Meeting 10-5-23 (Oct 5, 2023) (Oct 10, 2023)

Terrance Pellgrin, Rotary Youth Exchange Student to Minden Rotary from the Club Rotary Grand Large in Plérin, France

Presentator: Terrance Pellgrin

Terrance has been in the US for 6 weeks. He is from District 1650 and the Club Rotary Grand Large - currently a male only club. There are about 25-30 outbound students from his district.

Terrance shared information about France and his hometown. The USA is 20 times bigger in size and 5 times larger in population than France. Paris is the capital and his hometown of Plérin is 279 miles away to the Northwest. He also shared that Minden is 5266 miles from Plérin! From his home, he has only a 10-minute walk to the Atlantic Ocean and to his high school. Plérin is known for its harbor, beach and market.

Terrance is staying with the Jackson family currently and is enjoying playing soccer with the Douglas High Varsity boys soccer team. (Editor's note: there are 3 home games left for the soccer team: October 14, 21, and 28).

When asked about what has surprised him the most about his visit so far, he indicated the temperature, how friendly the people are and how new the school is (his high school is 200 years old). He has only skied twice in his life but looks forward to skiing here with his host brother. His favorite class is his business class.

Terrance Pellgrin Bio:

Ever since he was a little boy, Terrance has wanted to come to the United States. He is eager to learn about the culture here. His family in France includes his father (a home inspector), mother, and an older brother and sister as well as 2 cats and 1 dog. He has vacationed with his family in Spain, Portugal, Italy, England and the US (New York 6 years ago). He is 16 and attends Douglas High School.

Douglas High School AEDs - Jan Tyndall, DHS's School Nurse, accepted a check from the Minden Rotary club to upgrade 2 AED's provided by the Minden Rotary 8 years ago. The AED's were upgraded to the newest technology at a cost of about $1800 each, and the district supported some of the cost as well. Jan noted that if an AED is used within the first 3 minutes, it saves lives 90% of the time whereas CPR only saves lives 7-8% of the time. There are 2000 students and staff at the DHS campus. The AED's will be strategically located in the building. There is also an AED with the Athletic Director on one on each of the 3 buses.

Library GALA 10/7

UNR/UNLV Football game with District 5190 10/14 - see the district website for details

"The Harvard Study on Happiness" presentation at the Rotary Club of Carson City 10/17 - our own Skip Pardee will be the presenter! Check out the TED Talk at this LINK.

Caldor Fire Replanting on 10/28 at Grizzly Flats of Highway 50 - more information to come

Updates:

1. DHS Interact Club - Sam and Marsha met with 10 of the Interact students during their meeting last week to give them information about increasing membership and project ideas. Carrie Stack is the advisor and is doing a great job. The goal is to have a Rotarian at each of the monthly Interact meetings.

2. Job Fair at the Community Center September 28th - Rotary brochures were handed out and participants were invited to join the Minden Rotary club.

3. Record-Courier - Zach will follow up with getting the meeting date and time published as well as our newsletter.

4. Interact - Marsha will follow up with June to see about Vests/Badges through Russell Hampton.

5. Club Health Survey - reread the newsletter from 9/14/23 for a discussion at an upcoming meeting.

10/12 Speaker

Jim Wheeler, Nevada Wild Horse Advocate

Do you have an idea for a presentation at one of our Minden Rotary meetings? Contact Skip Pardee to coordinate (skip.pardee@gmail.com)

HAPPY BUCKS !!!!

John Breylinger - Won the Top 10 trophy for his 1940 Ford at the Smith Valley Rotary Car Show last weekend. He has attended every year. Even though this year brought rainy, lousy weather, the event was still well attended and a lot of fun.

Skip Pardee - shared a story about the fire in Pestago, WI which occurred on the same day as the great Chicago fire (October 8, 1871). It is considered the deadliest fire in the US - 2400 people died (compared to 300 people in the Chicago fire). It turns out that both Skip and President Marsha have lived in this same small town!

Tony Magnotta- shared the story of the origins of "Pluck You" - you can read all about it at the LINK here.

Jim Hales - won the weekly raffle drawing. Congrats Jim!

Marsha Leep - went to CVI for dinner with her husband where she won a little ($1300) and ate a lot!

John - Awarded Top 10 for his 1940 Ford!

Raffle winner Jim with Exchange Student Terrance Pellgrin

Family Support Council - Veronica La Chance received the check from the Minden Rotary club. She indicated that the Council is a local nonprofit organization which supports and promotes healthy families. The funds will be used to support discussions in ninth grade health classrooms about domestic violence, including online bullying and sexual predators. This program reaches 200 students per semester.

Tim DeGhekler, Douglas County Library Director and Minden Rotarian was presented with a check from the club and members for $1500 for a VIP table at the Library Gala. He shared that one of the live auction items will be a Thai cooking class at your home presented by his wife who is an amazing cook.

Semi Annual Dues Due

Invoices have been sent out for the semi-annual Club dues ($163). Your dues include membership to Rotary International, District 5190, Minden Rotary Club and a subscription to Rotarian Magazine. Starting this year, dues also include Recognition costs (formerly Friendly Fines). If you have any questions, see Prez Marsha or Treasurer Pam.