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Following our normal opening procedure, with Kathy Austvold providing the invocation, President Ryon called on Dave Johnson to introduce our three student guests, all seniors at the Fergus Falls High School and captains on its football team. Parker Thielke also is in hockey and baseball, and his parents are Shane and Jan. Isaiah Holmes' mother is Victoria Dewey and he is in the same sports as Parker. Finally, Mason Oland, son of Andrew and Tara, participates in football and golf. Kathy presented each student guest with a Rotary medallion that has inscribed on it The Four Way Test.  For the Rotary Minute, this writer went through badges for members we have not seen at a club meeting in a long time and solicited volunteers from Rotarians in attendance to reach out to one of those identified and make a special invitation to him/her to attend our meeting on the 15th. Steve Leitee reported that work on Lake Region's Take Roots Community Garden new greenhouse is progressing steadily, with the main frame up and rails now being installed to support the panels which are the next step in the process. A lot of hard work has gone into this effort, particularly by Steve and John MacFarland, and we owe them a big thank you. Brian Tjaden sought one more volunteer to promote Youth Exchange and RYLA at the Career Day being held this Wednesday morning, the 15th. It was also announced that on October 29th we will be distributing Andy & Elmer's Apple Dumpling books to second graders at McKinley, Adams, OLV and Hillcrest. In terms of brags, Dean Monke said the catch made by student guest Isaiah Holmes at the football game against Zimmerman was the best football catch Dean has ever seen live, and knowing Dean has attended a lot of high school games over the years, that is a really big compliment. Cody Odland then introduced our program, Emily Frustol , a Health Educator with the Otter Tail County Department of Public Health. She talked about three aspects of emergency preparedness and response: 1) it starts at home; 2) Minnesota Responds; and 3) how one can help. At home there are four key actions you can take to prepare for an emergency: 1) know your risk; 2) make a plan; 3) build a kit (and each person present received an Emergency Go Bag to use with a couple items already in it); and 4) practice or get involved. As to the go bag, what goes in it will be affected by the time of year; you generally want to plan for a 72-hour time span because that it about the longest it should take for emergency responders to get to you. Emily also told us about Smart911, which is the official emergency alert and notification system for the county. You can register at ottertailcounty.gov/smart911 and fill in as much information as you want, including family and address details as well as medical, animal and vehicle information and emergency contacts. It is a free service. Alerts you will receive include severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings, local public safety emergencies and general, non-emergency alerts. For those concerned about privacy, the materials Emily brought indicated that your information is only available to 9-1-1 call takers and first responders if you have an emergency and that it is housed in top-tier secure facilities complete with 24/7 physical security, video surveillance, and alarms. Smart911 utilizes the same SSL certificate authority and encryption technologies used by leading financial institutions. Emily then talked about Minnesota Responds, which is a partnership that integrates local, regional and statewide volunteers to assist our public health and healthcare systems. Volunteers are notified when needed but you are not obligated to respond. Right now, 450 volunteers have signed up in our nine-county area. You can enroll at mnresponds.org, with training opportunities offered volunteers. She told us that since she came here three years ago, they have yet to call in any volunteers. Emily said there is an all-day Emergency Management Summit at the Pelican Rapids High School on October 16, 2025, starting at 8:30 a.m.; for more information you can contact (218) 998-8067. Emily can be reached at (218) 998-8370 and her e-mail is efrustol@ottertailcounty.gov. The telephone number for Otter Tail County Public Health is (218) 998-8320. In response to a question asked of her, Emily told us that she is a North Carolina native while her husband is from Virginia. She has a master's degree in communication, and is the mother of a one-year- old. She has in-laws in the area. |
