Coach Giese and team members Marie and Taylor told us about the last year and a half of building up the UWRF Livestock Judging Team, working with local livestock producers and alumni, and highlighting a variety of contests they were able to travel to - good works brought together through their shared love of livestock! What we learned from Brooke, Taylor, and Marie is that this program is really about developing the student judges by developing the participants' public speaking skills, self confidence, decision making as well as expanding their knowledge and skills in dealing with 4 types of livestock. Click Read More to read about the speakers.
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River Falls Rotary Burger Battle
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Elaine Baumann, who leads our exchange student team, is also a leader in North Star Youth Exchange. She reviewed the mechanics involved in getting exchange students from overseas to come here as well as what is involved in sponsoring and managing the process for outbound students. She reviewed some of the history of Rotary Youth Exchange and North Star, which is comprised of all clubs in Districts 5950 and 5960.
If you want to get a sense of the resources involved in NSYE, click the pdf of Elaine's slides in the Download Files section at the bottom of the Tidings. Slide 6 is the organization chart, which Elaine noted includes two lawyers, a psychologist, numerous country experts responsible for maintaining contact with one or more foreign countries where students are currently located. She noted that all but one position are filled by volunteers.
Elaine also shared with us that in 2025-27, she will be the overall leader of this group of talented and dedicated people responsible for the welfare of many students both here and abroad. Congratulations to Elaine for reaching this position; if you get a chance, wish her well as she takes on this responsibility.
Assistant District Governor Ted Blank introduced current District 5960 District Governor Ed Boeve (Click READ MORE for Ed's biography). Ed started with some of his Rotary history, including leading two District Grants in Kenya. He was his club's president in 2020-21. A pdf of Ed's slides is available by clicking in the Download Files section below.
While he had been a member of Stillwater Sunrise since 1997, Ed's deeper involvement started with being asked to write a grant since that was part of his "day job" with non-profit management. That led to a trip to Kenya in 2016 where Ed was able to be part of the team that placed the pump into the borehole more than 500 feet below the surface.
Recently retired SDRF Superintendent Jamie Benson spoke at our meeting about his 11 years at the helm of the district. He emphasized the good things that have happened and are happening in our schools while also reminding us of the many challenges that the SDRF administrative and teaching staff face both in their daily tasks and in the long-term management of the district's resources, both human and physical. Benson expressed his gratitude for the support provided by the community, including support from groups like Rotary. He specifically noted the major contribution that the school forest pavilion will be. Those of us in attendance thanked Jamie for his leadership, and we were happy to hear about both his family history and a little about his future plans. If you'd like more details, a pdf of Jamie's slides is available in the "download files" section below.
Jamie Benson retired June 30 after serving for 11 years as the School District of River Falls superintendent. He recently celebrated 40-years of marriage to his wife, Jan. Together they have three adult children and seven grandchildren.
At last week's meeting Rick Wilson reviewed our 24-25 River Falls Rotary budget. Anyone interested who missed the meeting can email rkerfwilson@gmail.com to ask questions or get a copy of the slides. A few main points: 1) budgeting for club operations will assume that membership level stays the same; 2) all club members need to think about membership and who might be a good fit for our club; 3) because of the pandemic "pause", we have adequate funds for the Pavilion project; 4) the District Grant has provided significant financial support, reducing the amount that needs to come from our club account.
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