We are continuing to enjoy our new location at HyVee and we tested our Zoom capabilities!!! We are learning and growing to continue investing in our community! Special thank you to Jim & Tim of the Rotary Club of Maple Grove, who shared their knowledge and equipment. Just one more example of Rotarians working together!!
Brooklyn Park Rotary Foundation Presents: The 37th Annual Game Dinner! Best of all, it will be "LIVE and In-person" at Edinburgh USA on Saturday, April 23, 2022-- starting at 6 pm!
Purchase raffle tickets to win fun prizes, play game and bid on silent auction items!
All proceeds benefit local community programs.
Game Dinner Sponsorships available - email Carol @ wynncarol@comcast.net for more information. For single dinner tickets reach out to Gina at: gsmith@centerbankmn.com.
Our Club Foundation is excited to announce that we are accepting grant applications for various charitable causes and organizations! For more information, please email Foundation Chair Carl Lottman at carl@meridian-fp.com.
July 1st marks the beginning of another Rotary Year for our Club and we welcome Lisa Jacobson as our new President! She has lots of great ideas to keep building on the progress we’ve been making over the years and we know the whole Club will be supportive of her efforts!
We also welcome new President Elect, Ann Uhde, and Vice President Tanya Simons!
On June 1st we held our annual Charter Night celebration at Edinburgh USA! We had a beautiful evening with lots of fun and fellowship while celebrating a wild but extremely successful year. Congratulations to Ann Uhde for being awarded our “Rotarian of the Year” award! We are excited for the coming year!
Our annual Charter Night celebration will be held on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021 at Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park at 5:30pm. We’ve had a wonderful and productive year and if you’d like to celebrate with us, please email Gina Smith or Carl Lottman.
We are thrilled to announce that after 14 months, we are returning to full in-person meetings effective with our June 2nd meeting! We will still have a Zoom option for our members, guests, and speakers who cannot make it in-person and if you’d like to be added to the list for that, please email Carl Lottman at carl@meridian-fp.com.
Dr. Barbara McDonald, President of North Hennepin Community College (NHCC), visited our Club on November 4th and gave us an update on NHCC. Jennifer Summer-Lambrecht, Executive Director of Advancement at NHCC, supported Dr. McDonald.
Our guest speaker on October 7, 2015 was Victoria Karpel, President/CEO of the Legacy Family Center. Victoria discussed her plans to provide Brooklyn Park families with comprehensive family resources and services including early child education programs with extended hours for parents/caregivers who work nontraditional hours and coupling that with social services. Note that there were problems with the projection system so Rotarians Gary Brown and Kevin Weist helped her with her presentation.
Bob Wharton was the guest speaker at our Club meeting this morning and gave a very interesting presentation about the Lions Club organization and what they do. Bob has been a Lions Club Chairman, District Governor and Convention Chair. He is a neighbor of Rotarian Duane Jones.
Deb Loon, Executive Director of Avenues for Homeless Youth, was our guest speaker on September 16th and gave us an update on the status of the new shelter for homeless youth in Brooklyn Park- Brooklyn Avenues. We presented Deb with a ceremonial check in the amount of $15,000 that represents our Club donation to Brooklyn Avenues for this year. Shown in the picture are Daryll Cameron, Club Foundation President; Rich Lehman, Foundation Treasurer; Deb, and Duane Jones, Foundation Secretary.
Our exchange student, Eduardo, attended the Club Social at the Minnesota Twins game on Monday night- his first baseball game ever! We all had a great evening plus the Twins beat Detroit 7 to 1. Twins player Joe Mauer had a good night since both Eduardo and Rotarian Rich Lehman wore Joe Mauer tee-shirts!
Our exchange student, Eduardo, attended the Rotary North Star Youth Exchange Inbound Orientation in Roseville on Saturday, September 12th. It was a great session for the exchange students and for the host families. Approximately 60 exchange students from all over the world attended. Eduardo met some fellow students from Brazil and introduced a fellow student from Croatia during one of the meetings. It was a great morning for all of us.
Rotarian Jim Dow was our guest speaker at our meeting on September 9th. Jim gave a very interesting presentation on the recent river cruise that he and his wife Pat took in Russia. Jim and Pat loved the cruise and recommended it to all of us.
Our Rotary Exchange Student, Eduardo Marcon, arrived in Minneapolis from Brazil on Saturday, August 29th. We look forward to showing him a terrific year in the USA. Welcome Eduardo!
Club members Jeremiah Rotich and Beth Becker gave very interesting Rotary classification talks at our meeting this morning. Our Outbound Exchange Student, Paige Lodien, and our Inbound Exchange Student, Eduardo Marcon, attended the meeting and discussed some of the things that they have been doing. Paige will be leaving for Italy on Sunday and this was the first of many meetings to come for Eduardo. Attached are pictures of Jeremiah, Beth, Paige and some of our Rotary Exchange Student team.
Bob Tift, President of Crescent Cove, gave us a very informative presentation about Crescent Cove during our meeting on August 12th. Crescent Cove provides a home-like environment for respite and end of life support for children with life threatening illnesses. Shown (L-R) are Club President Kevin Weist, Bob and Rotarian Bill Lanctot.
We welcome Beth Becker as a member of our Rotary Club. Beth is on the staff at North Hennepin Community College and was inducted on July 22nd. Its great to have her on our team!
We had a very eventful Rotary meeting on August 5th. Dave Goldman, "The Laughing Stockbroker," gave us a very enjoyable presentation on how we can use humor to improve our health, relationships and productivity. Members of our Interact Club joined us for breakfast and discussed the many things that they were doing. Namibia Little is their Club Advisor. Junior Rotarian Greg Engamen discussed his community project to help attain his Eagle Scout status. Dave Bauer, Women's Cross Country Coach at Park Center High School, and two of his cross country team members joined us and thanked us for our donation to help them get new warm-up suits.
Rick Campion, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Prodeo Academy, was our guest speaker on June 17, 2015. Rick provided a very interesting presentation on Prodeo Academy which is a K-8, free, public charter school in NE Minneapolis. Prodeo starts to prepare their students for college during the first day of kindergarten and provides a rigorous, meaningful education solution. Our Club members were very impressed with Prodeo Academy's approach to education.
Rob Larson, Executive Director of Camp Knutson, was our guest speaker on May 27th. Rob gave a very informative presentation about Camp Knutson which provides a residential camping experience for special needs children and their families. Also, Isatu Marigo, a student at Park Center High School, discussed her outstanding experience at Camp Enterprise- a three day Rotary camp that teaches high school students about our free enterprise system. Rob is shown below with Rotarian Duane Jones. Marigo is shown with Rotarian Larry Woellflin who is Chairman of our Vocational Service Committee.
Eldon Tessman, Club Rotary Foundation/Polio Plus Chair, presented Paul Harris Awards to Rich Lehman for his twin daughter and son who recently graduated from Champlin Park High School. Shown below are Rich on the left with Eldon.
We presented a check for $1000 to the Edina Morningside Rotary Club Foundation at their Club meeting on June 2nd. The donation will be used to help rebuild a school in Nepal that was completely destroyed by the recent earthquakes. Shown in the picture are Daryll Cameron the President of the Brooklyn Park Rotary Club, Rob Laughlin the President of Edina Morningside, Paula Schwartz the International Service Chairman of Edina Morningside and Duane Jones the Secretary-Treasurer of the Brooklyn Park Rotary Club Foundation.
Mary Decheine-Rhatigan, a member of the Board of Can Do Canines, and her diabetes assistance dog Ebony were our guest speakers on June 3rd. Mary gave an interesting program about how Can Do Canines enhances the quality of life for people with disabilities by creating mutually beneficial partnerships with specially trained dogs.
Tom Hokr, with assistance from Joe Lampe, gave a very informative presentation about Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) during our meeting on June 10th. Two film clips about PRT, including a clip about a potential application in Maple Grove, were shown during Tom's program. Shown below are Joe on the left and Tom on the right.
Steve and Nancy Laible gave a very informative overview of our Bangladesh School Projects with emphasis on the Days for Girls feminine hygiene program at our Rotary meeting on May 20th. Steve was also recognized as our Club's "Rotarian of the Year." During the meeting, Eldon Tessman presented Paul Harris awards to a few Club members. Shown below are Nancy Laible and Steve Liable with Club President Daryll Cameron. Steve is holding his Rotarian of the Year award. Shown in the next picture is Eldon Tessman with Paul Harris awardees Addie Tessman, Kevin Weist, Duane Jones and Daryll Cameron.
Four Club members and two Club spouses attended the Rotary District 5950 Conference on Saturday, May 16th at the Radisson Blu/Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. It was a great conference that included an opening ceremony "March of the Clubs," the setting of a "Guinness World Record" for the most flags being waved at one time, a luncheon with Mark Rosen as the keynote speaker, an Awards Showcase with T. Mychael Rambo and a Dinner and Closing Ceremony featuring Dudley Riggs and the Harmony Bridge Project. We were honored to have Joan Finkens, the representative of Rotary International President Gary Huang, join us. Attending were Daryll Cameron, Dorothy Cameron, Steve Laible, Nancy Laible, Gina Smith and Larry Woelflin. Note that the Guiness World Record was set on top of the Mall of America's East Parking Ramp.
Members of our Rotary Club attended the Avenues for Homeless Youth "Building On Dreams" breakfast on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at International Market Square. We presented "Avenues" a check for $15,000 to support the Brooklyn Avenues shelter for homeless youth in Brooklyn Park. We all greatly appreciated the standing ovation given us by the people attending the breakfast. Shown in the picture below is Club President Daryll Cameron presenting the check to Shawn Gensch, President of the Avenues Board of Directors. In the second picture are Club members Eldon Tessman and Duane Jones with Daryll and Shawn. Gary and Ann Uhde also represented our Club at the breakfast.
Rotarians Rolf Nelson and Daryll Cameron attended the April 30th meeting of the Anoka Rotary Club. Their guest speaker was Dr. Leah Hanson, Research Director for the HealthPartners Center for Memory and Aging. Dr. Hanson gave a very interesting and very informative presentation on "Alzheimer's Research and Healthy Brain Aging." Many thanks to the Anoka Rotary Club for their invitation and their hospitality.
Jerry Hammer, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Minnesota State Fair, was our guest speaker on May 13th. Jerry gave us a very interesting presentation on the 160 year history of the State Fair and how it has evolved into one of the largest and most successful events in the world. Jerry started working at the Fair while in high school as a summer staffer and has risen through the ranks. He is currently serving his 19th year as the State Fair General Manager. He and his wife, Debby, are both life-long residents of St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood which is in the "shadow" of the fairgrounds. Shown below are Eldon Tessman, Jerry, Addie Tessman and Tom Hokr.
Our Rotary Club supported a "Days for Girls Sew-a-thon" at Nativity Lutheran Church in St. Anthony on Saturday. The "sew-a-thon" assembled and sewed reusable feminine hygiene kits for poor young women in rural Bangladesh. The young women typically miss one to three months of school each year due to "hygiene needs."
Congratulations to Annette Roth, Rich Lehman and Clare Brumback! Annette was elected to our Club Board of Directors and Rich and Clare were elected to our Club Foundation Board on April 29th.
Paula Schwartz, Doctor of Audiology, was our guest speaker on May 6, 2015. Dr. Schwartz gave us a very interesting presentation about her trip as a part of a 45 person surgical team during which she provided audiological services and solar powered body hearing aids to the poor of Antigua, Guatemala. Dr. Schwartz, a member of the Edina Morning Rotary Club, traveled with other Rotarians to India in 2013 and to Nepal and Bhutan in 2014. She also talked about the needs of a school that she supported in Nepal that had been destroyed during the earthquake on April 25, 2015. Shown below are Georgia Savat (a friend of Dr. Schwartz and Duane Jones), Dr. Schwartz and Rotarian Duane Jones.
Mike McGee, Dean of Manufacturing at Hennepin Technical College, gave us a very interesting presentation on April 29th about "Technical Education and Industry Needs." Shown below are Mike, Annette Roth (Rotarian and HTC Director) and Daryll Cameron, Club President.
Additional pictures from the District 5950 Conference are shown below. Larry Woelflin is shown carrying our Club banner during the opening ceremony "March of the Clubs." The District set a Guinness World Book Record for "...the most different flags flown simultaneously is 240." Shown are all of the flag wavers. Daryll and Dorothy Cameron sang in the District Choir that entertained during lunch. Two pictures are shown since Dorothy was hidden behind the "Light Up Rotary" banner in the first picture.
The Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park will be meeting at Park Center Senior High School on April 22nd instead of Edinburgh USA. Our Junior Rotarians will run the meeting which will start at 6:45 A.M. in the Forum Room.
Linda Tally, a Community Hospice Liaison with Allina Health, gave us a very informative presentation on April 15th about "Looking at End-of Life Choices, Advanced Care Planning and Palliative Care and Hospice." Linda is shown below with Rotarian and Elder Care Attorney Rolf Nelson.
The Club Youth Exchange Committee had a very good meeting at the home of Daryll and Dorothy Cameron on Thursday night, April 23rd. Shown from the left are Carl Lottman, Gary Uhde, Ann Uhde, Carl Billings, Jennie Lodien and Daryll Cameron.
Bob Halagan, Chairman of District 5950 Rotary Foundation Fund Development and District Governor Nominee Nominee, gave us an interesting presentation on March 25th about the Rotary Foundation and Paul Harris Society. We always enjoy having Bob speak to us.
Maple Grove Junior Rotarian Jakob Fjeldsted gave a very interesting presentation to our Club on April 8th about his trips to China. He also gave us an "introduction" to the Chinese language. Jakob is shown below with Kate Murphy- another Junior Rotarian from Maple Grove.
Mike Opat, Chairman of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners and Commissioner for District 1 which includes Brooklyn Park, gave us an interesting, "unfoolish," presentation on April 01st about Light Rail Transit and Hennepin County. Mike is shown below with Rotarians Eldon Tessman and Gary Brown.
Our Rotary Club participated in Rotary District 5950's efforts supporting the "March of Dimes March for Babies" at the Mall of America on Saturday, April 25th. Rotarian Gary Strandemo of the St. Cloud Rotary Club and Daryll Cameron of our Club became friends with the "Waterpark of America Bear" while volunteering at the event. Shown below are Daryll, the Bear and Gary.
We had a great meeting at Park Center High School on April 22nd hosted by our Junior Rotarians. Many thanks to our Junior Rotarians and the staff and teachers at Park Center for their outstanding hospitality.
We had a a great meeting on Wednesday, April 22nd, at Park Center High School hosted by our Junior Rotarians. Many thanks to our Junior Rotarians and to the staff and teachers at Park Center for their outstanding hospitality.
Brooklyn Park Rotarian Gina Smith is the new Chief Financial Officer of Rotary District 5950. We're all very proud of her. Shown below are District Board Members who attended an April 8th Meeting (L-R) Lee Ashfeld, Gina Smith, Jim Nelson, Diann Kirby, Mark Hegstrom, Bob Stowell, Tim Murphy, Jewelie Grape and Wooj Byun.
Congratulations Melanie! Melanie Hess of the Rotary Club of Rogers won first prize in our Wild Game Dinner Raffle- A one week stay in a 2 Bedroom Suite with full kitchen at the Hawaiian Village Resort on Waikiki Beach. Also included was $1000 for travel or other costs. Rotarian Duane Jones presented the "trip" to her on Wednesday morning, February 25th. Shown below are Melanie and Duane.
Our Junior Rotarians and Host Rotary Exchange Student ran our Rotary meeting on March 11th. Shown below are Paige Lodien (will be spending a year in Italy), Shavani Kamat, Malcolm Lawson, Grant Engeman, Madelyn Heitzig and Edwina King. Missing is Ivey Robinson.
On March 5th we presented a check for $255 for "Give Kids The World" to the Perkins Restaurant in Brooklyn Park. The money was donated by individual Club members. "Give Kids The World Village" is a 70 acre, nonprofit "storybook" resort in Kissimmee, Florida where children with life threatening illnesses and their families are treated to a week long, fantasy vacation. Perkins Restaurants is a Platinum Corporate Partner with the "Village." Shown below is our Club Foundation Treasurer, Rich Lehman, presenting the check to Deb Edison, Associate Manager, and our favorite waitress Susie Lunderborg.
Eric Zoinosky gave our Club a very interesting presentation on March 11th about "The Challenges Businesses Face in Keeping Up with Technology." Shown below are Rotarian Bill Lanctot with Eric.
Susan Perkins and Jennie Lodien gave us a great presentation about "How Does a Rotary Club Partner with Host Families to Facilitate a Successful Youth Exchange Year" at our meeting on March 18th. Our Club is sponsoring an Outbound Exchange Student and hosting an Inbound Exchange Student for the first time in over 20 years. Susan and Jennie, who have hosted many exchange students, are helping us get going. Shown below are Paige Lodien, Jennie's daughter and our Outbound Exchange Student, and Susan Perkins.
Rotarian Duane Jones presented Craig Gass the 12 Gauge Benelli Shotgun he won at our Wild Game Dinner at our Rotary Meeting on March 4th. Congratulations Craig who is on the right side in the picture below!
Brooklyn Avenues, a shelter for homeless youth in Brooklyn Park, had its grand opening on Friday, January 30th. Our Rotary Club contributed over 16,000 dollars to help build the shelter. Shown in the pictures are the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, the outside of the shelter, a typical room, a study room, and Rotarian Duane Jones with Brooklyn Park Council Member Peter Crema and Dorothy Cameron.
The Brooklyn Park Rotary Foundation cordially invites all of our Website Friends to attend our 30th Annual Wild Game Dinner on February 19, 2015 at Edinburgh USA. The Annual Dinner includes a buffet of Wild Game or Fish or Fowl, a Live Auction, a Silent Auction, a Raffle and many Games and Boards as is shown in the Flyer below. We are offering a fantastic first prize in the raffle- a one week stay in a great condominium on Waikiki Beach/Honolulu with $1000 included for travel or other costs. Raffle tickets are on sale for $10 each. All tickets can be purchased from Rotarian Gina Smith at 763-225-8886. Join us for an evening of fun and fellowship.
We had a very successful Wild Game Dinner Fundraiser on Thursday evening, February 19th. Over 235 people attended. Shown below are a few pictures from the dinner.
Rev. Carl Billings and Rev. La Andrimihaja from the Discover Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park gave an interesting presentation on January 28th about the Island of Madagascar and their evangelical trip to the Island last year. Shown below are Carl and La and a map showing the location of Madagascar in relation to Africa.
Carrie Carlson-Guest, American Red Cross Regional Communications Officer, gave us a very informative presentation about the Red Cross on February 25th. Shown below are Rotarian Gary Brown, Carrie and Rotarian Gina Smith.
Several Brooklyn Park Rotarians attended the "Open House To Honor and Thank Jamie Verbrugge" at the BP Recreation Center on Thursday night, January 29th. Jamie, a member of our Club, is leaving his current position of Brooklyn Park City Manager to become the City Manager in Bloomington, MN. We all thanked him for his many contributions to our city and to our club and wished him the best. Shown below are Gina Smith, Gordy Jensen, Jamie, Shalin Johnson, Daryll Cameron and Dorothy Cameron. The person who cut off Daryll's head remains anonymous.
Our Junior Rotarians attend our Rotary meeting the second Wednesday of each month and participate in running the meeting. They helped to run our meeting on February 11th. Shown below are Junior Rotarians Grant Engeman, Shivani Kamat, Madelyn Heitzig, Edwina King, Malcolm Lawson and Ivey Robinson.
Wade Setter, currently Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and former President of our Club, was our guest speaker on February 4th. Wade gave an update on the Bureau and discussed some interesting cases that he was involved in. Shown below are Rotarians Gary LaPalme and Gary Brown, Wade and Rotarians Gary Uhde and Tom Hokr.
Our guest speakers on January 21st were Sheila Nesbitt and Amber Smith of "Partnership for Change." Sheila gave a very dynamic and interesting presentation about her projects involving alcohol abuse prevention in our area. We all learned how important the prevention process is- especially for our youth. Shown below are Rotarians Gary LaPalme and Gordy Jensen with Sheila and Amber.
Jeremiah Rotich gave a very interesting presentation to our Club this morning about how he came to the United States and what he is doing to help his village in Kenya. Jeremiah was supported by Tim Korby. Shown below are Tim and Jeremiah.
Dave Kolb, Champlin police chief, was our guest speaker on January 7, 2015. Dave discussed his background in police work and talked about the Champlin Police Department including their interface with Brooklyn Park. Shown below are BP Rotarian Jack Rehnberg, guest Zubah Kpanaku, Chief Kolb and BP Rotarian Tom Hokr.
Junior Rotarians Edwina King and Malcolm Lawson were introduced and welcomed into our Club this morning. They missed our meeting last week. Shown below are Club Members Carl Billings and Gary Uhde, Malcolm and Edwina and Club Member Tom Hokr. Our Club is very excited about our Junior Rotarian Program.
Tom Thorfinnson, former Rotary International Vice President and current member of the Rotary International Foundation Board of Trustees, was our guest speaker on December 10th. Tom gave us a very interesting update on Rotary and shared his thoughts on the direction that Rotary needs to take. Shown below are Tom, Club Member Tom Hokr, District Executive Secretary Diane Confer, District Governor Jim Nelson, Area 4 Assistant District Governor Suzanne Plant, Club Member Eldon Tessman and Club President Daryll Cameron.
Our guest speaker on January 14th was Lee Glanns of the Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative. Lee gave a very interesting presentation about Beacon's support of the many homeless people in our area. Shown with Lee is Rotarian Carl Billings.
On Tuesday night, January 13th, seven members of the Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park and one special helper inserted "stickers" into dictionaries to ready them for presentation to 3rd Graders in 10 elementary schools in the Brooklyn Park area. This year, under the leadership of Rotarian Steve Roe, we plan to present over 900 dictionaries. The Rotarians/helpers that were part of the team on Tuesday were Gary and Ann and Monty Uhde, Annette Roth, Steve Roe, Dave Hoffmann, Daryll Cameron and Eldon Tessman.
Brooklyn Park Rotarians Steve Laible, Rolf Nelson and Eldon Tessman attended a special "Light Up Rotary" dinner on Thursday night, January 8th at the Saint Paul Hotel featuring Rotary International President Gary Huang as guest speaker. Shown below are Eldon with wife Addie, President Huang with wife Corinna Yao and Steve with wife Nancy. Missing are Rolf and his wife Phoebe.
Six Club Rotarians and their spouses attended the Maple Grove Rotary Club's Gala/Fundraiser Saturday night at the Minneapolis Marriott NW. It was a very enjoyable evening of fun and fellowship.
Ann Uhde, a Rotary Sister and wife of Rotarian Gary Uhde, described the "pilgrimage route" that she and Gary took to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain during our meeting on December 3rd. They covered about half of the route- 100 miles by horseback and 100 miles by foot. They had a great experience and told a very interesting story. Ann is shown below explaining the route that they took and is also shown with Rotary Sisters Addie Tessman and Dorothy Cameron.
On October 29th Dan Ruiz, Brooklyn Park Director of Operations and Maintenance, and Jesse Struve, Brooklyn Park City Engineer, discussed the Brooklyn Park 5 Year Capital Improvement Plan at our Club Meeting. Shown below are Jesse, Dan and Gary Brown, Rotarian and former City Engineer.
We introduced and welcomed into our Club six Junior Rotarians from Park Center High School at our meeting on December 10th. The Junior Rotarians are Madelyn Heitzig, Edwina King, Grant Engeman, Ivey Robinson, Shirani Kamat and Malcolm Lawson. Edwina and Malcolm were unable to attend the meeting. District Governor Jim Nelson and Rotary International Trustee Tom Thorfinnson joined us in welcoming them into Rotary. Shown below are Grant, Club Member Tom Hokr, Madelyn, Governor Jim, Ivey, Tom Thorfinnson, Shirani and Club Member Carl Billings.
The Brooklyn Park Rotary Club honored its seven veteran members during a ceremony at our Club meeting on November 19th. The Rotarian veterans were "thanked" for their service to our great nation and presented special Rotary "Armed Forces Veteran" pins. Honored were Daryll Cameron, Jim Dow, Harold Johnson, Duane Jones, Steve Laible, Bill Lanctot and Rolf Nelson.
Brooklyn Park Rotary Club members helped to assemble washable feminine hygiene kits for poor women in Guatemala and Bangladesh during a "sewathon" on December 4th in Maple Grove. The activity is part of the "Days for Girls" efforts being led locally by Judy Johnson of the Maple Grove Rotary Club. Shown below is Rotarian Steve Laible and Rotary Sisters Dorothy Cameron and Ann Uhde.
Sandy Sullivan spoke to our Club on November 5th about her experiences working in the Green Bay Packer organization during the days of their famous coach Vince Lombardi. Her experiences had a great impact on her life. Sandy provided a very interesting and enjoyable presentation. Shown below is Rotarian Luke Bogdanowicz, Sandy and Rotarian Kevin Weist.
Patrick W. Marsh, Executive Editor, and Geneva Lerwick of Calamities Press gave us a very interesting presentation about their literary magazine and the many contributors to it at our meeting on October 15, 2014.
Also, last night at the Brooklyn Park City Council meeting, we witnessed the "Mayor's Good Citizenship Award" being presented to Pastor Rachel Morey. Pastor Rachel is another person who has done so much for our community especially in supporting our youth in need. She is a special friend and a strong supporter of our Rotary Club.
Our Rotary Club had a great Octoberfest social at the Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis on Tuesday night, October 14th. The food and fellowship was great and Jennifer Weist gave us a test on Octoberfest oriented toward German fifith graders. Of course, we all aced it. Rotarian Gary Brown had the best results- 6 of 32 correct!
We had a great Rotary Day celebration at CEAP the evening of October 23, 2014. The Rotary Day Committee put together an excellent program that included a video on "Rotary and our Club" and Awards to five very deserving people including Rev.Steve Larson, Lt. Toni Weinbeck of the Brooklyn Park Police Department, Tammie Epley, Delores Brand and Eldon Tessman. Steve, Toni, Tammie and Delores were presented "Paul Harris Fellow" awards and Eldon was honored for "33 Years of Dedicated Service and Leadership" to our Club. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Craig Enevoldsen accepted the award for Lt. Weinbeck since she was out of town. We were honored to have our District 5950 Governor Jim Nelson and District Executive Secretary Diane Confer attend. CEAP provided an excellent venue for the celebration. Below are several pictures from the celebration.
Last night, at the Brooklyn Park City Council meeting, we presented a "Paul Harris Fellow Award" to Lt. Toni Weinbeck of the Brooklyn Park Police Department. Toni was unable to attend RotaryDay so it was great to present her the award in front of the Mayor and City Council. Lt. Weinbeck has done so much for our community and we were honored to give her the award. She exemplifies Service Above Self. Shown below is Club President Daryll Cameron, Rotarian Carl Billings, Lt. Weinbeck, Police Chief Craig Enevoldsen, Rotarian Gina Smith and Rotarian Jamie Verbrugge.
Our Club meeting on October 8th was held at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park. We had a tour of the amazing new Health and Biosciences Center and then got an update on NHCC from their acting President, Lisa Larson. Shown below is the "red moon" seen from the second floor of the new Center, our tour group in the halls of the Center and Lisa Larson, the acting President.
Rotary District 5950 Governor Jim Nelson visited our Club on September 24th and gave us a very informative presentation. Jim also presented Paul Harris Society certificates to five of our members recognizing their support of the Rotary Foundation. Shown in the picture are Tom Hokr (with certificate), District Governor Jim Nelson, Gary Uhde (with certificate), Club President Daryll Cameron and Eldon Tessman (certificate). Missing are Jim Dow and Kevin Weist who also were awarded certificates.
Troy Fritz of the St.Cloud Rotary Club drove down from St. Cloud early on Wednesday morning on September 17th and briefed us about their outstanding "Summertime by George" concert project. The St. Cloud Club initially cleaned up Eastman Park and then developed a series of free concerts for the St. Cloud community that are held every Wednesday night during June, July and August. The average attendance for each concert is 9,000 people and the largest crowd was over 17,000. The "Summertime by George" concerts (held by Lake George and Eastman Park) have been a big "plus" for the Community of St. Cloud and the Rotary Club. Shown below is a picture of a concert with the City of St.Cloud in the background and a picture of Tom Hokr, Troy Fritz and Daryll Cameron.
We had a very interesting meeting on September 10th. Randy Gilbert, Republican candidate for State Auditor, spoke to us about the functions and concerns of the job of State Auditor. Additionally, Chis Sehnert from Channel 12 discussed a documentary series they are developing called "Our Town's Story." Shown below are Bob Tessman, Randy, Chris, Addie Tessman and Eldon Tessman.
Club Rotarians attended a "Seeking Peace Celebration" at the Nativity Lutheran Church in St. Anthony on Friday evening October 10th. The Celebration was for a successful grant campaign that included efforts for homeless youth, a Raised Garden Center at the Little Kitchen Food Shelf and the Bangladesh School Project. Our Rotary Club was involved with the food shelf and the Bangladesh School Project. The music from various music groups at Nativity was "beautiful" with interludes of "Portraits of Peace" from John Noltner. Steve Laible, the Celebration emcee, gave a general introduction to all of the Rotarians in the audience followed by the music "Go Light Your World" (a very appropriate piece for Rotary). The culmination of the Celebration was the announcement of a USAID Cooperative Agreement Award in the amount of $145,000 for the Bangladesh School Project. Congratulations and many "kudos" to Steve Laible and his wife Nancy for their hard work and dedicated service both to Rotary and to the Nativity Lutheran Church. Shown below is the Announcement from Senator Amy Klobuchar and a picture of Steve and Nancy.
On September 22nd the Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park received the "Mayor's Good Citizenship Award" from Mayor Jeffrey Lunde and the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Park. The Brooklyn Park Rotary Club was recognized for its partnership with the community for over 30 years, being the largest single contributor to the Brooklyn Avenues youth homeless shelter, for its support of many projects throughout the years that benefited the community and for being an example of a community organization that enriches Brooklyn Park. Our Club also presented a ceremonial check for $16,000 for Brooklyn Avenues to Deb Loon, the Executive Director of Avenues for Homeless Youth.
BP Mayor Jeffrey Lunde with Club President Daryll Cameron.
Club Foundation Secretary Duane Jones and Foundation Treasurer Rich Lehman with Deb Loon, Lisa Jacobson, and Pastor Rachel Morey.
The Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park had a great luncheon meeting in the Hennepin Room at Hennepin Technical College on October 1st. Hennepin Tech President Cecilia Cervantes was the guest speaker and gave us a very informative update on the many activities at the College. Show below are President Cervantes, Chef Instructor Denis Durneu and Annette Roth, Rotarian and Executive Director of Institutional Advancement and Marketing at HTC.
A ground breaking ceremony for Brooklyn Avenues, a safe house for homeless youth in the Brooklyn Park area, was held on August 14, 2014. Our Rotary Club was the largest donor of any single organization to the fundraising for Brooklyn Avenues. Shown below are Rotarians Jamie Verbrugge, Eldon Tessman, Daryll Cameron, Clare Brumback, Carl Billlings, Gina Smith and Harry Jebens.
Dara Hagen, Dean of Student Success Services at Hennepin Technical College, spoke to us on August 20th about preparing current students for work, K-12 Programs and School District connections for the workforce of tomorrow. Shown below are Rotarian Annette Roth, Dean Hagen and Rotarian Daryll Cameron.
We enjoyed having 14 students from the Ukraine and their sponsors/hosts as our guests at our meeting on August 27th. The students are visiting the United States as part of the Global Synergy Group's Youth Leadership Exchange and Development Program.
Dr. John Helling, former President of North Hennepin Community College and former President of our Rotary Club, spoke to our Club on August 13, 2014 about the early days of NHCC and community colleges in the State of Minnesota. Shown below are Rolf Nelson, Dr. Helling, Addie and Eldon Tessman.
Our guest speakers on September 03rd were Rebecca Gilgen and Fire Chief Ken Prillaman from the City of Brooklyn Park. Rebecca spoke to us about the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance and Ken discussed the "Ebola Situation." The City's new Parks and Recreation Director, Jody Yungers, was our guest at the meeting. Shown below are: Daryll Cameron (Club President), Ken, Rebecca, Jamie Verbrugge (BP City Manager) and Jody.
The annual Charter Night for our Brooklyn Park Club was held on Thursday night, June 19th at Edinburgh USA. Several awards were given and the "President's Gavel" was passed from LeAnn Groth to Daryll Cameron.a.
We are continuing to enjoy our new location at HyVee and we tested our Zoom capabilities!!! We are learning and growing to continue investing in our community! Special thank you to Jim & Tim of the Rotary Club of Maple Grove, who shared their knowledge and equipment. Just one more example of Rotarians working together!!
Brooklyn Park Rotary Foundation Presents: The 37th Annual Game Dinner! Best of all, it will be "LIVE and In-person" at Edinburgh USA on Saturday, April 23, 2022-- starting at 6 pm!
Purchase raffle tickets to win fun prizes, play game and bid on silent auction items!
All proceeds benefit local community programs.
Game Dinner Sponsorships available - email Carol @ wynncarol@comcast.net for more information. For single dinner tickets reach out to Gina at: gsmith@centerbankmn.com.
Our Club Foundation is excited to announce that we are accepting grant applications for various charitable causes and organizations! For more information, please email Foundation Chair Carl Lottman at carl@meridian-fp.com.
July 1st marks the beginning of another Rotary Year for our Club and we welcome Lisa Jacobson as our new President! She has lots of great ideas to keep building on the progress we’ve been making over the years and we know the whole Club will be supportive of her efforts!
We also welcome new President Elect, Ann Uhde, and Vice President Tanya Simons!
On June 1st we held our annual Charter Night celebration at Edinburgh USA! We had a beautiful evening with lots of fun and fellowship while celebrating a wild but extremely successful year. Congratulations to Ann Uhde for being awarded our “Rotarian of the Year” award! We are excited for the coming year!
Our annual Charter Night celebration will be held on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021 at Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park at 5:30pm. We’ve had a wonderful and productive year and if you’d like to celebrate with us, please email Gina Smith or Carl Lottman.
We are thrilled to announce that after 14 months, we are returning to full in-person meetings effective with our June 2nd meeting! We will still have a Zoom option for our members, guests, and speakers who cannot make it in-person and if you’d like to be added to the list for that, please email Carl Lottman at carl@meridian-fp.com.
Dr. Barbara McDonald, President of North Hennepin Community College (NHCC), visited our Club on November 4th and gave us an update on NHCC. Jennifer Summer-Lambrecht, Executive Director of Advancement at NHCC, supported Dr. McDonald.
Our guest speaker on October 7, 2015 was Victoria Karpel, President/CEO of the Legacy Family Center. Victoria discussed her plans to provide Brooklyn Park families with comprehensive family resources and services including early child education programs with extended hours for parents/caregivers who work nontraditional hours and coupling that with social services. Note that there were problems with the projection system so Rotarians Gary Brown and Kevin Weist helped her with her presentation.
Bob Wharton was the guest speaker at our Club meeting this morning and gave a very interesting presentation about the Lions Club organization and what they do. Bob has been a Lions Club Chairman, District Governor and Convention Chair. He is a neighbor of Rotarian Duane Jones.
Deb Loon, Executive Director of Avenues for Homeless Youth, was our guest speaker on September 16th and gave us an update on the status of the new shelter for homeless youth in Brooklyn Park- Brooklyn Avenues. We presented Deb with a ceremonial check in the amount of $15,000 that represents our Club donation to Brooklyn Avenues for this year. Shown in the picture are Daryll Cameron, Club Foundation President; Rich Lehman, Foundation Treasurer; Deb, and Duane Jones, Foundation Secretary.
Our exchange student, Eduardo, attended the Club Social at the Minnesota Twins game on Monday night- his first baseball game ever! We all had a great evening plus the Twins beat Detroit 7 to 1. Twins player Joe Mauer had a good night since both Eduardo and Rotarian Rich Lehman wore Joe Mauer tee-shirts!
Our exchange student, Eduardo, attended the Rotary North Star Youth Exchange Inbound Orientation in Roseville on Saturday, September 12th. It was a great session for the exchange students and for the host families. Approximately 60 exchange students from all over the world attended. Eduardo met some fellow students from Brazil and introduced a fellow student from Croatia during one of the meetings. It was a great morning for all of us.
Rotarian Jim Dow was our guest speaker at our meeting on September 9th. Jim gave a very interesting presentation on the recent river cruise that he and his wife Pat took in Russia. Jim and Pat loved the cruise and recommended it to all of us.
Our Rotary Exchange Student, Eduardo Marcon, arrived in Minneapolis from Brazil on Saturday, August 29th. We look forward to showing him a terrific year in the USA. Welcome Eduardo!
Club members Jeremiah Rotich and Beth Becker gave very interesting Rotary classification talks at our meeting this morning. Our Outbound Exchange Student, Paige Lodien, and our Inbound Exchange Student, Eduardo Marcon, attended the meeting and discussed some of the things that they have been doing. Paige will be leaving for Italy on Sunday and this was the first of many meetings to come for Eduardo. Attached are pictures of Jeremiah, Beth, Paige and some of our Rotary Exchange Student team.
Bob Tift, President of Crescent Cove, gave us a very informative presentation about Crescent Cove during our meeting on August 12th. Crescent Cove provides a home-like environment for respite and end of life support for children with life threatening illnesses. Shown (L-R) are Club President Kevin Weist, Bob and Rotarian Bill Lanctot.
We welcome Beth Becker as a member of our Rotary Club. Beth is on the staff at North Hennepin Community College and was inducted on July 22nd. Its great to have her on our team!
We had a very eventful Rotary meeting on August 5th. Dave Goldman, "The Laughing Stockbroker," gave us a very enjoyable presentation on how we can use humor to improve our health, relationships and productivity. Members of our Interact Club joined us for breakfast and discussed the many things that they were doing. Namibia Little is their Club Advisor. Junior Rotarian Greg Engamen discussed his community project to help attain his Eagle Scout status. Dave Bauer, Women's Cross Country Coach at Park Center High School, and two of his cross country team members joined us and thanked us for our donation to help them get new warm-up suits.
Rick Campion, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Prodeo Academy, was our guest speaker on June 17, 2015. Rick provided a very interesting presentation on Prodeo Academy which is a K-8, free, public charter school in NE Minneapolis. Prodeo starts to prepare their students for college during the first day of kindergarten and provides a rigorous, meaningful education solution. Our Club members were very impressed with Prodeo Academy's approach to education.
Rob Larson, Executive Director of Camp Knutson, was our guest speaker on May 27th. Rob gave a very informative presentation about Camp Knutson which provides a residential camping experience for special needs children and their families. Also, Isatu Marigo, a student at Park Center High School, discussed her outstanding experience at Camp Enterprise- a three day Rotary camp that teaches high school students about our free enterprise system. Rob is shown below with Rotarian Duane Jones. Marigo is shown with Rotarian Larry Woellflin who is Chairman of our Vocational Service Committee.
Eldon Tessman, Club Rotary Foundation/Polio Plus Chair, presented Paul Harris Awards to Rich Lehman for his twin daughter and son who recently graduated from Champlin Park High School. Shown below are Rich on the left with Eldon.
We presented a check for $1000 to the Edina Morningside Rotary Club Foundation at their Club meeting on June 2nd. The donation will be used to help rebuild a school in Nepal that was completely destroyed by the recent earthquakes. Shown in the picture are Daryll Cameron the President of the Brooklyn Park Rotary Club, Rob Laughlin the President of Edina Morningside, Paula Schwartz the International Service Chairman of Edina Morningside and Duane Jones the Secretary-Treasurer of the Brooklyn Park Rotary Club Foundation.
Mary Decheine-Rhatigan, a member of the Board of Can Do Canines, and her diabetes assistance dog Ebony were our guest speakers on June 3rd. Mary gave an interesting program about how Can Do Canines enhances the quality of life for people with disabilities by creating mutually beneficial partnerships with specially trained dogs.
Tom Hokr, with assistance from Joe Lampe, gave a very informative presentation about Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) during our meeting on June 10th. Two film clips about PRT, including a clip about a potential application in Maple Grove, were shown during Tom's program. Shown below are Joe on the left and Tom on the right.
Steve and Nancy Laible gave a very informative overview of our Bangladesh School Projects with emphasis on the Days for Girls feminine hygiene program at our Rotary meeting on May 20th. Steve was also recognized as our Club's "Rotarian of the Year." During the meeting, Eldon Tessman presented Paul Harris awards to a few Club members. Shown below are Nancy Laible and Steve Liable with Club President Daryll Cameron. Steve is holding his Rotarian of the Year award. Shown in the next picture is Eldon Tessman with Paul Harris awardees Addie Tessman, Kevin Weist, Duane Jones and Daryll Cameron.
Four Club members and two Club spouses attended the Rotary District 5950 Conference on Saturday, May 16th at the Radisson Blu/Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. It was a great conference that included an opening ceremony "March of the Clubs," the setting of a "Guinness World Record" for the most flags being waved at one time, a luncheon with Mark Rosen as the keynote speaker, an Awards Showcase with T. Mychael Rambo and a Dinner and Closing Ceremony featuring Dudley Riggs and the Harmony Bridge Project. We were honored to have Joan Finkens, the representative of Rotary International President Gary Huang, join us. Attending were Daryll Cameron, Dorothy Cameron, Steve Laible, Nancy Laible, Gina Smith and Larry Woelflin. Note that the Guiness World Record was set on top of the Mall of America's East Parking Ramp.
Members of our Rotary Club attended the Avenues for Homeless Youth "Building On Dreams" breakfast on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at International Market Square. We presented "Avenues" a check for $15,000 to support the Brooklyn Avenues shelter for homeless youth in Brooklyn Park. We all greatly appreciated the standing ovation given us by the people attending the breakfast. Shown in the picture below is Club President Daryll Cameron presenting the check to Shawn Gensch, President of the Avenues Board of Directors. In the second picture are Club members Eldon Tessman and Duane Jones with Daryll and Shawn. Gary and Ann Uhde also represented our Club at the breakfast.
Rotarians Rolf Nelson and Daryll Cameron attended the April 30th meeting of the Anoka Rotary Club. Their guest speaker was Dr. Leah Hanson, Research Director for the HealthPartners Center for Memory and Aging. Dr. Hanson gave a very interesting and very informative presentation on "Alzheimer's Research and Healthy Brain Aging." Many thanks to the Anoka Rotary Club for their invitation and their hospitality.
Jerry Hammer, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Minnesota State Fair, was our guest speaker on May 13th. Jerry gave us a very interesting presentation on the 160 year history of the State Fair and how it has evolved into one of the largest and most successful events in the world. Jerry started working at the Fair while in high school as a summer staffer and has risen through the ranks. He is currently serving his 19th year as the State Fair General Manager. He and his wife, Debby, are both life-long residents of St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood which is in the "shadow" of the fairgrounds. Shown below are Eldon Tessman, Jerry, Addie Tessman and Tom Hokr.
Our Rotary Club supported a "Days for Girls Sew-a-thon" at Nativity Lutheran Church in St. Anthony on Saturday. The "sew-a-thon" assembled and sewed reusable feminine hygiene kits for poor young women in rural Bangladesh. The young women typically miss one to three months of school each year due to "hygiene needs."
Congratulations to Annette Roth, Rich Lehman and Clare Brumback! Annette was elected to our Club Board of Directors and Rich and Clare were elected to our Club Foundation Board on April 29th.
Paula Schwartz, Doctor of Audiology, was our guest speaker on May 6, 2015. Dr. Schwartz gave us a very interesting presentation about her trip as a part of a 45 person surgical team during which she provided audiological services and solar powered body hearing aids to the poor of Antigua, Guatemala. Dr. Schwartz, a member of the Edina Morning Rotary Club, traveled with other Rotarians to India in 2013 and to Nepal and Bhutan in 2014. She also talked about the needs of a school that she supported in Nepal that had been destroyed during the earthquake on April 25, 2015. Shown below are Georgia Savat (a friend of Dr. Schwartz and Duane Jones), Dr. Schwartz and Rotarian Duane Jones.
Mike McGee, Dean of Manufacturing at Hennepin Technical College, gave us a very interesting presentation on April 29th about "Technical Education and Industry Needs." Shown below are Mike, Annette Roth (Rotarian and HTC Director) and Daryll Cameron, Club President.
Additional pictures from the District 5950 Conference are shown below. Larry Woelflin is shown carrying our Club banner during the opening ceremony "March of the Clubs." The District set a Guinness World Book Record for "...the most different flags flown simultaneously is 240." Shown are all of the flag wavers. Daryll and Dorothy Cameron sang in the District Choir that entertained during lunch. Two pictures are shown since Dorothy was hidden behind the "Light Up Rotary" banner in the first picture.
The Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park will be meeting at Park Center Senior High School on April 22nd instead of Edinburgh USA. Our Junior Rotarians will run the meeting which will start at 6:45 A.M. in the Forum Room.
Linda Tally, a Community Hospice Liaison with Allina Health, gave us a very informative presentation on April 15th about "Looking at End-of Life Choices, Advanced Care Planning and Palliative Care and Hospice." Linda is shown below with Rotarian and Elder Care Attorney Rolf Nelson.
The Club Youth Exchange Committee had a very good meeting at the home of Daryll and Dorothy Cameron on Thursday night, April 23rd. Shown from the left are Carl Lottman, Gary Uhde, Ann Uhde, Carl Billings, Jennie Lodien and Daryll Cameron.
Bob Halagan, Chairman of District 5950 Rotary Foundation Fund Development and District Governor Nominee Nominee, gave us an interesting presentation on March 25th about the Rotary Foundation and Paul Harris Society. We always enjoy having Bob speak to us.
Maple Grove Junior Rotarian Jakob Fjeldsted gave a very interesting presentation to our Club on April 8th about his trips to China. He also gave us an "introduction" to the Chinese language. Jakob is shown below with Kate Murphy- another Junior Rotarian from Maple Grove.
Mike Opat, Chairman of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners and Commissioner for District 1 which includes Brooklyn Park, gave us an interesting, "unfoolish," presentation on April 01st about Light Rail Transit and Hennepin County. Mike is shown below with Rotarians Eldon Tessman and Gary Brown.
Our Rotary Club participated in Rotary District 5950's efforts supporting the "March of Dimes March for Babies" at the Mall of America on Saturday, April 25th. Rotarian Gary Strandemo of the St. Cloud Rotary Club and Daryll Cameron of our Club became friends with the "Waterpark of America Bear" while volunteering at the event. Shown below are Daryll, the Bear and Gary.
We had a great meeting at Park Center High School on April 22nd hosted by our Junior Rotarians. Many thanks to our Junior Rotarians and the staff and teachers at Park Center for their outstanding hospitality.
We had a a great meeting on Wednesday, April 22nd, at Park Center High School hosted by our Junior Rotarians. Many thanks to our Junior Rotarians and to the staff and teachers at Park Center for their outstanding hospitality.
Brooklyn Park Rotarian Gina Smith is the new Chief Financial Officer of Rotary District 5950. We're all very proud of her. Shown below are District Board Members who attended an April 8th Meeting (L-R) Lee Ashfeld, Gina Smith, Jim Nelson, Diann Kirby, Mark Hegstrom, Bob Stowell, Tim Murphy, Jewelie Grape and Wooj Byun.
Congratulations Melanie! Melanie Hess of the Rotary Club of Rogers won first prize in our Wild Game Dinner Raffle- A one week stay in a 2 Bedroom Suite with full kitchen at the Hawaiian Village Resort on Waikiki Beach. Also included was $1000 for travel or other costs. Rotarian Duane Jones presented the "trip" to her on Wednesday morning, February 25th. Shown below are Melanie and Duane.
Our Junior Rotarians and Host Rotary Exchange Student ran our Rotary meeting on March 11th. Shown below are Paige Lodien (will be spending a year in Italy), Shavani Kamat, Malcolm Lawson, Grant Engeman, Madelyn Heitzig and Edwina King. Missing is Ivey Robinson.
On March 5th we presented a check for $255 for "Give Kids The World" to the Perkins Restaurant in Brooklyn Park. The money was donated by individual Club members. "Give Kids The World Village" is a 70 acre, nonprofit "storybook" resort in Kissimmee, Florida where children with life threatening illnesses and their families are treated to a week long, fantasy vacation. Perkins Restaurants is a Platinum Corporate Partner with the "Village." Shown below is our Club Foundation Treasurer, Rich Lehman, presenting the check to Deb Edison, Associate Manager, and our favorite waitress Susie Lunderborg.
Eric Zoinosky gave our Club a very interesting presentation on March 11th about "The Challenges Businesses Face in Keeping Up with Technology." Shown below are Rotarian Bill Lanctot with Eric.
Susan Perkins and Jennie Lodien gave us a great presentation about "How Does a Rotary Club Partner with Host Families to Facilitate a Successful Youth Exchange Year" at our meeting on March 18th. Our Club is sponsoring an Outbound Exchange Student and hosting an Inbound Exchange Student for the first time in over 20 years. Susan and Jennie, who have hosted many exchange students, are helping us get going. Shown below are Paige Lodien, Jennie's daughter and our Outbound Exchange Student, and Susan Perkins.
Rotarian Duane Jones presented Craig Gass the 12 Gauge Benelli Shotgun he won at our Wild Game Dinner at our Rotary Meeting on March 4th. Congratulations Craig who is on the right side in the picture below!
Brooklyn Avenues, a shelter for homeless youth in Brooklyn Park, had its grand opening on Friday, January 30th. Our Rotary Club contributed over 16,000 dollars to help build the shelter. Shown in the pictures are the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, the outside of the shelter, a typical room, a study room, and Rotarian Duane Jones with Brooklyn Park Council Member Peter Crema and Dorothy Cameron.
The Brooklyn Park Rotary Foundation cordially invites all of our Website Friends to attend our 30th Annual Wild Game Dinner on February 19, 2015 at Edinburgh USA. The Annual Dinner includes a buffet of Wild Game or Fish or Fowl, a Live Auction, a Silent Auction, a Raffle and many Games and Boards as is shown in the Flyer below. We are offering a fantastic first prize in the raffle- a one week stay in a great condominium on Waikiki Beach/Honolulu with $1000 included for travel or other costs. Raffle tickets are on sale for $10 each. All tickets can be purchased from Rotarian Gina Smith at 763-225-8886. Join us for an evening of fun and fellowship.
We had a very successful Wild Game Dinner Fundraiser on Thursday evening, February 19th. Over 235 people attended. Shown below are a few pictures from the dinner.
Rev. Carl Billings and Rev. La Andrimihaja from the Discover Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park gave an interesting presentation on January 28th about the Island of Madagascar and their evangelical trip to the Island last year. Shown below are Carl and La and a map showing the location of Madagascar in relation to Africa.
Carrie Carlson-Guest, American Red Cross Regional Communications Officer, gave us a very informative presentation about the Red Cross on February 25th. Shown below are Rotarian Gary Brown, Carrie and Rotarian Gina Smith.
Several Brooklyn Park Rotarians attended the "Open House To Honor and Thank Jamie Verbrugge" at the BP Recreation Center on Thursday night, January 29th. Jamie, a member of our Club, is leaving his current position of Brooklyn Park City Manager to become the City Manager in Bloomington, MN. We all thanked him for his many contributions to our city and to our club and wished him the best. Shown below are Gina Smith, Gordy Jensen, Jamie, Shalin Johnson, Daryll Cameron and Dorothy Cameron. The person who cut off Daryll's head remains anonymous.
Our Junior Rotarians attend our Rotary meeting the second Wednesday of each month and participate in running the meeting. They helped to run our meeting on February 11th. Shown below are Junior Rotarians Grant Engeman, Shivani Kamat, Madelyn Heitzig, Edwina King, Malcolm Lawson and Ivey Robinson.
Wade Setter, currently Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and former President of our Club, was our guest speaker on February 4th. Wade gave an update on the Bureau and discussed some interesting cases that he was involved in. Shown below are Rotarians Gary LaPalme and Gary Brown, Wade and Rotarians Gary Uhde and Tom Hokr.
Our guest speakers on January 21st were Sheila Nesbitt and Amber Smith of "Partnership for Change." Sheila gave a very dynamic and interesting presentation about her projects involving alcohol abuse prevention in our area. We all learned how important the prevention process is- especially for our youth. Shown below are Rotarians Gary LaPalme and Gordy Jensen with Sheila and Amber.
Jeremiah Rotich gave a very interesting presentation to our Club this morning about how he came to the United States and what he is doing to help his village in Kenya. Jeremiah was supported by Tim Korby. Shown below are Tim and Jeremiah.
Dave Kolb, Champlin police chief, was our guest speaker on January 7, 2015. Dave discussed his background in police work and talked about the Champlin Police Department including their interface with Brooklyn Park. Shown below are BP Rotarian Jack Rehnberg, guest Zubah Kpanaku, Chief Kolb and BP Rotarian Tom Hokr.
Junior Rotarians Edwina King and Malcolm Lawson were introduced and welcomed into our Club this morning. They missed our meeting last week. Shown below are Club Members Carl Billings and Gary Uhde, Malcolm and Edwina and Club Member Tom Hokr. Our Club is very excited about our Junior Rotarian Program.
Tom Thorfinnson, former Rotary International Vice President and current member of the Rotary International Foundation Board of Trustees, was our guest speaker on December 10th. Tom gave us a very interesting update on Rotary and shared his thoughts on the direction that Rotary needs to take. Shown below are Tom, Club Member Tom Hokr, District Executive Secretary Diane Confer, District Governor Jim Nelson, Area 4 Assistant District Governor Suzanne Plant, Club Member Eldon Tessman and Club President Daryll Cameron.
Our guest speaker on January 14th was Lee Glanns of the Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative. Lee gave a very interesting presentation about Beacon's support of the many homeless people in our area. Shown with Lee is Rotarian Carl Billings.
On Tuesday night, January 13th, seven members of the Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park and one special helper inserted "stickers" into dictionaries to ready them for presentation to 3rd Graders in 10 elementary schools in the Brooklyn Park area. This year, under the leadership of Rotarian Steve Roe, we plan to present over 900 dictionaries. The Rotarians/helpers that were part of the team on Tuesday were Gary and Ann and Monty Uhde, Annette Roth, Steve Roe, Dave Hoffmann, Daryll Cameron and Eldon Tessman.
Brooklyn Park Rotarians Steve Laible, Rolf Nelson and Eldon Tessman attended a special "Light Up Rotary" dinner on Thursday night, January 8th at the Saint Paul Hotel featuring Rotary International President Gary Huang as guest speaker. Shown below are Eldon with wife Addie, President Huang with wife Corinna Yao and Steve with wife Nancy. Missing are Rolf and his wife Phoebe.
Six Club Rotarians and their spouses attended the Maple Grove Rotary Club's Gala/Fundraiser Saturday night at the Minneapolis Marriott NW. It was a very enjoyable evening of fun and fellowship.
Ann Uhde, a Rotary Sister and wife of Rotarian Gary Uhde, described the "pilgrimage route" that she and Gary took to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain during our meeting on December 3rd. They covered about half of the route- 100 miles by horseback and 100 miles by foot. They had a great experience and told a very interesting story. Ann is shown below explaining the route that they took and is also shown with Rotary Sisters Addie Tessman and Dorothy Cameron.
On October 29th Dan Ruiz, Brooklyn Park Director of Operations and Maintenance, and Jesse Struve, Brooklyn Park City Engineer, discussed the Brooklyn Park 5 Year Capital Improvement Plan at our Club Meeting. Shown below are Jesse, Dan and Gary Brown, Rotarian and former City Engineer.
We introduced and welcomed into our Club six Junior Rotarians from Park Center High School at our meeting on December 10th. The Junior Rotarians are Madelyn Heitzig, Edwina King, Grant Engeman, Ivey Robinson, Shirani Kamat and Malcolm Lawson. Edwina and Malcolm were unable to attend the meeting. District Governor Jim Nelson and Rotary International Trustee Tom Thorfinnson joined us in welcoming them into Rotary. Shown below are Grant, Club Member Tom Hokr, Madelyn, Governor Jim, Ivey, Tom Thorfinnson, Shirani and Club Member Carl Billings.
The Brooklyn Park Rotary Club honored its seven veteran members during a ceremony at our Club meeting on November 19th. The Rotarian veterans were "thanked" for their service to our great nation and presented special Rotary "Armed Forces Veteran" pins. Honored were Daryll Cameron, Jim Dow, Harold Johnson, Duane Jones, Steve Laible, Bill Lanctot and Rolf Nelson.
Brooklyn Park Rotary Club members helped to assemble washable feminine hygiene kits for poor women in Guatemala and Bangladesh during a "sewathon" on December 4th in Maple Grove. The activity is part of the "Days for Girls" efforts being led locally by Judy Johnson of the Maple Grove Rotary Club. Shown below is Rotarian Steve Laible and Rotary Sisters Dorothy Cameron and Ann Uhde.
Sandy Sullivan spoke to our Club on November 5th about her experiences working in the Green Bay Packer organization during the days of their famous coach Vince Lombardi. Her experiences had a great impact on her life. Sandy provided a very interesting and enjoyable presentation. Shown below is Rotarian Luke Bogdanowicz, Sandy and Rotarian Kevin Weist.
Patrick W. Marsh, Executive Editor, and Geneva Lerwick of Calamities Press gave us a very interesting presentation about their literary magazine and the many contributors to it at our meeting on October 15, 2014.
Also, last night at the Brooklyn Park City Council meeting, we witnessed the "Mayor's Good Citizenship Award" being presented to Pastor Rachel Morey. Pastor Rachel is another person who has done so much for our community especially in supporting our youth in need. She is a special friend and a strong supporter of our Rotary Club.
Our Rotary Club had a great Octoberfest social at the Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis on Tuesday night, October 14th. The food and fellowship was great and Jennifer Weist gave us a test on Octoberfest oriented toward German fifith graders. Of course, we all aced it. Rotarian Gary Brown had the best results- 6 of 32 correct!
We had a great Rotary Day celebration at CEAP the evening of October 23, 2014. The Rotary Day Committee put together an excellent program that included a video on "Rotary and our Club" and Awards to five very deserving people including Rev.Steve Larson, Lt. Toni Weinbeck of the Brooklyn Park Police Department, Tammie Epley, Delores Brand and Eldon Tessman. Steve, Toni, Tammie and Delores were presented "Paul Harris Fellow" awards and Eldon was honored for "33 Years of Dedicated Service and Leadership" to our Club. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Craig Enevoldsen accepted the award for Lt. Weinbeck since she was out of town. We were honored to have our District 5950 Governor Jim Nelson and District Executive Secretary Diane Confer attend. CEAP provided an excellent venue for the celebration. Below are several pictures from the celebration.
Last night, at the Brooklyn Park City Council meeting, we presented a "Paul Harris Fellow Award" to Lt. Toni Weinbeck of the Brooklyn Park Police Department. Toni was unable to attend RotaryDay so it was great to present her the award in front of the Mayor and City Council. Lt. Weinbeck has done so much for our community and we were honored to give her the award. She exemplifies Service Above Self. Shown below is Club President Daryll Cameron, Rotarian Carl Billings, Lt. Weinbeck, Police Chief Craig Enevoldsen, Rotarian Gina Smith and Rotarian Jamie Verbrugge.
Our Club meeting on October 8th was held at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park. We had a tour of the amazing new Health and Biosciences Center and then got an update on NHCC from their acting President, Lisa Larson. Shown below is the "red moon" seen from the second floor of the new Center, our tour group in the halls of the Center and Lisa Larson, the acting President.
Rotary District 5950 Governor Jim Nelson visited our Club on September 24th and gave us a very informative presentation. Jim also presented Paul Harris Society certificates to five of our members recognizing their support of the Rotary Foundation. Shown in the picture are Tom Hokr (with certificate), District Governor Jim Nelson, Gary Uhde (with certificate), Club President Daryll Cameron and Eldon Tessman (certificate). Missing are Jim Dow and Kevin Weist who also were awarded certificates.
Troy Fritz of the St.Cloud Rotary Club drove down from St. Cloud early on Wednesday morning on September 17th and briefed us about their outstanding "Summertime by George" concert project. The St. Cloud Club initially cleaned up Eastman Park and then developed a series of free concerts for the St. Cloud community that are held every Wednesday night during June, July and August. The average attendance for each concert is 9,000 people and the largest crowd was over 17,000. The "Summertime by George" concerts (held by Lake George and Eastman Park) have been a big "plus" for the Community of St. Cloud and the Rotary Club. Shown below is a picture of a concert with the City of St.Cloud in the background and a picture of Tom Hokr, Troy Fritz and Daryll Cameron.
We had a very interesting meeting on September 10th. Randy Gilbert, Republican candidate for State Auditor, spoke to us about the functions and concerns of the job of State Auditor. Additionally, Chis Sehnert from Channel 12 discussed a documentary series they are developing called "Our Town's Story." Shown below are Bob Tessman, Randy, Chris, Addie Tessman and Eldon Tessman.
Club Rotarians attended a "Seeking Peace Celebration" at the Nativity Lutheran Church in St. Anthony on Friday evening October 10th. The Celebration was for a successful grant campaign that included efforts for homeless youth, a Raised Garden Center at the Little Kitchen Food Shelf and the Bangladesh School Project. Our Rotary Club was involved with the food shelf and the Bangladesh School Project. The music from various music groups at Nativity was "beautiful" with interludes of "Portraits of Peace" from John Noltner. Steve Laible, the Celebration emcee, gave a general introduction to all of the Rotarians in the audience followed by the music "Go Light Your World" (a very appropriate piece for Rotary). The culmination of the Celebration was the announcement of a USAID Cooperative Agreement Award in the amount of $145,000 for the Bangladesh School Project. Congratulations and many "kudos" to Steve Laible and his wife Nancy for their hard work and dedicated service both to Rotary and to the Nativity Lutheran Church. Shown below is the Announcement from Senator Amy Klobuchar and a picture of Steve and Nancy.
On September 22nd the Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park received the "Mayor's Good Citizenship Award" from Mayor Jeffrey Lunde and the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Park. The Brooklyn Park Rotary Club was recognized for its partnership with the community for over 30 years, being the largest single contributor to the Brooklyn Avenues youth homeless shelter, for its support of many projects throughout the years that benefited the community and for being an example of a community organization that enriches Brooklyn Park. Our Club also presented a ceremonial check for $16,000 for Brooklyn Avenues to Deb Loon, the Executive Director of Avenues for Homeless Youth.
BP Mayor Jeffrey Lunde with Club President Daryll Cameron.
Club Foundation Secretary Duane Jones and Foundation Treasurer Rich Lehman with Deb Loon, Lisa Jacobson, and Pastor Rachel Morey.
The Rotary Club of Brooklyn Park had a great luncheon meeting in the Hennepin Room at Hennepin Technical College on October 1st. Hennepin Tech President Cecilia Cervantes was the guest speaker and gave us a very informative update on the many activities at the College. Show below are President Cervantes, Chef Instructor Denis Durneu and Annette Roth, Rotarian and Executive Director of Institutional Advancement and Marketing at HTC.
A ground breaking ceremony for Brooklyn Avenues, a safe house for homeless youth in the Brooklyn Park area, was held on August 14, 2014. Our Rotary Club was the largest donor of any single organization to the fundraising for Brooklyn Avenues. Shown below are Rotarians Jamie Verbrugge, Eldon Tessman, Daryll Cameron, Clare Brumback, Carl Billlings, Gina Smith and Harry Jebens.
Dara Hagen, Dean of Student Success Services at Hennepin Technical College, spoke to us on August 20th about preparing current students for work, K-12 Programs and School District connections for the workforce of tomorrow. Shown below are Rotarian Annette Roth, Dean Hagen and Rotarian Daryll Cameron.
We enjoyed having 14 students from the Ukraine and their sponsors/hosts as our guests at our meeting on August 27th. The students are visiting the United States as part of the Global Synergy Group's Youth Leadership Exchange and Development Program.
Dr. John Helling, former President of North Hennepin Community College and former President of our Rotary Club, spoke to our Club on August 13, 2014 about the early days of NHCC and community colleges in the State of Minnesota. Shown below are Rolf Nelson, Dr. Helling, Addie and Eldon Tessman.
Our guest speakers on September 03rd were Rebecca Gilgen and Fire Chief Ken Prillaman from the City of Brooklyn Park. Rebecca spoke to us about the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance and Ken discussed the "Ebola Situation." The City's new Parks and Recreation Director, Jody Yungers, was our guest at the meeting. Shown below are: Daryll Cameron (Club President), Ken, Rebecca, Jamie Verbrugge (BP City Manager) and Jody.
The annual Charter Night for our Brooklyn Park Club was held on Thursday night, June 19th at Edinburgh USA. Several awards were given and the "President's Gavel" was passed from LeAnn Groth to Daryll Cameron.a.
We had a a great meeting on Wednesday, April 22nd, at Park Center High School hosted by our Junior Rotarians. Many thanks to our Junior Rotarians and to the staff and teachers at Park Center for their outstanding hospitality.
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