Thursday, February 20, 2025

Lunch Buffet

At

Founder and Vice Chair, Vita Nova

 

 

Richard Howell was released from Moose Lake Correctional in 2009. He struggled to find a place to live with a felony background. This led to difficulty having a job, paying child support, reuniting with family, and being successful in any other aspect of transitioning back to community. Richard didn't want others to struggle like he did, so he started Vita Nova to provide housing to people with felony backgrounds. Vita Nova purchased a triplex in 2023 and is providing transitional housing to its first residents.

 

 

Kitchi Gammi Club

February 20

1:00 p.m.

Greg Hansen, co-chair

(GHansen@hansenhouseco.com)

 

Kitchi Gammi Club

May 8

5:00 p.m.

 

 

By Darlene Anderson

 

It was with a touch of hesitancy and reluctance that President Elizabeth Simonson rang the Rotary Bell, stopping the conversations of Rotarians and guests gathered for the weekly meeting. After the “Pledge of Allegiance” and “Rotary 4-Way Test”.

 

(L to R) President Elizabeth Simonson, Allen Anway, Judy Sage, Darlene Anderson, Past President Al Makynen, our February Hermantown Junior Rotarian, Kathleen Thielen and Andy Thielen

 

Jerry Thoreson came to the podium to share the Reflection of the Day. He focused our attention on the tragedy and truth behind the structural fire of the much-loved Lutsen Lodge a year ago. There is the tragedy of losing an iconic structure that for over 140 years had been part of the shores of Lake Superior. So many memories made there. And now the complexity of the investigation surrounding how the fire continues. Lutsen Lodge may be gone, but its memory will endure. And hopefully the truth will come to light bringing a close to this chapter of the lodge's remarkable history.

 

Today we warmly welcomed our guests – all spouses of Rotarians. Judy Sage (Allen Anway), Chris Pelofske (Jerry Pelofske) and Kathleen Thielen (Andy Thielen). Jerry Pelofske recognized and thanked those who had judged the 73^rd Annual Northeastern Minnesota Regional Science Fair and 15^th Annual American Indian Science and Engineering Fair. There were 39 presentations by 7-12 graders. Judges included Allen Anway, Judy Sage, Past President Al Makynen, Andy Thielen, Vinod Gupta, and Jerry Pelofske. A couple of the topics presented were “Gray Wolf Movement and Effect of Deer Hunting” and “Using Wind Current While Driving to Generate Electricity”.

 

Jerry Pelofske thanks Rotary volunteers

 

Congratulations to Past President Michelle Buria who kicked the Golden Can as she shared that she had been named to Forbes Best in State of Minnesota Women Wealth Advisors. One of the things they evaluate is the advisor's involvement volunteering and she thanked Rotary Club 25 for all the wonderful experiences provided by the Club.

 

Congratulations, Past President Michelle Buria!

 

Chair of the Day and Past President Al Makynen introduced today's speaker and fellow Rotarian Andy Thielen. They met 25 years ago when Andy came to LHB as a Mechanical Engineer, and they had occasions to work together to sort out difficulties and problems on projects. Andy often gives presentations to various groups and Al's personal favorite is entitled “Boilers, Blowouts and Booms”. Andy is currently a Principal with Engineering Systems, Inc from Plymouth, Minnesota. He oversees investigations across North America from Montreal, Canada to San Francisco, California. Today's topic is “What is Forensic Engineering?”

 

Past President Al Makynen, Chair of the Day

 

Every day there are accidents – a house catches fire, an accident on the job or something simply breaks. When these things happen, people want to know why, and they want to know how to prevent it from happening again. Accidents are expensive financially, in time lost and sometimes emotionally taxing. Not only do people and companies want to know how it broke but who is responsible for the accident. That is when they call for a forensic engineer.

 

Andy shared case examples that happened miles from our current location of Duluth. One was of a remote farmhouse that the firm was given permission to use as a test project. They wanted to see how much leaking propane it would take for an explosion to occur. After staging the house, they located themselves a far distance away and had a camera positioned that would record the result. The explosion was spectacular with only a far-flung debris pile left. How much propane was in the tank? 16 pounds.

 

Andy Thielen – “Yes, accidents do happen!”

 

 

Another case involved an auto body shop explosion that took the life of an employee. There they found that many practices including how leftover paint was processed and handled as well as ventilation regulations were not followed. The forensic engineers had to investigate all the perimeters of the event including evaluating if building codes were complied with, who was the owner of the building, who was the lessee, what were the employment practices of the business. A complicated and very interesting case.

 

Thank you, Andy, for sharing with us today. I personally look forward to Episode 2 of “Forensic Engineering” when you present again.

 

  Friday morning Breakfast with Rotarians

 

Quiz: as John Wayne a Rotarian?

 

 

From Volunteer Chair Dan Maki

 

Here are photos from the Rotary food packing at Second Harvest Food Bank this past Thursday, at their new facility.  Rotarians packed around 90 boxes of food for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for low-income seniors.  Thanks Dan!

 

Please let Dan Maki know what questions you may have about future volunteer opportunities.

 

 

Jim Schwartz and Jerry Pelofske in action

 

“Service Above Self”

 

 

To all Rotarians involved with forwarding your club’s Essay Contest winning essay submission

 

It is my esteemed honor to present the names of the 2024-2025 Rotary 4-Way Test Essay Contest Winners.  With a judging group of six (nurses, educators and business professionals), I am proud to mention that the contest scores displayed close races, that all topics were well conceived and that judges gave excellent thought and consideration to their scoring duties.  It is in that light that I congratulate the following young men and women:

 

From Region #1, Hope Hauck from the Minot Noon Club with her topic, The Ripple Effect of Volunteering, wins the Region!

From Region #2, Isabella Wimmer from the Perham Club with her topic, Addressing Homophobia: A Path Towards Truth, Goodwill and Benefit for All, wins the Region!

From Region #3, Jagger Klecatsky from the Brainerd Noon Club with his topic, AI in Schools, wins the Region!         

From Region #4 (Adjusted), Alexandria Vittone from the Ashland Club with her topic, Renewable Energy, wins the Region!

From Region #5, Ava Simonson from the Moorhead Club with her topic, Should Animals Be Used For Entertainment, wins the Region!

From Region #6, Sam Breuer from the Cloquet Club with his topic, Procrastination: The Easy Trap, wins the Region!

 

And from this group of essayists, it is my delight to state that our overall District 5580 Winner is Alexandria Vittone from the Ashland Club with her topic, Renewable Energy.  The District Winner receives $1100 in District prize money (in addition to her Regional prize)!

 

A hearty congratulations to all our local clubs that participated this year, to our local club winners, to this group of regional winners and to our District Winner, Alexandria Vittone from the Ashland Club!  This was an amazing effort starting with dedicated clubs down to all the participants.  A proud day.  Thank you for your participation.

 

A copy of the winners’ names will be submitted to the District Newsletter.

 

In service, I am

Paul Burnett

District 5580 Rotary 4-Way Essay Contest Chair

 

 

In the Club 25 office are many historic artifacts of Rotary Club of Duluth. Here is a photo of Duluth at the Rotary Conference for District 15 in Fargo, North Dakota, in March 1921. Quite the outfits. Taken by Cameron Craft of Minneapolis, no doubt with a camera similar to Allen Anway's we saw a couple of weeks ago, using the Scheimpflug principle. Taken outside with the brightest light, the shutter was held open for a minimal amount of time. Still, there are a few who did not hold still enough, as seen in the close-up photos.