Anthony Nordan provided our invocation after we recited the Pledge of Allegiance and preceding The Four Way Test. Lois Josefson recruited help to set up at the Farmer's Market this past Saturday and thanks go to her for putting it together and to Ken Harty, Hal Leland, Steve Leitte, Dean Monke and Anthony Nordan for staffing the set-up from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There was information on our club history, the books we distribute to elementary grade students and an opportunity to sell Lucky Duck Derby tickets, with 35 being sold!
Kathy Austvold recognized members who regularly attended our 51 meetings (or made-up) in the 2021-22 Rotary year. Those credited with attending 41 to 50 meetings were Kathy Austvold, Ken Harty, Jamie Larson, Steve Leitte, Buzz Lundeen, John MacFarlane, Anthony Nordan and Zack Stach. Four members had perfect attendance, those being Steve Andrews, Wally Cole, Keith Olson and Bob Russell.
Steve Andrews started off the bragging telling us his wife was home from New York and busy in the garden; this writer enjoyed his first read of To Kill a Mockingbird; Jacklin Steege reported she was in the thick of preparing for Stuff the Bus; Buzz Lundeen went fishing for the first time in many years and they caught 12 walleye (all catch and release); and Pete Wasberg paid for a few missed meetings.
Before getting into Ken's plans for this coming year, some background is appropriate. He was born and raised in Breckenridge, graduating from high school there. Fergus Falls was a destination they often visited, in addition to Eagle Lake where his grandparents had a cabin. His father worked at the Wahpeton Daily News for 30 years, in the employ of Wick Communications out of Arizona. After college Ken started working at the paper (he and his brother had also delivered papers for it when they were kids). He worked in all the different departments while in Wahpeton but was then promoted to ad manager for a newspaper in a town 120 miles west of New Orleans. After 3½ years there, Hurricane Katrina hit in August of 2006, upending his life, and the family moved in December of 2006 to North Carolina to work at another Wick newspaper. They loved North Carolina, enjoying the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Smokey Mountains to the west. In July of 2007 Ken was promoted to the position of publisher of the Wahpeton Daily News and was there ten years. He then went to Williston to resurrect its newspaper, working at it for 2½ years before moving to Fergus Falls to head The Daily Journal after it was acquired by Wick from Boone Communications.Ken is also the group publisher for the newspapers in Wahpeton and Williston, North Dakota; Sidney, Montana; and Pierre and Madison, South Dakota. Ken said that while at Wahpeton they shut down the press just like Fergus Falls did before he arrived here. Wick only bought the newspaper business here in Fergus Falls -- not its 14,000 square foot building that was constructed in 1973. Ken is very happy about his decision to move the newspaper into the old library, recognizing its significance as a pre-World War I Andrew Carnegie library. As to the demise of the small-town newspaper, Ken said that those that are not into digital are not going to make it and that fortunately The Daily Journal is averaging a half million impressions on its website a month.
Ken's wife is Esmerelda and they have two daughters, 27 and 29 years old, and five grandchildren. One daughter works as a business manager in Walcott, North Dakota, while the other is a dental hygienist ion Fargo. Ken's wife has done office work but is now busily taking care of grandchildren. As to his hobbies, Ken referenced fishing, hiking and enjoying football, noting he attended his first game at U.S. Bank Stadium last September.
In talking about his plans for this coming year, Ken first noted he is honored to be the 101st president of our Club and is excited about the opportunity to work with District Governor Kay Biga, District Executive Secretary Glora Mink and the other officers and directors of our Club in 2022-23: Zack Stach, Kathy Austvold, Brian Tjaden, Katie Johnson, Bob Russell, Mark Bring and Dean Monke. His hope is to expand our Club's involvement in all Avenues of Service, with the goal of growing our membership from 31 to 35. He also referenced Rotary Internation President Jennifer Jones' theme for the year -- Imagine Rotary -- where members act to make dreams become a reality and to make the most of their experiences. Ken thanked Club members for their confidence and trust in him and looks forward to a great year.
Jacklin has provided the following list of items United Way is looking to have donated for this year's Stuff the Bus efforts:
1 inch Binder, 10 ct Markers, 12 ct Colored Pencils, 16 ct Crayons, 24 ct Crayons, Black Dry Erase Markers, Book Covers, Bottles of Glue, boxes of Kleenex, Composition Books, Dry Erase Markers, Erasers, Folders, Glue Sticks, Highlighters, Loose Leaf Paper, Markers, Notebooks, Pencil Boxes, Pencil Pouches, Pencil Sharpeners, Pencils, Pens, Pens - Blue Ink, Pocket Folders (different colors), Scissors, Watercolor Paint, and Wide Lined Notebooks.
We will probably hear Wednesday if the Club has taken an assigned date to have members volunteer to help fill bags but right now the date suggested is August 10th. If you would like to volunteer on your own, go to https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4eadac2ba0dc61-stuff.
.png)
