Nils led the Pledge of Allegiance and gave the invocation.
Our guests today were: Marika (Smiley) Rebelein and potential new member Ashley Holm from Servion.
Many of us helped the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf move into its new space a while back. Now it’s time to help them celebrate their Grand Opening on Tuesday, August 21st starting with a ribbon cutting at 3PM and a community social from 4-7PM. The new location is 2544 Mounds View Blvd, in the Silver View Plaza.
Dave Hoel tied up loose ends for the Stockyard Days Hot Dog Feed. It’s all hands on deck to make this effort go smoothly so be at the 300 block of Old Hwy 8 at 4:30PM to start the setup. Be sure to be there before 5PM as they close the roads at that time for the parade.
CPY needs more volunteers to make their Stockyard Days “Udderly Fun” Bouncy House attraction a success. Take a minute right now and click this link to go to the sign up page and volunteer for one or more shifts. Nancy and I did it last year and I think we had as much fun as the kids.
While you’re in the Bouncy House mood, why not also volunteer for the Inflatables area at the Mounds View Festival in the Park. Shifts are available between 11:45AM-7:30PM on Saturday August 18th. The signup sheet will be circulated again at next week’s meeting.
Maria Klakegg, our Norwegian exchange student will arrive on August 28th in the afternoon. Let’s get a big group together to greet her at the airport.
Ed James revealed that the next Harvest Pack food packing event will be Tuesday, December 11th after Rotary. We’re coordinating with the Lions to make this an even bigger event than the last one. A planning meeting with the Lions is scheduled for August 22nd. See Ed if you’d like to attend the planning meeting.
Margaret Johnson had the honor to present Sue Ager with her PHF+3, signifying contributions to the Rotary Foundation in excess of $4,000. See photo above. Sue said that the Foundation is a way for her to reach out to those in need in other countries.
Recent News
Paul Fournier recently took a long Amtrak trip and said that the train was great as long as you aren’t concerned about leaving or arriving on time.
Dave Hoel, Jeff Benson and Jason Miller had a great time on their Canadian fishing trip.
Dana Rebelein reported that her niece, Janet, fell and fractured her hip recently.
Cor reported that she is close to gaining full mobility of her knee after replacement surgery.
Ed James daughter will attend Notre Dame this fall.
Nicole Ulrich introduced our speaker, Brian Vickery, who spoke to us about New Brighton’s Stockyard Days celebration. Brian was accompanied by the Stockyard Days Parade Chair, Tarii Kluse. The Stockyards played a big role in the development of the New Brighton area in the early 1900’s. Although the Stockyards are long gone, we still honor their part in the economic history of New Brighton. Stockyard days was preceded by three other community festivals. From 1949 through 1964 we celebrated Old Time Days. From 1964 to the 1970’s the Jaycees organized an Independence Day celebration. In 1981, Stockyard Days was started and was strengthened by the addition of the Antique Car Run in 1987. This year’s celebration will include, among other attractions, inflatables, a bike race, a ski show, bands and a big parade. This year’s budget is $60,000.
Brian reviewed some of the reasons for having a community celebration like Stockyard Days. First, he emphasized the social benefit of strengthening of relationships between residents, businesses and local government. He also said that there are several economic benefits to community celebrations, among them are increased visibility for the city, increased tourism and opportunities for business marketing and advertising.
Brian did his homework, and wove Rotary principals into his plea for increased Rotary involvement on the Stockyard Days Committee and in soliciting businesses for financial support for the festival. One idea that surfaced was to organize a Job Fair tent for next year’s event and to use free will donations from participating businesses to cover the costs or even make money for Stockyard Days.
Co-President Cindy Carlson presented Brian and Tarii with a check from the Club for $1,500, above.
During his talk Brian expressed interest in Rotary membership so, as an enticement, he rang the sacred bell to end the meeting. Tarii, Nicole and Brian are pictured below.
