Our Program on Tuesday, December 20th was a Club Assembly with speakers Bryce Lesinski, Bill Lester and David Neubauer plus and update on our club’s progress towards reaching our goals for 2022-2023. It was a marathon! Our first speaker was Bryce Lesinski who was sponsored by our 
club to attend Rotary’s Camp Enterprise. Camp Enterprise is a three-day camp that took place in November for high school juniors and seniors designed to introduce students to the free enterprise system and encourage entrepreneurship and ethical business practices. The experience is often life changing. Bryce is a senior at Minnetonka High School and enrolled in the Advantage Program. Bryce thanked our club for the scholarship and described being one of the 84 participants in this year’s program. He mentioned the five entrepreneurs that spoke to the kids and also the three day task in teams to come up with a business plan and then sell it to the overall group. He found it to be fascinating and his group won the competition and he received a $1,000 scholarship for his efforts. We believe that this young man has great potential!
The second speaker was Bill Lester enlisting our help in providing a community park adjacent to the 3rd Avenue Apartments on the Excelsior United Methodist Church property on the south-east side of Excelsior. The park would serve some 500 children that have no recreational facilities in that part of town. The name of the park will be called So-Hi Community Park (South of Highway 7) and is a 10 year effort coming now to fruition. Total cost of the project is $270 and the organizers have commitments for $125,000 and searching for sources and donors for the rest of the three year project. Currently the partners are the Excelsior United Methodist Church, Excelsior Morning Rotary, City of Excelsior, and Bridgewater Bank that is willing to carry the loan. The 1st phase will be the playground & equipment on a year-round PIP surface that is ADA accessible. The 2nd phase will add an updated basketball/or sports court for a variety of sports. Hopefully our club can be of assistance either as club and/or individual donations.
club to attend Rotary’s Camp Enterprise. Camp Enterprise is a three-day camp that took place in November for high school juniors and seniors designed to introduce students to the free enterprise system and encourage entrepreneurship and ethical business practices. The experience is often life changing. Bryce is a senior at Minnetonka High School and enrolled in the Advantage Program. Bryce thanked our club for the scholarship and described being one of the 84 participants in this year’s program. He mentioned the five entrepreneurs that spoke to the kids and also the three day task in teams to come up with a business plan and then sell it to the overall group. He found it to be fascinating and his group won the competition and he received a $1,000 scholarship for his efforts. We believe that this young man has great potential! The second speaker was Bill Lester enlisting our help in providing a community park adjacent to the 3rd Avenue Apartments on the Excelsior United Methodist Church property on the south-east side of Excelsior. The park would serve some 500 children that have no recreational facilities in that part of town. The name of the park will be called So-Hi Community Park (South of Highway 7) and is a 10 year effort coming now to fruition. Total cost of the project is $270 and the organizers have commitments for $125,000 and searching for sources and donors for the rest of the three year project. Currently the partners are the Excelsior United Methodist Church, Excelsior Morning Rotary, City of Excelsior, and Bridgewater Bank that is willing to carry the loan. The 1st phase will be the playground & equipment on a year-round PIP surface that is ADA accessible. The 2nd phase will add an updated basketball/or sports court for a variety of sports. Hopefully our club can be of assistance either as club and/or individual donations.
Our third speaker was David Neubauer who is our Assistant Governor. President Steve had asked him how our club could get this year’s Rotary Banner and pins. David wanted to let our members know that he is working on it! He also talked about the importance of member donations to the TRF (The Rotary Foundation) and his Chanhassen Club is working to get a grant to drill a 900 foot well in Kenya. He also complimented our club and on its vitality and the things our club is doing in our community.
The remainder of the Club Assembly was spent on receiving updates on our club’s 2022-2023 nine major goals and those that have already been achieved in meetings, speakers, service projects, membership, hybrid meetings and other goals yet to be achieved in Public Image and fundraising.