President Adam Rees chaired the meeting.
Rotary Announcements:
Heather Kelm: It's time to sell peaches! Orders are due August 13th. This is an important fundraiser for our club so your participation is appreciated. These funds go to our international projects. SELL SELL SELL! AND SHARE SHARE SHARE the ordering info!
Paula Chapulis: Brighter Days Grief Center sent an email asking for volunteers for Camp Journey. They are looking for crew to help set up and volunteers to facilitate groups. Shifts are 8:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m. or 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m on September 14th. They are also in need of some volunteers to help unload equipment at 3pm on September 13th. Volunteer applications are required for background checks. If you're interested please see the following links:
Click
here for the Volunteer Application.
Camp Journey is a day camp this year and they are also looking for assistance sponsoring families. Way you can help is sponsoring projects like tie blankets, snack bags, art supplies, etc. Some families want to stay for the weekend so additional assistance may be needed to help facilitate meal voucher coupons/gift cards, and overnight accommodations. Please reach out to Paula Chapulis if you are able to help in this manner.
Adam Rees: Last week the board voted to accept the resignation of Carl Sneep, with regret.
The club sang happy birthday to all the Rotarians with August birthdays.
Sargeant at Arms: Andy Rangen did a spectacular job with engaging the crowd this week. Many dollars were encouraged through a fun trivia game, with rules. Even more dollars were generated when the rules were broken, right Mark Halverson and Mike McConkey?
Exchange of Flags: The club exchanged flags with the Rotary Club of Columbia Heights and our rebound exchange student, Adam Lokken, from Argentina.
Speakers:
Adam Lokken, our club's Rotary Exchange rebound student, shared his experiences from his time in Marcos Juarez, Cordoba, Argentina. He described Cordoba's historical role as a key transit route for resources from the mountains to the ocean, now a farming community with factories producing agricultural equipment. Adam had a great experience with his host families, participating in concerts and brunches, and he particularly misses the local cuisine. His host father was a mechanical engineer, PE teacher, and rugby coach, and Adam attended school with a class of 43 students, only 10 of whom were boys. He keeps in touch with his school friends and host families.
Adam enjoyed playing soccer, a popular sport in Argentina, though school sports are organized through local clubs rather than schools. He attended Rotary meetings on Mondays at 7:30 pm and observed that Argentinians have later meal times and bedtimes, but wake up at the same time as in the U.S., with a midday siesta break. During this siesta, businesses closed for lunch and rest.
Adam also joined a local community group where he played the trumpet, and he was surprised to learn that the Rotary club had arranged a community concert for him to perform. He missed the Argentine food and learned to cook several new dishes that he plans to share back home. Despite a minor mishap where he got sick from drinking water during an excursion to the tallest waterfalls in the world—a common issue among many participants—Adam thoroughly enjoyed his trip and wouldn’t change a thing.
Greeters:
08/13/2024: Rod Carlson, Jill Casper, Eric Charpentier
08/20/2024: Ray Charpentier, Paul Cibuzar, Dutch Cragun
08/27/2024: Mary Devine Johnson, Mark Dockendorf, Mike Doran
Upcoming Speakers:
08/13/2024: Nick Broyles - Brainerd City Administrator
08/20/2024: Jessica Wales & Andrea Rusk - Warrior Warehouse