Rotary Rounds December 7, 2016

DISCLAIMER: Mostly because of the author's own procrastination in completing the December 7, 2016 rounds at the very last minute prior to the following week's meeting, and partially because we did not yet have the option for publishing our own rounds to Club Runner rather than relying on others to publish and send the rounds, the Rotary e-Rounds were never sent out to club members for our December 7, 2016 meeting.  The author deeply apologizes for this, but hopefully you can all enjoy them now as an interesting historical account of a meeting which occurred long ago, and enjoy the fact that we now have Club Runner which will allegedly streamline the e-Rounds distribution process going forward so that you will always receive them in a timely fashion.

DISCLAIMER: Mostly because of the author's own procrastination in completing the December 7, 2016 rounds at the very last minute prior to the following week's meeting, and partially because we did not yet have the option for publishing our own rounds to Club Runner rather than relying on others to publish and send the rounds, the Rotary e-Rounds were never sent out to club members for our December 7, 2016 meeting.  The author deeply apologizes for this, but hopefully you can all enjoy them now as an interesting historical account of a meeting which occurred long ago, and enjoy the fact that we now have Club Runner which will allegedly streamline the e-Rounds distribution process going forward so that you will always receive them in a timely fashion.

 

 

Our meeting this week was moved to a gymnasium around the corner because of a bake sale of some kind that was occurring in our regular meeting room.  I assume someone checked us in, but I did not see who it was.  This is not because I was late.  I just did not see a sign in sheet.  I hope Kathy knows I actually showed up for a meeting for once.

 

I also did not see a greeter, although I assume it was Ryan Welle because he handled the brags and fines bucket later on in the meeting. Missy Isaac handled the invocation.  We did not have a piano player, so there were no songs today, and President Katie began the meeting by leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and recitation of the Four Way Test.

 

I apologize if any of the below is incorrect, especially names, or dates.  The acoustics in the gym were great for singing, but not so great for hearing specific things said by announcers and braggers.  I did my best.  My apologies to anyone whose name I spelled incorrectly (or did not know).

 

We had two student guests/athletes of the week from Hillcrest.  The first was Sophia Iverson, daughter of Rich and Karen Iverson.  Rich is an associate pastor at Bethel Church.  She is in volleyball and softball.  The second student was Jake Steinly (sp?)  He is the son of Jim and Jenny Steinly.  He was born in New York, but moved to Fergus Falls at the age of one.  He is in football and baseball.

 

President Katie announced there was a Board meeting today immediately following our regular meeting.

 

Ben Durbin solicited volunteers for Salvation Army bell ringing on Thursday, and was able to fill up a volunteer list!  He announced he will likely look for a few more dates for us since there is so much interest.

 

There was no Rotary Minute. 

 

At this point in the meeting, Randy Kempfer showed up late.  He decided to lead off the brags and fines by paying a fine for being late.  I did not pay a fine for being late because I was not late.  I was right on time.

 

A person I did not recognize and unfortunately did not catch his name (but he was wearing a Habitat for Humanity name tag) bragged about a big project they have coming up in January.

 

Buzz Lundeen bragged about Lundeen's customer appreciation sale they have going on through Saturday, with hot cider, discounts, and deals.  It is a great opportunity with the cold weather to find some warmth (and deals).

 

Missy Isaac bragged about both of our student athletes/guests, Sophia is a great person and a great friend to her nice, and Jake is good buddies with her son, also a great friend.  Missy is proud of both of them.

 

Ben Durbin bragged about Augustana Church's St. Lucia Luncheon this coming Saturday at the church, with pea soup, ham, and Swedish goodies.  There was some confusion between Ben and Bob Russell about what exactly "Swedish goodies" might be, it could be pickled herring, or Swedish meatballs?  I was hoping for cookies.

 

Dave Peters bragged that his store is selling pearl, amethest, and topaz bracelets, and if you buy one for $10, the entire $10 will be donated to the Salvation Army.

 

Kathy Austvold bragged that we had 75% attendance from our club on the first and last Wednesday of November.  I believe I personally attended 50% of those meetings, which is not too shabby, given the current attendance record (and/or membership status) of the four or five Past Presidents who preceded me.  And, let's not forget that I arrived exactly at noon, right on time, for the meeting today.

 

Dean Monke introduced our program, singers from M State directed by Theresa Ashworth and accompanied by Dave Stoddard.  Dave Jenson came as well, and politely asked the entire club to participate in a Mannequin Challenge with the singers.  Look for that to go viral on the web at any moment.  Or maybe check the M State Facebook page?

 

The music was beautiful in the gymnasium.  The singers started off by singing Carol of the Bells.  They also sang Earth Song, Silent Night (as arranged by the A capella group Pentatonics), and two small group songs: (1) Angels We Have Heard on High, and (2) It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

 

The students introduced themselves prior to the two small group songs, and displayed their wide diversity, hailing from locations as far away as Elizabeth, MN, all the way to South Carolina and Nigeria.  Other students originated from Park Rapids, Brainerd, Alexandria, and Clarissa.  There were several students from Fergus Falls, as well as New York Mills, and Battle Lake, rounding out a strong Otter Tail County contingent.

 

The final song was called Baba Yetu, which is "The Lord's Prayer" in Swahili.  Two students accompanied on the Bjembe, and two students had solos.  It is awesome to be able to enjoy such incredible music at our meetings throughout the entire month of December!