President Ryan started our meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance; Jamie Larson gave our invocation, and the 4-Way Test was recited. No student guests were in attendance. In the absence of Bob Russell, no Rotary Minute Plus Quiz was administered.
There were fifteen members in attendance, President Ryan started with announcements and thanked us for clean-up work last week at the Salvation Army. Please note that next week’s meeting will not be at the Salvation Army, it will be at the Trilogy Real Estate office located on Union and Cavour Street; lunch will be provided. President Ryan moved on to brags and fines. Wally started off by sharing that his dental work was finally completed with his new teeth. Mark Bring paid a fine as he has missed meetings due to work-related issues. Katie mentioned that her kids were home and she had a great visit with them; it will be a long drive home as they are heading back to their jobs in Montana. Keith bragged on his granddaughter Claire that participated in the Lake Region run over the weekend, finishing 6th place overall as an 8-year-old, and winning first place in the young kids' division. Deb bragged a bit on our exchange student Laly as she was honored with graduation pomp and circumstance; Deb reported the Sunrise Club also asked Laly about speaking, she eagerly gave her presentation and did a great job at the morning club. Deb also mentioned that she attended the Devils Lake Youth Exchange and had a great time there. Tim bragged that on Sunday, number four son came from Washington and spent a week here.
The first half of our meeting we had Jim MacFarlane, a 1986 Fergus Falls High School graduate and best friend of Pete Wasberg, give us an update on a project that he is working on called “Pete’s Trees”. This is a fund-raising opportunity for residents, businesses, and organizations to donate money for the planting of new trees at Pebble Lake Golf Club after the ash trees have been removed due to disease. One of Jim’s notable comments was “Pete told me the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago the second-best time is now." Jim had a goal of $50,000 then he thought maybe $70,000 and then he said maybe $100,000. To date he is just shy of $70,000, Mindy Fuder of the 544 Foundation at the high school is in charge and they are running the funds through it, a 501(c)3 organization, so all donations are deductible. Jim had initially sent out 72 requests of which 60 respondents pledged and gave almost $70,000. Questions were raised with Jim about possibility of working with the city to get the appropriate type of trees and maybe some cost share, he is investigating that and has already been in contact with the arborist from the city.
Our own Deb Maertens came to the podium and offered a very nice program on Rotary District Youth Exchange. She provided us with a wonderful slide show about all the requirements and benefits of hosting kids. She hopes to have an outbound student soon from our club. One comment she made was that the biggest challenge we have is cell phone use of the students; we want them to keep the cell phones off so that they can fully immerse themselves in the experience of the exchange. Deb also mentioned that her daughter was an outbound student sponsored by the Fergus Falls Noon Club. Several questions were asked and Deb was delighted to have had the opportunity to speak to our club.
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