Tim Hunt offered our invocation as we met in the Salvation Army gymnasium. Zack Stach was the presiding officer and he formally inducted Deb Maertens into the club, with Bob Russell as her sponsor.
Zack reminded us of cleaning up our stretch of Highway 210 west of Fergus on Saturday morning the 20th, weather permitting. Those that can help should plan on meeting in front of the strip mall out by Walmart at 9:00 a.m.. He also said that during the just completed school year our Club members helped stuff over 2000 bags at United Way. In response to a question about delivering Josh the Otter books to kindergarteners this school year, Zach said Randy Kempfer is handling that and we will be getting the books for delivery before school is out. To lead off our bragging and fining, Chef Ricki was recognized for coming in to cook just for us. Katie Johnson welcomed Deb Maertens to the club and said we were in the midst of National Health Care Week, with Katie having already been at Lake Region for 12 years. Tim Hunt remarked that with spring's arrival, they were heading east to see their grandchildren. Lisa MacFarland noted her return to club meetings after being gone due to knee replacement surgery. Ryan Welle also contributed for missing a few meetings, in part due to a daughter's ankle surgery as well as being gone on vacation. Mark Bring paid in for missing the prior week's meeting and having to leave the day's meeting early, with Jamie Larson also contributing for the latter reason. Keith Olson was with us virtually from Italy and he marked off two spots on his card for being able to join us in what appeared to be a beautiful setting.
Matt Schroeder gave his classification talk and he told us about his four children and being passionate about STEM, expressing how important his relationship is with his children. With a background in remodeling, Matt is now a licensed real estate agent with eXp Realty. Andrew Yaggie is the broker. To become an agent Matt had to complete 90 hours of course work, with a test administered for each 30 hours of education. He is licensed by Minnesota and North Dakota and has also completed the national licensing exam. Matt is also licensed as a building contractor and a commercial drone pilot.
Born in Wahpeton/Breckenridge, Matt has two brothers and a sister, noting his father had 17 siblings and his mother had six siblings. His family moved to the Wheaton area where Matt graduated from high school, going on to the University of North Dakota to get his bachelor's degree. He then moved to California and worked for a relative for ten years, deciding to move to Fergus Falls because he always liked the community when he was growing up. His wife is from California and while they both had to adjust to small town living (after being in a community of 130,000), her biggest issue has been dealing with our icy conditions in the winter.
Matt said that as he has grown older, his desire to get involved in community activities has increased and he is working at becoming a more well-rounded individual. He noted in a community, the sum is greater than its parts and that he believes that the community has helped him and he is committed to helping the community.