John Marg-Patton opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Margaret Johnson offered the invocation.
Our guests today were Bob Jacobson and Gary Bawden.
This Saturday is the Club Picnic at the Ordway home, 10 Dellwood Avenue, White Bear Lake (
link to map). Arrive after 2PM and stay ‘til dark. John said today that they will need some desserts and appetizers/snacks. The desserts were spoken for at the meeting today (you know who you are) but we will still need 5 or 6 appetizers/snacks to round out the menu. Call John 651-429-9658 to let him know if you can bring some. Other food, wine and beer will be provided.
Training for our Financial Literacy Program facilitators will take place from 11AM –Noon on Wednesday, July 11
th at API Construction, 1100 Old Hwy 8, New Brighton (
link to map). Check your email from July 6th for the online event registration. Another training session will also be held in the near future.
The Twin Cities North Chamber is hosting a golf tournament at Oneka Ridge in White Bear Lake on Thursday, July 26
th from 12:30-6PM. Click
here for more information.
In preparation for their upcoming move, Past President Gerry, and wife Marlys, are holding an estate sale on Wednesday – Friday, July 11-13 staring at 9AM. The sale is at the Tietz residence,
804 Torchwood Court, New Brighton.
Ed James circulated thank you notes from this year’s scholarship recipients.
Jason Slama, Jason’s girlfriend Elizabeth, MaryAnn Bawden, Jeff Benson, Geoff and Debra Hollimon, Dave Hoel and Nyle Zikmund, helped to move the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf into their new location at 2544 Mounds View Blvd (near the SA station). Along with several other volunteers, they made short work of stocking the food in the new location. Don’t miss their open house on August 21st.
Today was bittersweet as we bid MaryAnn Bawden farewell as a new chapter of her life unfolds. Cindy Carlson and John Marg-Patton reviewed MaryAnn’s myriad contributions in her 29 years with NBMV Rotary. It’s hard to know where to start because MaryAnn’s graceful and effective touch has been felt in every area of club management. Her attention to detail, organizational skills and uber-responsible nature made her the perfect club Secretary (I can barely remember a time when she wasn’t the Secretary). Mary Ann was the one who always remembered to send a card or flowers on behalf of the club or provide treats and decorations for special occasions (her baking skills are legendary). I always thought of her as the “Mom” of the club, always saying the right thing at the right time and gently reminding us “kids” what we should be doing and when we should be doing it. MaryAnn also played an important role in the Youth Exchange program, both in our club and at the District level. It’s an understatement to say that she will be missed.
Cindy and John presented MaryAnn with the Outstanding Service Award (above) and a Rotary necklace and Rotary-sized shot glass (below)
Gerry Tietz and Jason Miller present MaryAnn with a Lifetime Honorary membership Pin, Badge and Certificate (below)
Considering MaryAnn’s love for Rotary Youth Exchange, it’s appropriate that Youth Exchange was the topic for today’s program. Margaret Johnson introduced Al JGerdin, Roseville Rotarian for 42 years and District 5960’s champion of youth exchange. Al’s daughter travelled to Brazil as a Rotary Exchange student in 1965 and her experience compelled Al to join Rotary and almost immediately become involved in youth exchange at the club and District level. In the years that followed, Al saw first-hand the benefits of the exchange program for the students, but also the benefits to the families and friends of the student. Rotary has about 8,000 exchange students per year and if you multiply that by 100 friends and family members of each student, 800,000 lives are influenced by Rotary Exchange each year. Al feels that these international interconnections will eventually reduce or even eliminate wars in the future. He gave the example of how Rotarians in The United Kingdom and Argentina helped to mediate the Falklands crisis. Whether or not wars can be prevented by exchange programs, it’s clear that the connections between countries and cultures created by Rotary Youth Exchange are a step in the right direction. Margaret and Al are shown below.
