Oct. 4 was Prospective Member Day at the Rotary Club of Edina meeting, and we were joined by lots of guests checking out our club. The speaker was Kate Mortenson, president and CEO of the 2019 Final Four Organizing Committee. She spoke about the impact and importance of these major sporting events coming to the Twin Cities.
David Clynes gave a Paul Harris Fellow award was given to Mary Fink, former advisor to the Interact Club at Edina High School.
Rich Kleber gave his Classification Talk at the meeting.
Rich Kleber gave his Classification Talk at the meeting.
Click on the link below for more on the meeting...
President John Flynn opened the meeting with a number of announcements of upcoming events and past activities.
- "Rotary’s Got Talent," last Saturday night, Sept. 29, involved over 200 Rotarians and guests and is expected to have raised in excess of $100,000 for the Edina Rotary Foundation.
- The Happy Hour Vocational Development Group met last night.
- Women in Rotary meets Tuesday, Oct. 9.
- Rotaract meets Wednesday, Oct. 10, and is directed at people ages 18–30.
- Next Thursday, Oct, 11, will be Vocational Day, and the meeting will be held at Faribault Woolen Mill. Bus transportation is available.
- Rotary will help at Feed My Starving Children on Saturday Oct. 13. Volunteers are still needed!
- For the first time in 25 years, a club photograph will be taken. Scheduled for Oct. 18 at the Edina Country Club during our regular meeting.
- On Sunday, Oct, 21, there will be the annual park cleanup by Rotary.
- Tuesday, Oct. 23, we work with Edina High School students for the Leadership Ethics Seminar. Contact Sutton McGraw or go online to volunteer to be a table leader.
- At the Oct. 25 meeting, Rotary is sponsoring a blood drive with Memorial Blood Centers. Contact Katy Campbell for more info or to sign up for a time to give.
- Other upcoming events include Fireside Chats and Camp Enterprise.
Susan Stiles gave the invocation and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test.
Rich Kleber gave his Classification Talk, including where he grew up, that he went to St. Olaf College, began work in small-town publishing and then began his current career as a financial advisor. He is married and they have three grown children.David Clynes awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship pin to Mary Fink, who is the former advisor to the Edina High School Rotaract Club. Current President of the Interact Club, Samantha Bevers, joined us at the meeting, along with Mary's mom, Kathy Fink, and Mary's boss at Edina High School, Carynn Roehrick.
Sam Thompson reported as the treasurer and encouraged members to sign up for automatic dues payments. See Sam or Club Administrator Jennifer Garske for more info.
Mark Jessen introduced our speaker, Kate Morensen. Ms Mortenson is president and CEO of the 2019 Minneapolis Final Four Local Organizing Committee.
She spoke about the new place our community finds itself in in regard to major events. She listed recent events starting with the 2014 Major League All Star Game; followed by the Senior Games; the Ryder Cup; X Games; the Super Bowl; the X Games again; the LPGA finals and others. She said that we are set for a major event to be held here every one to three years.
Coming next, and her current primary focus, is the NCAA Men’s Final Four, April 5–8, 2019. She said her committee’s goals are:
- To deliver all events with excellence
- To earn future opportunities for events here
- To create a lasting impact here from the event
She went into detail as to what will happen with the Final Four here, with events over four days, many of them free to the public. She also talked about the work and events leading up to the Final Four itself. She described the economic impact; the social and civic impact, including education, youth, diversity and inclusion.
Chuck Rauenhorst thanked the speaker and President John Flynn adjourned the meeting.
