Meeting Minutes
Our presiding officer was former Club President Tony N., filling in for Ron U,, who was at home with Mary T. Mary, we hope you feel better!
We will not have a meeting on Dec. 24 or Dec. 31. See you all January 7th, 2026!
Guests
[None noted other than our speaker. See below. Ed.]
Invocation
Invocation by Jim M. A nice job.
Pledge
Everyone.
4-Way Test
Everyone.
International Theme
Unite for Good.
Paul Harris Awards
None this week.
Announcements
Be sure to vote by tomorrow (Dec. 18) for either Scott Brink or James Walton as Secretary Elect.
Bob H. - said we have filled all positions for the Dec. 23 Lunds and Byerlys Ridgedale cart push. Mike Glover talked about our club attending hockey games at the U of M. See him if interested.
Lenny N. - reminded everyone that our club netted about $800 for charity at the Marsh holiday party.
Alexa R - Chris Leick and Guy Marzano were in our club for years as a married couple. Chris recently passed away, and we all signed a card for Guy, plus donated for flowers.
Alexa R. - We looked at a screen photo of Cathy Carlson and Char Murphy from decades ago, but they haven't aged a bit!
New Member Induction
New member induction: Cathy Perinovic, who is in the real estate field. Welcome, Cathy!
Rotary Minute
None this week.
Raffle
Terry J. had the winning ticket, but did not draw the winning card.
Foundation Award Checks or Thank You's
None this week.
Happy Bucks
Happy Bucks were offered by Bill Sorteberg, Mike Silva, Lenny Newman, Mac Hardin, Mark Magney (30 years in Rotary!), Jerald Stiele, Jim Martin, Jennifer St. Clair, Cathy Carlson, Frank Babka, and Terry Johnson. A very good mix of holiday plans, family members, gratitude, etc.
Program
SPEAKER: Mikah Meyer, per his website www.mikahmeyer.com (http://www.mikahmeyer.com) holds the world record as the first person to visit all 419 U.S. National Park Service sites over a continuous journey of about 3 years and some 200,000 miles of travelling.
A relatively young man, he faced the challenges of growing up as the gay son of a well-known Lutheran pastor in Lincoln, NE. Bright and with musical ability, he was a student at the University of Memphis, and was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar for 2 years at McGill University in Montreal. Mikah has long been a lover of the outdoors, and began his incredible travels all over our 50 states, plus overseas territories, and Washington DC as a way of bringing attention to the fact that many LGBTQ+ people do not fell welcome or comfortable being in wilderness areas, or even urban public parks. He showed us a marvelous video for 10-15 minutes that documents him and 4 other gay males journeying down the Green River in Desolation Canyon, in eastern Utah. The video has won international acclaim.
Also, Mikah started a business www.OutsideSafeSpace.com (http://www.OutsideSafeSpace.com) that has an array of outdoor gear with the rainbow symbol for people who are supportive of his cause. He is engaged fulltime in running this business, plus doing a huge amount of travelling and public speaking. A great person who has accomplished an incredible amount in his relatively short life! Also, he decided to move to the Twin Cities because of the welcoming atmosphere here. His absolute favorite National Park Service site? Probably Dinosaur National Monument, on the border of Utah and Colorado.
Adjournment
Submitted by Frank B.
Member Submissions
None this week.
