January 25, 2024
IN PERSON & ZOOM
For Those Attending in Person
Lunch Buffet
(Zoom Meeting Opens at 11:45)
(Link Sent Thursday Morning)
At
Holiday Inn Downtown
Club #25 Fellowship Mixer
Use this meeting to meet with fellow Club #25 members you do not know
Fellow Rotarians! As we have no formal program for this meeting, let us work to get to know our fellow Club #25 members. We have many NEW members who have recently joined us. Take this time to sit with them in traditional Rotarian Fellowship and mix it up with conversation. Remember, all Rotarians were new Rotarians at some time!
Highlights from Last Week’s Meeting
By Al Makynen
President Elect Elizabeth Simonson startled many of the Rotarians with three strong rings of the Rotary Bell. She announced that President Gary Melander was at home feeling under the weather. She was in charge and reminded us how lucky we are!
President Elect Elizabeth Simonson getting the meeting started
A table of Rotarians and Visitors. The place to be.
Greg Hansen provided a Rotary Reflection with a focus on international service, both hands-on and financial, which creates greater understanding between cultures. Rotary makes a difference in the world.
Greg Hansen reflecting on the international nature of Rotary
The golden can received a generous work-zone fine from Past President Michelle Buria for her 2023 performance with Choreao Wealth Management. She was recognized for #1 in net growth among the Advisors throughout the country. The golden can is there for personal milestones and workplace honors! All of them self-reports.
Michelle Buria announcing her work-zone fine.
The International Service Committee will be meeting soon. Look for the email and plan to attend. We need to decide which projects the Club will support. There are a number of initiatives by area Rotary Clubs seeking financial support and personal participation. In addition, new ideas from the membership will be entertained. Paul Helstrom, Chair of the Committee, speaks from personal experience when he states that going on an international service project, where you help others and learn about a different culture, is a life-changing experience.
Paul Helstrom inviting everyone to attend the International Service Committee
It was announced that Jim Monge died on Sunday, January 14. He was 92 years old. Dr. Jim Monge was an active Rotarian who used his medical talents in retirement to serve patients in Cameroon, Kenya, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. His Mass of Christian Burial will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 27, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary. A full eulogy will be given at the Club.
Chair of the Day, Rob Hofmann, introduced our speaker, Ian Grant. Ian is the son of
Jim Grant and
Christabel Grant. Ian Grant is a Duluth native who is the producer of
“Culture Quest” a PBS series that premiered in 2021 which uses the lens of art and artisans to show the cultures of the world. As part of the PBS family, he is left to develop, film, produce, and fund the program on his own. After PBS accepts the concept (a five-year process), he is given artistic freedom with a commitment to air the program. After extensive research, he along with a sole cinematographer travel to the location and film on site for about five days. The focus is on current keepers of the culture that exists now and is moving into the future, not on those items under glass in a museum. This is not a travelogue. Partial series funding was provided in cooperation with Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota where the program was integrated into the art history and history class curriculums. His most recent work was to travel to Kiev, Ukraine to witness the struggle of the people to retain their culture in the face of a Russian invasion. The common people are resisting, including artists who painted the steel anti-tank “hedgehogs” (static defense structures) with traditional Ukrainian designs.
Culture Quest recently restructured into a non-profit charitable corporation (501c3) to seek corporate and foundation support to produce future seasons. In Season One (2021) he traveled to Western Mongolia, Ghana, Kyoto, Puerto Rico, East Timor, and the Northern Coast of Australia. For Season Two, plans include exotic locations, both foreign and domestic, among them New York City, Los Angeles, and Duluth! Stay tuned. For now, go to your local PBS Station and search for and watch Culture Quest.
Speaker Ian Grant with Chair of the Day Rob Hofmann