President Tricia Bunten presided while Past President John Baumgarten opened our gathering with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. Beth Storaasli provided an invocation to challenge the members to contemplate the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. who stated “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” Rotary answers that question.
Fellowship Reporter Gary Bubalo remarked that the recent cold weather may have reduced fines for the Golden Can. That story did not hold up as he launched into a rapid fire announcement of combination fines, work zone fines, and regular volunteer fines of active fellow Rotarians. Ryan Johnson recently joined Symphonic Financial Advisors. With linked ownership between RBC and Symphonic, Gary Bubalo also paid a work zone fine. Deb Medlin has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Generations Heath Care Initiative, a private Duluth based Foundation led by Jenny Peterson. Proud employees Roni Salo and Paul Helstrom paid work zone fines for Minnesota Power receiving the Edison Electric Institutes Emergency Assistance Award for the assistance provided to restore power to Miami following the devastation of hurricane Irma. Sheryl Homan assisted Equilibrium3 to acquire a vacant building in the Lincoln Park business district for rehabilitation into affordable housing as part of a VISTA project. There was more about this project during the program. And the last play of the Vikings and Saints game was celebrated as Dave Gaddie was fined for having the good fortune of being at the game to witness the miracle. With C. J. Ham being a Denfeld graduate, Superintendent Bill Gronseth and others were proud to contribute. From fellowship reporter to auctioneer, Gary Bubalo attempted a career change to auction off two tickets, donated by Steve Hadley, to the Friday night UMD hockey game. After general confusion as to whether the winning bid was $20 or $50, some thought it was $40, John Foucault won, yelling “Charge My Account.” Gary plans to keep his day job.
Sheryl Homan served as Chair of the Day and introduced our speakers Zach Shears and Maddy Wegener. These two young people are volunteers with Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), a program within AmeriCorps. VISTA was established by President Johnson in 1964 as a domestic reflection of the Peace Corps.
Those who volunteer for the VISTA program are assigned to specific organizations to strengthen their ability to provide services including disaster relief, education, economic opportunity, and service to veterans in an effort to assist low income individuals and communities out of poverty. Currently there are 12 volunteers at eight different sites in the Duluth area. Service is full-time for one year with a modest stipend of $450 every two weeks. Zach Shears is posted to Equilibrium3 and Maddy Wegener is posted to Zeitgeist.
In an effort to increase available affordable housing, a vacant condemned building in the Lincoln Park Business District at 2114 West Third Street was acquired in October of 2017 by Equlibrium3 for renovation and conversion to housing. There is acute need for housing in Duluth for those who are at or below the poverty line, including VISTA volunteers. The collaborative project between VISTA and community supporters will create a four bedroom cooperative living space scheduled to be available in June of 2018.
Zach Shears, Sheryl Homan, Maddy Wegener and President Tricia Bunten