Thanks to everyone who was able to attend the District Conference on October 14!
The Arboretum was a perfect location for the District’s first quarter environmental
focus. The morning started with a thank-you breakfast for major donors to the Rotary Foundation. Although mother nature rained on our parade, so to speak, and we
cancelled the outdoor service project, everyone still enjoyed the beautiful grounds.
The Youth Exchange students and many adventuresome Rotarians took part in the
Amazing Arboretum Race scavenger hunt. Matt Schuth from the Arboretum
wowed us with his knowledge of birds and other animals. The House of
Friendship tables provided information and opportunities to
network for many attendees.
Youth exchange students started the afternoon program by carrying the flags
of their home countries. Kelly Kirk (Edina Morningside) and
Joe Kirk (Edina Morningside) were the emcees and did a wonderful job throughout
the afternoon! Miss Minnesota, Angelina Amerigo (Rotaract eClub for the
Environment), shared her passion for the environment. Luke Wendlandt from
Cadre told attendees about his mental health journey and his company’s mental health
and wellness app. Gail Rosenblum gave tips on how to tell stories that get noticed.
Meg Low (Lake Minnetonka/Excelsior), Mark Boyd (Buffalo), and Tim Deets
(Maple Grove) shared insights on the District grant process. Irene Kelly
(Eden Prairie AM) and Tim Conners (Eden Prairie AM) provided an update on
the great things still happening with the Rotary Community Core at Lake Street
(be sure to read the newspaper article about Rotarians helping the Lake Street
businesses in the October 22 Star Tribune)! Steve Solbrack (Twin Cities Rotary
Eco Club) secured environmentally friendly reusable bags for each attendee.
Thanks to our volunteers, speakers, house of friendship table sponsors, and
to you for making the event great!
David Lady and Doug Kveene have been named Area 9 assistant governors for Rotary District 5950. The two men have a long history of Rotary leadership. Lady was the Willmar Rotary Club president from 2022 to 2023, and Kveene was the Willmar Lakes Rotary Club president from 2003 to 2004.
On Friday September 8th, the Rotary Club of Orono, in partnership with US Congressman Dean Phillips, organized and sponsored a recognition ceremony for Vietnam-era Veterans and their families.
In an extraordinary display of friendship and camaraderie, the Minnetonka Rotary Club transformed into a singing club for a day to uplift the spirits of their fellow Rotarian, Mark F., who had dreamt of making the club a singing club during his presidential term. Although Mark's dream didn't come to fruition during his tenure, his Rotarian friends went the extra mile to show their support.
The freezer at PRISM’s food shelf in Golden Valley had a broken fan, some fried circuits and needed about $15,000 in repairs. Calls and emails went out asking for help. PRISM scrambled to send food to other freezers at other food shelves.
Looking for a new model of membership - how about creating a model that allows Rotarians to be a part of 2 clubs. Look no further than the Global Travelers E-Club Associate member category. Learn more about how this flexible and forward thinking model has allowed the Global Travelers E-Club to rapidly grow and provide deep connections to service and Rotary.
Real estate sale gives $24,000 for nonprofits. Philanthropy is not a new endeavor for Eagan Kick Start Rotary, but club members have found a new way to fundraise. “It took flight because we are people of action, speedy action,” said Denise Sjoberg, a seven-year Rotarian and Eagan real estate agent. She worked with club member Ryan Murphy, a past club president and eight-year Rotarian, to find a way to use the skills and experience they gained from careers in real estate and remodeling to purchase, renovate and sell a home as a fundraiser. “It started with a simple thought ‘what if we found a property that we could buy and flip as a fundraiser?’” Sjoberg said.
The Rotary Club of Chaska, along with great support from the City of Chaska, held the 1st Annual Chaska Cares Music Festival and Fundraiser on Saturday, October 7th at beautiful Athletic Field in Chaska. Proceeds from the event were earmarked toward a Miracle League Field and Universal Playground in Chaska.
Come, learn to love Lake Street as much as suburban Rotarians love Lake Street.
Three years ago, as Lake Street burned and Minneapolis mourned, Rotary clubs across the metro mobilized to help. And they stayed. Still helping, they now hope their neighbors will see what they see in this vibrant commercial corridor that is home to so many small family businesses working so hard.
Monticello third graders at Pinewood Elementary show off the new dictionaries they received on Wednesday, Sept. 27 from the Monticello Rotary. Monticello Rotary has a long tradition of presenting dictionaries to Monticello students in September during Rotary International’s Basic Education and Literacy Month. Basic education and literacy is one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus. Students at Little Mountain Elementary School received the novel Charlotte’s Web as a gift from Monticello Rotary.
The Edina Morningside Rotary Club (EMRC) is committed to executing on regular basis (at least quarterly) service projects which positively impact members of our local community. Recent projects have benefited individuals in hospice or memory care, those in need of food security, at-risk youth, and unhoused individuals.
Shelly Collins Ruck, incoming president for St. Paul Rotary, reached out District 5950 to share a wonderful resource supporting President McInally’s focus this year of reducing the stigma of mental illness stigma, Make It OK.
World Polio Day was celebrated at Surly Brewing. We raised our glasses to a polio-free world on October 24th. We had an evening of celebration, good company, and a shared dedication to global health. A big THANK YOU to District Polio Chair Tim Mulcrone for his dedication to our District and Ending Polio.
There was a full house with over 10 clubs represented.
Dracula made an appearance.
Attendees flooded the room with red and smiles.
----- The Final Two Polio Endemic Countries -----
Pakistan has two Wild Polio cases reported in 2023. Twenty Wild Polio cases reported in 2022. The most recent case had an onset of paralysis on 7/20/23.
One WPV1 Sample and no cVDPV2 Positive Environmental Samples were reported this week in Pakistan.
Afghanistan has five wild Polio cases reported in 2023 - all from the Nangarhar Province. Two Wild Polio Cases reported in 2022. The most recent case had an onset of paralysis on 5/18/23. No WPV1 Samples and no cVDPV2 Positive Environmental Samples were reported this week in Afghanistan.
----- Polio Podcasts - Searching for Service -----
Terry Ziegler, past President Rotary Club of West U in Houston Texas, Polio Eradication update Newsletter Editor, and Book of the World - Second Wind Foundation Trustee. He talks about his years of work in rotary and shares some good stories. Terry also talks about his role as the editor of the Polio Eradication Update Newsletter.
Kate Van Slyck is a recently retired teacher with a background in special education, outdoor education and teaching English. Service has always been a focus in her life. She has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer twice, an AmeriCorps VISTA, and served in her faith, school, and neighborhood communities. Kate hopes to grow her circle of friends and connect in a more meaningful way to the Uptown community, which became her home in 2021.
Don Kelly
Minnesota Veterans
A California native, Don now lives full-time in a motorhome--in East Bethel in the summer and warmer places in the winter. He was in the US Air Force 1961-1965 as a Russian-language Voice Intercept Processing Specialist. Since 1968, he has developed computer software. He has been a member of several Rotary clubs previous to moving to the MN Veterans Club. Don has already served as a volunteer at the 4th of July Dinner; at the golf event; and as a blood donor.
Gabrielle Clark
Maple Grove
Gabby joined the Maple Grove club on September 12, 2023.
The ideals of Rotary and the 4-Way Test are how I choose to live my life. Through Rotary I’ve been able to more effectively serve my community and the world and while doing that have made some of the best friends I’ve ever had. I anticipate lots more of the same with the Rotary Club of Maple Grove!
Guy Johnson the District 5950 Assistant Governor Coordinator share a little more about himself and his Rotary journey. Guy is wearing many hats literally and figuratively! Read his story in his words.
Rotary is the best kept secret – we need to change that! The goal of the Year of Service Initiative is to share stories of great work that clubs are doing and find ways to learn from each other and join together to make a difference. Check out the examples below of ways clubs in District 5950 are taking on Rotary’s 7th Area of Focus – Supporting the Environment.
Also stay tuned for the November newsletter for details on a fun literacy challenge championed by City of Lakes.!
The 5950 Conference held at the MN Landscape Arboretum featured two environmental speakers and the location of the conference itself at one of Minnesota’s premier locations for research helped conference attendees get into the mindset of thinking about the environment.
The Twin Cities Rotary Eco Club, the 4th non-traditional, cause-based Rotary Club in the world, leads our district’s Environmental Action Team and is a wonderful resource for this topic. Utilize the speaker bureau list they developed for environmental topics (Check out here) to find a great speaker for your club. They are also leading a grant project to install solar panels on Habitat for Humanity homes. The Eco Club has had 17 Eco Challenges from 2019-2023 – check out their website to learn how to challenge your club to take action.
Maple Grove Rotarians are leaders in hands-on environmental projects. They planted trees and pollinator gardens and sponsors buckthorn removal in their community – partnering with a local Lion’s club to purchase equipment to facilitate buckthorn removal events.
Eden Prairie Rotary hosts a spring Eco Expo educating 3000 people annually on environmental topics. With 50 vendors on all things environmental, this club not only educates their community to take action but they also collect donations that help fund their service work all throughout the year making this event a great project and a fundraiser all in one.
Excelsior Morning Rotary switched to reusable cups in 2023 for their annual Concerts in the Commons music series and Oktoberfest keeping over 22,000 plastic cups out of landfills and raising awareness of how small changes can yield big results.
Global Travelers E-Club is planning to kick off “Talking Trash” on Oct. 24th – a challenge for Rotarians to clean up the environment wherever they live and post their photos and stories on the club’s social platforms. Bags of trash will generate donations to the club’s foundation account. A way even an e-club can participate in hands-on service.
If your club is looking for something new to engage your members and community – what better way than to learn from a club that has had success in this area. For more information about any of these projects –see button below for link) for more detail including contacts for the above projects.
The environment was our first area of focus for sharing but there is more to come this year! If your club has a great project to support education/literacy, food insecurity or mental health/homelessness – let me know so that your club can be featured in an upcoming newsletter. Together we can share the great work of Rotary!
On September 30th, the volunteer Rotarians of Eagan Kick-Start cleaned up O’Neill
Drive near Viking Lakes in Eagan, MN. The club adopted this road several years
ago and have been actively cleaning it twice a year since.
David Lady and Doug Kveene have been named Area 9 assistant governors for Rotary District 5950. The two men have a long history of Rotary leadership. Lady was the 
On Friday September 8th, the Rotary Club of Orono, in partnership with US Congressman Dean Phillips, organized and sponsored a recognition ceremony for Vietnam-era Veterans and their families.
In an extraordinary display of friendship and camaraderie, the Minnetonka Rotary Club transformed into a singing club for a day to uplift the spirits of their fellow Rotarian, Mark F., who had dreamt of making the club a singing club during his presidential term. Although Mark's dream didn't come to fruition during his tenure, his Rotarian friends went the extra mile to show their support.
The freezer at PRISM’s food shelf in Golden Valley had a broken fan, some fried circuits and needed about $15,000 in repairs. Calls and emails went out asking for help. PRISM scrambled to send food to other freezers at other food shelves.
Looking for a new model of membership - how about creating a model that allows Rotarians to be a part of 2 clubs. Look no further than the Global Travelers E-Club Associate member category. Learn more about how this flexible and forward thinking model has allowed the Global Travelers E-Club to rapidly grow and provide deep connections to service and Rotary. 
Real estate sale gives $24,000 for nonprofits. Philanthropy is not a new endeavor for Eagan Kick Start Rotary, but club members have found a new way to fundraise. “It took flight because we are people of action, speedy action,” said Denise Sjoberg, a seven-year Rotarian and Eagan real estate agent. She worked with club member Ryan Murphy, a past club president and eight-year Rotarian, to find a way to use the skills and experience they gained from careers in real estate and remodeling to purchase, renovate and sell a home as a fundraiser. “It started with a simple thought ‘what if we found a property that we could buy and flip as a fundraiser?’” Sjoberg said.
The Rotary Club of Chaska, along with great support from the City of Chaska, held the 1st Annual Chaska Cares Music Festival and Fundraiser on Saturday, October 7th at beautiful Athletic Field in Chaska. Proceeds from the event were earmarked toward a Miracle League Field and Universal Playground in Chaska. 
Monticello third graders at Pinewood Elementary show off the new dictionaries they received on Wednesday, Sept. 27 from the Monticello Rotary. Monticello Rotary has a long tradition of presenting dictionaries to Monticello students in September during Rotary International’s Basic Education and Literacy Month. Basic education and literacy is one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus. Students at Little Mountain Elementary School received the novel Charlotte’s Web as a gift from Monticello Rotary.
The Edina Morningside Rotary Club (EMRC) is committed to executing on regular basis (at least quarterly) service projects which positively impact members of our local community. Recent projects have benefited individuals in hospice or memory care, those in need of food security, at-risk youth, and unhoused individuals.
Guy Johnson the District 5950 Assistant Governor Coordinator share a little more about himself and his Rotary journey. Guy is wearing many hats literally and figuratively! Read his story in his words.
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