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Jamie Larson gave the invocation while Keith Olson was our able song conductor. A sign-up sheet to ring Salvation Army bells at Service Food on Friday, December 10 and Saturday, December 11, from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. both days was circulated and should be available again this week; we will also have a Salvation Army kettle at our meetings starting this week until Christmas. While it was announced at the meeting our Pints for Polio Day at Fergus Brewing will be on December 4th that has since been changed to Friday, December 3. Group No. 1, The Colonel and His Privates, Golden Guys, SAS and Group 3 (still unknown if they choose to be the Wanabees, the Shakers & Movers or something else entirely) were reminded we are now five months into the Rotary year and have yet to see a prospective member invited to a club meeting as anything other than a speaker. On a much happier note, a letter from The Lundeen Foundation was read donating $5,000 to the Fergus Falls Rotary Foundation as a contribution in support of the Downtown Riverfront Project in memory of David F. Lundeen (1932-2020). Thank you to The Lundeen Foundation! During brags and fines, Tim Hunt acknowledged Keith Olson leading us in Stodola Pumpa (a Czech folk song) and also referenced his three sons that went into the military. Keith Olson commented on his son-in-law still being stationed in Kuwait but anxious to return home to a family that includes a three-year old that just celebrated a birthday wishing his "daddy was here." Wally Cole noted he and at least seven family members before him served in the military. Finally, Brian Tjaden reminded us that Hatch Realty is giving away free pumpkin pies in exchange for a donation to support the Splash Pad; if you signed up you can get your pie at today's meeting. Stan Carignan from Habitat for Humanity was our speaker and besides being strongly encouraged to rejoin our Club gave us an update on his organization's activities. Stan brought with him to our meeting Ben Ellison who is on the staff as Fund Development Coordinator. In line with the phrase "you can't fire a cannon from a row boat," Stan said he and his Board have set out on a mission to expand the organization and to focus on the one thing it was established to do -- provide affordable housing to those in need. Part of that includes increasing the number of staff working toward this goal; it also includes Paul Shol as Community Outreach Coordinator, Liz Niblock as Family Services Coordinator (and a wise and proud graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College -- you should recognize the adjectives as an exercise in tautology) and Chuck Brasel as Building Coordinator. The area served by our Habitat for Humanity Chapter is west of the Canadian railway line that cuts through Otter Tail County, home to about 36,000 people; when the Detroit Lakes Habitat was about to fold the Chapter was asked to take on this additional area but decided it needed to focus on those it was already trying to serve. Two homes were finished this year and there are another two being constructed next year; plans are to install solar panels on at least one of them, learning from the success of the Brainerd Area Habitat for Humanity which has used this alternative energy source on four to five houses. Habitat is looking to grow volunteer support without people having to write checks. Fundraising is still important too and next year they are planning the "Habitat 500 2022 - Tour de Otter Tail" from July 14-17, 2022; they are hoping to recruit a total of 125 riders with one rider from each organization. (I believe at this point one of our astute members commented that this new event reminded him of every Norwegian Lutheran's six favorite words: "We have never done that before.") As to the houses completed this year, both were sold to single moms. Stan related the startling statistic that the County has a poverty rate of 10 to 11% and of those 90% are single parent families. Seems like a good area to consider a service project. He also stated that the hardest part of the job is getting to the people they are trying to serve, noting that one person who bought a home through Habitat's efforts gave it up as it was just too much for her. By the way, as covered by The Daily Journal and related to us by Stan, as of August 1, 2021, he retired from the Army Reserve after 40 years of service. We thank him for that, his work through Habitat for Humanity and for coming back to our club -- hopefully as more than a great program. |
