The July 19 Rotary Club of Edina meeting was a Prospective Member Day, with many guests attending. The program speaker was Dr. Bill Maguire, former chairman and CEO of UnitedHealth Group, and owns the Minnesota United FC, Minnesota's professional soccer team.
Rotarian Katy Campbell gave her Classification Talk at the meeting.
Rotarian Katy Campbell gave her Classification Talk at the meeting.
Yifei Zhang, an Edina High School graduate who was one of the recipients of an Edina Rotary Foundation scholarship, spoke to the club about her time at EHS and future plans.
New Community Service (Projects) Director Kenny Smith gave a report on the committees activities in the past Rotary year, and what is to come.
For more on the meeting, click on the link below...
Today’s meeting (July 19, 2018) was our first Prospective Member-welcoming meeting of this Rotary year. Many guests came and we hope many turn to become our members in the future.
President John Flynn started the meeting with a video clip whereby Shelly Loberg and Michael Stanzak starred. Shelly’s classification should be movie/entertainment as opposed to tourism—she seems to be in a movie on a weekly basis now.
Jon Barnett attended a Rotary Club meeting in Berlin, Germany. (Or, was it Bemidji?) Apparently, Jon sent a photo of himself having lunch with German Rotarians to Flynn.Valerie Burke is now the Public Image Co-Director with Dan Hennen.
When is our Rotary’s annual Fundraiser & Gala "Rotary Got Talent?" Sept. 29! Mark your calendar now! We thank our two corporate sponsors—Northmarq (Ed Padilla) and Washburn McReavy (Bill McReavy).
We were greeted by Gordy Lewis, Gerry Norton and Ann Platt. The front desk was managed by Renee Harberts and Jennifer Garske. The invocation was done by John Solberg. Guest introductions were done by John Flynn.
Rotarian Katy Campbell gave her Classification Talk at the meeting. She has been mostly in freelance journalism. She worked for large and small corporations including 3M, Star Tribune and many major papers. Her Rotary career started in California, where she served as President, too. She moved to Minnesota with her husband, Ralph Campbell. Their son, Jack Campbell, was voted as Edina High School’s Homecoming King in 2014. Katy, we are very glad that you became a member of our club!Jennifer Bennerotte presented a Rotary scholarship to Yifei Zhang, who is a former alumna of Camp Enterprise. Yifei said she will pay back to the Rotary Club of Edina by studying hard at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
Kenny Smith summarized what his committee, Community Service (Projects), has been doing on behalf of our club:- Feed My Starving Children
- VEAP
- Park Clean-up
- Cornerstone Make-a-Meal
- Thanksgiving Baskets
- Holiday Giving Program
- Breadsmith Bread Collection
- New Member Service Project
- Develop Projects with our local grant recipients
- Human Trafficking
- Opioid Crisis
- Community Blood Drive
For more information, please contact Kenny Smith at 952-380-7096 or kjs@edinalaw.com.
Our Club's The Rotary Foundation Director David Clynes presented members with PHF pins for their contributions to TRF (see accompanying story in this week's Barker). Mike Kallas, honored as a PHF+8, talked a bit about what it means to donate to TRF.
David also detailed our Club's 2017–2018 TRF donation totals. Good job, everyone! By the way, according to our President, our club’s total TRF contribution last year was in excess of $170,000. Congratulations, David! Congratulations, everyone!
David also detailed our Club's 2017–2018 TRF donation totals. Good job, everyone! By the way, according to our President, our club’s total TRF contribution last year was in excess of $170,000. Congratulations, David! Congratulations, everyone!
The program was brought and introduced to us by Ann Platt, who seems to be involved in at least 12 different committees in our club.
Our speaker Bill McGuire owns the Minnesota United FC, Minnesota's professional soccer team.
Bill is an American pulmonologist, lepidopterist, philanthropist, and former healthcare executive. He is best known for his tenure as chairman and chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group from 1991 until his resignation in 2006. About five years ago, his family bought the ailing soccer team. He shared interesting numbers with us:
- 211—Number of member countries of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)
- 275,000,000—Competitive players around the world
- 85,000—Number of soccer youth players in Minnesota alone
- 43,000,000—MLS (Major League Soccer) fans in the United States
- 6,386,000—Number of people who watched the Croatia-Russia World Cup match
- 1,000,000,000—Number of people who watched Croatia-France Final match of 2018 World Cup Games
- 500—Number of season ticket holders in Minnesota
- 29—Dollars (average ticket price) for Minnesota United Soccer game
Soccer means diversity. Minnesota United FC is composed of players who came from 13 different countries.
Bill also showed us a short video clip titled “The Allianz Family of Stadiums.” Minnesota’s Allianz Field will open in the spring of 2019. In his view, Minnesota United FC is building:
- An unequaled fan experience
- A sporting club that is integrated into its community
- A representation of our shared values
- A relationship that evokes passion
- Something that helps make this a better place for generations to come
At the end of his presentation, Bill donated four tickets to a Minnesota United game, which will be given to soccer-loving members (see photo in this week's Barker).
Ed Padilla thanked our speaker.
President Flynn closed the meeting with his final thought: “Together we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change—across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.”
Next week’s speaker is Don Smithmier, CEO of GoKart Labs. Remember, our big party is on Sept. 29, 2918!
President John Flynn greets Toshie Metzger.
Michael Stanzak leads the line up for salad July 19.
Friendly faces—Steve Slyce and Jennifer Bennerotte chat at the meeting.