Thursday, January 16, 2025

Lunch Buffet

At

Ryan Kern

President, Kern and Kompany/Duluth Airshow

 

The Duluth Airshow was recently recognized this past December by the International Council of Airshows for the work done with the Air Spectacular that took place over Lake Superior this past July with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. This award is the 7^th Pinnacle Awards for innovation and excellence given to Ryan and his team for their work in the airshow industry making them the most awarded airshow in all North America!

 

Friday January 17

Kitchi Gammi Club

Wisconsin Room

7:30 Fellowship Begins

7:45 Hot Breakfast Buffet.

No program.

Please let me know if you plan to join us: Esimonso@umn.edu

 

By Darlene Anderson

The Rotary Bell was rung for the first time in 2025 by President Elizabeth Simonson as she welcomed the Rotarians and their guests. Past President Branden Robinson's Reflection drew our attention to the history of Rotary – from the unassuming early meeting of four men in Chicago to the more than 46,000 clubs that exist in the world today. Rotary has been a force of good for 120 years and our club has a history going back 114 years. Much has changed due to industrialization, wars, technology, pandemics, but Rotary has endured. And now we continue to write and shape history making today an important day in tomorrow's history books.

 

Welcoming back a former Club 25 member Jerry Pelofske introduced Andy Thielen. Andy first joined our club in 1998 and was an active member until he moved to the Twin Cities in 2013. Now his wife expressed her desire to be closer to their children and grandchildren and so he said “Yes, dear” and they returned to Duluth. Welcome back, Andy Thielen!

 

Welcome back Andy Thielen!

 

Past President and District Governor Elect Elaine Hansen shared that Club 25 was the #1 club in District 5580 for members’ charitable giving this past year. Congratulations and thank you. To exemplify Rotarian generosity, she invited Jim Landwehr and his wife Nancy to come forward and presented them with Rotary Foundation Level 4 pins which represent over $100,000 in donations. Thank you, Jim Landwehr and Nancy Elaine for your extraordinary example of Service Above Self! Elaine Hansen also presented 5 Paul Harris pins for the donations Jim Landwehr and Nancy made honoring their 2 children, spouses and grandchild. Jim Landwehr acknowledged that he began donating regularly beginning in the 1980's after being urged to do so by Len Sarvela, Henry Roberts and Past Assistant Governor and Past President Phil Strom. Club members stood to give Jim Landwehr and Nancy Elaine a heart-felt standing ovation.

 

“4-Diamond” Jim Landwehr exemplifies “Service Above Self”

 

Rob Hofmann came forward to share some Fellowship news noting that the Duluth News Tribune and WDIO each ran a story about the musical workshop (A Collectible Sensation) that Rob is producing at The Depot.

  

Emerging Theater & Film Producer Rob Hofmann

 

Past President Chana Stocke let us know that the State of Minnesota now has a Rotary license plate for your vehicle. She has ordered hers and encouraged club members to consider doing so as well.

 

Past President Chana Stocke

 

Chair of the Day Patra Sevastiades introduced our speaker Kevin Quarmby, Associate Professor and Rose Warner Endowed Professor at The College of St Scholastica specializing in Shakespeare and early modern drama. He is originally from the United Kingdom where he studied for his doctorate at King's College London. He and his wife Liza moved to Duluth in 2017 and reside in Chester Park.

 

Chair of the Day Patra Sevastiades introduced

 

Dr Quarmby shares a picture pf Club #25’s first home.

 

Dr Quarmby’s topic was “Notable 1911: Euro-Royal Partygoing versus Rotary Club 25”. It was in 1911 that the Rotary Club of Duluth held their first meeting in the Commercial Club Building in Duluth. That same year in London a fund-raising ball was held in Royal Albert Hall with the proceeds to be used toward building a national theater (The Old Vic). Kings, queens, princes and princesses  from all over Europe partied in their Shakespearean attire and raised £10,000.00

 

Royals in Shakespeare costumes

 

($1.5 million today) which led to the founding of the UK National Theater. At the time there were 15-20 small theaters in London but no royal theater. Over the next years many Shakespeare productions featured actors such as Peter O'Toole and Sir Laurence Olivier. In 1975 the theater moved to a new location which is still it's home. It was in a 1980 production of Macbeth that our speaker Dr. Quarmby was strangled by Peter O'Toole. Dr. Quarmby continued to perform in various productions as well as teaching at King's College. All this led to him coming to Duluth to teach at CSS and today to share at Rotary Club 25.

 

Dr. Quarmby strangled by Peter O'Toole in MacBeth

 

Jeff Fifield introduces our a few of our incoming Junior Rotarians for January