There were 18 Rotarians present for Noon Rotary with no visiting Rotarians. Steve Andrews joined us on Zoom and Ramona Jacobs was present as part of our program for today. President Zach led us in our opening Pledge of Allegiance, and Keith Olson gave our invocation. Some general announcements included the reminder of our ditch clean-up planned for what is now this past Saturday, April 27th. On Wednesday, May 15th we will be reading, “Josh the Otter” to the Kindergarteners so please sign up for that event. We also need at least one more person to sign up for Fargo Rotary Ribs. Our Lucky Duck Derby is scheduled for July 11th and posters and tickets are available from Brian or Ken as needed. We are scheduled for a Club Social on May 1st from 6 to 8 pm at Fergus Brewing along with the morning club and everyone is invited. And please mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 8th from 5 to 9 pm for our Club Visioning Session to be held at the Trilogy offices, and there will be NO noon meeting on that date. There will be a free meal provided by the Club and you should see a survey coming to your inbox in the next few days to gather some information for this important club visioning session. There was NO Rotary Minute here today with Bob’s absence and this brought only a small round of applause! Brags and Fines were quite numerous here today so let’s recap. Mary P. was relieved to report that a surgery had gone well for a granddaughter. Ryan W. reported that he was paying up for some missed meetings but also glad to still be in flannel. Marc B. had also missed some meetings but also bragged about Ramona and the School of Dance giving some opportunities for his children over the years. Kathy A. reported that Katie J. had written she was doing well on a current trip to Israel. Wally bragged about 3 granddaughters being involved in the School of Dance. And John M. reported that he has a 25-year-old granddaughter that is currently teaching dance in Fargo. Our program for the day included our own Mary Pettit along with the long-time director of the FF School of Dance, Ramona Jacobs. The School was established in 1982 and Ramona took over in 1984 with now over 38 years of offering wonderful dance opportunities to Fergus area students. Mary joined the School in 1994, and they currently have three teaching locations -- over the Viking, in the old library, and over the Senior Center. They are offering 47 different classes this year with 53 hours of instruction and over 200 students with help from 11 different teachers. The students come from the entire Otter Tail County area and as a group take more than 500 classes each week. The FF School of Dance teaches much more than just dance. They are looking to connect mind, body, and spirit, and they spend a lot of time just talking about life and what is happening around the world. The instructors hope to instill in their students' self-confidence, ethics, and the ability to take corrections as needed. These students can range in age from four years old to adults and some summer classes are offered as well. The performances for the Dance Studio include Dance and Dessert happening around that second week in December; this is a fund raiser for the Center for the Arts so that they are able to bring a dance experience to Fergus Falls sometime during each year. The students also perform for the local nursing homes during the year, and their big performance is the Spring Show that takes place in early June each year. Our community of Fergus Falls and the surrounding area have been very blessed to have the FF School of Dance here for all these many years as it provides an opportunity for many students to experience the world of dance in so many different ways. The Rotarians present today also had a chance to get up and dance and we looked fairly limber for a group of senior dancers!! |
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