We Meet at Noon on Thursday

September 23, 2021

Plated Meal Served

(Zoom Meeting Opens at 11:45)

Allen Anway

Inventor, Scientist, Historian

 

 

On October 22, 1707, 28 miles west of England, Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Cloudesley Shovell steered four ships onto the rocks off the Isles of Scilly, losing the lives of 2,000 sailors including his own.  Seven years later the British Admiralty offered 20,000 pounds sterling for the "Discovery of the Longitude."  Who would earn this fantastic prize?  Join us to learn the answer.

 

By Steve Yorde

 

President Chana Stocke rang the bell and called to order Duluth’s oldest Rotary Club (est. 1911) by leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test.  Past President Branden Robinson provided a Rotary Reflection which noted the initial project for Rotary’s first club in Chicago in 1905 was a public latrine.  Today, there are 21 million people worldwide who have access to sanitation because of Rotary.  Our club’s 110-year history is recognized for our community service here and throughout the world.

 

Branden Robinson delivering the Rotary Reflection for Club #25 (2021)

 

The first Community Project by Chicago Rotary Club #1 (1905)

 

President Chana Stocke welcomed our guests Shelly Howard (Renee Mattson), Jon Niemi (Traci Marciniak), Barb Montee (Geiger Yount) and Rose Misiewicz (President Elect Barb Perrella).  Visiting Rotarian Brad Jensen (Harbortown) invited us to the Footloose Friday dance party at the Kitchi Gammi’s Great Hall, sans carpeting.  He also announced the re-convening of the American Heritage Book Club.  The featured book is The Approaching Fury 1820-61.  Contact Brad for details.  Initially reporting that our Rose Sale distributor was unable to provide roses, President Chana Stocke sent an email shortly after the meeting to report a new distributor had been located!  We have Roses!  The sale is on! 

 

Director Chair for Membership Tom Young introduced Deb Ellingsen as our newest member.  She is the Women’s Care Center Executive Outreach Director.  President Chana Stocke immediately appointed her to the Rose Committee!

 

  

Tom Young, and Al Makynen seated with our newest member Deb Ellingsen

 

Betty George introduced Dennis Lamkin, senior property manager and vice president (retired) of US Bank.  Dennis has been deeply involved in the Minnesota Historical Society and the Duluth Preservation Alliance.  He and his partner have restored their own home on 21^st Avenue East.  It originally was the home of Bernard and Nettie Silberstein, Duluth’s first Jewish settlers, whose neighbors included Frank Hibbing and the Hartman family, founders of today’s Minnesota Power.  Thomas Edison likely visited the Hartman home on several occasions.

 

Betty George with our speaker, Dennis Lamkin 

 

Many of us recognized the homes Dennis presented during his fascinating presentation.  He focused on architects between 1900 and 1925…boom times for the mining industry on the Iron Range and in Duluth.  Some 77 homes of at least 8,000 square feet were constructed for wealthy “captains of industry.”  Famous architects from around the US “followed the money” to Duluth to design and build recognizable homes such as Glensheen (Clarence Johnston), Enger Tower (Reinhold Melander), I Vernon Hill (the iconic Crosby House on 21^st Ave. East and Superior Street, Daniel Burnham (St. Louis County Courthouse), Jack Liebenberg (NorthShore Theater) and Cass Gilbert (the flagpole at City Hall and the entire State Capital).  Chester Congdon’s business partner Guilford Hartley hired Bertram G. Goodhue, an East Coast architect who designed the Kitchi Gammi Club, the Hartley Building, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.  Frederic Perkins’ work included the Sinclair Lewis house, the Tweed house and the William French home.  Dennis’ stories and his photographs brought these recognizable homes and remarkable people to life.  He noted that even today, there are many skilled craftsmen and stonemasons actively involved in restorations around Duluth.  In conclusion he suggested we follow the progress of and visit when complete, the restoration of the formal gardens at Glensheen Mansion.  

       

The works of architect Bertram Goodhue in the City of Duluth

 

Architect Clarence Johnson and some of the details of Glensheen Mansion