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Excelsior Rotary Club Assembly

Excelsior Rotary Club

Service In Motion

Thank you to everyone who attended our Rotary Assembly on Tuesday, August 4^th! We had a wonderful assembly with lots

of fresh ideas and energy! We also figured out how to do Zoom breakout meetings, so we are basically unstoppable. President Kate had fun constructing the meeting logo and fashioned it after the Avengers and called it the Excelsior Rotary Assemblers! So, Rotarians, Assemble!

President Kate set up four breakout zoom rooms where the Rotarians assembled and discussed Marketing/Fundraising, Meeting Programs and Speakers, Social/Service events and projects, and Membership. The four breakout groups met for 20 minutes and discussed their ideas and plans for 2020 – Covid and after Covid – and reported back to the club. Some of the highlights include the following:

Marketing/Fundraising – Steve Frazier/Jim Cada will reach out to the rest of today's team to follow up on some of the ideas. We will be increasing our presence on Facebook/Instagram, and also reaching our local papers. Fundraising for the Rotary Golf Classic is now moving in full gears. Members can go to our golf website at BirdEase.com/Rotary Classic to register to be a sponsor, hole sponsor and golfing. Karen Frazier is collecting Auction Items at (kfrazier@usjet.net ). The goal this year is to raise $40,000 for our charities. More to come!

Meetings – Jenny Janson’s group let us know that many Rotarians want to meet more, including a 3rd meeting over zoom when we start meeting in person.

Social/Service - Randy Schumacher stepped in to lead the group on social events and service opportunities during Covid. Our service is on hold, but we are still donating to non-profits. This group talked about social distanced meetings in the park! There will also be a Highway Clean-up to start on Tuesday, September 22nd and members will sign-up for an area and pick up yellow bags at John Ferm’s Rare Coin Shop in Excelsior and do their area at their own convenience that week. In October and November the members will also be asked to donate fall and winter clothing again this year to Resource West.

Membership – The breakout led by Tyronne Carter discussed how our club can market itself to prospective members - be clear on why our group is special and what we have to offer. Business Mentor Groups could be very appealing for younger professionals, given the vast knowledge and experience in our Rotary.

LEADERS will follow-up with their breakout meeting attendees to move any decisions/actions forward, and report back to the club in September of their progress. President Kate said, “I am so energized by your continued commitment to Rotary and our community. Let's keep zoomin' ahead! See you on Tuesday, August 18 to hear from Dr. Petersen.”

Club Announcements:

Excelsior Rotary Club donated $2,500 to ICA for upcoming fundraiser.
Michelle Seets was appointed as an Honorary Member of the club.
Resignation from the club was accepted from Bob Carlson.
The Board moved to have dues be $110/quarter while we are not meeting but members can continue paying $220 as donations if they so desire.
The Beach Wheel Chair we purchased for the Commons is no longer used there and was donated to Opportunity Partners to aid disabled clients.
The Excelsior Rotary Club donated $1,000 in a 2 to 1 match to keep the Chamber operating so our gift turned into $3,000 for the Chamber.
Upcoming Meetings:
1. The Rotary Golf Classic Committee meets Tuesdays at 7:30 AM weekly.
2. Tuesday, August 18^th – Minnetonka Superintendent Dennis Peterson will speak on the District’s Back to School Plan.
3. Tuesday, September 1^st – Police Chief Mike Meehan speaking on the SLMPSD, Covid 19 Protocols and Civil Unrest (Tentatively)
4. Tuesday, September 15^th the Rotary Golf Classic at Deer Run

Rotary Golf Classic 2020

Please Join Us for the 2020 Excelsior Rotary Golf Classic!

For nearly 25 years the Rotary clubs of Excelsior have partnered together on the Rotary Golf Classic and have
raised over $800,000 for local and international charities. The Rotary Golf Classic is a fun golf event hosted at

Deer Run Golf Course in Victoria, MN.

The Rotary Golf Classic supports programs providing vocational training for women, education and safe
recreation for youth in developing countries; and local organizations addressing food and shelter insecurities and
youth programs including ICA Foodshelf, Loaves & Fishes, Second Harvest Heartland, WeCAN, 180 Degrees,

Hope House Emergency Shelter for Teens, Onward Eden Prairie, and more.
Go to excelsiormorningrotary.org and excelsiorrotary.org for a complete list of organizations that your donation supports.

Help us to continue this great work by:

• Becoming a Sponsor
• Donating an item for the auction
• Joining us for golf

• Bidding online to win fabulous auction items

For more information and register, visit our website www.rotaryclassic.org

Supporting Local and International People in Need

Excelsior Rotary Meeting 7-21-2020 with Tim Litfin

Excelsior Rotary Club Meeting for 7-21-2020 With Tim Litfin

Opening Marshall was John Ferm and led the 22 attendees in the Pledge and 4-Way Test. Visiting guests (and perspective new members in August) were Jill Holter and James Gresham. Jon talked about the passing of Congressman John Lewis and background information about the “I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King and owner of the original transcript of that historic speech. President Kate called upon Darel Leipold to recite an original poem he wrote about Ro

tary on Zoom. President Kate reviewed the Birthdays and Anniversaries.

In announcements President Kate noted that members would receive a survey about our Rotary Club. She announced that our meetings in August will be a club assembly centering on five breakout groups to discuss our club’s future and efforts in 2020-21 in the areas of Membership, Fundraising, Meetings/Speakers, Social/Service, and Marketing/PR all on Zoom. Our August 18^th speaker will be Dr. Dennis Peterson on Minnetonka District Plans for 2020-21 School Year. Kate pleaded that we need speakers for our Rotary year and to share potential speakers with Jenny Janson. Kate then showed potential “Wanted” type posters advertising members to be used to promote interest in our club in social media and posted around town. Everyone loved the idea!

Our Speakert was Tim Litfin and he discussed both the current state of affairs of Minnetonka Community Education and Tour de Tonka. Tim expressed his appreciation of our clubs grant of $2,000 for MCE Covid 19 signage. He went on to explain that participation was down 3,400 and that refunds due to the pandemic were usually around $18,000 but this year so far has been over $470,000 with overall revenue down over $1,000,000 and

even web participation is way down. Since MCE is fee based there is no state or national support for community education. Luckily MCE has reserves and has been able to keep staff with just minor layoffs of summer staff. However, unless things change the program will suffer in the fall and the entire district is awaiting the Governor’s guidelines on July 27^th. But this in not deterring “can do” Tim and his staff is getting ready to provide community services and postponing the printing of the fall catalog until August 15^th for fall programs and classes.

Tim then talked about Tour de Tonka and due to the pandemic it was cancelled for this year but will be back on August 7, 2021! The current plan is to hold a virtual Tour de Tonka we can sign-up on-line for $19 ($5 of which goes to ICA) and participants will receive a Tour de Tonka face mask. Also a small bike ride is scheduled for September 27^th for 250 riders that can choose an 18 mile or 28 mile ride. This will fill-up quickly as people are hungry to participate in something positive. In fact there is currently a huge bike shortage. The Treck Company alone is 400,000 behind in bike production. Time noted that he will need volunteers and thanks club members that have always helped with Tour de Tonka. He ended his comment by saying that Rotary is a great organization and especially our club as we are there for our community!

President Kate called on Steve Frazier to give a golf update. Steve focused on three needs of the Golf Classic to be held on Tuesday, September 15^th at Deer Run. First the need for Event and Hole Sponsors. Second the need for golfers and the safety measures at Deer Run. And third the need for large and regular auction items for our virtual on-line auction preceding the event. He noted that our two Rotary Clubs have a great golf committee of 21 members of which we have six members from our club- Kate, Nick, Scott, Lou, Karen and Steve. Steve urged members to get involved and to seek out one of the committee members from our club.

Kate then opened up the Zoom to Virtual Happy Bucks and members contributed their thoughts. One worth noting here is the plight of the Excelsior Chamber of Commerce is in danger of closing its doors at the end of July due to no revenue coming in from community events. Nick Ruehl emphasized the importance of the Chamber to our Greater Excelsior Area and we need to contribute both individually and from groups and organizations in our area. Our Board will take up the need at our August 4^th Board of Directors Meeting to make a donation from our Operating Budget as the Chamber is not a non-profit and there for not eligible to receiving funding from our Excelsior Rotary Foundations.

Kate reminded members to complete the survey and the results will be part of our August 4^th Club Assembly along with our breakout group discussions.

Girls Know STEM Too, Tyronne!

Our own science guy, Tyronne Carter's second book, "Girls Know STEM Too, Tyronne!" is out and available for purchase on his website, http://www.americasfunscience.com. Tyronne talked about this book during our May 5 presentation. There were a couple of members who wanted to get this then, and here is a easy way to get one for yourself also!

President Kate Wilinski's Kickoff Meeting

Our Rotary meeting by Zoom was held on Tuesday, July 7^th with 22 in attendance including three guests – Jill Holter, Brad sleeper and James Gresham. All three are interested in joining our club and will meet with our Membership Director Tim Litfin after the club meeting today to go over membership details.

Dick Glover was the opening Marshal. President Kate Wilinski announced that all the Board members from last year have volunteered to stay on again this year. Kate noted that the Board has decided to continue doing Zoom Meetings during July as many members want to get back to meeting in person but not comfortable doing so yet. The goal is to start meeting in August live and by Zoom depending on what is happening with the pandemic. If we do restart in August we will do so at the Shorewood Community Center with box lunches from Kowalskis. Kate will survey members about re-starting and also other questions relating to our Rotary Club in general later in July.

Steve Frazier did an update on the 2020 Golf Classic but his signal was lost during the report. Basically the Rotary Golf Classic will be held on Tuesday, September 15^th at Deer Run. The cost to golf will be $125 with box lunches at the carts and the course is following Covid 19 protocols. There will be no dinner and live auction this year but rather thee will be an on-line auction daily for the two weeks prior to the 15^th. So far we have six members involved – Kate on Administration, Scott Zerby doing the website BirdEase for registration, sponsorships and on-line auctions, Karen Frazier on Auction Items, Jenny Janson on Graphics as needed, and Steve Frazier serving as Co-Chair, communications and photography. O.K we need your help and support! 1. Anyone with on-line auction experience. 2. Golfers – so far Bob Boyer has a 4-some. 3. Event Sponsors for $2,500, 1,200 and $600. 4. Hole Sponsors for $350 – So far Jean Gray and John Ferm. 5. Big ticket Auction Items. 6. Larger General Auction Items. 7. Volunteers!

Upcoming programs are July 21^st is Tim Litfin on Tour de Tonka; August 4^th is Club Assembly; no speakers yet for August 18^th and September 1^st (Hopefully Dr. Peterson on Fall School Plans)– Any ideas?; September 15^th is golf fundraiser. Tim Litfin thanked the club for its donation the MCEC and showed three of the signs to help people be safe while they are there.

President Kate then started her part of the program by saying that she is so thankful to have such an amazing board of directors. Kate went on to give a short bio and said that she is really happy to take on this Rotary responsibility because as a member she has “gotten more than given” and it was her turn to step up. She and her husband and their three sons live in Minnetonka and have resided there for 16 years. She loves working for non-profits and has worked for many and most recently it was ICA for 5 years and now at Opportunity Partners in the areas of fundraising, marketing and P.R. Her family is big into sports, camping and music . Her husband has played in three bands. Kate loves doing the newspaper word puzzles and playing cards. Kate also served at PTO President at Scenic Heights. Kate then called on each member to do a virtual ‘Happy Bucks’ and everyone had interesting things to share. Except for a few technical internet issues we had a great meeting and Kate smiled and said, “It can only get better from here on!”

President Michelle's Final Meeting

Our opening Marshal was Darel Leipold on Tuesday, June 16^th for President Michell’s final meeting as President. Darel started our program by singing “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” and many of us joined him. Darel also commented that on June 21^st he will have his double-digit birthday of 88 years old and is looking for his next double –digit of 99 years old by Zoom!

Michelle called on Steve Frazier to give the golf update. The Golf Classic will be held on September 15^th at Deer Run in Victoria with safety precautions in-place and box lunches at noon. There will be no dinner this year. We will have a live auction on-line daily for the week or two before September 15^th. We are looking for leaders to chair Social Media and on-line Auction experience. Also we need golfers, large ticket auction items, Event and Hole Sponsors and other volunteers to help make the event a success. The AM Club is taking the lead and so far we have Lou Graber, Scott Zerby and Steve and Karen Frazier serving on the Golf Committee. Steve will send an golf update at the Golf Committee meets this Thursday, June 18^th.

Michelle then called on Kate to give an update on our live and Zoom meetings starting July 7^th through August. We will meet at the Shorewood South Shore Community Center and will set things up so that there is social distancing and members are encouraged to wear masks. We will also Zoom the meeting for members that Covid hesitant. For safety reasons we will have box lunches provided by Kowalski’s and members that will be attending in-person will need to make reservations with Kate that she will set-up the week before the July 7^th meeting. There will also be a on July 7^th live and on Zoom. Stay tuned for more details.

We next discussed upcoming speakers and Jenny Janson announced that Tour de Tonka with Tim Litfin would be our June 21^st and then open for new speakers after that. Several speakers were mentioned – Don Shelby, Kissey Cokely and Dennis Peterson were mentioned as possible speakers. There will be no meeting on September 15^th as that will be the Golf Classic day. Kate challenged our club to each come up with a speaker and we would easily fill-up the year!

Michelle then gave her final goodbyes by thanking various members that helped her and our club through this past year. She thanked the following for their contributions this year: Jim Cada for the Make A Difference Scholarship winners and Dick Glover as coordinator of the STRIVE Program; Darel Leipold and John Ferm who jumped in to help whenever she needed them; Karen Frazier and Molly Swenson for being the heart of the club; Kate Wilinski and Lou Graber for the leadership opver the next two years and for Lou also stepping-in to be Treasurer; Jenny Janson and Marianne Laurent for being the cheerleaders and their reliable participation on the Board of Directors; Tim Litfin and Tad Shaw for their wonderful organizational skills and a source of new ideas for our club; Nick Ruehl for his brainstorming skills and positive support throughout the year; Scott Zerby for his help in club technology; Steve Frazier and Randy Schumacher for their consistent leadership and support; and Don Draayer for being her sponsor into Rotary, working together on the Reach Out and Read grant and a cheerleader throughout the year.

Michelle thank everyone in our club for their support throughout the year and that she is going to miss all of us as she moves this early fall.

Michelle then called on Don Draayer to introduce Duncan Tomassen as a guest interested in our club. Duncan owns his own company and lives in Excelsior with his wife and two children. Duncan described his connection with Best Buy and his technological product to transform older cars with the modern technological safety features now required in new cars and a lot more. He is very passionate about his work and would be a great member to our club.

We did a club check-in and everyone was healthy and coping with life in 2020. Jean Gray reported that Nina Stark is feeling “locked-in” at the Landings and Karen will send her an uplifting greeting from our club. Don Draayer reported that he had an accident and got banged-up while walking a family dog that took-off on him. Steve Frazier reported that former Minnetonka Principal Don Carruth passed away on the 12^th at 106 years of age and how Don had gone out on a limb when he hired Steve as a social Studies Teacher at Minnetonka West. Lou Graber thanked Michelle for being a great President and that after all the contributions we made this year she was passing-on $12,000 to Kate’s year. Don made the final tribute by complimenting Michelle for all the jobs and acclaim she has achieved and the great job she has done at MHS in Student Services.

Michelle thanked everyone for this year and that due to moving may miss Kate’s first meeting but hopes to make some meeting before she moves in August and possibly keep visiting on Zoom! With that we ended our meeting.