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After our invocation (I forgot to write down who gave it) Wally Cole led us in songs. Blake Crosby, a member of the Bismarck Far West Club and our area's Assistant District Governor (and moving to the area in the not-too-distant future) was our guest. Lisa McFarland was inducted into the Club as our newest member, sponsored by Mark Bring. Welcome Lisa! Announcements included a report that Kiwanis International had awarded the $50,000 grant for a splash pad to the Chisholm, Minnesota Kiwanis Club; reports were received from ten club members that they and family had cast at least 94 votes for the Kiwanis Otter Riser's entry that received the most votes but did not get selected. Members were told that ten of us had gone over to Dave Peter's home the prior Wednesday and sang some songs to him; Dave died about a half hour after our departure. Dave's funeral was held at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church on March 31. On a lighter note, those assembled learned that our spring cash raffle drawing will be on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, and the raffle tickets will hopefully be available for distribution in the next two weeks. In 2021 we sold 735 tickets for a gross of $7,350 and our expenses, including $2,000 in prize money, amounted to $2,251.45, creating a net balance of $5,098.55. To make up for not having a rose sale this year the hope is that we will be able to sell all 1000 tickets. Team Two (their name is either the Wanabees or the Shakers & Movers), consisting of Dave Johnson, Randy Kempfer, Hal Leland, Tim Rogelstad, Zach Stach and Sean Sullivan, were thanked for setting up and taking down in March and for arranging our programs during the month. It was also announced our evening meeting on April 13th will start at 5:45 p.m. at the YMCA, a compromise between those wishing to start at 5:30 and those preferring 6:00 p.m. We then went into Brags & Fines and Greg Darling was the first to rise to report he was one of ten entries in the prior Saturday's chili contest at Outstate Brewing Company and his hot concoction took first place. Steve Andrews indicated his daughter Alice took Steve and Menghui to Seattle for a week celebrating a bonus she received. Mary Pettit celebrated her fifth grandchild and also put in a scooter buck. Ken Harty enjoyed the Presidential Elect Training (PETS) he participated in virtually the prior day, with one session on membership and one on visioning. Mark Bring was proud of his daughter who recently was in Orlando with the Underwood School District's musicians and was one of eight out of 1500 in attendance who received the maestro award. We then heard from Assistant Governor Blake Crosby who has done extensive traveling on Rotary service projects in Guatemala, India and other countries. He said that they have been able to build schools through World Community Service grants from our Rotary District (the District annually collects $15.00 per member from each club to finance these projects) for only $37 a square foot. He also added that it is hard to understand the impact of Rotary International unless you go on an international project. Blake referenced Rotary's efforts to support Ukrainian refugees and said that a Detroit Lakes Rotarian has committed to giving up to $15,000 in matching funds for dollars contributed to the effort by Rotarians. For information on how to make a contribution that will be matched by these dollars, contact this writer. A handout Blake provided indicated that eight new cases of polio had been reported for the week of March 23, in Cote d'Lvoire, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen, but they were all caused by the immunization derived variant. World Immunization Week is April 22nd, and Rotary Clubs and members are encouraged to raise awareness of the immunizations for various diseases that are available. Earth Day is April 22nd and we were encouraged to plan some sort of day of service and report it to our District . Blake also encouraged people to sign up for the virtual District Conference on April 21 and 22, which will include as one of its speakers Rod Steiger. Times our 11-1:30 and 4-5:30 on Thursday the 21st and 11:30-1:30 and 4:00-6:00 on Friday the 22nd. You can sign up by going to the website for Rotary District 5580 and clicking on the link to register. As to moving to the Fergus Falls area, Blake said he fishes and hunts here, has a close friend on Otter Tail Lake and so decided he is going to move here. After thanking Blake for his comments, this writer asked those present to raise a hand if they had invited a prospective member to Rotary since July 1, 2022. Only a few could indicate they had, so everyone was reminded to do so and a challenge was issued to have at least six prospective members attend a club meeting between now and the end of this Rotary year, June 30th, |
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