October 12, 2021 (Oct 12, 2021)

All Hands on Deck!

Posted by Robert Russell on Oct 12, 2021

Please make every effort to attend tomorrow! We will first have a short presentation from Jake Hexum on a Guatemala School Project that he is part of through the Minnesota Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders. We will then break into our assigned groups shown below:

Group 1: Wally Cole, Ken Harty, Brad Hoganson, Buzz Lundeen, Dave Peters, and Pete Wasberg.

Group 2: Dave Johnson, Randy Kempfer, Hal Leland, Tim Rogelstad, Zach Stach and Sean Sullivan.

Group 3: Tim Hunt, Jamie Larson, Steve Leitte, John MacFarlane, Keith Olson and Scott Schroeder.

Group 4: Steve Andrews, Mark Bring, Greg Darling, Jake Hexum, Dean Monke and Anthony Nordan.

Group 5: Bonnie Denzel, Katie Johnson, Lois Josefson Russell, Laurel Nelson, and Mary Pettit.

It is very important to get these groups up and running as they will be the keys to bringing in new members. A facilitator has been named for each group just to get you together (and hopefully that has already occurred) but the group should decide on who will be the person responsible for getting everyone involved in the effort, following-up on what individual group members are doing and encouraging involvement by all, and responding to inquiries from Bob as to progress being made. The goal for each group is to identify and host at least four prospective members between now and June 15,2020 and for each group to bring in at least one new member. Your group should identify anything you think you need from Bob or the Board to advance your efforts. Finally, each group is encouraged to come up with a name for itself that is easy to remember yet unique, captivating, funny, aspirational, inspirational, and/or etc. But first priority is to work on identifying membership prospects! We want everyone involved in this membership effort, whether or not you regularly can attend our meetings. Please participate!

If you somehow missed it, these groups are responsible for set-up and take-down at club meetings for the following months assigned to them: Group 1 - September and February; Group 2 - October and March; Group 3 - November and April; Group 4 - December & May; and Group 5 - January and June. You should also figure out how your group will break up these responsibilities during your months so that everyone is carrying an equal workload.

Thanks for reading this and hope to see you tomorrow!

October 6, 2021 at Rotary

Tim Hunt offered our invocation and this writer tried to fill in as song leader. Announcements included the need to postpone our assistance at the United Way because their food order had not arrived; we are now scheduled for November 2 and 4 at 8:30 a.m. on both days. Zach is also looking for suggestions for additional service opportunities so contact him if you become aware of something. David Johnson led off our brags with a big contribution for a New York Yankees loss in a one-game playoff and walking to our meeting on National Walk to School Day. Buzz Lundeen followed, happy to have his granddaughter moving to Fergus Falls and working at the store, and also for the opportunity he and wife Anne had to ride in the nicest car in Fergus Falls, thanks to Steve Andrews. Randy Kempfer also made a generous contribution for an NDSU win and to solicit help in finding out if UND played football the prior week (for you non-football fans, that was a classic). Mark Bring followed with two brags -- being at the Vikings loss to Cleveland but having a great view of Jefferson's touchdown catch, and also attending a Minnesota Wild pre-season win. Tim Hunt bragged about a grandson's promotion in the Army to Major. Wally Cole was happy about being able to attend a meeting via Zoom while visiting a daughter in Wisconsin. Jamie Larson was happy about attending an entertainment event the prior Saturday evening and the same Vikings game that Mark was at; we could not tell who had the better seats but both Mark and Jamie recited rows and sections as evidence of their presence. Keith Olson had to join the meeting late via Zoom because a customer walked in just as he was getting ready to come to the meeting, thereby missing out on leading songs. Finally, Ryan Welle was happy to see all of us again, as we were to see him.

Ryan then offered our program, talking about what has been happening in his business while he has been away. Three years ago Fergus Falls Monument started on work on a veterans memorial in Alexandria and in early 2020 was ready to expand its business operations by opening a place there, having gone so far as to make an offer to purchase some land. He then got a call about an opportunity to purchase an exiting business in East Grand Forks, Stennes Granite. It so happened that when another granite business went out of business in Detroit Lakes in 1978, Tom Stennes had purchased all of their equipment while Ryan's family bought all the unused granite. Tom Stennes sold his business to a relative in 2005 and she and her husband decided to sell the operation after 15 years so they could move closer to grandchildren living in San Diego. After Ryan and his brother Mike looked into it, they got out of the land deal in Alexandria and ultimately purchased the business They first needed to figure out how to manage a company 2½ hours away. They ultimately contacted a mutual friend then living in Colorado who had a wife and four boys but no familiarity with the monument business. After spending a week here learning about the business the friend and his family moved to Fergus Falls, living in a property that the Welles own while learning the ropes. Ryan started going up to East Grand Forks last November, building up to three days a week in December and then being up their full time during the workweek starting in January. Their biggest challenge was getting the two business locations to talk to each other and getting employees, losing one to a carpet laying job that paid $30 an hour. Despite these problems, Ryan stated that 2020 was by far the busiest year their business ever had, with pre-sales to those planning their own funeral going way up. (They still have 80,000 pounds of granite ordered last December from overseas that has yet to arrive for the 180 waiting customers.) On the employment front, Ryan said he joined 1500 other businesses in the Grand Fork area looking for employees. Then, out of the blue, a former employee of Stennes walked in just to meet the new owner and ultimately decided to leave his job at a Coke distributor to return to the monument business. Although Ryan thought he was going to have to be up in Grand Forks for a full year, this hire and their friend learning quickly on the job allowed Ryan to come back home before his and Janelle's children went back to school. Ryan missed his family a lot, being on the lake and Mike Clark going by on his pontoon and giving him grief, and even singing "Smile," noting when he was younger he thought the song was corny but now appreciates it. Cremation has not eaten into the business as Ryan's father thought would happen 25 years ago. You could tell Ryan appreciated what they accomplished in expanding the business and it was equally clear he was most appreciative of now being back in Fergus. Thanks Ryan, for your commitment to our club and community!

Oct 13, 2021

Jake Hexum followed by Group Meetings and Reports

Guatemala Challenge and Recruiting New Members

Oct 20, 2021

Ryan Drews (RCWRITESWELL)

A Book in Collaboration with Chris Schuelke on the History of FF

Oct 27, 2021

Honorable Johnathan R. Judd

The Opportunity to Serve on a Jury & the Role of the Judiciary

View entire list

Service Above Self

Wednesdays at 12:00 PM

Fergus Falls Area Family YMCA

1164 Friberg Ave.
Fergus Falls, MN 56537
United States of America

Send Email to Club

Weekly club meeting on Wednesdays at Noon. Join Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87429960785?pwd=MUQrMlhmajNlUGxiL2RqMWxWeW11QT09

Fergus Noon Rotary website

Venue Map

October 13, 2021

Invocation

Wasberg, Peter

Front Desk/Greeter

Kempfer, Randy

October 20, 2021

Invocation

Austvold, Kathy

Front Desk/Greeter

Leland, Hal

October 27, 2021

Invocation

Olson, Keith

Front Desk/Greeter

Rogelstad, Tim

November 3, 2021

Invocation

MacFarlane, John

Front Desk/Greeter

Sullivan, Sean

November 10, 2021

Invocation

Pettit, Mary

Front Desk/Greeter

Leitte, Steve

November 17, 2021

Invocation

Larson, Jamie

Front Desk/Greeter

Schroeder, Scott

November 24, 2021

Invocation

Hunt, Tim

Front Desk/Greeter

Cole, Wallace R.

President

Robert Russell

President Elect

Ken Harty

Secretary

Kathy Austvold

Treasurer

Brian Tjaden

Past President

Anthony Nordan

Vice President

Zack Stach

Board Member

Jamie Larson

Board Member

Mark Bring