Outside, a beautiful July summer day, with a barricaded Superior Street filled with pedestrians enjoying the foods, drink and crafts offerings of Duluth’s annual Sidewalk Days Festival. Inside Rotarians of Club #25 gathered for fellowship and an informative program with an international flair in the Lyric . President Michelle Buria holding forth on her first meeting rang the Rotary Bell calling us to order followed by Rotarians singing The Star Spangled Banner (sans the Star Spangled Banner) accompanied by Past President John Baumgarten. Dan Bergeland provided this day’s Reflection by recalling what we mean by the word - Success. We are reminded that success in not entirely of own making – rather, we need help from our friends. Love, support, and help may have begun at home with our parents who provided guidance and encouragement. Many graces from God, providing us what we need – not always what we want; is our heavenly partner. Rotary is just such a friend to our community. We must reflect and remember, in humility, all who have been a part of our success.

Past President and Assistant District Governor Phil Strom offered the Fellowship Report. Our visiting Rotarian from Juniper FL and past Club #25 member John Hosler stopped in on his way to Camp RYLA, inviting member to visit Camp RYLA to see firsthand the tremendous work these young adults undertake toward becoming leaders. Longtime Club #25 member

Kate Molinaro brought family members Beverly LeClair; Phil presented Beverly with a Paul Harris Fellowship, as Beverly was the beneficiary of Kate’s generous support of the Rotary International Foundation. Geiger Yount played host to our program speaker Anni Chernii and her sister Sasha Chernii all the way from the Ukraine! Geiger also had Judy Dwyer as a guest. The Golden Can saw a great amount of activity as a number of members celebrated milestones, accomplishments, and campaigns. Steve Burgess of National Bank of Commerce made an extraordinary donation to The Golden Can as his bank was in the news for a pending merger with Dave Gaddie’s Republic Bank, and because he became a 2X uncle- in 2 days- by 2 different family members – congratulations Steve! “Mr. Walleye” Tom McCabe axed Past President Dave McLean for bragging rights in a recent fishing challenge with a catch this [             ] big! Newly minted Club #25 Treasurer Dave Nolle made his contribution for a Business North article announcing his candidacy for Mayor of Duluth – best wishes Dave! That old “leatherneck” Neale Roth – the Pride of the Marines – kicked the Golden Can to commemorate the establishment in 1798 of the United State Marines Corps ( it was noted that John Moir was AWOL). Our resident Nordic trekker and nature photographer Allen Anway generously awarded a $1,000 scholarship at UWS in honor of his 55 years of marriage to his beloved late wife Dorothy – a gracious gesture of devotion – inspiring Ryan Johnson to step forward with his donation to celebrate his 3 year wedding anniversary.

President Michelle Buria invited Dave Nolle to recite the oath of office as our new Treasurer and thanked the outgoing Treasurer Greg Hansen. We received an update from Renee Mattson on the August 15^th Duluth Rotary Duck Pluck. Everyone can be a “lucky duck” by helping to adopt a duck for $5.00 for a chance to win cash prizes. The greatest prize with be the $25,000 grant to the Boys and Girls Club of the Northland supporting their Mental Health Access Program. So far nearly 1,000 ducks have been adopted with many fellowship opportunities for Rotarians to help the adoption campaign – the Duluth Air Show, the August 14^th Grill Wars, and other events (see Mother Duck Barb Perrella for more information). President Michelle urged all Club #25 members to download the ClubRunner app for their mobile device stressing that ClubRunner provides access to our membership directory and current calendar of events.

Chair of the Day Geiger Yount introduced our speaker Anni Chernii who was visiting us from Ukraine. Anni is an international youth exchange success story that originated with Earl Rogers and Club #25. In 1993 we established an international internship program drawing high school students from former Soviet Bloc countries such as Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. Each year a group came to Duluth to work in a variety of professional internships where lessons were learn about American Capitalism and entrepreneurship. The seed that Earl planted in 1993 resulted in 97 internships benefitting young adults from five countries. Anni was among the last members in 2006 and she worked at HMO First Plan of Minnesota. Anni, who was five months pregnant at the time, learned a tremendous amount about American business while also participating in Rotary activities including the Dragon Boat Races. She knew returning to Ukraine as a young mother would place child rearing as a priority. The 9 to 6 traditional office job in Kiev, Ukraine was not an option. Learning lessons on entrepreneurship, she embarked on her own path doing something she enjoyed – cutting children’s hair. A ten year journey, with many challenges and sacrifices, has brought Anni and her son stability with a unique and entertaining business model that places “kid friendly” hair salons with the name Simba’s in shopping malls throughout Kiev. With the appropriate Disney themes interiors and cartoons on HD TVs, Simba’s provides hairstyling, braiding, and ear piercing to 40,000 clients served by 30 stylists. Her newest salon is located in what Anni describes as a Ukraine version of Home Depot. Anni’s salons are seen as destinations – helping to draw parents into the DYI environments.  One wonders when some clever American entrepreneur will follow Anni’s example?