Meeting Minutes
Opening bell rung and meeting called to order at 7:29am by President Kermit the Frog, aka Ron Usem.
Guests
Savannah, guest of Frank Babka, a Rotarian visiting from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Eric Roper, The Minnesota Star Tribune, our featured presentation.
In addition to Kermit the Frog, we had lemur onesie Alyssa Silva, cowgirl Annika Marotz, giraffe head Alexa Rundquist, and Clark Kent aka Bob Hersman—happy Halloween to all!
Invocation
Invocation remotely via Zoom by Floriane Nibakure sharing about what’s good in Rotary and across the world.
Pledge
Everyone.
4-Way Test
Everyone.
International Theme
Unite for Good.
Paul Harris Awards
None this week.
Announcements
Dr. Bob Hersman- upcoming community service events- cart pushing at Lund’s & Byerly’s (11/26 12pm-6pm) and the Blood Drive at the Marsh, Big10 blood drive competition, see flyers and emails for more information. ICA needs support for MIA SNAP program should anyone feel inclined to donate. Upcoming and ongoing Forest Hills School mentoring.
Dr. Tyrone Carter- organizing a billiards tournament fundraiser for the club in spring 2026.
Terry Johnson- circulated a signup sheet for a Feed My Starving Children food packing event for the club.
Annika- reminder for the upcoming Minnetonka Women in Rotary event at Ike’s.
Ron- him and Mary have now started with the Forest Hills School mentoring program; the City of Minnetonka has an 8:30am meeting in our space so you all don’t need to go home but you can’t stay here!
New Member Induction
None this week.
Rotary Minute
None this week.
Raffle
Drawing facilitated by Terry Johnson, ticket ending -495 pulled for lucky winner Phil Handy but no dice found in his hand of cards- the pot rolls to next week!
Better luck next week, folks!
Foundation Award Checks or Thank You's
None this week.
Happy Bucks
Happy Bucks, wrangled by Dr. Tyrone Carter
Dr. Carter- for planning the upcoming billiards fundraiser for the club, which usually these are held for sad reasons but promises this occasion will be happy!
Amy Saldanha- oldest son’s wedding in Mexico!
Terry Johnson- thank you to the volunteers for covering the raffle sales.
Mike Glover- recent UofM visit with Dr. Bob and outreach coordinator Michael Pineda.
Clark Kent aka Dr. Bob Hersman- for recent assistance for friends in need from fellow Rotarians Alyssa Silva and Tony Newman; new Clark Kent glasses with built-in speakers for situational hearing loss, don’t worry- he got a good deal.
Jim Martin- recent trip to NY state for Liz’s uncle’s funeral and also celebrated their anniversary in Cooperstown at the baseball hall of fame!
Frank Babka- visiting with US legislators on capitol hill and for guest Savannah joining us, again- visiting Rotarian from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Norah Rundquist- thank you to Ryan Rydell for fixing her Scooby Doo fishing rod!
Nolan Rundquist- excited for featured presentation Eric Roper who helped create and was editor of Curious Minnesota for which Nolan is a big fan!
Program
Introduced by Alexa Rundquist, we welcomed Eric Roper, Columnist with The Minnesota Star Tribune, former contributor/editor of Curious Minnesota and creator of the podcast Ghost of a Chance.
Eric grew up in NY and attended George Washington University in Washington DC; in 2009 he interned for the DC bureau of The Minnesota Star Tribune and subsequently moved to Minneapolis in 2010 and has been here since; has covered national, state, and local legislation and politics, gubernatorial race, City of Minneapolis topics toward the end of the RT Rybak era and US Bank Stadium construction, all things waste water, garbage, and recycling; circled back to local history in the recent half-decade- Curious Minnesota in 2019 and editor in 2021 through the pandemic years; most recently has become a local metro columnist for the Strib and covering the Minneapolis mayoral race and 1 or 2 columns a week; lives in South Minneapolis house that was owned 100 years ago by Harry & Clementine Robinson and family in the 1917-1931 timeframe and gone by 1940; during this timeframe the Robinsons’ home and this South Minneapolis neighborhood were the epicenter of a fast growing race equality movement; this led Eric down a multiple year path of research and reporting culminating in the podcast Ghost of a Chance highlighting the Robinsons and the race equity movement in Minneapolis during the post-WWI era.
Please visit these websites for more information:
https://www.startribune.com/ghost-of-a-chance/601197355
https://www.startribune.com/news-politics/curious-minnesota
Reporter disclaimer- these notes don’t nearly do service to the quality and engaging presentation provided by Eric Roper on his background, career, and current works including Curious Minnesota and Ghost of a Chance- please do tune into these wherever you get your podcasts.
Adjournment
Top notch engaging, entertaining, and informative program provided by our featured presentation.
$33.00 raised for Polio Plus.
$33.00 raised for the club coffers by Happy Bucks and half of the Raffle.
Accurate figures to the cent provided by Club Treasurer Mac Hardin.
Closing bell rung loud and clear by President Kermit the Frog at 8:26am; remember to clear the meeting space asap for the City of Minnetonka event right afterwards.
Respectfully Submitted by Nate R.
Member Submissions
None this week.
