This newsletter is devoted to recapping the highlights of the Conference. A successful district conference takes a lot of advance planning; my own committee has been at it for well over one year. I know Tim Murphy's committee is already hard at work planning the 2016 conference. This newsletter highlights some of the top moments.

  

 

 

 

 

 

This was accomplished on the top deck of the East Parking Lot of the Mall of America – cleared of vehicles just for the occasion.

 

  

 

  A coincidental side note:  In order to establish the record, each person passed in single file into the staging area and received a numbered wristband.  It was totally unplanned, but I received number 220, just enough to break the record.  And also unplanned – at least by me – my friend and District Governor Elect Jim Nelson, from the Rotary Club of Rockford, Illinois, and District 6420, was the 219^th person on the bridge in Sydney when the original record was broken.  Jim also surprised me by coming to our District Conference all the way from Rockford!  If we had a prize for the Rotarian who traveled the farthest to come to the Conference, though, Jim would not have come close.

Lunch featured RI President Gary Huang's representative Joan Firkins, of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay, British Columbia (Victoria), past district governor, lawn bowler, rabid baseball fan and dedicated Rotarian. Local heroes featured were Mark Rosen and the Rotary Rooters choir.

Joan brought greeting from President Gary and also took part in an interview with Tom Hubert (Club 9) presiding, telling her own inspiring Rotary story beginning back in 1992, and some of the heroes of her life, including Rotarian Monty Audenart (whom I also had the pleasure of having met and had lunch with at International Assembly in 2014), who was a great Rotary leader, past district governor and aide to RI President Ron Burton in 2013-2014, but who unfortunately passed away earlier this year at age 65. 

Long-time WCCO TV sportscaster Mark Rosen regaled us with stories from his 40-year career in local sports broadcasting, with special mention of the Minnesota heroes who won the 1980 Olympic Hockey Gold Medal, with a stunning upset of the USSR in the semi-final game, after having lost to the same team 10-3 in an earlier round.  We also heard about other heroes such as Harmon Killebrew and – of course – “Sid.” 

 

 

 

We were then serenaded by our very own District Choir, led by my club’s Rotary Rooters (pictured at right), and joined by Rotarians from around the district.  Great entertainment with very little time to practice!

 

 

This year we changed things up a bit in the giving of awards.  Our Awards Showcase was shorter – one hour – and very lively, with a professional entertainer, T. Mychael Rambo emceeing the event and providing great humor and energy to the affair.  This year, in lieu of certificates or plaques, we had professional designed electronic logos which can be used on websites and social media – they will not collect dust or sit in someone’s closet!  

 

 

 

This year we also narrowed the categories to four, presented third, second and first place awards, and showed a short video of each of the four winners.   The committee especially took note of projects that were innovative and collaborative. Here were the clubs and projects awarded prizes by our awards committee:

 

Third Place:  Monticello for their lead in working with Cokato, Alexandria, Buffalo and St. Michael-Albertville Clubs on phase one of a natural playground at Bertram Chain of Lakes, focused on providing experiences with the sights, smells, textures and sounds that many kids currently lack in the area.

 

Second Place:  Minneapolis City of Lakes for leading the coalition with North Minneapolis, Minneapolis South, Minneapolis University, Minneapolis Uptown and Minneapolis #9 in an Area 10 – all Minneapolis Rotary Clubs – literacy initiative to provide 1,844 dictionaries to adult education centers, 1,000 distributed through the corrections system providing an immediate resource for learning.

 

AND THE WINNER:  Rogers Rotary and Maple Grove Rotary, who engaged in a “food fight” for hunger.  This innovative approach to highlighting the issue of hunger in their communities spurred an unique idea – a challenge to collect food in a friendly competition for a food shelf serving families in the northwest suburbs who are struggling with basic needs. The two clubs set out to out-donate each other and what transpired was the 2^nd largest donation in the organization's history! One club went to far as to purchase more than 100 crock-pots and 100 pounds of meat. They created a crock-pot recipe book and delivered the “full meal deal” to food shelf and recipient families as part of the their donation. Not only did the challenge raise 30,000 pounds of food and $2,000 for community members in need, but also created motivation among Rotarians, fellowship between clubs and press coverage. Next year, there could be plans to grow the event next year to challenge the #1 donor.  Congratulations to these two great clubs!

 

Third Place: Alexandria, Eden Prairie AM, Buffalo, Monticello and St. Michael-Albertville for their unique shared lead concept to provide adequate bathroom facilities for 3 elementary schools, repair a leaky roof and improve the workable water system in Olanchito, Honduras.

 

Second Place:  Minneapolis Rotary #9 for their One Woman, One Goat project in Tanzania. This social enterprise development project is providing 200 women with sustainable income and nutrition.

 

AND THE WINNER:  Brooklyn Park Rotary, Maple Grove Rotary, and North Minneapolis Rotary.  Partnerships with these three clubs and other community and international organizations led to the creation and donation of hundreds of feminine hygiene kits that have been distributed to remote corners of the world. Working through international organization, Days for Girls, kits are being sewn by volunteers of Rotarians, firefighters, church members, Junior Rotarians, professionals, seniors, homeless women and city workers. Through these partnerships hundreds of kits are being distributed to girls and women in Bangladesh, Kenya and Guatemala. One project led by one club working with many is effecting real lives around the world. In addition to the feminine hygiene kits comes education of female biology for these girls and women. In this way, the girls and women are learning, provided with resources to make a difference, and in the end provide the opportunity to continue their education and jobs and break the cycle of poverty. Maple Grove Rotary club has worked with Brooklyn Park and North Minneapolis Rotary clubs in sew-a-thon events to create the kits. And working with other community organizations making change in the world.  Congratulations!

 

Third Place:    South Minneapolis Rotary.  This “small but mighty” club of 14 members has figured out how to support 5 outbound Youth Exchange Students this year and preparing to host 4 inbound students next year. Through relationships with area high schools and motivation to provide these extraordinary experiences, they have created a model to continue the moment and impact students’ lives here and abroad.

 

Second Place:  Brooklyn Center Rotary for their support of the  Brooklyn Center High School band program, engaging with low income students of color in an activity that would otherwise be financially impossible as 82% of the high school students are on free/reduced lunch program. For more than 10 years, Brooklyn Center Rotarians have funded the purchase and use of musical instruments for over half of the band.

 

AND THE WINNER:  Edina Morningside Rotary and Edina Noon Rotary for their work with Camp nterprise.  Camp Enterprise is a long standing project that received a bit of revamping this year. This leadership development project brought together a record number of high school junior and seniors in an extensive three-day camp focused on the Free Enterprise System. After redesigning the website to be mobile-friendly, creating a new logo, and changing the mentoring component to include college credit, Camp Enterprise welcomed 110 students represented 58 high schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin. These students were sponsored by 61 Rotary clubs across two Districts, which represents more clubs than ever working to identify students ready for this challenging opportunity. After three days, the students walk away educated in business concepts and negotiation skills. They made presentations on the Private Enterprise System, developed teamwork skills, participated in panel discussions, heard from today's business leaders and six lucky students walked away with $1,000 each post-secondary scholarships. Together, the Rotary clubs of Edina Morningside and Edina Noon produced Camp Enterprise and November 2014 as a smashing success.  Great work, Edina Rotarians.

 

Those of you who heard my “official” talk at your club know that I spoke about the Rotary core values, values that bring us together with like-minded Rotarians all over the world.  Those five identified core values are fellowship, leadership, integrity, diversity and service. 

 

This year I instituted an award to highlight one of those core values.  Hopefully there will be subsequent awards emphasizing all of the core values of Rotary, but that is up to my successors.  This year the District Governors Rotary Values in Action Award was awarded to the Rotary Club of Eagan, for their outstanding High School Ethics Workshop.  program began 22 years ago when Eagan’s Rotary Club led an all-day ethics workshop for juniors and seniors at Eagan High School. This day-long, immersion into the world of ethics brings awareness of ethical behavior to tomorrow's leaders. Through lectures, videos, small group discussions and roll-playing, the students are confronted with complex ethical situations then come to consensus and make a presentation. Throughout the day, the learn-by-doing workshop consistently aligns with Rotary's 4-Way test.  At the end of the day, the students have a deeper understanding of identifying the right thing to do and a grasp of the bigger picture of the world around them – vital to tomorrow's leaders. Today, Eagan conducts the entire workshop program in collaboration with Rotarians in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Burnsville, Duluth, Eden Prairie, Grand Rapids, Hutchinson, Lakeville, Madelia, Maple Grove, New Ulm, Osseo, Plymouth, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Rogers, St. James, Shakopee, West St. Paul and Willmar, and the club is looking to grow from here. Thousands of students across Minnesota have benefited from this Ethics Workshop through their high schools.   Congratulations to the club for this well-deserved recognition.  

 

  

The evening session began with Tom Huberty again doing some interviewing, this time with the maestro of Minnesota improv, Dudley Riggs.

 

 

Dudley began his show business career at age 5 in Vaudeville, and has never stopped.  His Brave New Workshop was formed in 1967 and continues to operate to this day, although no longer under his direction.  He told some highly entertaining stories, and his interview received a nice exclamation point with a video greeting from Senator Al Franken, whose comedic career was launched on the stage of the Brave New Workshop.  This was a surprise – and a pleasant one – to Dudley, as was the brief improvisational act that followed.

 

I learned during dinner that Dudley’s wife, Pauline Boss, who attended with Dudley, lost a brother to polio many years ago.  He was a teenager, playing football one day, dead from polio the next.  These are the kinds of stories going away thanks to the work of, and donations from, Rotarians over the last 30 years – only 24 cases worldwide reported so far this year, compared with over one thousand per day 30 years ago.  So it was fitting that part of the evening program included the presentation to our PolioPlus chair Tim Mulcrone a check for $10,000 out of our District Designated Funds toward polio eradication.  What I probably didn’t mention at the time:  With the current matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that $10,000 will turn into $45,000 – which will go immediately and directly to the polio eradication effort.

 

Our evening concluded with music, and a brief pitch for a potential Rotary project involving our young people.  Michael Levine, the founder and trombonist for the Dallas Brass, appeared to talk about Harmony Bridge, a project in which young musicians – elementary, middle and high schools – travel to local senior communities to play for and interact with residents. 

 

 

Michael has been working on this concept for several years, preparing musical arrangements of old standards and working with bands across the country.  On this night, he appeared with students from the Edina schools – two small ensembles each played a piece.  The surprise and moving ending to the night came with the song – always sung at the end of Rotary International Conventions – “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”  For this song, students filled the room to play – not just a small ensemble – a MOB of approximately 90 young musicians.  After one instrumental verse, the entire audience rose and sang along to the words flashed on the screen.  The power of what Michael is doing with these kids is reflected in the turnout – all voluntary – of the kids, but also all the parents who saw to it that the kids got there on a spring Saturday night to play the one song.  It was one of the more moving experiences I had this year as District Governor, and what a wonderful way to end a wonderful day!   

Those of you who were at this District Conference, or have been to others, know that it could not possibly be a one-person show.  MANY hands went into our district conference.  The District Governor does not do it alone and if he or she deserves any credit at all, it is only for asking the right people to do the heavy lifting.  In that regard, I WILL take credit for recruiting two magnificent Rotarians to be conference co-chairs this year – Sharon Bloodworth (Minneapolis #9) and Christine Taylor Kras (formerly of Minneapolis City of Lakes  - more about that shortly).  I asked Sharon and Christine to chair the conference well over a year ago, but both readily accepted the challenge.  Time proved that I chose well.  For the most part, the rest of our conference “org chart” was filled in by them, not by me.  And fill it they did, with an incredible assemblage of Rotary talent throughout the district. 

 

One thing you should know about Christine.  The reason I said “formerly” of City of Lakes is that in the midst of our planning for the conference, Christine got married.  Christine’s husband, Teun, from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, works for Cargill, and at the end of the last calendar year was transferred to Amsterdam.  For some, this would be a reason to withdraw from the position she had undertaken; not Christine.  She continued by long distance with the planning of the conference, joining our regular meetings via Skype despite the 7 hour time difference.   And not only that – she came all the way from Amsterdam to attend the conference and take part in the intense work in the days leading up to the conference.  Talk about Rotary dedication!  It is the reason, among others, that I was able to read a resolution in the evening from our club’s board of directors, naming Christine as an honorary member of our club.   Christine, by the way, is now in the process of joining the Rotary Club of Amsterdam International, an English-speaking club.   That club will never be the same!

 

Many thanks go to everyone who worked alongside Christine and Sharon to make the conference a success.  At the risk of missing anyone, they should be named:

 

Emcees: Natalie Johnson Lee (North Minneapolis-Morning, Ted Risdall (Minneapolis #9, Brock Ray (Minneapolis City of Lakes-Evening)

 

Marketing/Communications: Beth Grosen (Minneapolis #9)

 

Photography and Photo Booth: Michael Proebstle (Eagan)

 

 

 

Opening Ceremony: Matthew Prediger (Minneapolis City of Lakes)

 

Registration: Diane Confer (District Executive Secretary and Maple Grove Rotary) and  Kathy Koehler (Bloomington Noon)

 

Lunch Keynote Emcee: Ted Risdall (Minneapolis #9)

 

Hall of Friendship: Victoria Keller (Minneapolis City of Lakes)

 

Awards Showcase: Carol MacDonald (Burnsville Breakfast) and Dick Hall (Minneapolis City of Lakes)

 

Speaker Host: Melissa Musliner

 

RI President Representative Host: DGE Tim Murphy (Edina Noon)

 

Closing Ceremony: Christopher Taykalo

 

Decorations: Ann Dillard, Susan Smith, Natalie Johnson Lee (North Minneapolis)

 

Thanks to all – some 300 – Rotarians and guests who attended this very special day.  There are many other things happening on a spring Saturday, but you chose to make this your priority for the day.  It would not have been the fun time it was without all of you coming together in fellowship, sharing a laugh or two, singing along, and being inspired by what our clubs are doing.  The district conference is for you, and our efforts would be for nothing if it were not for you.  Thank you for your commitment to Rotary, thank you for sharing in the joy and accomplishments of your fellow Rotarians.  You made the work worth it. 

 

For those of you who could not attend, please join us at next year’s District Conference, under the leadership of Tim Murphy.  Tim and his conference chair Jody Kern are already planning the event, which will be held May 12-13 at Mystic Lake Conference Center, in conjunction with District 5960, the first time our two districts will do it together in some years.  Mark your calendars!  Don’t miss another one!