Minnetonka Rotary The Spoke - June 30, 2021 (Jul 02, 2021)

Meeting Minutes - Frank Babka

Minutes for our June 30^th meeting (our last meeting of the Rotary year!) We had about 25 people attending in person today, with several listening remotely.

****There will be no meeting on July 7^th, and we will resume on July 14^th at 7:30AM, at our usual meeting room, in the Eisenhower Community Center.

Presiding Officer: Chris Carr (thank you to Chris for all of your hard work this year!)

Guests

Beth & Jon Melander.

Invocation

Invocation by Lenny Newman: “The biggest gift we are given is the power to touch a life. To change, to make a difference in the circle of life. If we can reach out with our hand, heart, and soul, The magic will start to happen, and the wheel begins to roll. Let’s turn the wheel together so all humanity thrives. We have the power and the magic to serve, to change lives.” This is a fine quote from Shekhar Mehta, the incoming President for Rotary International.

Pledge

Everyone.

4-Way Test

Everyone.

Rotary Minute

Cathy C. did a Rotary Minute recapping the fine work done by our outgoing President Chris Carr over the last year. We have had a string of very fine club presidents.

From Cathy C. -

Minnetonka Rotary Minute

30 June 2021

To say that this past year has been unique and challenging would be an understatement. But, to serve as President of our Minnetonka Rotary Club for basically a full year of a pandemic, I, like all of you, I am sure, must say Chris Carr certainly stepped up and served our club with class, calm and humor. Timing is everything they say, and 2020-2021 has been the right year for us to have him as our President. To say he applied the motto of Service Above Self would be an understatement. Even while dealing with his own corporate changes and challenges, he kept us going.

Yes, we will all have a chance to thank Chris later today at our historical & traditional Social Hour at Maynard’s but at this time I would like to take the liberty of adding his name badge to our Past President’s banner.

Although there will be many more Thank You Chris’, consider this a first.

Announcements

See Tony Newman if you have any makeups.

--Sadly, Minnetonka Summerfest was cancelled/ curtailed due to rain on June 26. We were looking do some good fundraising through that event, and there is no word yet as to whether the event will be rescheduled. We talked about ways to sell our raffle tickets for our upcoming charity golf tournament on September 9. Contact Mike Glover if you don’t have your raffle tickets yet. We’ll be looking to put together a field of roughly 72 golfers over the next month or 2, and Bob Hersman will schedule the pairings.

--There will be a Minnetonka Rotary Foundation meeting on July 22.

--On July 19, members of our club will be helping to assemble Birthday Bags for young people who benefit from Interfaith Outreach’s food shelf. Alexa Rundquist will let us know more, and contact her if interested.

--Chris Rosenlund announced donor awards from The Rotary Foundation for Alissa Olson, Patricia Angulo, Jim Martin, and Bill Sorteberg.

Raffle

Raffle: won by Chris Carr, who donated his $12 in winnings for Happy Bucks.

Happy Bucks

Happy Bucks (a very generous total of $115) were done by Ann Wengronowitz, Sam Stern, Jim Martin, Lenny Newman, Alexa Rundquist, Char Murphy, Alissa Olson, Jerald Stiele, Ron Usem, Pete Giancola, Mark Forsberg, Bill Sorteberg, Bob Hersman, Nate Rundquist, Chris Rosenlund, Mike Glover, Chris Carr, and Floriane Nibakure.

**There was lots of appreciation for all the fine work of President Chris and all of our other club members, plus talk about family members, travel, etc.

Program

Program: Nate and Alexa Rundquist and their family have great online technical skills, and they put together a marvelous big screen audio-video summary of Chris Carr’s year as President, during a year that was one of the most challenging in memory, due to a global pandemic. There were loads of great photos of club members, along with inspiring background music. Chris and the other people in our club worked very hard to continue all of our club activities and meetings on schedule, using online tools, videoconferencing, etc. It was wonderful to see how much all of our various club members stepped up in different ways, and we often had to communicate in remote ways that were still very enjoying and effective. Nate is our incoming President, and Alexa did a great job as President several years ago.

Our club continues to be strong and vibrant, and is viewed as a very impressive club within District 5950. Congrats to our club for its volunteer service and charitable giving.

Next Meeting

Next meeting is July 14, 2021 at 7:30 a.m. at Board Room of Eisenhower Community Center.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 a.m.

Member Submissions

1. From Nancy D. - Minnetonka Rotary Foundation.

I'd like to let every club member know the projects that were approved by the Foundation this year - domestic and international. Members of the Foundation - Stacey Quinn, Terry Schneider, Glen Juntti, Ben Monnens, Patti Sinykin, Dale Feste, and me - are proud of the work we did together and feel it reflects the spirit of our club.

If President-Elect Nate Rundquist asks you to serve on the Foundation next year, I hope you will be motivated to say Yes!

Minnetonka Rotary Foundation

Projects Approved – 2020-2021

DOMESTIC PROJECTS (total $40,718)

Assistance League of Minneapolis/St Paul - $2000
COVID 19 Relief for Hospitals in West Central and Southwest MN (Willmar RC)- $1000
Winter Warm Wear/Resource West - $3000
Hope Dental Clinic - $700
MacPhail Center for Music - $2000
MoveFwd (Teens Alone) - $2000
D5950 Tree Planting Project - $900
Love One Another (“Sandwich Man”) - $250
Beds for Kids (joint project with Hopkins RC) - $1235
Seniors Serve/Minnetonka HS - $500
Relate Counseling Center - $3000
Empty Bowls - $6000
Scholarship $2000– Hopkins HS senior
Scholarship $2000– Minnetonka HS senior
Scholarship $3000– Adult Options/GED graduate
Reception for Adult Options/GED graduation - $850
Van for ICA Food Shelf (part of District Grant with 3 local RCs) - $8000
Birthday Bags for Kids - $1000
Voyager Outward Bound School - $1283

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS (total $7000)

Future Roots - $1500
Healthcare Workers in Nicaragua (Rogers RC) - $500
Haiti Electrification (Apple Valley RC) - $1500
India Water Catch Dam Project (Maple Grove RC) - $1000
India Blood Bank Project (Maple Grove RC) - $1000
Guatemala Wakami Foundation (Buffalo RC) - $150

3. From Nate R. -

The Club for Building Responsible Youth