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Our new President, Zack Stach, called the meeting to order, with Wally Cole offering our invocation.. Mary Pettit was our lone virtual attender. Wally had as his guest his wife, Marcie. Zack introduced his guest, Joel Pettigrew, who works at Thrivent Financial. A sign-up sheet to volunteer at the Salvation Army from 11:30 to 12:30 on Thursdays was sent around. Jamie reported we can expect peaches to arrive August 14th (subject to change) and will be sold once again at $40.00 a lug. Our peaches are from Washington State, not Georgia; the latter's crop, it is reported, is suffering due to weather condition and one news source projects a loss of up to 95% of a normal year's yield. We could have a bonanza year in sales, but we need to sell early and often so, if necessary, we can up our order from 792 boxes. Jamie also reported that the spouse of our grower was the former head of the USDA's offices in Washington. This year's effort should be one of the easier sells you will have for one of our fundraisers (duck derby, peaches, roses and a new one - see below) so take advantage of it and sell more than you ever thought possible! When we got to brags and fines, Wally led off indicating how proud he was of his son-in-law becoming president of our club. He also stated he wished he had also become president of our club, noting that his father had been president of the Hibbing Rotary Club. Wally also said, as to why he had not become president, that he felt it was in part due to his stance on polio and Rotary's effort to eradicate it through vaccination, stating there is an alternative, and also because "forces" kept him from the presidency. Wally stated he is capable of serving as president. Getting back to the brags and fines, Deb contributed because she will miss our Lucky Duck Derby because she will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a Youth Exchange Conference; Deb is our Rotary District Youth Exchange In-Bound Director. Ken also paid for being unable to participate in the Derby this year and also because, in reviewing programs from our prior Rotary year last week, he unintentionally omitted reference to Keith's great presentation on his Iceland trip. Buzz Lundeen bragged so as to educate us about "Merlin," an app that will tell you what bird you are listening to by hearing the sounds it is making. Buzz also referenced talking to his son Paul about slowing down a little bit in the business and Paul responded, "You can't watch birds all the time." President Zack then offered his outlook for the coming Rotary year, first asking each of the four new teams formed to identify their team leader; three of the four were able to do so, with final word waiting from one team. He talked about plans for another fundraiser, which involves showing two or three movies at the Center for the Arts and selling concessions at them. We would pay a fee to rent the movies we select but they would be free to the public, expecting to generate funds for the club through concession sales. We can offer pretty obvious clues to the public as to what movie will be showing but cannot use its name in publicizing it. We would likely ask businesses to co-sponsor the event and it was suggested we could show a video about Rotary (and the sponsoring business?) before each movie starts. In his training to become our president, Zack learned of other clubs having success with such a fundraiser. More information to follow. Zack also talked about his hope to get back to more socials, including family-oriented events, thinking the first one will be held in Magnuson Park in early August. Another major goal is to add to our membership, with the possibility of having a potential member social under consideration. We will also be running Rotary Minute Plus again this year.  President Zack Stach presenting his presidential plaque and past-president badge to Ken Harty |
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