Changing of the Guard results in a peaceful, relatively smooth transition of leadership

Outgoing President’s Message by Dave Tripp, 06/28/11

As I stand before you today, I am a lucky man, and also a humble one.  For these past 12 months, I have had the true honor of being your President of an extraordinary World and Local Community service club called the Rotary Club of St. Cloud.

When referring to this past year I use the word WE, because it has been the Club’s Board of Directors, the Foundation’s Board of Directors, Committee, Event, and Program leadership and members who have accomplished and built an unbelievable amount of GOOD WILL that will be BENEFICIAL to thousands of people for years to come.  Let’s take a quick look at what a phenomenal year YOU have accomplished:

1)    Our noon lunches, meetings and programs.  WOW !!!   Chris has outdone herself again with impressing food and service.  Our meetings have been FUN, meaningful and respectful.  Your suggestions and the Program Committee’s work – with many thanks to Tom Moore – introduced a myriad of entertaining and informative programs, without fail !!

2)    Our Community Service projects shined with so many of you exhibiting the “Service Above Self” motto, with everything from becoming a 52 + pint a year Blood team,   to cleaning up highway #23,   to giving out hats and mittens to beaming children at Warm Hands Warm Heads Warm Hearts,   to

3)    Our partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, and hosting a local legislative debate, a Gubernatorial debate, a substantial Congressional Debate,  and being chosen as one of few organizations to hear our outgoing Governor give his final address to the citizens of our State. AND -  wouldn’t ya know it – two of those guests – Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and Governor Tim Pawlenty are running to become President of the United States !!   Only here – at the Rotary Club of St. Cloud – can you get that kind of exposure and opportunity !

4)    100%   !!!!     You all know how difficult and almost impossible it is to get 100% of ANYTHING – from your employees - to your children and spouse -  to a fishing trip or whatever.   But YOU, with Troy Fritz conducting a highest quality campaign - - all joined together to contribute within your means to the Rotary International Foundation to enable our brothers and sisters all over the globe to enjoy matching funds to improve their communities and those of other lands, to help sponsor Ambassadorial Scholarships and Group Study Exchange teams and World Peace Fellowships and Rotary Youth Exchange AND of course helping to eradicate Polio from the face of this Earth.  YOU are to be congratulated for truly “stepping up to the plate” and giving “Service Above Self”.

5)     The Los Guineaos Water Project !   What can I possible say – other than this would NOT have happened if it hadn’t been for YOU – the Club – endorsing this concept – providing over $7,600 in record time in February of 2010 under President Renae Sternke  - when asked to provide the local match which then was matched by the District and by the International to allow 10 of your brothers to venture overseas to work and experience the POWER of Rotary peace efforts.  I was one of those ten, and from the bottom of my heart  I THANK YOU for giving me that opportunity which will indeed be one of the greatest times in my life.  We all also thank Drew Hultgren for running with that initial letter from some unknown Kenzie Kraemer and harnessing the Club’s acceptance and energy to oversee the project, with Tim Wensman and Marty Mahowald traveling with Drew as the advance Team in September to work on our December trip details.

6)    Another successful year of STRIVE, with over a dozen of our members taking time and energy to mentor, to motivate, or inspire St. Cloud Technical High School seniors to become more than they ever thought they could prior to meeting a Rotarian who cared.

7)    Hosting a phenomenal group of young professional and vibrant Brazilians in April as part of our District’s Group Study Exchange was a NEW experience for many of our members and a renewed one for us old timers that have experienced the joy and global meaning behind the Rotary slogan “Bridging Continents”.   Thanks again goes to Troy Fritz, Mike Mullin and Tom Moore for putting that together, along with our host families.

8)    Alan Herbst and our Club’s Rotary Foundation Board of Directors – Tim Wensman, Sandy Neutzling, John Bestgen, Jim Dwyer, Troy Fritz, Gayla Holmgren and former member Leo Miller, - along with the Club Board of Directors, carefully and respectfully guided the Club thru the educational and approval process of amending the Foundation’s Mission Statement to now, in the future, have a local/restricted fund #1, and an unrestricted fund #2 to help with global community service projects.  The two Boards will be reporting back to you soon regarding the final schematics of this momentus change in our Club’s history.

9)    Over 27 of your Rotary colleagues met in early November to review our current 3 year Strategic Plan, and made recommendations for really only minor changes and improvements.  The final result will be presented to the Club at the end of this summer.

10)   After 5 years of extraordinary fundraising and hours and  hours of club member committee work and grunt work by many, the formal RENOVATION of Eastman Park aka Lake George was dedicated by very special ceremony on May 24th .   Every member of this Club - I trust - feels enormous pride for what OUR CLUB has accomplished in partnership with the City of St. Cloud and so many other organizational and financial partners.  Among the MANY member Rotarians involved with this project, those who do stand out in their efforts and deserve special thanks are  Jerry Hirshfeld, Tim Wensman, Troy Fritz, Joe Siefert , and Andy Auger.

11)  Tomorrow is going to be sunny and 80 degrees, and it’s  Summertime by George!   From notes on a bar napkin at Bubba’s on Benton Drive in Sauk Rapids two years ago, to the Club’s acceptance of this concept from a Survey Monkey over a year ago, to the formation of active Committees and their leader Chairs: Entertainment – Joan Vincent, Vendors – Pegg Gustafson and Jerry McCarter, Little Georgetown – Noreen Dunnells,  Marketing – Dan Soldner,  Finance – Mark Christianson, Volunteers – Diane Kroska and Jackie Bach, the Executive Committee of Mark and Diane and yours truly, our new Libation Committee with Teresa Bohnen, and ALL the members actively involved in this exciting and fun endeavor, Summertime by George!  does indeed promise to become a tremendously successful all-aged, family weekly event at our beautifully removed Eastman Park – besides becoming this Club’s primary and successful fundraiser to our Club’s Foundation.
 
Well … monthly ongoing tasks have all kept this Club moving forward while promoting the friendship that’s here within us.  Thanks to folks like Kermit for his monthly Rotary After Hours, and our Social Committee for golf,the Christmas party and our wine social, and thanks to Justin Wampach as Membership Chair with a healthy and growing membership.

Any “figurehead” knows that all of this can NOT be accomplished without the efforts and support of others who share the vision and all tip their glasses of kool-aid in unison and spirit - - the Club’s Board of Directors !!!

I’m a proud product of the 60’s (Owatonna Class of 1969), and I wanted to have a special name for my Board who has made this year a most successful and memorable one.   So I looked up in my 1962 Roget’s Thesaurus for a good name, and then verified it in my 1969 version of Webster’s 7th New Collegiate dictionary, and FOUND the perfect one  - - meaning a dependable and exemplary person - - a TRUMP.    Then taking off from my high school nickname  - - Tripper - - I would like to have the Club please acknowledge the 2010-2011 Rotary Club of St. Cloud Board of Directors = Tripper’s Trumps.

*HIT THE BUTTON ON THE BOOMBOX  (Grateful Dead’s song with lyrics – “what a long strange trip(p) it’s been” !!

* For those of you who were not present, Renae, Andy, Troy, Joan, Diane, Jim and Drew all came in dressed as really AUTHENTIC “hippies” with peace clothing, male wigs & headbands, etc.   Julie and Tom were out of town.


Past President – Renae Sternke

Treasuruer – Andy Auger

Secretary – Julie Whitney

Director of Club ServiceTom Moore

Director of International Service Troy Fritz

Director of Vocational Service Joan Vincent

Director of Community Service Diane Kroska

President Elect Jim Dwyer

Vice President Drew Hultgren

 
Hand out Recognition Plaques to Board Members, and Acknowledge Mike Mullin, Newsletter Editor and Dave Haugen, Club Meeting Attendant, with plaques, noting their weekly – 52 weeks! – of service.

In closing,   I could never have imagined three years ago - in December of 2007 when I was elected to become Vice President in 2008-2009  - - that you here could have given me the RIDE of my LIFE, an opportunity that I am so very thankful and gracious for receiving, and NOW, I look sincerely look  forward to coming every Tuesday and sitting with my lifelong FRIENDS, and “Service Above Self” COLLEAGUES,

And Jim, I hope you have as wonderful a year as I have had, and I can guarantee you that you will have the support of apx. 120 of the best Rotarians in the World.

Service above Self