After our invocation and the recital of The Four Way Test, guest Nadia Carlson and her parents, Steve and Michelle, were introduced. More on them and the presentation to Nadia later. There was a Rotary Minute Plus Quiz, of which no questions were answered correctly; the first question was left unanswered so maybe someone will get it right at this week's meeting. The question, based on the contents of the April Rotary magazine, was how many of the world's largest 20 largest Rotary clubs are in the United States. President Ryan then reminded us to order ribs from the Fargo Moorhead AM Rotary Club. Also, based on feedback received after last week's meeting, we are not going to do a Jail Bail at this year's Summerfest but will be doing our Duck Derby, with the winning ducks drawn from a children's pool as we did a couple years ago when the river current was not cooperating.
Tim Hunt complimented Steve Leitte for his beard to start off the bragging. Buzz Lundeen followed with a report that he had become a great grandfather again with the birth of granddaughter Phoebe and also that he and Ann were celebrating their 65th anniversary that very day. Katie Johnson contributed one dollar for each of our Lake Region Healthcare presenters, also noting that one of them cheered when Kiwanis was mentioned by Nadia.
Katie then introduced Kate Bjorge and Lee Shebeck. The latter joined Lake Region two years ago; he also owns the Dairy Queen in Battle Lake. Kate is the president-elect of the morning Kiwanis and came to Lake Region three years ago when she left the equivalent of West Central Initiative in Little Falls. Kate started out by thanking Rotary for being engaged with our community. She then spoke about the role of the Lake Region Healthcare Foundation in creating, encouraging and cultivating generosity in our town. The Foundation is community owned, regionally governed and locally operated. The day prior to our meeting Lake Region celebrated the contributions of 60 volunteers. Funds raised by the Foundation have most recently been used to purchase three-dimensional mammography equipment ($600,000 in 2024) and to support the community garden, with over $120,000 given. It also has a grant program for cancer patients, with up to $2,500 given, and the Jordan Tommerdahl Memorial Endowment Scholarship offers a $2,500 scholarship to those pursuing an advanced degree in mental health. A primary emphasis of the Foundation going forward is an update to Lake Region's facilities, which coincides with the strategic plan put together for all of Lake Region last fall, including dealing with the original hospital structure that has been in use for over 100 years, improvements to the emergency department, obstetrics, the therapy department, public spaces and parking. There is a surgical robotics program expansion plan underway with the goal of bringing what is called a "da Vinci robot platform" to the hospital as soon as possible.
Lee spoke about Lake Region's corporate donors, recognized at four different levels. He also told us that upcoming events include the Gala on April 30th, the Lake Region Run on June 6th (over 700 people participated last year), the Bee Movie on June 11st, and the LRH Foundation Golf Classic on July 30th. The latter is the successor to what Jim Fish and others have been staging for over 30 years. All hospital gift shop sales come back to the Foundation, which raised over $12,000 last year for it the Clinic lobby sale is scheduled for June 16-18 this year. We were also introduced to Buzzwell, the new mascot for Lake Region as the Guardian of Good Health; we will be seeing him at community events going forward.
It does not seem that long ago, but we were told the Cancer Center opened in 2010.
