Tim Hunt offered our invocation and this writer tried to fill in as song leader. Announcements included the need to postpone our assistance at the United Way because their food order had not arrived; we are now scheduled for November 2 and 4 at 8:30 a.m. on both days. Zach is also looking for suggestions for additional service opportunities so contact him if you become aware of something. David Johnson led off our brags with a big contribution for a New York Yankees loss in a one-game playoff and walking to our meeting on National Walk to School Day. Buzz Lundeen followed, happy to have his granddaughter moving to Fergus Falls and working at the store, and also for the opportunity he and wife Anne had to ride in the nicest car in Fergus Falls, thanks to Steve Andrews. Randy Kempfer also made a generous contribution for an NDSU win and to solicit help in finding out if UND played football the prior week (for you non-football fans, that was a classic). Mark Bring followed with two brags -- being at the Vikings loss to Cleveland but having a great view of Jefferson's touchdown catch, and also attending a Minnesota Wild pre-season win. Tim Hunt bragged about a grandson's promotion in the Army to Major. Wally Cole was happy about being able to attend a meeting via Zoom while visiting a daughter in Wisconsin. Jamie Larson was happy about attending an entertainment event the prior Saturday evening and the same Vikings game that Mark was at; we could not tell who had the better seats but both Mark and Jamie recited rows and sections as evidence of their presence. Keith Olson had to join the meeting late via Zoom because a customer walked in just as he was getting ready to come to the meeting, thereby missing out on leading songs. Finally, Ryan Welle was happy to see all of us again, as we were to see him.
Ryan then offered our program, talking about what has been happening in his business while he has been away. Three years ago Fergus Falls Monument started on work on a veterans memorial in Alexandria and in early 2020 was ready to expand its business operations by opening a place there, having gone so far as to make an offer to purchase some land. He then got a call about an opportunity to purchase an exiting business in East Grand Forks, Stennes Granite. It so happened that when another granite business went out of business in Detroit Lakes in 1978, Tom Stennes had purchased all of their equipment while Ryan's family bought all the unused granite. Tom Stennes sold his business to a relative in 2005 and she and her husband decided to sell the operation after 15 years so they could move closer to grandchildren living in San Diego. After Ryan and his brother Mike looked into it, they got out of the land deal in Alexandria and ultimately purchased the business They first needed to figure out how to manage a company 2½ hours away. They ultimately contacted a mutual friend then living in Colorado who had a wife and four boys but no familiarity with the monument business. After spending a week here learning about the business the friend and his family moved to Fergus Falls, living in a property that the Welles own while learning the ropes. Ryan started going up to East Grand Forks last November, building up to three days a week in December and then being up their full time during the workweek starting in January. Their biggest challenge was getting the two business locations to talk to each other and getting employees, losing one to a carpet laying job that paid $30 an hour. Despite these problems, Ryan stated that 2020 was by far the busiest year their business ever had, with pre-sales to those planning their own funeral going way up. (They still have 80,000 pounds of granite ordered last December from overseas that has yet to arrive for the 180 waiting customers.) On the employment front, Ryan said he joined 1500 other businesses in the Grand Fork area looking for employees. Then, out of the blue, a former employee of Stennes walked in just to meet the new owner and ultimately decided to leave his job at a Coke distributor to return to the monument business. Although Ryan thought he was going to have to be up in Grand Forks for a full year, this hire and their friend learning quickly on the job allowed Ryan to come back home before his and Janelle's children went back to school. Ryan missed his family a lot, being on the lake and Mike Clark going by on his pontoon and giving him grief, and even singing "Smile," noting when he was younger he thought the song was corny but now appreciates it. Cremation has not eaten into the business as Ryan's father thought would happen 25 years ago. You could tell Ryan appreciated what they accomplished in expanding the business and it was equally clear he was most appreciative of now being back in Fergus. Thanks Ryan, for your commitment to our club and community!