A snowy day in March and Rotarians gathered in the Great Lakes Ballroom in the Holiday Center. President-Elect Dean Casperson called the meeting to order with a recital of the four-way test, and we started the with the reflection of the day given by David Nolle. David spoke about stepping up to a challenge. He related this to how children learn to step up to a challenge through play and their interactions at the Duluth Children’s Museum, the topic of today’s presentation. David spoke about how stepping up to a challenge involves follow through and completing all of the work required for the task. As Rotarians, we often commit to stepping up to a challenge and following through to the end. Then we succeed, we grow, and others, such as the children who follow us) know that they can count on us.
Paul Helstrom gave the Fellowship Report, and he asked for self reporting. There was no self reporting this week, so we moved straight onto podium announcements. President-Elect Dean Casperson informed the membership that the Strategic Planning Committee will be sending out a Survey Monkey questionnaire later this month. The questionnaire will be a survey concerning many things at Club 25 and how we can improve things. The other announcement this week, by Rob Hofmann, was the introduction of the incoming Junior Rotarians for March by the outgoing February Junior Rotarians.
The incoming junior rotarians for the month of March. Back row, left to right: Megan Bechthold, Madeline Kinzigan, Sam Pogatchnik, Kelly brennan, and Ben Harnell. Front row, left to right: Felipe Galindo and Jay Ostazeski
Chair of the Day, Dean Casperson, then introduced the speaker of the day, Cameron Kruger. Cameron Kruger is the CEO of the
Duluth Children’s Museum. Prior to joining the Museum, he worked for a decade with the YMCA in a variety of human resouces and management roles. Cameron supports the nonprofit and business communities in a variety of ways, serving as Vice Chair of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Secretary of the Lincoln Park Business Group, and as lead consultant for Horizon Nonprofit Solutions.
Cameron started his presentation by asking how many Club 25 members had visited the Duluth Children’s Museum in its current location. About 15 people raised their hands. About 15 people had also visited the Museum when it was at the Depot. The Children’s Museum was founded in the 1930s by the Bagleys and the Congdons. Today there are hundreds of children’s museums across the cuntry and the world. Today the focus of the Children’s Museum is on play because evidence shows that executive decision is learned through playing and deciding how to play together and what to play. Most children who visit the Museum are pre-schoolers. Often the are brought by grandparents caring for young children so parents can work. As a result, the Museum plays an important role as a secondary care provider. Their exhibits are designed to his a lot of the Minnesota State standards.
The Museum prides itself of access for all children. They have scholarship memberships for low-income families because children from these backgrounds tend to play less than their medium- to high-income peers. They support military families and the first Friday of the month is free to everyone. Cameron showed a
video that highlighted the future of play and learning at the Museum. The current building the Museum occupies is leased and the lease runs until December. The Museum has now purchased a new location in Lincoln Park, the former Lincoln Park Café. They are trying to build a world-class facility and this new location gives them an extra 4,000 square feet. To get a world-class facility, they need about $1 million and their goal this year is to raise $200,000. So they need support from the community. They purchased this new location because it is in the corridor that has a lot of restoration right now, and it is in the low-income community that they are trying to target. But they need our support.
Some upcoming events at the Museum include “Night at the Brewseum” on May 2, when craft breweries will be there, but you need to be at least 21 to participate. Also, this summer they will have an exhibit called “Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice” which is aimed a 2 to 10 year old children and has dinosaurs that the kids can climb on. They will also be working with some paleontologists. I think the kids will think this is dino-mite.
President-Elect Dean Casperson with speaker Cameron Kruger