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Over the last three weeks our invocations have been offered by John M., Jamie L. and Tim H. After expressing our sympathy to Steve L. on the death of his wife at our meeting on January 8th, Wally C. led us in songs and President Katie recognized the following celebrating their indicated number of years in Rotary: John M. (46), Dean M. (27), Steve L. (27) and Katie herself (13). Katie also had as her guest Stephanie Grow from the YMCA. While there were no Student Guests on the 8th, on the 15th we hosted three students from our public high school: Tommy Erickson, Logan Bradenberg and Jaden Miller. Tommy is the son of Jeremy and Marcia, the vice president of the student council, member of the National Honor Society, participates in cross-country, track and Nordic skiing and is in the wind ensemble and president of Jazz One. He plans on attending NDSU and majoring in food service. Logan is the son of Ben and Laurie, treasurer of the student council, participates in Nordic skiing and track and is on the robotics teams, with plans on attending UND and majoring in aviation. Jason, son of Andrew and Lisa, is president of the student council, also participates in cross-country, track and Nordic skiing as well as band and choir; he plans to go to Minnesota State in Mankato and major in biochemistry and biology.  On the 22nd we had as our student guests E.J. (Eunjae) Cho and Mya Pangman from Hillcrest. Mya was the first to speak and she told us that she was born here in Fergus Falls and the family then moved and returned here two years ago. Her father is at Lutheran Brethren and Mya is the yearbook editor, senior class vice president, youth intern at Bethel and plans on attending a Baptist college to get a degree in youth ministry. E.J. is from South Korea and came to Hillcrest because his brother graduated from it five years ago; E.J. plays soccer and is planning to attend UND to get a degree in aviation. In the course of the past three meetings, President Katie acknowledged the birthdays of members Lois J. (January 7th), Josh B. (13th) and Steve A. (25th). She also told us that Jake Hexum resigned from the club as they are moving to Duluth. There have been many brags, announcements and fines since our holiday break: Ken told us of the revamped Daily Journal that was coming out on the 11th and the following week Buzz, Tim and Kathy all complemented Ken Harty on the new look of The Daily Journal. John M. told us Bruce Thom died on January 2nd, noting Bruce's fingerprints on many major businesses in Fergus Falls through his work on Project 500. John also reported the sad news of Gary Spies' death, aptly describing him as "Fergus Falls' First Citizen." On a happier note, John M. paid in a dollar to recognize Buzz L. sponsored him in Rotary. Brian T. told us that Deb M. had been working diligently and the first check for the school in Bolivia has been forwarded. Ryon W. told us that his daughter idolized Student Guest Mya. Keith O. talked about the wonderful eulogy John M. gave at Gary Spies' funeral, telling those gathered that Gary's big deal was inclusion and how appropriate that was since they were celebrating a Catholic mass at a Lutheran church. Keith also reported that granddaughter Nora was infection free, having avoided spinal meningitis after contracting a bad disease. John M. then complimented Keith O. for his baritone rendition of The Lord's Prayer at Gary's funeral. Mary P. told us she had missed a couple meetings because she came down with RSV, thanked John and Keith for their participation in Gary's funeral and also said that the Fergus Falls School of Dance performers gave great performances at both the Broen Home and Pioneer. Katie J. thanked Zack S. for filling in for her one week while she was away with her husband in Mexico celebrating their upcoming 30th wedding anniversary. Finally, laslt week Dave J. thanked Lisa M. for getting us pizza for lunch after Zack S. alertly notified board members of a last-minute notification that no food was going to be served at Salvation Army that day. On January 8th we had a program on the Chahinkapa Zoo given by Kathy Diekman and Tom Schmaltz, talking about and showing us slides and video of their trip to Botswana as a gift from the San Diego Wildlife Park. On the 15th Jason Bergstrand talked to us about Lake Region's Take Roots Community Garden and plans to add a 36' x 72' greenhouse. Last week we discussed our club's visioning process, handling of our historical materials, increasing our membership, upcoming service opportunities (let Cody O. know if you have any ideas), whether we want to host an Exchange Studenet next year as long as we have the first host family identified (yes), and whether we want to try to take ion a Spartans' basketball game as a group (also yes). |
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