal

Treasurer

Jerry Peterson

Club Service Director

Kay Baker

Program Chair

Jim Zappia

Bulletin Editor

Paul Bartyzal

CICO/Website

Glenn Bowers

Membership

Elinor Jackson

Community Service Director

Jim Zappia

International Service Director

Don Martin

Rotary Foundation Officer

Anoop Mathur

Youth Exchange Officer (YEO)

Charlie Oltman

Youth Service Director

Matt Rossetter

Youth Services Director

Anoop Mathur

President's Corner

Posted by Matt Rossetter on Sep. 08, 2025

The month of August brought us our annual Taste of Hops & Vines fundraising event and boy did it not disappoint! Each and every one of you should be incredibly proud of your efforts. Even with a lighter slate of vendors and lower than expected ticket sales, your efforts saw us to our most successful monetary event to date. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We heard from the Sheriff's department and the owner of Dependable Solutions on the topic of fraud and scams this past month. There was lots of great information and ways to best protect ourselves from bad actors trying to access our information and take what they can. Reflecting on the information presented, I can't help but think how great it is organizations like Rotary exist. It's so, so easy to get caught up in all the 'bad' we hear on a daily basis, but it sure is nice to belong to a group of people doing good.

If you know of someone who you think would bring good information to the club, be a dynamic and thought-provoking speaker or have an interesting topic to share, there is room on the speaker list. Please just let me know if you do fill a speaking slot.

Looking forward to another month with you!

Monthly Celebrations of Club Members

Posted by Paul Bartyzal on Jul. 04, 2026

Member Birthdays

Matt Rossetter - July 1st

Brenda Holden - July 24th

Dave Newman - July 25th

Colleen Lavin - July 26th

Spouse Birthdays

< None this month >

Anniversaries

Bill and dharon Klumpp - July 23rd (49 years)

Mike and Cindy Spellman - July 14th (36 years)

Sara and Drew Johnston - July 23rd (15 years)

Frank Mabley and Jean Kummerow - July5th (7 years)

Club Anniversaries

Don Martin - 3 years

Jim Zappia - 2 years

Club Service

Posted by Kay Baker on Jan. 02, 2025

We had another successful fundraiser this November to raise money for the Rotary Foundation. Matt Rossetter had the highest score and won $10.00 and his name enshrined on the Rotary bowling pin. After our game we enjoyed food and drinks in Flaherty's restaurant. Pictured here are fellow bowlers Jerry Peterson, Mike Spellman, Matt's wife Casey and Matt. Rotarians-you have a full year to sharpen your skills for the next "tournament."

Community Service

Posted by Dennis Erno on Feb. 02, 2025

The Christmas holiday are now in the rear mirror but it did not past without our Club members joining together to the make it brighter for those less fortunate in our community.

We strived to make this happen in two ways by:

• stuffing Christmas stockings for the children at Solid Ground and

• helping raise funds for the Salvation Army by ringing bells.

Thanks to 16 of our Club members - and some of the spouses - 57 children of 22 families at Solid Ground woke up to a brighter Christmas morning.

Our effort this year was aided by students from the Mounds View High School Volunteer Club which stuffed 6 stockings for the children at Solid Ground.

The stockings were stuffed with great care and creativity by all, certainly bringing great joy to children who would other wise not experience the magical moments and giving spirit of Christmas.

One member, as in previous years, donated a huge box of Mrs. Field’s cookies for the Solid Ground staff and families to enjoy.

Without a doubt your stocking stuffers brightened the holiday season for the children and their parents who are struggling to escape homelessness and build of a new life of self-sufficiency. In addition, you are truly modeling for them the true spirit of service above self.

During the holiday season 18 of our Club members also aided the Salvation Army’s annual fund raising effort by Cub Foods during the coldest days of December. Once again the students at the Mounds View High School joined our efforts by ringing bells from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. both nights in single digit temperatures.

A sincere and heartfelt thank you from the families at Solid Ground and those served by Salvation Army for your thoughtfulness and generosity during the past holiday season.

International Service

Posted by Glenn Bowers on Nov. 03, 2024

Our club has 2 grant applications in-process:

Dave Newman is working on a District Grant “LIFT – processing center update and rent” for supporting a community in Nicaragua that is paired with a Global Grant that Stillwater Sunrise is working on for the same community. There has been a significant development related to the government of Nicaragua requiring Rotary International to work with the Department of Interior. Rotary International will not agree to those terms. In addition, Rotary International has decided in order to comply with sanctions applied by the U.S. Government to Nicaragua it is not possible for The Rotary Foundation funds to be sent to Nicaragua. Our district and our club are in the midst of figuring out what these means to the overall LIFT project, projects that are supporting other efforts in Nicaragua and to the folks in Nicaragua that are relying on commitments we have made.
Don Martin is working on a Global Grant “Ear & Hearing Care (EHC) for Liberia” which will provide instruments for 7 hospitals in Liberia for hearing testing. The fundraising portion of the Global Grant was met in October! That is a milestone! We can thank 20 clubs that pitched in from $100 to $5,000 in support of this grant. The next step is authorizations by the presidents of the Host club in Liberia, and the International club (us), as well as DDF authorization from the districts. Once that is accomplished, (finally) The Rotary Foundation will review the proposal that was approved by our district back in August.

We continue to evaluate requests for funding. At our meeting in October, we considered:

A water project in Kenya from Forest Lake
Additional funding for an ESL project from Columbia Heights – Fridley
The Guatemala Literacy project from Rice Lake (Wisconsin) for $500

The first 2 projects were already fully funded by the time we offered support, so we have withdrawn our offer of support.

October 22 - Club Meeting

Posted by Peggy Strom on Oct. 27, 2024

Today's speaker was Wendy Goodman from the Ramsey County Children's Mental Health Collaborative. This organization, started in 2013, works across systems and with families to support children's mental health. Before the pandemic, 20% of youth had a mental health disorder that affected their life at home, school or in the community. But a 2021 poll of Ramsey County youth showed that more than 70% were struggling. Last year, the Collaborative served over 450 families by understanding and helping families find resources to address the myriad of problems that individuals within a family are having. They also focus on caregiver support, which is another area of great need in our communities.