Northfield Rotary Club

Jim Blaha asked me to post this PDF of a Powerpoint on the Visioning Process Update that was made to the President’s Council on Sept. 20, 2007. It reads in part:

On July 30, 2007, fourteen Northfield Rotarians, with the guidance of the District 5960 Facilitation Team, wrote a letter nominating their club for the coveted “Distinguished Club Medallion.”

In our process, each of us conceived a vision of what the Northfield Rotary Club looked like five years hence, and then shared our responses.

We were asked to evaluate our Club in several categories. We then took all of our notes and ideas and built a consensus within the room. The notes were memorialized into a document. A group has been working on reducing these many thoughts into an elevator ride summary of our vision. We are preparing to share all the info with you in our quarterly mailer in October.

What Happens then?

Since this is just the ideas of a few and we need consensus among the masses, we need to share our thoughts and get your feedback and ideas to develop buy in. Look for a big mailer this quarter that includes this information and some financial reports from past years.

How do I ask questions or give feedback?

We have a President’s Council consisting of the following individuals: Jim Blaha, David Brown, Mark Cashman, Charlie Cogan, Laurie Williams, Rick Estenson.

Our leaders shape our accomplishments, so we want their commitment to this future. The quarterly mailer will include much of this information as well as inform you of a Fall date to help us finalize our long range plans.

Click this image for the names of members of the Visioning team. Use the member pages to contact them.

2006-07 Northfield Rotary President Jim Blaha’s term ended yesterday. I’m now president for 2007-08. (Pictured on the right in the photo on the left, Dave Brown, 2005-06 president. Click all photos to enlarge.)

Jim’s well-known as a champion of social justice and economic development in our town, and that’s just his day job as the director of the Northfield Community Action Center. As Rotary president, Jim really pushed the club to explore avenues for building a stronger community where people work together and help each other. Wednesday’s big Community Works! Celebration at Spring Creek Park was a nice culmination to about five years of Rotary involvement in community-based projects, from Marilyn’s Place to Everybody’s Playground to the Amerman Pavilion to the WINGS Oasis to the Northfield Area Foundation “Ruth Nutting Garden” and water fountain at the park, etc. Even the bridge built by a local scout is an example of the same kind of hands-on initiative, though it was done independently. A great snowball effect!

While these projects involved many organizations and individuals, it’s no coincidence that Jim Blaha has been on the Rotary board for about five years and is just now finishing his year as club president. Other efforts, like the Connected Kids mentoring program and the Early Childhood Literacy program have also received lots of support from organizations with which Jim is involved during the past several years, including the inspiring luncheon hosted by former Governor Al Quie in Northfield in March, where he asked communities like ours to renew their commitment to building a strong foundation for our children at a young age, to open doors for them for continued academic and personal success as they grow up.

Nothing gets done by any one person, but having active, committed and motivated people like Jim in the community is a huge benefit for everyone. While Jim passed off the gavel yesterday, and will now have a bit more free time for his hobbies of baking, brewing and bee-keeping, he’ll still be in town working hard at the NCAC, along with many colleagues and partner organizations, to make Northfield a better place for all of its residents, to keep what is good about Northfield alive and strong, while bringing in new people and projects and partnerships for the years to come.

The Northfield Rotary Club thanks Jim for all of his hard work. We’re lucky he’s just moving from the front of the room back into the ranks of the club for every Thursday’s luncheon, so we’ll still benefit from all of his energy and idealism on a daily, weekly and continual basis.