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Kathy Austvold gave our invocation. Student Athletes from M State were introduced, sophomores Emily Dehler from Pierz and Lindsey Kurz from Climax. Both were on the women's volleyball team that placed fifth in the nation and are currently playing basketball, with Emily leading the team in scoring and rebounds and Lindsey second in both categories.  Zack Stach thanked those Rotarians who helped out at the speech tournament the prior Saturday and who showed up at United Way offices the day prior to our meeting to help stuff bags. The latter group included Ken Harty, Zack Stach, Dave Johnson, Dean Monke, Katie Johnson and Steeve Andrews, pictured below.Caleb Larson, from LB Homes, talked to us about the Upcoming Giving Hearts Day and the local charities involved: Inspiration Point Christian Camp & Retreat Center, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, Health Resources Center, Wife Like Me, Lutheran Brethren Seminary, LRHome, Freedom Resource Center and Lake Region Healthcare Foundation. Tomorrow is the date and to participate go to the Fergus Falls Giving Hearts Day Facebook page. This writer administered a Rotary Minute Quiz based on the February Rotary magazine and two of three questions were answered correctly. We moved on to brags and fines and Kathy Austvold told us she will miss the next four weeks while in Asia. Mary Pettit contributed for missing some meetings while Pete Wasberg told us St. Andrews was the first British golf course, in 1860 (in response to learning during the aforementioned quiz that golf's 18-hole format originated in 1764). Mark Bring contributed for his son's picture in the newspaper as one of the Snow-Ball king candidates. Brian Tjaden also got involved, as did Wally Cole for a missing tooth. Keith Olson took great joy in reporting he was experiencing 60-degree weather in Arizona, joining us by Zoom. Zack Stach put in a scooter buck and Ken Harty capped things off telling us he enjoyed donating our childrens' books to the library. Peter Wasberg then introduced our speakers, Gail Hedstrom and Katelyn Boyer from the Fergus Falls Public Library. Pete served on the library's board and Gail is a member of Sunrise Rotary. Gail is the Library Director while Katelyn is the Adult Services Librarian. Other staff include Arielle McCune as Youth Services Librarian, Krista Kugler as Children's Services Librarian, Kia Donais and Emily Millard as Assistant Librarians and Deb Zachmann as Library Assistant Circulation Services. Gail said the library is trying to remove barriers to people using library services, telling us that a first visit to a library can be very stressful to some and they are attempting to overcome that. The library has eliminated overdue fees because they do not generate a lot in funds (nationally, late fees typically account for only one percent of a library's income) and also because they economically impact people differently. The library has started a teen volunteer program, provides five childrens' story times a week, has a free digital collection, and checks out artwork and even a turntable. The Maker Space includes the buttom maker that was brought to our meeting and from which a member could make a Fergus Falls Noon Rotary button, a 3-D printer, a crickett cutting machine, and virtual reality equipment. The summer program includes free tutoring for students. Free tech help is always available. One database they have at the library is "My Heritage" where you can work on identifying your ancestors; another is ValueLine, to research investments. Through the Viking Library System (which includes 11 other libraries) and MN Link, a member (membership is free of charge) can access books that aren't held by our library. The annual budget for the library is just slightly over one million dollars and the $100,000 donation received last year will be used in part to expand the library's large print collection. |
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