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Filling in for President Tricia Bunten who is in Washington, DC on behalf of UMD, President-Elect Steve Yorde invited Rotarians and guests to sing “America the Beautiful” accompanied by Past President John Baumgarten. Bob Kase provided the Invocation.

Rotary guests were introduced and extended a warm welcome by Fellowship Reporter and Past President Phil Strom. The November edition of Business North listed the firm UHL (where Jon Ohman hangs his hat) as part of the mechanical engineering team for the International Falls Airport project. Phase 1 of that project is now complete and Jon paid a work zone fine. Assistant District Governor and Past President Al Makynen attended the Paul Harris dinner Wednesday evening, along with several Club 25 Rotarians who were all asked to stand. Al (of course) won the 50/50 drawing and dutifully paid his fine. Since this is Northeastern Minnesota, all those who wore orange this past weekend were asked to raise their hand. Those who were not able to fill a deer tag could then put their hand down (most hands went down). That left only Phil to contribute to the Golden Can for his 8 point buck. However, Bob Kase came forward to report that he bagged a deer. Except it cost him $5000 to repair the front of his car (plus $2 to the Golden Can). That led  Past President Jerry Ostroski to report that he went hunting with two family members and, before he reached his stand, the others had a deer on the ground. They then took it to the meat processor where WDIO's camera crew caught a picture of the buck and it made the evening news. Jerry, with a chuckle, paid his $2 for press coverage of the “Ostroski buck”.

Proud Grandpa and Past President Dick Olson reported that his granddaughter was the co-captain of the East High School tennis team which went to state. They did not win, but they plan on returning next year.

We were pleased to meet our newest member of Club 25, Dave Updegraff who is a retired software systems engineer. His Rotary sponsors are Mark Eckman and Geiger Yount. Dave has lived in Duluth for 25 years, coming to the big city from Brimson. He grew up in many parts of the world as his parents were medical missionaries in countries such as Turkey and South Africa. After high school, Dave joined the Peace Corps for a two year stint in South America. His command of the Spanish language is still intact. He believes it is  because of his parent's influence on him that he has always been interested in social work. He has participated in the Mentor Duluth program as well as tutoring in the GED program. Now that Dave has retired, he has several items on his “Bucket List”. #1 was to hike the Superior Hiking Trail which he completed in three weeks this past May. Next was to join a service club and Rotary Club 25 was where he felt he would be able to pursue his passion of service to others.  Welcome, Dave.

One of Catherine Carter Huber's great joys is to present grant checks to the organizations our club selects. Today she presented a $2000 check to Dave Schaeffer from Chester Bowl Improvement Club which will be used to build jumps and ramps in the terrain park to provide a challenge for the older youth. It will also fund training for teens who volunteer to assist in the terrain park.

A $5000 check was presented to Ashley Grimm from Damiano Center's Kid's Kitchen (formerly known as Kid's Cafe). The programs have expanded over the past couple of years. Not only do they include a place where youth can receive a healthy, tasty meal along with homework help, but also it includes a youth training program. This past summer they worked on urban-agriculture projects where they grew food that was used in the Kid's Kitchen and now they are learning to lead some of the after-school activities.

John Baumgarten reported on the 25^th Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. After last week, we were a little over half way toward meeting our goal of $7000 ($21,000 after matches). You may elect to have your donation added to your Rotary bill or a check can be made to our own Rotary Club of Duluth Foundation (a tax deductible gift).

This Saturday is Veteran's Day and as is our custom, we honored the club members who are veterans. As John Baumgarten took his place at the piano and played the theme song for each branch of the military, Steve Yorde read the names of the veterans asking each to stand. A heartfelt appreciative round of applause was given for each military branch and those who have so faithfully served. Thank you.

Chair of the Day Jerry Pelofske introduced Harbortown Rotarian Karl Everett who has been involved in Mano A Mano projects in Bolivia and has traveled to the mountainous country of Bolivia three times. Bolivia is a landlocked country with over 600 mountains whose peaks reach 16,000 feet. This terrain makes travel in the country very difficult and challenging. Bolivia is also economically poor with only Haiti ranked lower in the Southern Hemisphere. 25 years ago Mano a Mano began working to improve living conditions for the people of this country. They have seen results of their efforts with the life span increasing from 46 years of age to 64 years today.

These Inca descendants live in the high mountains where the soil is very poor for growing crops such as corn or beans. Building dams for water reservoirs helps irrigate farm lands which increases crop production. Medical clinics have been built bringing services and medicines. Schools have been built in small villages to educate the children. Narrow dirt roads have been built where before there were just narrow trails. The road makes it easier for them to reach medical care. The new road also has made it easier for the doctor to travel to remote villages on the motorcycle that was purchased by our area Rotary clubs.

Karl will be returning to Bolivia in 2018. There are two trips planned and all are invited to come and see first hand the work being done. If you are interested in visiting Bolivia, please contact our Rotary Office.

 

Front left to right: Dick Swenson, Jerry Ostroski, Bill Gravelle, Mark Eckman, Neale Roth, Tom Homan and Dick Olson

Back left to right: Jim Jarosz, Dick Carlson, Earl Rogers, Bill Zimbinski, Bill Abalan, David Gaddie, Phil Strom, Chuck Chairs, Jon Ohman and Doug Erickson

In observance of Veterans Day, November 11th, the names of Club 25 veterans were read at Thursday’s meeting. All were asked to stand to acknowledge all of the sacrifices made by our veterans and their families.  For those present and those who were there in spirit, we thank you for your service! 

 

The Fellowship Breakfast will be on Friday, November 17th at Valentini’s starting at 7:30 a.m. This is a great time to meet other Rotarians and catch up with those you already know. This is also is a fantastic way to introduce guests or prospective new members to Rotary. Encourage other Rotarians to join you for an informal breakfast and think about bringing a guest. We hope to see you there!