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Annie Lumbar Bendson - Minnetonka School District Health

Service Coordinator on Covid 19

The Rotary Club of Excelsior

Meeting of Tuesday, November 17, 2020

We had an amazing and informative Excelsior Rotary Club Meeting on Tuesday, November 17^th! We received important updates and our speaker was Annie Lumbar Bendson who is the Minnetonka District Health Service Coordinator.

Darel Leiopld was the Greeter and led us in the pledge and 4 Way Test. He also commented on Veteran’s Day and how Glenn Froberg always did a presentation to honor Vets prior to his death a year ago. So Darel asked us to join him in the Battle Hymn of the Republic to honor our Vets and also in remembrance of Glenn.

Club Announcements included several members giving updates:

President Kate announced that we will be continuing on Zoom until further notice. She also noted that there will not be a Christmas Party this year. We will have a Club Assembly on Tuesday, December 1^st and be in discussion/planning groups via Zoom.
Karen Frazier announced our donation to Resource West on November 12^th:
1. 40 Coats
2. 11 pairs of Girls and Boys Winter Waterproof Boots
3. 48 pairs of Waterproof Children’s Gloves
4. 15 pairs of Girl’s Gloves
5. 24 Winter Hats
6. 4 sets of Teen Face Masks
7. Club expenditure of $904.54!
Karen Frazier had a tear when she announced that the Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army scheduled today had been cancelled due to the increase in Covid 19 and thanked the 12 volunteers who had signed-up. She said that we most likely will not Ring this year so she will ask the Board to make a donation from our club as we usually raise a considerable sum.
Karen ended her updates by letting members know that Nina Stark is moving out of her current senior housing to a new location.
Steve Frazier reported that the Golf Fundraiser raised over $39,000 of which our Club gets $19,583 and $6,000 of that went to this year’s golf Charities – His House, Dr. Carter’s America’s Urban elementary STEM Program and Minnetonka Community Education Youth Scholarships. Steve invited Tyronne Carter and Tim Litfin to express their gratitude.
President Kate and Jill Holter reported on ICA’s Taste Fundraiser that our Club was an Event Sponsor and that they raised $138,000 in the virtual event.
Jill Holter appealed for volunteers to help with the ICA Turkey Giveaway on Saturday, November 21^st. ICA has 800 turkeys and Thanksgiving fixings to be delivered on Saturday and they have all kinds of volunteer needed to get these to our community. If you can help you can go on-line at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080e4aa8a62ca7fd0-turkey4 and there are all kinds of tasks to be performed.

Our Guest Speaker was Annie Lumbar Bendson who is our Minnetonka School District’s Health Service Coordinator and was introduced by Tim Litfin who praised her leadership, insight, expertise and tenacity during this pandemic. Annie began by saying that she never dreamed that in her 2^nd year of working for our district she would be thrust into this type of situation. Usually the role of public school nurses is invisible and that they serve to protect the health and safety of the students and staff in our schools. She noted that if there is any silver lining to this pandemic it is that the role of our school nurses has been brought to the forefront by their dedication and caring for the students and staff they serve.

Annie in her exuberance and backed by knowledge covered a multitude of topics related to Covid 19 in our District, State, Country and world here are some highlights. She emphasized that with this growing pandemic “Adapt and Adjust” to changing conditions is absolutely essential and that we have a great staff of nurses in Minnetonka Schools and the multi-discipline approach by the District has put Minnetonka in a better position than surrounding districts. She stated that Minnetonka has stressed Social Distancing, required face coverings, hand washing, cleaning and sanitizing, venting with heppi filtering, quarantining of positive covid cases and safeguards of transmission from the get-go.

She highlighted Covid 19 from the World down to our district saying that we were now at 54.3 million with 1.3 deaths in the world and the U.S. is having 150,000 cases and over 1,180 deaths a day. If projections hold there will be over 10-million cases every 21 days in the world! The U.S. is slated to have 11,000,000 cases and currently leads all countries. Minnesota although better prepared than adjacent states now has 231,018 active cases and 7,044 deaths with the fastest growth in the 20-24 age range. Annie compared the Flu to Covid and said that the flu‘s incubation is 1-4 days while covid is 1-14; Flu hospitalization is 2% while Covid is 19%; and Flu deaths are 0.1% and Covid is 1-3.4%.

What can we do and what is the district doing? If you come in contact with covid positive person quarantine yourself and get tested. She explained the differences between Diagno testing and Antibody tests and recommended that everybody take advantage of the free saliva testing offered in Minnesota requesting swab test sent to your home. They can be ordered by contacting the Minnesota Department of Health at https://learn.vaulthealth.com/state-of-minnesota/ for on-line forms to receive kits for your entire family and the turn around after delivery is 12 to 24 hours.

The district has set-up a dashboard for parents to keep them informed on all Covid cases, prevention methods and other information parents need to know. The current Dashboard reads:

	District Total Kids and Staff	Active Cases	Recovered	Quarantined or Exclusion
Kids	11,044	21	29	323
Staff	2,067	11	12	94

Annie suggests that the good news is that by April 2021 vaccines that are 90 – 94% effective should be available to the general public. Annie then opened it to Q&A and there were many. Annie also received much appreciation for her presentation and the great work she and the district is doing to cope with the pandemic.

Rotary 11-3-2020 - Kim Bowman from Way to Grow

The Rotary Club of Excelsior and its Board of Directors met on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3^rd via Zoom. Prior to the Club Meeting the Board met at 11:00. Notable actions include:

Club meeting to continue on Zoom.
Declined to sponsor Lake Street Business with AM Club.
Molly Swenson has resigned as Social Director.
Speakers needed-Kate will send out an appeal.
Jim Greshem has resigned from Club.
All STRIVE Scholarships have been paid and we are in good financial condition.
Board is exploring giving scholarships like with MAD this year without there being STRIVE.
Bell Ringing on Tuesday, Nov. 17^th – sign-up will be sent to members.
Resource West – Gloves, boots, hats and coats in full swing.
Member Survey to pick color of Club shirts today.
Need for serious discussion on member recruitment – this is a great time to get new members.

Our speaker on November 3^rd was Kim Bowman from Way to Grow. Don Draayer gave the intro and st

ressed that Way to Grow is the best non-profit out there that emphasizes early child learning and health with parenting support and services.

Kim bowman is also a member of Rotary #9 our largest club in District 5950 and knows Rotary well. She is the Director of Major & Planned Giving for the Way to Grow Organization. She stated that the mission of Way to Grow is, “Working closely with parents and communities, we ensure that children within the most isolated families are born healthy, stay healthy and are prepared for school.” It was the brain child of Don Fraser back in 1989 and is a 501c3 with 4 million in funding coming from some government and mostly private donations.

The program stresses that the parent is primary to a child’s learning. They equip parents in how to aid children’s learning and health with wrap-around services by 20 family educators to isolated families with children from birth to 8 years of age. Kim notes that 80% of intellectual development happens in the first year of life and their Parent and Teacher Curriculum helps parents to use effective parenting skills both in the mental and physical health of their child. The great thing about the family educators are that they are matched to the family’s culture and race reaching out to whites, blacks, Hispanic, and Indian families. Their slogan “Great by Eight” demonstrates their efforts to have all the children in their service reading by 3^rd grade. They have some 1,737 clients and their success rates are all in the high ninety percepts for healthy births, reading readiness, non-repeat of teen pregnancies and involvement in Parent-Teacher Conferences. Kim concluded her remarks by pitching our club that their program has proven results and that the way to make a significant difference that lasts over generations is by donations to Way to Grow. Kim then took lots of Q&A’s from members. This was a fascinating program and one that our club should make a charitable donation to.

The meeting ended with our new model of Happy Bucks where members can pledge a donation and Lou Graber will add it to the next quarters billing. We raised lots of Happy Bucks today that will go to our scholarship fund!

Thank You from America's Urban Elementary STEM Program

America's Urban Elementary STEM

We would like to thank the Rotary Club of Excelsior for the generous donation of $2,000 to help America's Urban Elementary STEM provide free STEM summer camps to qualifying schools. Excelsior Rotary holds a Golf Classic fundraiser every year; we are proud to be a recipient and recognized by their foundation for the work we do.

On behalf of the board of America's Urban Elementary STEM, we send our sincerest thanks!

Dr. Tyronne Carter, Board President

America's Urban Elementary STEM

Minnetonka Community Education Receives Donation from Excelsior Rotary

Dear Awesome Excelsior Rotary Club:

A few of the Minnetonka Preschool and Explorers students paused for a moment from their outdoor playground fun to pose with me this morning. They were very pleased to accept your generous $2,000 donation to MCE. In this pandemic year where registrations and revenue are 50-60% of a typical year this support is amazing and it is VERY much appreciated. Thank you on behalf of my Minnetonka Community Education staff and participants. Rotary makes the World go around. It also makes me and MCE better!

Grateful,

Tim

Tim Litfin

Executive Director

Minnetonka Community Education

952-401-5043

www.minnetonkacommunityed.org

Excelsior Rotary with District Governor Tom Gump

The Rotary Club of Excelsior met via Zoom on Tuesday, October 20^th and our featured speaker was District Governor Tom Gump. Also attending with the Governor were Marianna Khauv and Lloyd Campbell our succeeding Governors over the next two years. President called the 15 attendees into our meeting. Karen Frazier announced that we are again doing the warm coats, hats, gloves and children’s winter ware with Resource West and urged members to contact her (kfrazier@usjet.net) if they have donations and she will arrange to pick them up as the Excelsior United Methodist Church drop-off is only open from 11 to 1 PM Mondays-Thursdays if members can’t get there with their donations. Kate will be sending out a note about the next Happy Hour on October 27^th at Excelsior Brew at 5PM.

District Governor Gump talked about why he is so excited about Rotary and being part of the Rotary Family. He shared a story about one of the m

any exchange students he has hosted named Paco from Spain whose father had committed suicide while Paco was staying with Tom’s family. And rather than going back to Spain Paco’s mother and children came here and they held a memorial service and over 200 Rotarians attended. That’s just one example of the Rotary Family. Rotary is lifelong friendships.

Gump and his two DGE’s discussed a myriad of topics starting with this year’s theme which is “Rotary Opens Up Opportunities” including leadership, service, and friendships. Lloyd Campbell talked about membership opportunities and the way to grow Rotary is with new clubs. Gump reinforced the membership concept by offering strategic planning with district help and the importance of an orientation program for choosing new members so that we don’t lose them after a few years. Marianna Khauv stressed the importance of continuity of leadership for our club and at the district level and also the End Polio Now Immunization Program. Tom announced the District Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, October 24^th to raise awareness of Rotary’s goal to eradicate Polio in the World.

Governor Gump discussed two new focus areas in the District. Clubs can now apply for grants relating to “Serving Our Environment” projects by local clubs. The other is the Racial Equity Program working along with the YMCA and Lloyd Campbell pointed out that there are now 5 or 6 of these programs to help in breaking the racial divide and making a difference in our communities. The Governor then opened the discussion for Q&A. We in District 5950 are really blessed to have such a passionate, committed and well-spoken Governor as Tom Gump.

Excelsior Rotary - Jill Holter's Biography

Excelsior Rotary Meeting 10-6-2020

The Excelsior Rotary Club met on Zoom on Tuesday, October 6^th and was preceded by the Board of Directors meeting.

At the Board meeting there were several important decisions made: 1) We will continue to meet on Zoom to the end of the year. 2) Tad Shaw will represent us in learning about the Support Lake Street in Mpls. endeavor sponsored by the AM Club for Metro Rotary Clubs. 3) Steve reported on the Rotary Golf Classic and that we raised $39,064 and our club has received a check for $19,583,02. Members that want a copy of the Golf Event Power Point can send Steve an email and get their own copy as is too large to send on Club Runner. Contact Steve at sfrazier@usjet.net the 5.8 MB file. 4) Karen thanked the members Marianne Laurent, Jenny Janson, Dick Glover, Lou Graber, Jim Cada, John Ferm and Karen and Steve Frazier for helping with the Highway Clean-up on Tuesday, September 22^nd. 5) October will be Warm Hands and Warm Hearts for Resource West. Please bring new or gently used coats, gloves, hats, scarves, boots, and children’s snow pants to Excelsior United Methodist Church located at 881 3^rd Ave. in Excelsior between 11 to 1 PM open Monday through Thursdays. The Deadline is October 31^stand place your donations in the box with Excelsior Rotary’s name on it. 6) Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army on November 17^th and watch for the sign-up sheet. 7) Happy Hour at Excelsior Brew on Tuesday, September 26^th at 5:00 PM. 8) There will be no Christmas Party this year. 9) 4^th Quarter Invoices coming out soon - $110 during pandemic. 10) Financials good with Club-$15,224, Foundation Savings-$18,634, Checking-$25,069. 11) Happy Bucks-$2,900 and starting next meeting members can donate and be billed on next quarter.

Rotary Club Meeting on October 6^th and featuring Jill Holter’s Biography and Golf Power Point.

Tim Litfin was the Opening Marshal doing the Pledge and 4-Way Test and then did a fun Music Trivia with the Club.

President Kate did the Anniversaries and Club Anniversaries and announced that the Club meeting will be by Zoom through the rest of the year. STRIVE is on-hold until we find a way to do it during Covid. Also our presenter on October 29^th will be District Governor Tom Gump.

Karen Frazier reported on the Highway Clean-up ant thanked Marianne Laurent, Jenny Janson, Dick Glover, Lou Graber, Jim Cada, John Ferm and Karen and Steve Frazier for helping with the Highway Clean-up on Tuesday, September 22nd. She announced that October will be Warm Hands and Warm Hearts for Resource West. Please bring new or gently used coats, gloves, hats, scarves, boots, and children’s snow pants to Excelsior United Church located at 881 3rd Ave. in Excelsior between 11 to 1 PM open Monday through Thursdays. The Deadline is October 31st and place your donations in the box with Excelsior Rotary’s name on it. Also Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army on November 17th and watch for the sign-up sheet. Karen is also reaching out to members we haven’t seen lately and/or in need of assistance to get on Zoom.

Steve Frazier Co-Chair of the Rotary Golf Classic presented a Power Point with the results of the fundraiser held at Deer Run on Tuesday, September 15^th and the Virtual Auction that was held September 1^st through the 15^th. He thanked President Kate, Nick Ruehl, Scott Zerby, and Karen Frazier for their four months of service working on the committee. The bottom line is that the event raised $39,608.05 with our club receiving $19,583.02! The Virtual Auction raised $18,488.67 and was a great success considering Covid and our first try doing a virtual auction. We had an outstanding Marketing Plan on Social Media with 1,447 emails sent to targeted audiences, 4,421 views on Rotary Classic.Org, and 48,300 Facebook impressions. Our goal of reaching outside of Rotary was very successful as we had 152 Golfers of which 131 were Non-Rotarians and in the virtual auction 59% of the winning bids were Non-Rotarians! Steve ended by thanking the 28 Club members that were sponsors, hole sponsors and donors of auction items and auction bidders for their support of our Rotary Golf Classic Fundraiser.

Jill Holter gave her Biography and it was great! Jill noted that she attended the Happy Hour gathering on September 29^th at the Excelsior brew and how fun it was. Jill was adopted and grew up on Lake Minnewashta. She recounted her school experience and favorite teachers from Minnewashta Elementa

ry, West Jr. High and MHS. In high school she was very active in Tennis (Team Captain), Golf, and swimming. She graduated from the U of M with an English Major and had great friends that she still gets together with. After college she became interested in PR and Marketing working with the International Marketing Group and rubbing elbows with many of the tennis greats and NW Bank.

Jill is very much a Mom’s Mom with six kids and her second husband Karl. Two are now out of college and their home is a hub for their kid’s friends and she smiles as says that there is always room for another one at her table. Karl is a great Bartender and Star Wars fan. She home-schooled her kids for 13 years and loved it but in 2013 got divorced and she needed to send her kids to Minnetonka Schools. During that transition she was desperate for food, money and work. She swallowed her pride and received food and help from the food shelf. She was so impressed with the mission of the food shelf she went to work for Lakeland’s Co-op in marketing and it was amazing. This led to appearances on TV that she said were great but “3 minutes of sheer terror!” and also had a home garden planting segment on TV. While at Lakeland she also helped new distributors get their brands on the Co-ops shelves. She then took a position with VEAP (which like ICA) in hunger relief and help for the homeless and handled their Facebook accounts and communications program.

However after only a year at VEAP she was compelled to quit her work there and to care for her elderly father and to advocate for him in the health systems. He passed in October 2019 and so she started her own company – Holter Communications. Then on January 21, 2019 Peg Keenan at ICA called and asked her to come work there as Community Relations Director. She loves her position there and loves her volunteerism in Minnetonka’s Vantage Program, Rotary, a member of Women Who Really Cook, and political volunteer and also gets her kids involved. She loves food and to cook. She is fond of her father’s ribs recipe, her award ribbons and trips to Ireland and other distant places. She thanked everyone for being in Rotary and took Q&A. Great job Jill and we are proud to have you as a member of our club!