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Kathy Austvold offered our invocation, and then the following guests were introduced: Pat Spott, spouse of District Governor Kay Biga; Assistant Governor Blake Crosby; and Past District Governor Keith Brokke and his spouse, Lynne. When it came to announcements, Brian Tjaden reported that we sold all but five lugs of peaches and the Club will net approximately $9,400 from our efforts. It was also noted that while we sold 22-pound lugs for $40, a Rotary fundraiser in Fargo was selling 18-pound lugs for $45. Mary Pettit was recognized for purchasing nine lugs to give away. Moving on, Ryan Welle has information on Rotary shirts and if you should see him about an order if interested. There was a Rotary Minute on District Governor's Kay Biga's past accomplishments as published in last week's Rounds, and only one of three questions were answered correctly without assistance from her or after multiple incorrect guesses. When it was time for brags and fines, Tim Hunt explained he had a bandage on his forehead because he was mowing his lawn and the visor cap he was wearing prevented him from seeing a low-hanging tree branch. Ouch! Keith Olson was very happy about how smoothly the peach sale went this year and gave kudos to Brian Tjaden for what Keith considered possibly the finest effort in our 27 years of selling peaches (how can he remember back so far, but as far as I remember I agree with his analysis). Katie Johnson contributed for missing a couple weeks and for her daughter's return to NDSU and her son's return to Montana State. District Governor Kay Biga received a warm welcome and she presented President Ken with a banner reflecting the theme chosen by Rotary International President Jennifer Jones: Imagine Rotary.  Kay told us the green color on the banner reflects the environment, the purple the drive to eradicate polio, and the white is for peace; the seven dots reflect Rotary's seven areas of focus: peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; community economic development; and the environment. She then talked about the decrease in membership Rotary clubs are experiencing, noting that our District has gone from 2800 to just under 2400 members. For an example of a club that has experienced a significant loss in membership, she said the Duluth 25 Club has gone from 292 to 106 members. Our club is down to 31 members, of which 25.8% are women; in the District, 35.3% of its members are women. She also noted that three of our members are under the age of 40. In looking at how to increase membership, Kay said we need to ask ourselves if our traditions are still relevant today and if we are doing what our members want. This year, as a new member incentive, the District has decided to forego the $66 in District dues when a new member joins. District Governor Kay asked us to consider planning something for World Polio Day on October 24th and to put the District Conference at Madden's Resort on April 29, 2023, on our calendars. RYLA is scheduled for July 9-15 next year and we were encouraged again to sponsor students to it. At the end of her presentation, President Ken indicated a children's book would be donated to a local library acknowledging her and that the Club would also give $100 to The Rotary Foundation in her honor. |
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