eRounds from September 13, 2017 Meeting (Sep 16, 2017)

September 13th at Rotary

At the Desk: Mike Smith
Greeting Attendees: Dan Johnson
Invocation: Dave Peters
Song Leader: Bob Russell (Blowin' in the Wind vs. 2 & 3, Hymn of Nations and Smile)

Announcements

Ryan reported that Pepe's family came out of the earthquake in southern Mexico unharmed last week. They live about 30 miles form the epicenter and have had many aftershocks. He said their family is enjoying hosting Pepe and it is great to have a strong young man to help work on his deck - it sounds like Pepe is earning his keep! Ryan also said Pepe is doing well in Football and school, and he is great with Welle kids. President Steve noted that Bob Russell will be taking Pepe to the Rotary District Exchange Student gathering this coming weekend.
Katie Johnson gave an update on the Greenhouse project at Lake Region Takes Root Community Garden. As a reminder, this is the project we applied for a district matching grant to accomplish. Katie said some Underwood Interact kids are being recruited to install pavers for the floor of the greenhouse on 9/23. Noon Rotary members are welcome to help as well. Most importantly, we need 6-8 people to help construct the greenhouse one day during the first couple of weeks in October. It is expected to take about 6 hours. Let Katie know if you can help & if you prefer a Saturday or a Sunday or any specific date.
President Steve read a Thank you from the Wes Waage Rotary Memorial Scholarship recipient Morgan Lider.

Rotary Minute
Bob Russell sent around the sign up sheet for Rotary Rounds and for Rotary Minute Plus Insurance and gave us a quiz based on the September Rotarian. Since it was based pictures in the magazine we scored 100%!

Brags & Fines

Katie Johnson gave a dollar each for two special people in her life celebrating a birthday today - her Mom's 84th birthday & son's 18th Birthday.
Tim Rogelstad chipped in for the 22 employees who took off in 17 trucks from OTP yesterday to provide mutual aid to the 5.5 million customers in Florida who are still without power due to Hurricane Irma.
Tim Hunt threw in to celebrate the 2nd week in a row we got 100% on the Rotary Minute Quiz.
Bob Russell contributed for the privilege of spending time with Pepe at Rotary Exchange Weekend this upcoming weekend.
Lori Larson gave a dollar in anticipation of being "this close" to buying a 1/2 scale steam engine. She said she's contributing before she gets it since she won't be able to afford to contribute once she buys it!
Mike Smith gave to thank the OTP crews going down to Florida because his son is a teacher in St. Petersburg. He evacuated to Gainesville and got back home late Monday night to very little damage but no electricity.
John MacFarlane bragged that Tim Rogelstad must be doing something right because Ottertail's stock over $43 yesterday. He also noted that a copy of the Rotarian was in the clinic waiting area this morning.

Program
Hal introduced Lisa Workman, Fergus Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director as a "dynamic and innovative supporter and creator of goodwill & business in Fergus Falls." Hal called her "The greatest cheerleader I have ever met!"

Fun Fact About Lisa: Her favorite color is purple for two reasons: she is a big fan of both the MN Vikings & Prince.

Lisa welcomed Noon Rotary as a new member of the Chamber & shared some information about the Chamber, its work and how our club can make the most of our membership. Among the items she highlighted were:

1. The Chambers of Commerce in the United States is recognized worldwide for being the exclusive provider of a certain document - the "Manufacturers Certificate of Origin" required for exporting items out of the country. The Fergus Falls Chamber provides this service free of charge to its members (or $100 for non-members).

2. The Fergus Falls Chamber finds great success in partnerships such as the partnership with Noon Rotary to do the Lucky Duck

Derby at the downtown event "Shop Move N Groove." Over 2,000+ people attended the event this year and plans are already in progress to make it bigger & better next year.

3. Lisa shared a document called "Maximize your membership - Non-profit opportunities" and explained opportunities on Morning Talk Radio and PRTV, the online business directory, on-line calendar and job postings (which can also be used for volunteer opportunities)

4. Taste of Fergus Falls tickets are on sale for members right now. Only 400 tickets are available and they always sells out. Tickets go on sale to general public next week.

5. A lot of the Chamber's work goes on behind the scenes on things like workforce issues. Some workforce projects of our Chamber include:

An M State Emerging Leader class where students are paired with mentors in the community.
The Young Professionals Network (YPN) which launched this year. 55 people joined the first year.
A College & Career Exploration Day at Fergus Falls High School.

6. The Chamber Building Project is now on "version 3".

Version 1 was extend to the west (turned out it is not feasible on the river bank)
Version 2 was to go up - add a 3rd story (elevator expense was prohibitive!)
Version 3 is back to square one (exploring whether to renovate existing space or relocate)

Her presentation closed with Q&A and as always was enlightening in terms of learning more about our vital business community.