Minnetonka Rotary - The Spoke - February 16, 2022 (Mar 01, 2022)

Meeting Minutes - Holly Magdanz

Nate R. called meeting to order at 7:30 am.

Guests

Guests- no guests today.

Invocation

Stacey- Invocation about love.

Pledge

Everyone.

4-Way Test

Everyone.

International Theme

Everyone.

Rotary Minute

Cathy C. - Rotary Minute

14 years ago, International Service Project presented to our club by member (Bob) who had accepted a job in China. 3 of us plus Bob, went to China to work. The school Bob worked at had 3000 students K-12, boarded, American School. When the Rotarians arrived, were informed they could not do any service work due to the upcoming Bejing Olympics. Cathy shared about their travels and visit to the school. Principal brought out his Olympic torch and Cathy shares about journey of the torch. Got to hold torch and carry it around. Cathy shared background about the flame. Group went to Beijing and saw the whole area pre-Olympics, very controlled but not as controlled as it is now.

Announcements

Chris Car and Pete G. - opportunities for ICA. Gifted pots. Foundation donated materials and Tony gave him space. Presents Patti with pots.

Chris- Fishing for Life. Event coming up in March, opportunity for kids to learn fishing. "MN Deer and Turkey Classic." Feature new trout pond that our district fund sponsored.

Dale F. - kicked off Empty Bowls last week. For those who are retired and have IRA, have to do a required minimum distribution. If you take it and directly donate to authorized charity, pay zero tax. Next week at Rotary, we will have a celebration of Minnetonka Rotary's involvement with Empty Bowls.

Jerald S. - only have 2 jumpers so far for Polar Plunge. Getting more jumper pledges in meeting! March 12, Lake Riley in Eden Prairie.

Nate R. - Board of Directors meeting Fri, Feb 25 via Zoom

Raffle

[Unknown. Ed.]

Happy Bucks

What is your favorite school lunch?

Bill S. - raised $115 in bean bag toss. "Sh** on a Shingle" (toast with corned beef)

Chris Carr - Had a booth for Rotary at Chili Open. Polar Plunge. Chipped beef and rice lunch.

Jean- 45th wedding anniversary. Cheez Whiz on rye.

Ron U. - found documents from his father who came as a Russian immigrant at age 13. Some Rotarians in Austin MN gave him $300 so he could go to University of Minnesota.

Bob H. - "see you in 6 weeks." Optometry sends glasses all over the world. Keep the frames, from another source can get lenses.

Pete G. - Son who is marshalled out of Navy, found out he has an assignment in Minneapolis with Delta. American Chinese lunch.

Craig (Scott N.?)- going to work with the Advantage program with Minnetonka Schools. Would always take a bag lunch if there was one.

Nate R. - feels like a "mixed-buck;" He and Alexa working on estate planning. Lunch- chili with cinnamon rolls.

Tony N. - Jared is retiring from his shop. New guy, Will, going to start with Tony's shop. Excited about that. Pizza.

Alexa R. - going to South Dakota with family. Mound Westonka President, Beth, has stage four ovarian cancer. Lunch- anything homemade at school, awesome salad bar.

Cathy C. - If you have an opportunity to sign up for a local or international service project, do it! It could be life changing. Salad and cup of soup.

Dale F. - Happy buck story about Bob.

Program

Nate shares results from Rotary Membership Survey (every 3 years)

What are we going to do with this information?

Share Recap of Results from Membership, Committees.

Use this information for goal planning

High participation from Minnetonka Rotary

* Minnetonka Membership Trends, today have 46 members. Most clubs are down about 20% overall for district average during pandemic.

* Age Trends- highest age categories for Minnetonka-- 61-70 and 71-80.

* How long have you been a member of Minnetonka Rotary Club? - Have long tenured membership.

* Community service the #1 reason Minnetonka Rotarians joined the club.

* Breakdown of younger members 20-40- International Service is less important (could be due to pandemic or financial).

* Very strong typical attendance.

* How important is it to offer Zoom? Overwhelming response- Very important and somewhat important.

* 90% of members care about each other.

* "We do a good job of supporting new members"- could use improvement

* How likely are you to recommend our Club to a friend or colleague? -73% of our club, 49% overall in the district

* Overwhelming preference for email communication

* Still predominately male in membership, trend is gap is closing

Next Meeting

Wednesday, February 23, 2022.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned approx. 8:37 a.m.

Minutes submitted by Holly Magdanz.

Member Submissions

See below.