The Rotary Club of Excelsior met on Tuesday, June 15th live at Red Sauce Rebellion and Virtually on Zoom for the farewell meeting of President Kate Wilinski. We had a full house. Karen Frazier had a display of free gifts for members that were left over from the Rotary Golf Swag Bags. Randy Schumacher was Greeter and Opening Marshal and took members through the pledge and Four-Way Test with his wonderful sense of humor and charm.
President Kate gave some brief announcements and then presented five Paul Harris Awards to Lou Graber, Scott Zerby, Jim Cada, Marianne Laurent and 
Dick Glover for the cumulative donations to the Rotary foundation.
Dick Glover for the cumulative donations to the Rotary foundation.Kate then called on Karen and Steve Frazier to give the Golf report. Karen who was Chair of the Golf Raffle Committee started the report by calling Jean Gray to the front to receive the 1st Place Raffle Prize of $1,000 and he also won one of the four $300 Gift Cards from Kowalski’s Market in Excelsior. Steve then reported on this year’s Rotary Golf Classic that was held on June 9th at Deer Run and After Party at Enki’s Brewery in Victoria. He explained our club took the lead in this year’s hurry-up fundraiser and the Rotary Golf Committee made up of members from both clubs only had six weeks to plan and pull the event together. Steve who acted Co-Chair lead then thanked the members from our club 
on the committee: Kate as Chair of Administration, Marketing, Website Design using Eventbright, and Registration of Golfers! Lou Graber as Treasurer, Scott Zerby for Website assistance, Karen Frazier for Chair of the Raffle, State Gambling documentation and Swag Bags of goodies for golfers. John Frem also worked on the raffle and his shop was a drop-off area for the event. Nick Ruehl Chaired the Sponsorship Committee raising $19,550 and all the signage for the sponsors.
on the committee: Kate as Chair of Administration, Marketing, Website Design using Eventbright, and Registration of Golfers! Lou Graber as Treasurer, Scott Zerby for Website assistance, Karen Frazier for Chair of the Raffle, State Gambling documentation and Swag Bags of goodies for golfers. John Frem also worked on the raffle and his shop was a drop-off area for the event. Nick Ruehl Chaired the Sponsorship Committee raising $19,550 and all the signage for the sponsors. Next Steve thanked the Event Sponsors from our Club. They were Nick Ruehl ($1.200 Birdie Sponsor), John Ferm and Don Draayer as $600 Premier Hole Sponsors. The $350 Hole Sponsors were: Louis Graber (did two), Paul Huber, Jean Gray, Randy Schumacher and John Hotvet. We thank all the sponsors for the support and generosity. Steve ended his report by predicting that the Rotary Golf Classic and Raffle would raise over $29,000 and that was not too bad considering the time limitations.
Our Program on June 15th was President Kate’s Final Meeting of her Presidency and she spoke about how unique the year had been both for her family and for our Club. She started by bringing her family up and introduced each of them – her husband Ben (I.T. and musician and plays with the Lonesome Lizards), Noah is 14 and going into 8th grade and likes the Trampoline & sports and would like to be an architect), James (going into 5th grade) is into 
sports, baseball, friends and ‘Field of Dreams.” His team went to Iowa and played in the same field as in the movie and his team won the tournament! Lucas the youngest is in 2nd grade and is into basketball, baseball, tennis and would like to be an Artist. Kate had pictures of her family doing all kinds of things during the pandemic. Kate has a caring and lovely family! Kate also mentions that she works for Opportunity Partners and had a picture with Melinda Jensen from TV and they raised $365,000 in their recent fundraiser this summer.
sports, baseball, friends and ‘Field of Dreams.” His team went to Iowa and played in the same field as in the movie and his team won the tournament! Lucas the youngest is in 2nd grade and is into basketball, baseball, tennis and would like to be an Artist. Kate had pictures of her family doing all kinds of things during the pandemic. Kate has a caring and lovely family! Kate also mentions that she works for Opportunity Partners and had a picture with Melinda Jensen from TV and they raised $365,000 in their recent fundraiser this summer. Kate remarked that even though we were not able to meet this year we still did lots of good things and had pictures of our speakers this year and shots of our service project of Warm Hands and Hearts with Resource West and teenage Christmas gifts for their Toy Chest Program. Kate ended her program by giving out “Rotarians of the Year Awards” and had a fun title for each member and a certificate. Finally she thanked everyone for their help and support to keep our Club going this year.
Our meeting concluded with a very generous collection of Happy Bucks and Randy Schumacher commented that all the money goes into our Education and Scholarship Fund. Most of the contributions were given in celebration of Kate’s year as President, our golf fundraiser and family updates. It was during this time that President Elect Lou Graber said that we will start our new Rotary Year on July 6th and one of his goals is to have club meetings three weeks of the month and a service project on the fourth week. That will mean a dues increase and probably won’t happen to start out in July but if members agree it will happen soon after. It was a great ending to Kate’s year as President and we thank her for doing such a great job under such difficult circumstances.
the Warren Commission Report and the House Select Committee’s Report. David explained how the Warren Commission was appointed by LBJ and who were all male lawyers and bipartisan but a lot of politics were involved in the selection and none of them really wanted to be on the commission and didn’t have the time to devote to a thorough review. There were all kinds of problems such as they never were able to have all the members at one meeting, the timeline set by LBJ was way too short (10 months), it was grossly underfunded and important sources like the FBI, Dallas PD, and other individuals and agencies withheld crucial information for political reasons. Crucial information was never uncovered about Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby and brain and tissue slides from the JFK autopsy by untrained Naval Officers were taken by the family and not available for forensic examination. 
The Rotary Club of Excelsior met on May 18th with 22 members in attendance. We had a great meeting that included Make a Difference Scholarships, The 2021 Golf Classic and Raffle, a presentation by Don Draayer, a pitch on the Rotary Foundation’s Every Member Every Year, a vote on returning to Redsauce and getting members shirt sizes for our updated Rotary Shirts and Happy Bucks!
Allegiance and the Four Way Test. John reflected on his 52 years as a Rotarian and the 2,700 meetings he has attended and only missing a few but always made them us. He talked about the great things that our club and Rotary International has done over the years and what it continues to do today. He ended by saying, “I am humbled and profoundly honored to be a member of the Rotary Club of Excelsior.”
Kate then turned the floor over to Jim Cada our Make A Difference Coordinator who introduced Phil Trout from MHS who is the College Advisor. Phil had great praise for our Rotary Club and the great work of STRIVE and how we have made a big difference at MHS and have the respect of the administration, teachers and students. Trout said this was the largest Make a Difference Scholarships in MHS history with four $1,500 and three $1,000 scholarships to deserving and needy students. He noted a bit about each of the seven students and that they will receive these wonderful scholarships on May 27th at Veteran’s Field Award Ceremony. He ended on a personal note saying that he was never a Rotarian but his two daughters were both Rotary Exchange Students and the experience made a significant difference in their lives. And finally he said that the “Excelsior Rotary is living up to its mission by making a real difference in student’s lives. Your generosity and commitment is a real testament to your club.”
bers a Power Point covering all aspects of this year’s fundraiser. The Rotary Golf Classic will be held on Wednesday, June 9th at Deer Run in Victoria with lunch at 11AM and a shotgun start at noon. Steve urged members to register for golf, buy and sell raffle tickets and to attend the After Party at Enki Brewery in Victoria around 5PM. 
Steve then called on Karen Frazier to describe the Rotary Raffle of 2021 and she explained that we have six great prizes – 1st Prize is $1,000, 2nd Prize is $500 and 3-6th Prizes are $300 Gift Cards to Kowalskis Market! She thanked everyone for bringing their checkbooks and collected $1,200 at the meeting. Deadline for returning stubs, and unsold tickets is the June 1st Club Meeting. She explained that each member is receiving a packet of 5 tickets and they are $20 each. She noted that she had extra tickets if members needed more. She said …You can buy them for yourself, make them out to family members, sell to your friends and relatives. All we ask is that you buy and/or sell them all and return the stubs at our June 1st meeting!”
Eagle at $2,500 (we have one so far), Birdie at $1.200 (we have 6 so far), Premium Hole Sponsor at $600 (we have 3 so far) and many hole sponsors. He explained how previous and new perspective sponsors were contacted and asked members of the club to talk with him or Steve about becoming a sponsor. Nick then showed the aggressive marketing plan to highlight the sponsors through email and facebook and at the event. 
Don Draayer then did a short presentation on how we can make a difference even if we are not golfing this year. Don is a Premium Hole Sponsor and has chosen to highlight Reach Out and Read, Hospitality House and his two books on parenting and getting parents to read to their children and a book to get children reading in impoverished areas of Minnesota.
the St. Marylebone Rotary Club of London. Attending the meeting live were 18 members and seven virtually. Also attending the meeting virtually as guests were several St. Marylebone Rotary members John Bash and his wife and Adrian Ferise and Don Stiles from District 5950. Steve Frazier introduced her and Padee presented her presentation virtually as she had an adverse reaction to her Covid shot but in spite of that she did a great presentation.
MHS Principal for 8 years and 28 years in the District #276. He showed the Minnetonka Couture graph of three concentric circles with the inner circle being the students, surrounded by the next layer of student support and instruction and then surrounded by the Arts, Athletics, and Activities. Jeff was excited to announce the $4 million Momentum Facility to MHS to house the Auto, Physics & Home Renovation and Metal Sculptures Programs. A major goal at MHS is to provide its 3,500 students with a rounded experiential learning experience involving mentorship by professionals and ongoing innovational programing. This includes the current academic programs and Vantage-Public Policy programs and now Momentum (Minnetonka Trade) Programs that are growing at MHS.
Assistant Principal Ann Hanstead then took over to describe the growth of the Momentum and the realization that more hands-on experience programs are needed and desired by students at Minnetonka. She described the Vantage and Momentum Programs that get outside business resources and individual mentorship involved with students in these programs. She provided a virtual view of the new Momentum facility to be ready in 2022 and already the Auto part of the program has 4 sections filled. The facility will also have a Maker Building area and classrooms for trade education. She described how students in the Physics-Home Renovation program made bridges while on home instructing this year have hands on experience working with Habitat to Humanity doing real construction projects and gaining their OSHA Certifications. The program enlisted nine outside trade speakers in various trades to speak with the students and previous students from the program at MHS to speak about their experience and work they are now doing in their fields. 
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