This week at Rotary
Next Meeting
Thursday, November 5, 2026
Lunch Buffet
Doors Open 11:30 a.m.
12:00 P.M. START
At
Kitchi Gammi Club
This week’s speaker
Cliff Cain
President
Pulsar Helium
“Minnesota or the Moon”
Pulsar Helium Inc.’s major terrestrial helium discovery at the Topaz Project near Babbitt, Minnesota.
“Before the world spends billions launching rockets to extract helium-3 from the Moon, Minnesota offers a practical opportunity here on Earth” said Cliff Cain, President of Pulsar. “Our verified helium-3 discovery demonstrates the potential for domestic production of a rare and strategically important resource that could support next-generation technologies.”
Chair of the day: Rob Hofmann
Upcoming Club 25 Events
Twin Ports Rotary Foundation Celebration
Annual Paul Harris / Rotary Foundation Celebration
November 4, 2026
5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Kitchi Gammi Club
831 E. Superior Street, Duluth
Upcoming Club 25 Volunteer Opportunities
Second Harvest Northland (2302 Commonwealth Avenue Duluth MN 55808)
Wednesday, November 11th from 1pm to 3pm
We have 5 spots reserved for our group.
Please RSVP to Allison Hanig Landrus at ahanigla@amfam.com.
Hi folks! Please save the dates for these 3 great volunteer events. Please sign up to participate for the youth of our community:
- Rotary/Life House Thanksgiving Dinner: Tuesday, November 24
2) Boys & Girls Club Decorate the Christmas Tree: Tuesday, December 1
3) Rotary/Life House Holiday Dinner: Tuesday, December 15
How? Contact Dan and Karen Dock !
Twin Ports Rotary Interclub Council Opportunities
Twin Ports Rotary Pickleball Players: Starting in September
We’ll organize it as a men’s & women’s mixed doubles league. We’ll play twice/month on a flexible schedule. We won’t be keeping track of wins and losses; we’re just playing for pure fun! To sign up or for more information contact Brad Jenson (past president of Harbortown) at 218-349-7566 or bradley.jenson1956@gmailcom.
We’ll organize it as a men’s & women’s mixed doubles league. We’ll play twice/month on a flexible schedule. We won’t be keeping track of wins and losses; we’re just playing for pure fun! To sign up or for more information contact Brad Jenson (past president of Harbortown) at 218-349-7566 or bradley.jenson1956@gmailcom.
Highlights from Last Week’s Meeting
By Anthony Nordan
President Dan Maki rang in our meeting. We began with the pledge of allegiance and the 4-Way Test.
Rob Hofmann
Rob Hofmann brought our reflection today, looking at precisely where service becomes meaningful. Today we will hear from Maria and hear how service extends beyond just our community, but internationally. When we welcome a stronger who becomes a friend, we do more than change one person's life. We make our world a little smaller, our community a little larger, and our humanity a little stronger. We also want to recognize the three host families for their service in helping Maria this year.
We had many guests this week. Many of them are November Junior Rotarians. These Junior Rotarians gave a brief description of their aspirations for post-High School. If one of them is interested in your field of expertise, please make sure to sit with them through the month of November.
Guests this week:
- Judy Sage (wife of Allen Anway)
- Bob McClellan
- Alice Phillips (Junior Rotarian Stella Maris Academy)
- She is a neighbor to Dean
- School Newspaper
- Soccer Volunteer
- Her vocational interest is Physical Therapy / Health Service
- James Kleist (Junior Rotarian Hermantown)
- He aspires to be the President of the USA
- National Honor Society
- Outdoorsman
- Part-time Job
- His vocational interest is Electrical Engineering
- Josephine Johnson (Junior Rotarian Proctor)
- Girls Soccer / Basketball
- Softball
- National Honors Society
- Her vocational interest is Biology / Research
- Aethena Carroll (Junior Rotarian Harbor City International School)
- She has an energetic younger brother
- Future RYLA program participant
- National Honors Society
- Theater Club
- Works at North Shore Scenic Railroad and Caribou
- Not sure on her career
- Jim Vos (Proctor High School)
- Carrie Thompson (Laura MacArthur Principle)
November Junior Rotarians and their Club 25 Liaisons
We had 3 Announcements. One from Dr Bob (Superior Rotary) about the workings of Rotary International Foundation, a Grant Presentation to Laura MacArthur School, and a Club 25 Financial Report from Jen Smith.
Dr Bob (Superior Rotary)
The Paul Harris dinner is coming up on November 4th. Please speak with Past President Dean Casperson if you are interested in the dinner. Duluth 25, currently #1 in the district, has given a substantial amount of funds to Rotary International. There is currently a $2 billion endowment fund at Rotary International that helps fund projects around the world. There are 3 main funds: Polio Plus Fund, Annual Fund Share, and Endowment Fund. Last year only 22.7% of 5580 Rotarians gave to the foundation. Rotary Direct (https://my.rotary.org/en/rotary-direct ) is the way in which someone can give directly from their bank.
Carrie Thompson (Laura MacArthur Principle)
Carrie Thompson gave a short presentation about what they used the funds for from the grant they received. The Kindness retreat was held on October 9th. We previously had a presentation from the people that hosted this retreat. Denfeld High School helped to lead this event and worked with the elementary school children. It was a positive event and not a single elementary school student chose to opt out of this event. The students continued checking on each other in the days following this event.
Jen Smith, Club Finance Committee chair, gave a brief financial report. We have $36,981 dollars back into the community. 4 areas we directed funding to. If you have any questions, please direct them to Jen.
The chair of the day is Angel Saczko. She introduced Maria Diesel, Duluth 25 Rotary Exchange Student.
Maria Diesel
Maria Diesel currently goes to East High School in the 11th Grade. She is hoping to have a transformative experience. She has a mom, dad, 2 Brothers, 2 Cousins, an aunt and an uncle. In her free time, she likes to record videos and take photos. She has been speaking English since she was 6 years old. She is currently learning German and tried French but stopped due to it being too hard. She is interested in majoring in international relations and wants to be an ambassador one day.
She is from Southern Brazil, near the Paraguay and Argentina boarder. Some fun facts about Brazil: Their language is Portuguese, there are 216 million people, it is a federal republic with 26 states, 5th largest country by population. Maria is from the Parana state in Brazil. District 4640 is the largest in the southern hemisphere. There are approximately 50,000 to 55,000 Rotarians and about 2,300 to 2,400 Rotary clubs in Brazil. There are 35 Rotaract clubs too. She is the from the city of Ceu Azul that has 11,000 people.
There are several Rotary projects ongoing in the district. The club of Vera Cruz do Oeste has several ongoing projects. Many based on medical needs. This club holds a meal 4 times per year as a fundraiser. The meal they provide is a Brazil cultural dish that helps to fund all their community activities.
The 50/50 raffle was worth $50.
We also raffled off the pumpkin that was brought in. President Dan Maki auctioned it off and the winning bid was $150.
Winners of the 1st Annual(?) Great Pumpkin Auction
Past President Elizabeth Simonson, The Great Pumpkin Carver Jon Ohman, winners Sheryl and Tom Homan
Notes from President Dan Maki and Past President Zach Walter
Winter Clothing Drive - Share the Warmth
The HOPE Clinic is a student-run, faculty-supervised educational clinic through UMD, with the purpose to provide free medical access to underserved populations of Duluth. They are hosting a winter clothing drive for their patients.
Donations of hats, mittens, gloves, coats, boots, or other winter clothing are appreciated! Items can be donated at a collection bin at our weekly Rotary meeting, between November 5th-19th. If unable to make it to a meeting but have items to donate, contact Dan Maki or Elizabeth Simonson.
Big 50/50 explained
Clarification of raffle distributions:
If our club sells all 250 tickets, we will raise revenue $25,000 total. The BIG 50/50 split creates $12,500 which will go to Grants. The other 50% percent gets split up three ways from the total revenue collected and then distributed to the winners… 1st place: 35% - $8,750, 2nd Place: 10% - $2,500, and 3rd Place: 5% $1,250
There’s nothing like fellowship among Rotarian friends
__________
Club 25 – 100 Years Ago This Week
By Jerry Thoreson
The Gimlet
Vol. 11, No. 1 • November 3, 1926
Roll Call: Members 127. Guests 13. Total 140.
What Will It Cost?
One hundred years ago, Club 25 Rotarians were making plans to attend the 1927 Rotary International Convention in Ostend, Belgium, June 5–10.
The November 3, 1926 Gimlet provided a breakdown of the estimated cost of crossing the Atlantic by steamship and spending two weeks touring Europe.
The total? $700, or roughly $12,500 in today's dollars!
Club 25 had already appointed an "On-To-Ostend Committee," chaired by Charles Ramshaw, with Jim Starkweather and Gordon McDonald.
The convention would attract 6,412 delegates and family members from around the world, making it the largest Rotary gathering held in Europe at that time.
Imagine crossing the Atlantic by steamship, touring Europe, and enjoying Rotary fellowship with people from around the world. Quite an adventure in 1927!
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