As we finish up the month of August, we close out our theme of Community Service and area of interest of Basic Needs. Thank you to Connie Schibilla, our Community Service chair, and John DeSanto for arranging such great speakers. Over the month we heard vocational presentations from Ruth Lunde (the only person I know who has more than 24 hours in her day!); Al Norby, executive director of Love INC, (executive director is just a fancy title for “Jack of all trades”); Mark Menzuber (the only submarine driver I’ve ever met); and Rod Provart, executive director of Open Hands Foundation (I think he has some mores stories like that of the Sydney Opera House to share). We also heard from Molly Boland with Habitat for Humanity, which is building new homes in Chaska (if you have time and interest in helping Habitat for Humanity this week, please contact Al Norby); and Pastor Joel Johnson from Westwood Community Church about why he became a Rotarian. This was a truly exceptional line-up.
September begins Wednesday and our theme for the month is Vocational Service. Vocational Service is perhaps one of the least understood service pillars of Rotary International, but it supports the concepts of high ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, the dignifying of each Rotarians occupation as an opportunity to serve others, the application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business and community life, and, therefore, the necessity of on-going professional and personal development. In that regard, the Vocational Service committee will be sending a weekly leadership/professional development video out to our members each week of September for people to watch at their leisure. The first is the Ted Talk video from Simon Sinek “Start with Why”. Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action - https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.
Jim Wall and members of the Vocational Service Committee have also worked with John DeSanto to develop a great list of presenters for September within this theme. Presenters include: Dr. Michael Wulf with MN STEM Partnership; Corey Magstadt, Executive Director of Launch Ministry; Danette Peterson, Registered Dietitian/Coach; Angelina Amerigo speaking “On the Road to Miss Minnesota 2022”; and Pam Axberg, CEO of the Union Gospel Mission. Please plan on attending each meeting this month in person or via Zoom as we are all sure to learn something new.
Additionally,
Upcoming Events & Activities:
- Our first annual Labor Day Car Show and Parade is a week away. Thank you to those who have already signed up to volunteer, but we still need several more volunteers to help with our new event. Here is a link to the sign-up listing for this event: Please take just a couple of minutes now to sign up to help if you haven’t already.
- Fall Leaf Raking Event – Saturday October 23. Please save the date to help us rake lawns for those in our city who can’t rake their own. Many hands make light work so don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family to join us.More information to follow.
- Breakfast with Santa – Sunday, December 5. Our annual pancake breakfast will be here soon. Please plan on attending to help.
As a wise Rotarian once said, “Miss a meeting, miss a lot”. See you all this Wednesday.
Tom