Rotarians assembled at Broadway Park and via Zoom, and after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four Way Test, Keith Olson offered our invocation. Encouragement was offered to sell Lucky Duck Derby raffle tickets and to assist on the day of the race, July 15th, set to begin at 5:00 p.m. There was also an announcement that beginning July 21 and presumably throughout the rest of the summer we will meet at Bethel Church on Wednesdays at noon, hoping meeting indoors will make it a bit easier to conduct a meeting and more can attend. The reasoning the Board went through to decide on setting the price for peaches at $40 a lug was explained, with the added incentive of reaching a goal of 880 lugs sold (previously 792), in which case the Club will not conduct the spring raffle that we held in 2019 and again this year.
Those paying to brag or self impose a fine included Jamie Larson for his planned wedding (which occurred this past Saturday) and Keith Olson commemorating his father and Past District Governor Bob Olson's death on July 5, 2003; the latter prompted Jamie to comment on how many of our songbooks you can find Bob's notes on what songs to sing at our weekly meetings. Buzz followed up by reporting he had sold over 190 Duck Derby raffle tickets, which prompted John MacFarlane to brag that Buzz and John combined have sold over 200 tickets. Wally Cole bragged about his family. Randy Kempfer paid for missing some meetings but enjoyed time with his professional peers, and Mary Pettit finished it off by paying a fine for also missing some meetings.
This writer then talked about the coming year in Rotary and his appreciation for who we meet, get to know and what we have already done and can accomplish through Rotary. It is hoped we will continue to further Rotary's ideal of service above self and keep in mind the motto of Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta for 2021-22: Serve to Change Lives. Fun and fellowship were described as necessary components to the year going forward. Reference was made to two challenges/opportunities facing us -- membership retention and growth and having an effective structure to involve all club members in what we are about. In the latter regard, when asked how many present could say they have actually done something on a committee they were not leading in the last three years no hands were raised. We need to work on membership and club involvement; anyone with suggestions in that regard is encouraged to share them with myself or other officers and board members. Thank you for the opportunity to lead The Fergus Falls, MN Noon Rotary Club in 2021-2021!