Kathy Austvold provided the invocation after we recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and then we shared The Four-Way Test. President Ryan presented two of our Lucky Duck Derby winners with their prize money, with the last duck sold at Shop Move'n Groove by Steve Leitte being the fastest of them all; $1,000 went to Karl Beck and $100 for the fourth quickest duck was presented to Christel Samuelson (sold to her by David Lindberg).
There was a Rotary Minute Plus Quiz based on our meetings in July, and three of three questions were answered correctly! President Ryan thanked Lisa McFarland, Holly Wilson, this writer and Teresa Leno from the Sunrise Club for volunteering at the Farmers Market the prior Saturday to sell peaches and Keith Olson encouraged all of us to e-mail Jamie Larson with a count of peach lugs sold, as delivery is less than two weeks away. The four teams that were formed to identify programs for the 2025-26 Rotary year were encouraged to identify their leaders, with Katie Johnson stepping forward to say she was willing to do so for her group, noting that they had August and the only date remaining open for a program was this coming Wednesday, August 6th. Ryan also told us that a tech team is in place to help with our needs in that area. Steve Andrews led off the brags and fine, reporting that he and wife appreciated the safety of their Subura as they experienced a bad accident the previous Monday night just east of Elizabeth, with a trip to the emergency room by ambulance being the result. Meng was a little worse for wear than he, but both were thankful to escape more severe consequences. Deb Maertens contributed six dollars twice to commemorate her 66th birthday and received an a cappella rendition of "Happy Birthday." Holly Wilson contributed for missing multiple meetings and Wally Cole turned in a fine on behalf of Hal Leland who offered monetary contrition for missing last week's meeting and having to leave the day's meeting early.
Keith Olson introduced our program, Pam Muxfeldt and Guy Taylor, head of the City's Park and Recreation and Public Works Departments respectively. They talked about the new water park, which opened on June 2nd and has seen higher use than projected. It will close on August 24th, primarily because most of the hired staff are leaving to return to school. The hours are noon to 7:00 p.m. and there are five lifeguards on duty at all times. The quality of the water is checked three times a day. The campgrounds at Delagoon Park will soon have a soft opening with all reservations to be made on-line through Campspot.