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Our pianist was back with us, so we started off with the U.S. and Canadian national anthems, with the invocation then offered by Jamie Larson. Wally Cole was our song leader and got us to do a little exercise to one of the songs. We then presented a Paul Harris Fellow award, along with $100 in Fergus Bucks, to Rachel Venburg, nurse at Hillcrest. As you may recall, we honored all school nurses this way last June 9th, with the mayor proclaiming it School Nurse Day in Fergus Falls, but Rachel was unable to join us back then. A lot of people wanted to do some bragging or volunteered to pay a fine. They included: 1) Dave Johnson put in four $20 bills for celebrating his 80th birthday on the 21st, to which we responded with applause and a rendition of "Happy Birthday"; 2) Greg Darling put in a couple dollars, for being in Arizona the prior week and having to leave the day's meeting early; 3) Ryan Welle contributed for missing some meetings and to congratulate the girls' basketball team; 4) Tim Hunt put in for missing last week's meeting due to a car that got stuck and another five dollars because he will be gone in April visiting family; 5) Keith Olson bragged about just returning from their cabin up north and the opportunity he had to virtually attend the Sunrise Club's social that occurs every Friday night at 5:00 p.m.; 6) Katie Johnson also reported she missed the prior week's meeting, in her case because she and her daughter that is attending NDSU visited Ashville, North Carolina; 7) Kathy Austvold reported she will miss our next two meetings as she will be traveling to India; 8) Mark Bring put in a scooter buck; and 9) Buzz Lundeen bragged about basketball star Ellie Colbeck, granddaughter of former Rotarians Bill Colbeck and Wally Ness. Brad Hoganson, a member of our club since November 1, 2017, then talked to us about what has been happening at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, first expressing his appreciation for Rachel Venburg's assistance to him in dealing with the pandemic. Brad recalled that it was about this same time of year in 2020 when plans for a student choir trip to Seattle were scuttled because of COVID and arrangements had to be made to fly all the Norwegian students home on short notice. He recalled how Hillcrest started in 1916 in Wahpeton and then a building was purchased in Grand Forks with plans to move there but that didn't occur because of the 1918 global pandemic. Because of the current pandemic, Hillcrest had no new international students during the 2020-21 school year and no students from Norway. Alumni came through in a big way financially to help the school weather the pandemic. Now, in 2021-22, the Norwegian students are back and Brad described it as "a good year for us." In November of 2020 a merger with Morning Son Christian School was completed, although Morning Sun's staff had been hired by Hillcrest before the official merger, Brad indicating the two organizations "lived together before they got married." Plans to build a new elementary school were jettisoned when the price tag came in at ten million dollars. Fortunately, Brad learned that the old Eisenhower School now owned by LB Homes could be available for purchase (while filling up his car at a gasoline station) and Hillcrest has now purchased it for 2.8 million dollars. Volunteers have gone in and torn out all the beautiful offices LB Homes constructed and contractors are now working to restore it as a school space. It is expected that work will be finished by the end of April and there will be an open house for the public to see the results. Playground equipment will be replaced sometime this summer. Brad said enrollment figures are on a good trajectory, with 175 students in the lower grades and 150 students in the upper grades. He did indicate, however, that the dorms are not as full as they could be. Hillcrest is working on putting together a program with a school in Brazil similar to what it has had going on with the Danielson school in Norway for 33 or 34 years. It also has embarked upon a five-year ten-million dollar capital campaign that was announced at last May's graduation; so far over $3 million has been committed. Part of the money has or will go the reroofing of the school which is now about 70% complete (the old cedar shakes went on in the 1980's), using a local contractor and a vinyl composite material that is suppose to have a 75 year live span. The boiler that was installed at the school in 1901 will also be replaced with what will only be Hillcrest's third boiler. The front steps were also replaced with a generous gift from an alumni at a cost of $80,000. A lot has been going on over at Hillcrest and we appreciated Brad giving us an update. |
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