Volunteers are needed over the two days to host our participants and fans. Rotarians, register here to volunteer. *Please note, you do not sign up for a specific job, rather a time slot and you will be assigned your task upon check-in at the event.
This is the 33rd three-club fundraiser for Rochester Rotary Risers, Greater Rochester Rotary, and The Rotary Club of Rochester. Twenty-six Minnesota varsity basketball teams are hosted and play two games over two days at Mayo Civic Center. All proceeds from the event are distributed as grants to local nonprofits serving youth and education.
Rotarian Passes have been invoiced through Clubrunner. If you have questions on how to pay that, please contact Amber. You are also welcome to print off the statement from your email and mail a check to the rotary email if that is your preference. It is our tradition and expectation that all members purchase two tickets to the Holiday Classic to support the event. You can pick them up at the Holiday Classic ticket desk in the Mayo Civic Center, or many members request tickets be donated to the Boys & Girls Club.
On Thursday, December 8th Rotarians listened with rapt attention to Andre Crockett as he opened his presentation by saying he couldn’t say no to speaking to our Rotary Club. He said in 2008, he was the recipient of a $2,000 grant from the Rotary Holiday Classic. He expressed his gratitude to Rotary because this grant enabled him to launch the Sports Mentorship Academy as a non-profit organization to respond to the growing number of untapped potential of male students (high risk) that were falling through the cracks at school or were already entangled with the juvenile court system. The grant also helped to establish him as a valued member of our community and eligible for additional grants.
Crockett spoke at length about his commitment to keeping our community safe through C.E.R.T, the Community Engagement Response Team (often identified by their red shirts). This is a blend of street outreach and engagement designed to de-escalate problems before they occur. CERT is headquartered at Edgewood Apartments and provides support to the community and the Rochester police department, and has participated in a pilot program with select Rochester Public Schools.
You can learn more about this remarkable community leader by reading his online magazine created in partnership with Post Bulletin called Rochester In Color; and following Barbershop Talk, an online grassroots show that airs bi-weekly via Facebook Live.
Audrey Betcher sponsored two new members Sue Luebbe, a software engineer recently retired fromTAA Tools, Inc. (at the podium) and Celeste Hofer, a retired software engineer and RN (on the left) Celeste Hofer was born in Milbank, SD, the birthplace of American Legion baseball, the youngest of three girls. Her father was a foreman in the stone polishing division of a granite quarry and her mother was a part-time receptionist in a medical office and a community volunteer.
She attended Presentation College in Aberdeen, South Dakota and obtained an RN at the age of 20, and later a BSN from South Dakota State University. In 2005, she received a B.S in Computer Science from Winona State University. In recent years, she earned a Certificate in Data Analytics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Celeste worked in a variety of areas of nursing, was a stay at home mom for a time and finished her career as a Software Test Engineer. Her most recent employer was IBM, which she left in 2018. While at IBM, Celeste worked with people around the globe. One of her favorite memories is being a team lead in cross product testing, with team members joining in from the US, China, and England.
Her interests include crocheting, yoga, flower gardening, singing with a band at church, travel, learning about modern history, doing puzzles and volunteers with St. Vincent de Paul.
Celeste and her husband Roger have 3 sons and a daughter, 2 daughters-in-law, plus 4 grandchildren. Their offspring reside in Rochester, St. Louis Park, and Bangkok, Thailand.
Her favorite quote is “It’s never too late to be what you might have been”, by George Elliot. As a girl she was told that boys were better than girls at math - and this was something that she knew was absolutely not true. She wants all people, especially young women and girls, to believe in what they can accomplish -including being good at math.
She is an active member of the Rochester Technology Campus Toastmaster’s Club (previously known as IBM Toastmasters) and serves as its President. She is working towards her Distinguished Toastmaster Certification.
Sue Luebbe has a wide breadth of experience, having worked in Information Technology at SPSS, Mayo Clinic, and IBM over the past 30 years, in the areas of systems programming, project management, product planning, and client management. She offered this poem for her introduction:
T’was a day at the Rotary,
And all through the house,
the members were curious,
cuz Sue Luebbe was in the house.
Sue's originally from Chicago,
and was raised with great care.
The youngest of 3,
with blue eyes and brown hair.
Twenty years later she's a software engineer.
Marries another IBM'r - Doug Luebbe -
and they have 3 children here.
Technology jobs keep me busy,
for 30 years of hard work.
But now volunteer opportunities turn my head with a jerk.
It's exciting that Rotary has new opportunities in sight.
With so many of our neighbors facing hardship, the need to serve those most vulnerable is greater than ever!
Thank you for being a bell ringer!
o Date: December 17, 2022
Location: Hy-Vee #4 West 2 4221 W. Circle Dr. NW Rochester MN
Description: Inside north foyer
Time: 9:00AM - 8:00PM
Location Notes: This kettle is located at the MIDDLE door of the new Hy-Vee on West Circle Drive. Two doors are available, so please go to the MIDDLE door foyer between the pharmacy door and the SOUTH door.
It’s hard to believe that our nine mentor-mentee pairs are already halfway through their journey as part of TRCR’s pilot project that was launched on September 8, 2022. Thank you again to all our Club members as well as our mentor-mentee pairs for their support in sharing monthly exchanges to advance the Rotarian values of fellowship, service learning (through mentoring/coaching), inspiring peace and leadership development.
There is still much to imagine, co-discover, and translate into daily action across our diverse portfolio of service opportunities within, between, and across our community. We are still learning better ways to connect on a monthly schedule but have found creative solutions and sharing more given busy work schedules, flu season/COVID precautions and now winter & other choices for volunteering.
A few accomplishments shared at mid-point check-in on December 5, 2022
- Getting to know each other (variety of interests, mutual connections, learning styles)
- Setting SMART goals e.g. Self-care, Family, Career paths/networking, Travel tips, Hobbies, Food spots, Music venues, Technovation, Health equity, Learning by playing games (in nature), and Avenues of Service. Specifically, mentees shared updates on running/coaching teens (5 K run/walk), preparing podcasts, hosted a 3-club venue@UMR, and lessons being learned from mentors outside of Rotary).
- Mariana and Edgar also participated as delegates to Rotary D5960 celebration - meeting DG Dr. Dayle Quigley and DGE Patricia McCleese as well as liaisons/leaders from Rotary clubs around our district.
Thank you again for all your support, commitment to informal mentoring, and sharing more ideas/network contacts for the benefit of all concerned (Rotary 4-way test query #4). We look forward to presenting a re-cap of this pilot project as part of a more formal program in mid-April 2023!
Cradle To Career is reaching out (phone calls) to early education centers across the community, with the aim of getting a community-level understanding of how many childcare slots exist in Rochester, how many are currently used, and by whom.
Eventually, we would like to use this data to create a deeper understanding of which children are currently in the care of family, friends, and neighbors (i.e. anyone who is not in licensed center-based or family-based care).
This information will be used to spark conversation within the networks, Whole Family Systems, and National League of Cities to talk about opportunities within the formal and informal childcare sectors.
This effort has garnered a lot of attention and support from our partners, with several saying they have wanted to do something similar in the past, but do not have the capacity to do so.
We would benefit greatly from Rotarians who are willing to cold-call providers using a script to learn about their current capacity, utilization, and wait lists. These calls will begin as soon as December 7 and continue on for the next few months."
Please contact Marilyn Deling, C2C Ambassador, at humming73@gmail.com if you are able to assist. Thanks so much!
From: Nicole Funk, Olmsted County Public Health, nicole.funk@olmstedcounty.gov
Subject: Seeking support for K-12 kids who cannot afford glasses
Any chance Rotary would be interested in supporting K-12 kids who cannot afford glasses? We have lost our 3 Lion’s Clubs and Salvation Army providers during COVID. They would help with the students who had no insurance, or who have insurance and one pair of glasses but need an additional pair due to broken glasses, etc. Just wondering - we are trying to look around at clubs for help. It’s a terrible gap in care.
Nicole Funk, BSN, PHN, Public Health Nurse - School Age Services
We are pleased to announce that registration is open for Camp RYLA 2023.
Camp RYLA is a four-day leadership camp for High school sophomores and juniors, held at the YMCA Camp St. Croix outside of Hudson, Wi.
Students are selected by their local Rotary Clubs (from Districts 5950 and 5960) who sponsor their participation. ($450 per student, $475 after April 1st.) For more information on the camp, visit our new website at CampRYLA.org.
Pictured above: DG Dayle Quigley and Dave Newman, LIFT (formerly Fast for Hope Representative and Arden Hills-Shoreview Rotarian) receiving a certificate that translates to. "The Drinking Water and Sanitation Committee of the Community of El Corozo provides recognition to Rotary District 5960 for their unconditional great help for making our dream of having drinking water a reality in our community. Greatly thanking this noble gesture of solidarity. He who gives shall not remember again, but he who receives shall never forget."
Generous gifts to The Rotary Foundation help create lasting change in communities both nearby and around the world. Help others in need by giving the gift of Rotary anytime. The Rotary Foundation transforms gifts into service projects that advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by fighting disease, improving the quality of education, protecting the environment, alleviating poverty, and more.
Did you know that if you buy the majority of your gas at Kwik Trip, you could pre-pay for your gas AND help the club at the same time? A $100 Kwik Trip card immediately creates $5 for the club and any in-store purchases creates another 5% donation.If you would like to purchase Scrip cards, send an email to romnrotary@gmail.com with how many and what denomination you'd like. In additional to Kwik Trip, Scrip cards are also available to Apollo Liquor and Menards. The cards are purchased at face value, but the club receives 5% back from Apollo Liquor and Kwik Trip and 4% back from Menards. The club receives an additional 5% on purchases at Kwik Trip, other than gas, inside the store.
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