Rotary Meeting Notes: 1/3/2024
- Opening: President Laura Bock: Pledge of Allegiance, Four-Way Test, Patriotic Song “America the Beautiful”
- Virtue Reading: Purposefulness, read by Mark Kenney
- Invocation: Ellie Holmquist
- New Member Induction: Dustin Dienst, Faribault Fire Chief. Induction by Keith Kramer and Dr. Dick Huston
- Club Announcements:
- All Invited to Rotary District Mid-Term Presentation at Hamline University on 1/6/24, goes from 9a-1145 and is a FREE event. Must pre-register.
- Upcoming Red Cross Blood Drive: 1/12/24 at River Valley Church, 10a-4p, volunteers needed – sign-up sheet or contact Mark Kenney if interested
- 3 Rivers Community Action presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Faribault Rotary for delivering Meals on Wheels
- 10 minute Strive Meeting after today’s meeting, Greg Ciesluk
- Dick Huston talked about a recent trip to Utah and some Rotary meetings attended – exchanged flags and was impressed with how their club was ran.
- Help wanted: opportunities still available
- Re-classification Speeches: Ibrahim Khalif, Natalie Halverson, and Greg Ciesluk all provided updates about themselves and described the importance of Rotary to each of them.
- Fellowship: led by David Connelly
- Emily Nesvold: introduced Hope as her guest today
- Natalie Halverson: introduced her son Keaton as her guest today. She also later provided congratulations to Dusty on induction. Natalie also wanted to thank Martha and Kathy for their help at their wedding reception, as well as Stone Orchard Event Center and Mighty Fine!
- Kathy Wickwire: said how she has missed everyone and gave well wishes for all in 2024.
- Mark Kenney: Also wishes everyone Peace, Hope, and Kindness in 2024 as well as a Michigan Wolverines National Championship Win! He also went over details of the upcoming Blood Drive and announced that his son Ben got engaged recently. Wedding planning for July!
- Martha Brown: Eclipse played at Kurt and Natalie’s reception and it went great. She thanked them for the opportunity. Martha also announced that she is likely going to Cambodia this year. She hopes to share what she learns with the Faribault Public School system and Rotary.
- Grant Wilson: is celebrating 25 years as a Rotarian
- Murray Hanson: unfortunately, his family was sick over the holidays but he and his wife are celebrating 30 years together today and will enjoy a dinner at the Depot. Murray also announced some ownership changes coming with Richie Eye Clinic. The clinic will be expanding in the future.
- Kay Hoaglin: celebrating her daughter and son-in-law’s birthdays and expressed how happy she is for Pastor Mark’s son Ben’s engagement
- Greg Ciesluk: traveled home for the holidays and it was a really special time. Greg was able to preach in the very same church his family has been in for the past 56 years!
- Emily Nesvold: thankful for Murray and his help with technology for her presentation today!
- Richard Cook: happy to be in attendance, congratulated Dusty on his induction, and wished a happy birthday to all those listed.
- Dick Huston: congratulated Dusty on his induction and expressed how proud we should all be for Martha and the opportunity she has with the Cambodia trip.
- Brent Peroutka: is celebrating 20 years as a Rotarian. He also welcomed Dusty into Rotary and said he has regularly seen him at the Faribault Ice Arena contributing to the safety of the kids for many years. He also welcomed Faribault Hockey alumnus Keaton for attending today’s meeting and thanked him for being a mentor to his son over the years.
- Dustin Dienst: thanks Dr. Huston for finally getting him to join Rotary after many attempts at the Fire Hall, he also told Brent it’s been 24 years that he has been working as an EMT for the Faribault Hockey Association.
- Brandon Gliem: welcomed Dusty into Rotary and gave some friendly banter about Police and Fire Fighters relationship.
- George Wickstrom: mentioned how he is working on a letter to the FDN regarding a critical time in politics.
- David Connelly: highlighted a couple other Rotarian anniversaries with Roger Koopmans 54 years and Amy Amundson with 15 years.
- Laura Bock: gave an overview of the “100 Men Who Give a Damn” event that will be on January 26th from 5p-8p at Corks & Pints in Faribault. Please see Laura if interested for further details.
- Rotarian Emily Nesvold presented about her May 2023 trip to Palestine
- Emily provided some history about Palestine and detailed all the places she visited while she was there for 13 days.
- Adjourn