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The invocation and song leading responsibilities were handled by Anthony Nordan and Keith Olson respectively. Anthony Nordan introduced as his guest Jacklin Steege, Director of the United Way of Otter Tail & Wadena Counties. The presiding officer thanked all Rotarians for making the prior meeting a special event by inviting so many pastors to our gathering. We are now set to ring bells for the Salvation Army December 10, 11 and 18, and Rotarians were encouraged to wear their Rotary badge and take pictures of themselves in the act of ringing and text them to Bob Russell at 218-205-6944 or by e-mail to robert@russelllawoffice.com. A free-will offering to donate funds to The Rotary Rose Parade was solicited and $72.00 was raised. It was announced that our songs will soon be available as a link to the e-Rounds, thanks to the work of Jamie Larson. Pints for Polio at Fergus Brewing this past Friday as a dual effort of Fergus Sunrise and our Club was again promoted. (See picture of Tim Hunt, Mark Bring and Keith Olson enjoying the event.) There was encouragement to all Rotarians to consider how we market our Club to prospective members, noting the best place to start is for each Rotarian to be able to articulate why joining the club and being a part of it was and is worthwhile. Prospective members also need to know the monetary costs of being a part of Rotary. The current yearly charges per member are as follows: Rotary International costs: Dues $70, Council on Legislation $1, Liability & Officers & Directors Errors & Omissions Insurance for our club $5.94, the Rotarian magazine $12.00; District costs: Dues $41.00, Youth Exchange Fee $10, and World Community Service stipend $10; Club dues: $20.00. Meals are $8.00 per meeting, so with 51 meetings during the year that adds up to $408, for a total current annual cost of $582.94. One may also want to discuss with a prospective member other opportunities to support the Club through Rotary Minute Plus Insurance, currently $95.00, with a match of $105 by the Club (with the Club paying a new member's $95 the first year), the Duck Derby, the peach and rose sales, the Salvation Army and fines and brags. This year our Rotary District 5580 is providing $100 back to a club for each new member that joins it and our Rotary Board has decided that will be given to the new member to apply toward meal costs. Even with that, a prospective member will need assurance that the Rotarian recruiting him or her believes membership is well worth the "price." Anthony Nordan led off our Brags & Fines, stating that Salvation Army served 293 meals for Thanksgiving and thanking Leighton Broadcasting for providing smoked turkeys for the event. Keith Olson talked about how succulent his smoked turkey was on Thanksgiving, as he tried out his smoker on family; he was encouraged to do likewise for a future Rotary event. Mary Pettit reported the Fergus Falls School of Dance's Dance & Dessert was going to be back on stage this past weekend, with Rotarian Mark Bring one of the dancers. Mark added that his son will be dancing too. John MacFarlane recalled how one of the songs that we sang today, All Through the Night, was performed by his third-grade class at Hallock, and Jamie Larson acknowledged Keith's song selection as well, recalling how his kids grew up on the old Welsh tune. Tim Hunt paid for forgetting to wear his Paul Harris pin while Buzz Lundeen paid to report he had taken the membership quiz e-mailed out by Rotary International; all members were encouraged to do likewise. A good number of members were able to find and wear their Paul Harris Fellow ("PHF") pin to the meeting. It was explained how one becomes a Paul Harris Fellow and then moves on to a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow ("MPHF"), with different levels of recognition for each additional $1,000 given by a person or in his or her name. The Club has not presented PHF's or MPHF's for awhile so we recognized all of our 23 members who have achieved that status. Pins, medallions and certificates were presented to Katie Johnson and Mary Pettit, joining as PHFs Wally Cole, Laurel Nelson, Tim Rogelstad and Ryan Welle. Club members that were acknowledged for becoming a MPHF at the one sapphire level are Kathy Austvold, Bonnie Denzel, Randy Kempfer, Jamie Larson, Steve Leitte and Hal Leland; at the second sapphire level are Tim Hunt, Dave Johnson and Dean Monke; at the third sapphire level are Lois Josefson, Keith Olson and Dave Peters; at the fourth sapphire level, Pete Wasberg; and at the fifth sapphire level is Buzz Lundeen. Steve Andrews, John MacFarlane and this writer have all achieved major donor status. Plans to make every current member a Paul Harris Fellow or move him or her to the next level of recognition were gone over, and you will be receiving a letter shortly with all the details. Everyone was thanked for their contributions to The Rotary Foundation and encouraged to keep on giving, with a summary of the Foundation's accomplishments over the years also provided. |
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