This week at Rotary
Next Meeting
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Lunch Buffet
(NEW: see menu at bottom of this Gimlet)
Doors Open 11:30AM
12:00 PM START
At
Kitchi Gammi Club
This week’s speakers
Michelle Miller
Interim Executive Director
Armory Arts and Music Center
The Armory Arts and Music Center is a non-profit established in 2002 with the mission to: Preserve the Duluth Armory and its historic value to American culture and the arts, while encouraging its reuse, placing emphasis on arts and education.
Michelle holds a BS Degree in Therapeutic Recreation and has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 35 years. Her leadership positions have included Executive Director for the Two Harbors Area Food Shelf, Assistant Director for the Great River Arts Association in Little Falls, MN and Program Director with the Greater Minneapolis Girl Scout Council. She has been with the Armory Arts and Music Center 3 ½ years, now serving as the Interim Executive Director. Michelle is a freelance writer for two local publications, a volunteer radio DJ and loves living next to beautiful Lake Superior.
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities
Second Harvest Northland Food Packing
2302 Commonwealth Avenue
Duluth, MN 55808
January 14, 2026, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
We have an opportunity to help fight hunger in our area! Our Rotary Club has partnered with Second Harvest Northland to assist them in their mission to create a hunger-free Northland at their new facility in West Duluth.
For more information about Second Harvest Northland visit: https://secondharvestnorthland.org/
Or Contact :Daniel Maki
This Week At Rotary
by Antony Nordan
We were rung in by President Zach Walters. Special congratulations to Zach for his recent wedding over the new year holiday.
Newly married President Zach Walters [note his wedding band ;>)]
Our reflection was brought to us today by Past President Al Makynen on the topic of balancing the needs of our society on mining and its potential damage to the environment. In June of 2020 Rotary identified “Protecting the Environment” as one of the seven focus areas for Rotary International. A question Rotary asks every week is “will it be beneficial to all concerned?” This is what is presented to us Rotarians when we consider mining and industry in our community.
We had several guests joining us this week. We had two Junior Rotarians join us this week. Please make sure to sit with and speak with our Junior Rotarians as they join us at the meetings. We also had 2 guests join us that came with other Rotarians. We also had a total of 5 guests this week. The Junior Rotarians come from Proctor and Harbor City.
Two of our January Junior Rotarians break bread with Club #25
The Golden can had a few donations this week. Please remember that Golden Can contributions go towards the grants committee:
- President Zach rained in the new year by getting married. It rained in the morning but by the time of the ceremony there were clear skies.
- Thank you, Judy Rogers, for the tray full of cookies!
There were quite a few announcements this week.
- Fellowship breakfast next week. Tell Past President Al Makynen or Past President Elizabeth Simonson. It will be January 16 at the Gitch. Upstairs in the regular room (Wisconsin) at 730am.
Past President Elizabeth Simonson
- Jen Smith came up to announce the changes to billing. We received a bill at the end of December for the last two months of 2025 and then received a bill at the beginning of January for January. There will not be a flat rate of $130 charged every month.
Club #25 Treasurer Jen Smith
- Jerry Pelofsky wanted to thank everyone for bellringing. If you have an apron, please give them to him the next time you are at Rotary.
- There is a new opportunity at the Northeast Regional Science Fair. There are two rounds of judging, 9am and 1030am. Volunteers need to be there at 8am and will be done judging by 1pm. See Jerry for more info
- Awards for the students are four $25 Barnes and Nobles gift cards.
Volunteer coordinator extraordinaire Jerry Pelofsky
- There is an upcoming free musical called “The Willing.”, produced by Rob Hofmann. The play runs January 10 through January 12. It will be performed at the Depot Theater.
- Twin Ports Interclub Council Meeting had a couple of highlights
- There is a conference being put on by UMD Rotaract. They need volunteers to help with the conference. There will be 4 sessions offered at the conference. The shifts are from 8am-12pm and 12pm-4pm; 12 volunteers are needed in those 4-hour shifts.
- There is a social fundraiser on February 28th called Rock the Skyline. It will be hosted at Aad Shrine Meeting and Event Center. It runs from 5pm-10pm.
The chair of the day Geiger Yount
Chair of the day Geiger Yount presented our guest speaker Tom Anderson. Tom was very knowledgeable about the topic of High Sulfide Mining and the potential dangers it presents to our community. The statistics and background of mining in our area present a challenge for the future of the mining industry. It is an industry that our community needs because of what it provides to the community that it presents.
Electric Vehicles that are being produced today need the nickel and copper found in our backyard. The issue that this presents is that the potential toxic chemicals found with those minerals could damage the rivers and lakes that our community also depends on. Across several lakes in Minnesota there is an eating limit for fish due to mercury toxicity. These things are what we need to balance against economic benefits.
The price difference between iron ore and copper/nickel mining is massive. According to Tom Iron Ore goes for 120 per ton while copper / nickel can go for 12.25k / 15k per ton. The tradeoff is that if these mines one day leech into our drinking water we may become a superfund site. The superfund is taxpayer dollars given out to repair the damage done by chemicals leeching into soil and water.
A concern currently is that wild rice crops may be affected by these mines. It requires a very certain environment to grow and disturb that balance will affect more than a crop. Wild Rice is a key cultural cornerstone for the local native American population.
Tom took a few questions before we ran out of time.
- Who pays for the mining damage?
- Taxpayers.
- Benefits of these potential mines?
- Well-paying jobs.
- Royalties to the state for mining minerals
- However, these are still dangerous jobs
- Batteries are a bright spot for these mines and the future
50/50 Raffle winning numbers are 5966255 and was worth $52.
Another fine gathering of Club #25 Rotarians and guest
Menu for January 15, 2026
House Salad
Fried Rice
Chicken Teriyaki
Egg Rolls
