Deb Maertens offered our invocation. Steve Andrews introduced as his guest Bob Williams, who served as our Club's president back in 1996-97. President Ryan announced the Josh the Otter water safety books have arrived and we need six volunteers to distribute them to kindergarten students in our public school system. We were also encouraged to sell Pluck a Lucky Duck raffle tickets. Cody Odland passed around a sheet to sign up to work the Habitat build on July 1 as well as another one to volunteer at our setup for Summerfest on June 12th and 13th, with the duck plucking to occur at 3:00 p.m. on the 13th. He also told us we are still looking for a couple programs in June. There was a Rotary Minute Plus Quiz and for the second week in a row all three questions were answered correctly. What a historic streak! Hal Leland imposed a fine on himself for missing last week's meeting but explained he had to take wife Donna to the emergency room at the hospital the previous Sunday; she is now at PioneerCare short stay. Deb Maertens reported that Laly spoke to eighth graders the prior week about Youth Exchange and eight students indicated they may be interested in going abroad through this program. Keith Olson bragged about Radio Days sponsored by Sunrise Rotary and having a chance to promote Youth Exchange in one of the broadcasts on KBRF. Wally Cole was happy about his oldest granddaughter's marriage the prior weekend. We also learned that Buzz Lundeen has already sold 200 tickets for our raffle and requested another 50 to sell. We should all have paid in to recognize him! Steve Andrews was happy to be hosting Bob Williams and also told us of a pending celebration of his mother's 100th birthday. Kathy Austvold recalled her days at Morning Sun and that our speaker, then a student, assisted her in shoveling the sidewalk, revealing his inclination toward helping others at an early age. Our program was Joe Mattson, policeman with the Fergus Falls Police, a member of its canine unit and the handler and keeper for Capo, a Belgium Malinois. While the County Sheriff's office has two trained dogs, Fergus Falls went without one for ten years until Capo's recent arrival. The cost associated with bringing a dog to the police was $15,000, half for the dog and half for the training. Officer Mattson spent three years handling a dog for the Wilkin County Sheriff's office; he and Capo spent three months in training near Winona last fall. Capo is about two years old now and always wants to be active. Dogs can be trained as a locating tool (of drugs or suspects) and for criminal apprehension, the latter being the most difficult training piece. One trained in one skill is called a single purpose canine while Capo is a double purpose dog, trained in both skills. Capo and Officer Mattson average about 20 hours a month in training, which is required to keep up their certification. To date Capo has been multiple vehicle searches, finding contraband two times, and has been used in about ten building searches. Capo has successfully tracked two suspects leading to their apprehension. Joe has Capo 24 hours a day and likes working with a canine because it involves capturing bad guys and keeps them both busy. 
|
