After our invocation and recital of the Pledge of Allegiance and The Four-Way Test we welcomed as our guests Laly's host families and Kathy Austvold introduced friends from Bakersfield, California, Bill and Renee Zeiders. A Rotary Minute Plus Quiz based on the May Rotary Magazine (third week in a row - must have been a lot of good stuff in it) was administered and two of three questions were answered correctly. President Ryan reported he will be sending out e-mails to make arrangements to distribute the Josh the Otter water safety books to kindergarten students in our public schools. Brian Tjaden said that 550 of the Pluck a Lucky Duck raffle tickets have been distributed (not necessarily sold) and that we need to achieve a minimum of 700 tickets sold to be able to make anything off this fundraiser. We were also reminded of the Habitat for Humanity build on July 1. A thank you note from Anna Uggerud who we sponsored at the Kennedy Honors breakfast was passed around. Brags and Fines included Steve Andrews telling us of the celebration of his mother's 100th birthday, which date also happens to be his and Meng's anniversary date. Steve Austvold told us visiting friend Bill Zeider was a water engineer in California and that morning he helped fix a malfunctioning water pump. Tim Hunt said that Desta had celebrated her 87th birthday and they have been married for 64 years. Mary Pettit reported Laly was a wonderful addition to their dance classes and also referenced that she and Bill were celebrating 43 years of marriage. Laly Parent was introduced as our program, and she thanked all three of her host families for making her feel at home. Those host families were Kim Konikow, Eric and Briana Christ and their two daughters (Shelby and Parker) and Katrina and Travis Johnson and their two sons (Zach and Griffin). Cards of thanks and a gift were given to each host family at the end of the presentation by Deb Maertens, Youth Exchange Officer for our Club and Chair of our Rotary District Committee for Youth Exchange. (Deb deserves a lot of credit and thanks for how much time and effort she puts into Youth Exchange.)  Laly had a PowerPoint presentation, and she talked about her travels to Utah, Colorado, New York, Canada, Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul and we learned she spent seven hours at the Mall of America. She talked about taking art classes at school (drawing, papier mache and painted pottery), being involved in tennis, cross-country skiing, and dancing. We heard the words "super cold" or "very cold" when Laly was talking about some of her adventures, which included a polar plunge and dog sledding. She said the exchange program brought her autonomy, confidence and friendships and that her fears about not being able to make friends never materialized. She also expressed her thanks to our club for hosting her. In the question-and-answer period, we learned that she speaks French, Dutch and English and that she wants to pursue a degree in psychology.
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