By Darlene Anderson

 

With fall breezes in the air, Rotarians gathered for their weekly meeting both in person at the Holiday Inn and via Zoom. All were welcomed by President Dean Casperson as he rang the Rotary bell and invited all to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Rotary Four-way Test. The Rotary Reflection by Mike Orman focused our attention on the challenges facing our educators, students and parents. Some students are able to return to physical classrooms and others are distance learning. Parents are finding desks to set up a classroom at home. College educators are adapting classrooms and living spaces to provide safe environments. Please appreciate the efforts of all to keep our education systems performing and look for ways to help educators, parents and students.

 

Zach Walters introduced and welcomed our newest Rotary Club 25 member Jack Seiler. Jack was the owner of Security Jewelers for 44 years. Jack said that two years ago he sold the business, enjoyed retirement for about three months and then found he was bored. He began working at Lake Avenue Cafe as a host and that lasted for about a year until Covid-19 came. Now he is looking forward to the fellowship and community service of Rotary.

 

New Member Jack Seiler and Zach Walters

 

 

Eric Dott and President Dean Casperson announced that the time is here for accepting nominations for the next Rotary year starting July 1, 2021. The positions to be filled include three Directors, President-Elect, Secretary-Elect and Treasurer-Elect. Please submit your nominations to Eric Dott or President Dean Casperson.

 

The roses are almost ready to bloom and Barb Perrella highlighted the grants from last year's Rotary Rose Sale. $5,000 to Damiano Kid's Cafe, $3,000 to Duluth Community School Collaborative, $2,000 to Bob's Bike Drive, $500 to The Hills Ski Program, $700 to Denfeld Robotics Team, $500 to Jungle Boy Boxing Gym and $700 to Chester Bowl Improvement Club. Keep selling the roses so grants such as these can be given next year. There is need for distribution help on Friday, October 16. Please contact Barb Perrella if able to fill a shift.

 

Chair of the Day Chris Miller from the College of St Scholastica introduced his boss Dr. Barbara McDonald, the 13^th president of the college. An interesting tidbit is not only was she born in a foreign country but each of her four children were born in a different country. Dr. McDonald noted that she was scheduled to speak last spring and the meeting was canceled due to a snow storm. And now due to circumstances she was joining us via ZOOM. As Chris mentioned she was born in Beruit, Lebanon. She has worked for 22 years for the Minnesota State College System mostly in Northeastern Minnesota (International Falls and Grand Rapids). So she was familiar with St. Scholastica and their mission as established by the founding sisters.

 

Like Rotary, the College focuses heavily on service learning with their “Community Days” in which 1,000 students participated last fall and another 800 this spring. There are also service learning trips such as nursing students going to the Philippines and students working in New Orleans. In Duluth there is the student-run Maurice's Community Clinic offering physical and occupational therapy to underinsured or uninsured people.

 

Some of the newest investments at the college include a $17 million Health Sciences Center and renovations and upgrades to Somers Hall. Next is an expansion of the graduate programs.  This year Covid-19 planning has brought changes as they moved to virtual classes in the spring and the campus was closed to all but essential employees. They worked to create a safe return to campus this fall with a hybrid plan. Students now rotate between classroom time and ZOOM. And they were even able to add more classes especially in the sciences. Thank you, Dr. McDonald for all the hard work that you and your staff are doing in these challenging times to provide a quality education for our young people.

 

Speaker (via Zoom)

Dr. Barbara McDonald