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Both distinguished Rotarians Keith Kramer (left) and Eric Craig (center) received their Paul Harris +1 awards last week. They are pictured here with Club Foundation chair, Brent Peroutka. Thank you for your continued support of the Rotary Foundation.
People from all over the world have multiple reasons for joining Rotary. Many new Rotarians each year join for the same reason I did — because Rotary is a great way to benefit your career. When I was a new attorney starting out in Alabama, Gay and I became partners in her father's firm. He instilled in us the value of joining Rotary as a way to build relationships and demonstrate to potential clients that we were serious professionals who held firm to values even more robust than what our profession required.
Rotary's commitment to vocational service is built on the highest ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful work, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society. That last point is so important. No matter our profession, we all contribute mightily to the world when we conduct our work with integrity and always adhere to The Four-Way Test.
I have made balancing the demands of Rotary with professional and family commitments one of my priorities as president. No Rotarian should feel pressured to put in more time than a volunteer position should ever demand. This is true for several reasons, one of them being that the work we do in our day jobs is just as important to Rotary as the work we do in the organization. We carry our Rotary values everywhere, and our professional success helps build a case for Rotary every day we go into the office.
This is particularly important in our efforts to reach younger new members. We want to see a Rotary where no one is ever asked to choose between being a good Rotarian and being a good parent, business owner, manager, or employee. When we ask busy young people to join us, we should not be asking them to give up their time and freedom. We should be rewarding them with an experience that makes everything they already do even more inspiring.
Providing greater balance within Rotary will have another benefit as well: It will create opportunities for other Rotarians, including Rotaractors, to step up and take a leadership role on projects and committees. This will ensure that they remain engaged in our clubs and inspired to be Rotarians for life.
Throughout the world, Rotary is admired for its vocational service and for the time-honored values we instill in all business relationships. As we continue our work to grow Rotary, let us remember that vocational service remains a crucial selling point to potential members.
Rotary Connects the World, and by making Rotary's vocational service work known to people in more professions and at different stages of their careers, we will help grow our organization and make it stronger and more diverse.
(reprinted with permission from the Faribault Daily News)
Faribault Rotarian Richard “Dick” Huston has traveled around the globe, but he called his most recent trip to Pakistan the most challenging of his life — both physically and emotionally.
After spending the week of Nov. 11-17 in Karachi, Pakistan, which has a population twice the size of New York City, Huston returned to Faribault eager to share his experience. In fact, Pakistani campaigners declared spreading awareness one of Huston’s primary roles for their cause.
“I hadn’t been there, and I just think we need to help people,” said Huston on his reasons for taking the trip. “I want to tell their story and encourage others to help them, also.”
As part of Rotary PolioPlus services, Huston expected representatives of other Rotary clubs to join his effort to learn about the endemic in Pakistan. He previously took a trip to Sierra Leone with a group of six Rotarians, but much to his surprise, Huston was the lone American to join the Karachi, Pakistan, polio campaign.
Huston admitted being the only American “felt a little weird” at first, but after a while he joked that being the only guest “felt pretty darn good.”
“Everywhere we went, people were so nice and gracious,” said Huston.
Eradicating polio
PolioPlus is a four-pronged worldwide effort to eliminate polio with vaccinations. Huston explained the four purposes of the cause include preventing the disease, providing clean water, creating jobs and improving healthcare.
Polio once impacted 125 countries, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the vaccination of millions of children since the 1980s has reduced the number of impacted countries down to three: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. In the 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio reported worldwide.
Houston said eradicating polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan is more difficult because people travel back and forth across the bordering countries often. According to UNICEF, polio cases in Pakistan have decreased from 20,000 per year in the early 1990s to just eight in 2018 since Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme launched in 1994.
Primarily a disease of children, Huston explained the symptoms of leg and/or arm paralysis indicate the first symptoms of polio. If the lungs experience paralysis, the disease can be fatal.
While overseas, Huston visited five sites where nurses vaccinated children for polio. The process, he said, was a matter of putting two drops of liquid vaccine on the tongue. But in the city of Karachi, which has approximately 15.4 million people, identifying all children under 5 who need vaccinations is a tremendous undertaking for nurses and aid workers.
Huston explained that a lot of negative propaganda makes mothers wary about exposing their children to vaccines. But nurses trained in psychology assure mothers their babies and children will be healthier with the vaccine. Huston witnessed mothers looking “like a deer in the headlights” at first, but he saw their eyes soften as they listened to the nurses.
“There’s no bullying at all,” he said.
Nurses also go to railway stations and go through the trains at their stops to identify children under 5 who need to be vaccinated. At a bus stop located along Karachi’s main highway, near the southern border of Pakistan, Huston said nurses vaccinate around 3,000 children per day. He shadowed a couple nurses on the job and marveled at their effort.
While visiting Pakistan, Huston saw nurses being trained to give vaccine injections for a new project. In certain past cases, Huston explained the virus sampling, used in vaccines to create an immunity to polio, backfired by mutating into a disease. Viruses used in the injection, however, are first killed so they can’t mutate into disease-causing organisms. Children between 5 and 13 may receive the injection, said Huston.
Other efforts have been made to prevent polio from spreading. Since polio is spread by water and food, Huston said 17 water filtration camps were installed in the area he visited. Open two hours a day, residents can come fill their jugs with clean water.
Making connections
More was expected of Huston on his trip, being the only guest, but after his return he said he experienced “a good feeling of being worn out.”
While his trip was taxing in the sense that he was constantly busy, Huston was pleased with the hospitality of his host family and impressed with the Pakistani Rotarians’ generosity. Although residents of Karachi had all levels of income in an area with some of the worst slums Huston has seen, he said people with money share it.
“It was really an eye-opening trip,” said Huston. “The effort the ‘haves’ are making to help the ‘have-nots’ is truly remarkable in my mind.”
The appreciation was mutual. In the November issue of the Pakistan National PolioPlus Newsletter, Chief Editor Alina A. Visram wrote about Huston’s participation in the Karachi polio campaign.
“This was his first visit to Karachi, Pakistan, and he was a keen visitor,” wrote Visram. “… It was certainly a privilege and honour to have Dr. Richard Huston with us in Karachi and we thank him for making this trip.”
 Dr. Huston received a warm welcome from the Rotary Club of Karachi Nexus. |  Giving a well appreciated polio vaccine. |
 These are gifts of appreciation giving to Dr. Huston by his friends in Pakistan. |  This is the honorary plague given by the Rotary Club of Karachi Nexus. |
With the recent sale of the Mason's Building there was a discovery of folder with some letters, pictures and Daily News clippings. The folder had the name Francis Lockwood- Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Mr. Lockwood was a longtime member and our 47th president in 1967-68. His most notable club legacy was sponsoring membership for a young upstart life insurance salesman by the name of George Wickstrom who has now been a member for 45 years. (Yes, George this is a fleeceable event!)
seven Faribault High School students spent part of their summers growing as vocalists and musicians, whether that meant attending camps or enrolling in vocal lessons.
The Faribault Rotary Club offers scholarships to students involved in music electives each spring, using the proceeds collected from the Rotary scholarship concert held at FHS the fall prior. This year’s 54th annual concert is 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28 in the FHS auditorium.
Kayla Kenow, a junior euphonium player in the FHS band, used her $400 scholarship to help pay for the Minnesota All-State camp over the summer. Kenow was the only student in the FHS band to receive the All-State honor last school year as well as the Rotary Club scholarship.
“I definitely learned how to be a better musician [at All-State camp],” said Kenow. “I made a lot of good friends I still have today.”
Joe Timmer, band director at FHS, said it always takes a couple weeks to decide who to nominate for the honor because so many students deserve the recognition. In most cases, all three FHS directors select students who already received All-State honors so they can use the scholarship money to attend the All-State camps offered over the summer.
Two violinists in the FHS Philharmonic Orchestra, Maddie Klecker and Avery Rein, received $200 Rotary Scholarships each.
Klecker began playing the violin 11 years ago and was named a Minnesota All-State alternate for 2018-19.
“When I was younger, I just liked [the violin] for the sound, but now I realize it’s a lot more than that,” said Klecker. “It can be used for a lot of different things — I play at church and at weddings. It’s nice to see what joy an instrument can bring.”
Said Michael Sloane, director of the FHS Philharmonic Orchestra: “Maddie Klecker is very diligent on making sure things are done right, and she’s not afraid to speak up when things aren’t right.”
While most Rotary scholarship winners had previously earned All-State honors, violinist Avery Rein is the exception. She used her scholarship to attend an orchestra camp in Northfield, which challenged each instrumentalist according to their skill level. At the end of the camp, the orchestra performed in a concert.
When Sloane began teaching orchestra at Faribault Middle School, he said Rein was one of his first students. He’s pleased to see her continue playing violin with the FHS Philharmonic Orchestra and lead her peers in the schools’ orchestra council.
“Avery is a very bright girl who knows what she wants,” said Sloane. “She’s a very artistic person … a very good violinist.”
Four FHS choir students each received $200 Rotary scholarships as well — senior alto Nya Anter, senior soprano Abby Engbrecht, junior bass Tanner Longshore and junior soprano Lizzie Cooper. Anter, Engbrecht and Longshore, all Minnesota All-State students named in May, used their scholarships to attend the weeklong All-State choir camp at St. Olaf College. Their All-State group reunites in February, 2020 at the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis for its All-State concert.
“It’s been really good,” said Longshore of his choir experience. “Obviously there are ups and downs, but it’s helping me express myself more.”
Added Anter, who has taken choir for 11 years with elementary school included: “I’ve always loved singing and performing.”
Cooper, an All-State alternate, took voice lessons with her scholarship money. She’s been in choir since fourth grade.
“It’s made me have more of a reason to be in school,” said Cooper. “It’s given me a passion I can enjoy.”
Published with permission from the Faribault Daily News
 Beautiful night! |  No arrests! |
 The kids had a great time! |  Great food! |
Past President Keith Kramer was all smiles when he accepted his plaque for recognition of his excellent year of service as the Faribault Rotary Club's 99th president. He is pictured here with current president, Amy Amundson.
Dick Huston returned from a Rotary Exchange trip to Germany last month. He was able to exchange flags with 7 other Rotary clubs. He was able to sew the flags onto one of our banners and they are now on display at each meeting. If you get a chance to visit with him about the trip, please do so. Thank you Dick for representing our club!
Reprinted with permission from the Faribault Daily News
Hand to hand, a gavel passed through 31 past presidents of the Faribault Rotary Club until it reached Amy Amundson — the 100th president.
The passing of the gavel signifies the effort and dedication of each president, those in attendance and those unable to attend, to bring the club through its first 100 years, practicing the Rotary tradition of “Service above Self” and showing full support for Amundson and her year of service focused projects.
Amundson was sworn in as president Wednesday by her predecessor, Keith Kramer.
Each year, Rotary Presidents help oversee and administer service-oriented projects to benefit the community as well as expand the reach of the club.
In Kramer’s year, the Faribault Rotary Club ran the Warm Our Community event for the first year and added a Habitat for Humanity workday where volunteers helped paint a house on the north side of town.
Warm Our Community is a clothing drive in November to collective gently used outerwear — gloves, coats, boots — so area kids can keep warm during the notoriously frigid Minnesota winters. After the drive, people in the community are invited to stop by and pick out as many items as they need.
Kramer also continued the sponsorship of the Faribault Rotaract Club — a service minded organization in which South Central College students organize themselves and complete projects in the community.
One of the Rotaract Club projects this year was volunteering at Believet Canine Service Partners, which trains dogs and provides them to veterans free of charge.
“Veterans who suffer from PTSD or a visible disability who can’t get around as easily anymore without interruptions tend to confine themselves to their homes,” Rotaract President Piper Nelson said. “It’s debilitating, but with the help of these service dogs, veterans can get back to enjoying life and completing basic everyday activities.”
Though the students were not qualified to help with the training, they did care for the dogs and took them on walks. They also had the opportunity to learn from watching a veteran work with a service dog.
“For us, this is a huge deal,” Nelson said. “It’s not just picking up garbage in a park, which also makes an impact, but this is something that directly impacts not only each of us Rotaractors, but also the dogs and the vets. It’s more than doing something to gain something in return; it’s doing something hoping to help another in the best way possible.”
“This year has been a big success,” Kramer said. “We do things once and learn what we can do better next time… It’s an opportunity to get involved in one or more areas you’re passionate about. It’s awesome people, doing awesome things.”
Volunteering since 1920, Rotary members are continuing to better the community into their 100th year as well.
Rotary clubs can be found throughout the world. Just last week, Rotary member Richard Huston added 10 flags from three different continents — Australia, Germany and the United States — to the 80 flags representing locations where Faribault Rotarians have visited other Rotary Clubs.
This year’s universal mission of Rotary Clubs is to connect the world.
“We want to bring about world peace by connecting people around the world,” Amundson said. “When you have friends in a different place, you care more about that place.”
The mission of connecting people also impacts people on a local level.
“The vast majority of the club is youth focused,” Amundson said. “Youth are important because they are our future in the community.”
Amundson said club members are involved, volunteering to read one-on-one with students as Rotary Readers; inspire kids and teach them about virtues at Respect and Courage Retreats; and help them increase their GPA as part of Faribault Schools’ STRIVE program. And that’s only a partial list, she said.
Faribault’s 59 Rotary members are always ready to lend a hand. For the 100th year, Amundson asked the members to keep track of every bit of service they provide in the hopes of achieving 5,900 acts of service i— 100 hours per person — n the community by next year.
“It’s surprising how many are doing this already,” Amundson said. “We’re always looking for more members to expand our impact. The more members we have the more good we can do in our community.”
Reporter Renata Erickson can be reached at 507-333-3129. Follow her on Twitter @FDNrenata.
©Copyright 2019 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Past Faribault Rotary Presidents attending Wednesday's gavel passing were pictured from left to right:
1972-73: Rod Mahler 53rd
1973-74: Dr. Roy Anderson 54th
1989-90: Jim Nielson 70th
1991-92 Donn Johnson 72nd
1996-97: Don Olson, 77th
1997-98: Wade Karli, 78th
1998-99: Pastor Gordon Orde, 79th
2002-03: Darlene Meillier, 83rd
2004-05: Richard Cook, 85th
2007-08: Grant Wilson, 88th
2009-10: Dr. Lisa Humfeld-Wilson, 90th
2011-12: Dr. Murray Hanson, 92nd
2012-13: Kymn Anderson, 93rd
2013-14: Brent Peroutka, 94th
2014-15: Tony Langerud, 95th
2015-16: Dr. Richard Huston, 96th
2016-17: Jake Cook, 97th
2017-18: Troy Dunn, 98th
2018-19: Keith Kramer, 99th
2019-20 Next president, Amy Amundson, 100th
President Keith exchanges flags with Marina who represents the Rotary Club of Marillia Brazil in Rotary District 4510. Her father has been a Rotary member since 1994.
Dick Huston and his wife, Nancie Huston, not pictured, were recognized last week as Rotary Foundation major donors by Rotary District Governor Mike Becker and next year's district governor, Paul Perez. Major donor honors are given when an individual(s) gives a total of $10,000 to the Rotary Foundation. Huston, second from right, is also a member of the Paul Harris Society, a recognition given to those who donate $1,000 in a year to the foundation. Only one other member of the Faribault Rotary Club — Marv Schrader — has been given this honor. The Rotary Foundation has six areas of focus: basic education & literacy, maternal & child health, water & sanitation, disease prevention & treatment, peace & conflict resolution, and economic & community development. Also pictured is Faribault Rotary Club President Keith Kramer, left.)
Thank you to Keith, Laura and Natalie for painting and George & Brenda for providing food. There was some soreness reported by our distinguished president in the days after. They are hopeful that we can do another project for Habitat next year as it was a very rewarding experience. 
 | The table of past presidents. |
 | Pastor Greg led us in singing with "Take me out to the Ballgame" from our 1967 songbooks! |
 | Families enjoying the fire and s'mores! |
The Faribault Rotary Club was established 99 years ago today on May 1, 1920 as Rotary's 596th club with 22 charter members and by the end of the first-year membership had reached a total of 35. Please come to our celebration of 99 years at 5pm tomorrow and President Kramer will tell us the "Rest of the Story!"
Last Wednesday, we handed out 4 STRIVE (Student Taking Renewed Interest in the Value of Education) scholarships totaling $9000. Lauren Steinberg & Kevin Tovar each received a $2500 scholarship for the most improved GPA. Brook Flicek & Evelyn Nigon each received a $2000 for illustrating Rotarian values. 
The Faribault Rotaract Club recently received their charter at a Faribault Rotary Club meeting. The club is comprised of 28 students from South Central College and is open to all young adults who wish to provide service to the community. One of the group's service projects is to volunteer at Believet Canine Service Partners, which trains service dogs for veterans.Reprinted with permission from the Faribault Daily News
To some, he's a dedicated veterinarian. To some, a world traveler. To some, a proud Rotarian.
To all, he's Richard "Dick" Huston. There's no one way to define a man who's traveled to all seven continents, who's helped settle lawsuits dealing with cattle or who's been on the Minnesota Timberwolves' private plane.
Somehow the 1,000-piece puzzle comes together to create a mosaic of a man who won't let life come to him. Click on the "Read More" link below for the rest of the article.
When Rotary International‘s incoming president challenged each of its members worldwide to plant a tree this year, Faribault’s Rotaryfound some eager helpers to achieve the goal.
On Monday, longtime Faribault Rotary Club member Dick Huston rallied Jefferson Elementary School’s third-graders, getting them to help him plant 93 trees, one for every third-grader in the school.
“Environmental degradation and global climate change are serious threats to everyone, said Rotary International President Ian H.S. Riseley. “They are having a disproportionate impact on those who are most vulnerable, those to whom Rotary has the greatest responsibility. Yet environmental issues rarely register on the Rotary agenda,” he said.
“It is my hope that the result of that effort will be far greater than the environmental benefit that those 1.2 million new trees will bring,” Riseley said. “I believe the greater result will be a Rotary that recognizes our responsibility not only to the people on our planet, but to the planet itself.”
Besides helping achieve the Rotary Club’s goal, Huston saw the tree planting as an educational opportunity for the students to learn more about the environment. Huston said his three pillars are “education, conservation and collaboration,” all of which were accounted for in the tree-planting exercise.
Families of some third-graders agreed to take trees home and plant them there, others opted to have their trees planted at the school. The rest of the trees will be taken to Huston’s farm, where they will be planted during a special field trip for third-graders later this school year.
“I’m really excited,” said Huston before presenting to the students Monday morning. “The kids are so enthusiastic and ready to go.”
Huston and Rice County Sheriff and Rotary Club President Troy Dunn represented the Rotary Monday, but Faribault teachers led the educational portion. In a slideshow presentation, teachers asked students “What are trees good for anyway?” showing them information from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website.
The students also learned about northern red oak, quaking aspen, red maple and honey locust trees, the four types that will be planted by the students this year.
“It’s so great to have the school district and the Rotary come together,” said Huston of the event. “In a nutshell, it’s just fun.”
Watching them grow
Dunn, a Jefferson Elementary alumnus, proudly talked to the kids about his own tree-planting experience.
“When I was in fourth grade, I planted six trees at my house and now they’re taller than the school,” he said, describing to the kids how their efforts Monday will pay off years down the road.
“Hopefully, next year, you can plant even more and you can watch the trees grow every year,” Dunn added.
With trees donated by the Rice County Soil and Water Conservation District, fertilizer from the Faribault Garden Club and tree stakes donated by Faribo Farm and Home, the effort is truly a local one that the students will benefit from for years.
What Huston hopes is that those students will see their efforts come to fruition when they graduate.
After each tree is planted, the students will tag their tree to take ownership of it, said Huston.
“Hopefully, they can take some graduation pictures with them when they are done,” Huston said.
Reach Reporter Gunnar Olson at 507-333-3128 or follow him on Twitter @fdnGunnar.
©Copyright 2018 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.
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