Northfield Rotary Club

Charlie Cogan, Rotary District 5960 Polio Plus Chair, presents a Paul Harris Fellowship to Donna Maus.  Donna is being recognized for her assistance to her husband, Richard, in furthering the Rotary goal of Polio Eradication.  Congratulations and thank you, Donna.

Today’s Program: Pushtunistan (Flaten) and Changing of the Guard

Birthdays: Rotarians across the globe.

Next Week: Karl Gleason and MEDICO, humanitarian work in Honduras and Nicaragua (Ehresmann)

Last Week:

A small town Minnesota kid, after a stopover as football coach at St. Olaf College, ends up coaching quarterbacks for the Washington Redskins in the NFL. How does this happen?

Chris Meidt, son of member Gary Meidt, attributes it all to that Big Coach in the Sky — not Lombardi, the other Big Coach — who, he believes, has a game plan for each one of us.

That plan included a relationship with Jim Zorn, now the Redskins head coach. Chris met Jim through mutual acquaintance Cory Sauter, once a Minnesota Gopher quarterback. Chris was a mentor to Cory; Zorn was working with the Gopher quarterbacks. Despite reservations about leaving St. Olaf and Northfield, Chris and his family made the move to Washington in 2008.

Chris said there are many, many solid NFL players who have character as well as talent. Like everyone else, most are looking for love and discipline, he said. On game days, you won’t see Chris on the sidelines. He’s in the booth topside helping to adjust his team’s offensive schemes.

Paul Harris Fellow - Donna Maus, wife of Richard Maus, was presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship in recognition of her many volunteer efforts in the community.

Guests:  John Rondestvedt (Brown-Wescott), Ivan Im (Whitesong), Larry Jones (Cogan), Donna Maus (Maus), Karen and Chris Meidt and Tom Porter (Meidt).

Scholarship Enhancement:  Pablo Maldonado

Announcements:

Sam Estenson and Ann Stees announced the launch of Gunnar Swanson’s “A Soldier’s Walk for Peace.” He will be walking from Dallas to Minnesota this summer to raise money and awareness of the needs of children in Iraq. For more information, go to warkidsrelief.org/march.

Rick Estenson, our incoming president, reported on the Rotary International Convention in Birmingham, England. He characterized it as inspiring and energizing, and he saw Stonehenge.

We need a couple more long distance counselors for our 10 outbound students this fall. If you are interested, see Linda Willgohs or Tom Durkin.

Vicki Dilley reported that the Rugs for Rotary sale (June 18-20) netted $2,584.

Coming Up:

July 16 – Romanian orphanage –  (Schlichting)

July 22 – Summer Social at Estensons  5:00 – 8:00

July 23 – no meeting

Welcome New Members:

Missi Arens – Matthew Detert – John Fossum

Jodi Fritz - David Koenig – Leo Lawlor 

Matthew Rich – Mary Rossing – Mark Thacher  

Ross Thompson – Therese Whitesong – Colleen VanBlarcom

Today’s Program: Chris Meidt, Washington Redskins (Meidt)

Birthdays: RuthAnna Miller (6/25) and Richard Collman (6/26)

Next Week: Pushtunistan (Flaten) and Changing of the Guard

Last Week:

For a retired pastor and social worker who says he doesn’t like public speaking, Hugh Kaste sure could have fooled us. With a few deadpan jokes and poignant stories of his long career in the Lutheran ministry and social services, Hugh entertained and informed us with his classification talk.  Along the way, he reminded us of what matters most in life: the relationships we build.

Hugh was born in Fertile, Minnesota, in 1933 and raised on a farm. He and his wife, Lenore, have nine children, 17 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. They don’t call it Fertile, Minnesota, for nothing, says Hugh.

He holds a BA degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, a M. Div. degree from Luther Seminary and a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan. He spent several years as a pastor — in Minnesota and South Dakota — but found his true calling later as a social worker with Lutheran Social Services.

Hugh and Lenore moved to Northfield in 2002. They have deep roots here. Lenore is a St. Olaf College graduate as are several of their family members. The Kastes love to travel and have one more continent to reach — Antarctica. They spend five months of the year “vacationing” in Sun City, Arizona. Huge joined Rotary in 2007 and looks forward to many more years of service.

Guests:  Inbound exchange students: Elisa and Ryota, Rianna Dilley (Dilley), Lynn Tharaldson (Quinnell).

Scholarship Enhancement:  Mark Thacher

Announcements:

The web site is looking good, thanks to the outstanding work of Ed Lufkin.  Members are encouraged to check out the recent posting about the Rotary project in Bassar, Togo, where repairs are underway for a school building damaged by storms several years ago.

You also will find on our website a draft of the amended by-laws, which are scheduled for a vote at our annual meeting on July 9.

The Bike Tour is behind on corporate sponsorships, so the time has come for all those businesses that received solicitations to respond in the affirmative.

Five volunteers are needed to serve as counselors for the 10 outbound students who we will be sending off in the fall.  Contact Tom Durkin, Candy Taylor, or Vicki Dilley if you are interested in doing this.

Coming Up:

July 9 – Annual meeting

July 16 – TBA

Wednesday, July 22 – Summer Social

Welcome New Members:

Missi Arens – Matthew Detert – John Fossum

Jodi Fritz - David Koenig – Leo Lawlor 

Matthew Rich – Mary Rossing – Mark Thacher  

Ross Thompson – Therese Whitesong – Colleen VanBlarcom

This nice followup just arrived from Charlie Cogan.    You’ll be pleased to see how your contributions are at work in the world.   Ed

Here is a recent photo from the worksite in Bassar, Togo, where our club has already worked with other Rotary Clubs (Evanston, IL; Charles City, IA; Upper Darby, PA) to raise over $5,500 to repair a school damaged by storms a few years ago. Bassar is a small city in central Togo (West Africa) and our connection originally came from a Peace Corps Volunteer, Jeff Finkelman, who worked with a fellow volunteer (Vonetta Robinson) and the local Rotary Community Development Corps (proto-Rotary club) to help the Central School in Bassar, where two of the main buildings lost their roofs during a violent storm in 2006.

One of the two buildings was repaired last year and this work is being done on the second, larger building. For a very nice YouTube segment on this project, please go to the following link and you’ll see Jeff and Vonetta speak about the project and also hear some nice African music and see lots and lots of photos from the work done on the first building: http://www.youtube.com/rotarybassar

The total cost for this project is $7,500 and more than $5,500 has already been raised, with the Rotary Club of Upper Darby in Pennsylvania already verbally committed to making a contribution in the near future, though the exact amount will depend on how successful their spring fundraiser turns out to be.

This is a club-to-club project. The Rotary Foundation does not pay for construction so no matching grants have been used, but as Jeff and Vonetta make clear on their YouTube video, this school is very important to the community and the repair and improvements (to make the two buildings more storm-proof) and new desks and chairs and blackboards will greatly improve academic opportunities for young kids in Bassar. Between the two building, Rotarians and the family and friends of the Peace Corps volunteers will have raised more than $14,000 for these school repairs. In addition, the Rotary Community Development Corps of Bassar raised over $2,000 for the repairs to the second building through a variety of fund-raising activities, including a car wash/motorcycle wash and other community efforts. This project has united many people for the benefit of local children.

For more information, please contact Charlie Cogan (also a former Peace Corps volunteer from Togo, many years ago, and our club’s coordinator for this project. Email: ccogan@carleton.edu). This project was chosen and supported by the Northfield Rotary Club’s World Community Service committee, chaired by Mark Abbott. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please let President-Elect Rick Estenson know ASAP. If you are not a Rotarian and would like to know more about Rotary’s international outreach, we’d love to tell you more.

Today’s Program: Hugh Kaste, Classification (Rasmussen)

Birthdays: Rotarians around the globe.

Next Week: Chris Meidt, Washington Redskins (Meidt)

Last Week:

Kaczmarek, what would that bring on a scrabble board? It is a proper name; probably won’t work. But Virginia works as executive director of the Northfield Area YMCA and brings a breathless enthusiasm to the position.

Her “can-do” attitude was shaped by her tour of duty in the Marine Corp as a diesel mechanic and her time as a single parent, raising two children, while pursuing her education. She earned a B.A. from St. Cloud State University and a M.A. in economics from the University of Kansas.

She found the YMCA immensely helpful to her when she was a young mother and set her sights on a career with the organization.

Virginia came to Northfield from River Falls, and is building programs while the organization continues planning for a building.

The Y has five camps for kids going this summer and has already established a fitness center at the Northfield Retirement Community. She continues to look for opportunities to collaborate with other organizations in pursuit of the Y goals of creating space for family time, youth development, teen support and leadership development.

When she’s not working, she is drawn to the North Shore, mission trips, skiing and writing. She is also looking forward to becoming a grandmother in the next little while. 

Guests: Inbound exchange students: Elisa and Ryota, (Williams), Ivan Imm (Whitesong), Ingrid Sample (Rasmussen), Jennifer Sawyer (Reese) and Minna Ohman, former exchange students from Finland (1985-86) (Covey).

Scholarship Enhancement:  Candy Taylor

Announcements:

The board accepted Frank Grazzini’s resignation. He is returning to his Bloomington Rotary Club.

There will be by-laws to approve at our annual meeting. This was our first notice.

Counselors are needed for the 10 outbound students who will be going will be sending off in the fall. Contact Tom Durkin, Candy Taylor or Vicki Dilley if you are interested in doing this.

Folks are needed to carry rugs June 18, 19 and 20 for the Rugs for Rotary fundraiser. Talk to President Williams if you can help.

The summer social will be held Wednesday, July 22, at Rick Estenson’s place. Be sure to sign up today.

Coming Up:

July 2 -  “Pushtunistan (Flaten) and Changing of the Guard

Welcome New Members:

Missi Arens – Matthew Detert – John Fossum

Jodi Fritz - David Koenig – Leo Lawlor 

Matthew Rich – Mary Rossing – Mark Thacher  

Ross Thompson – Therese Whitesong – Colleen VanBlarcom

Please see this nice flyer by Steve Wilmot.     Ed