Mary Younggren and President Josh Sprague - Welcome!
Hey, you are actually reading this! I’m proud of you, Ann Platt.
President Josh Sprague made us all proud as he energetically kicked off the meeting.
Josh asked, “Who’s having a good time this year?!!!!!”
Bahama Relief:
Shelter Box is currently assessing the situation on ground in the Bahamas. It’s reported that more than 20,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. They will move in once the government has finished assessing. There’s a brand-new Rotary Fund called the Disaster Response Fund. More info at https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/disaster-response
Gala Update - Oct 5th, 2019 - The money raised is used for every good work that we do throughout the year. The entertainment this year will be the Edina High School band, orchestra, choir and theater dept. Savings has been extended until Sept 10th on early bird tickets.
Membership anniversaries were announced with Don Erickson leading at 62 years!
Jean Morrison read a beautiful reflection for our invocation. We got to hold hands.
Sutton McGraw announced our many guests.
Announcements:
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Speaker Marty Bassett, Afira Hasan, Optometrist/Member of EMRC, Atman and Om Jahagirdar
Atman and Om Jahagirdar talked about their nonprofit called Omnisight which raises awareness, screens populations, and provides free eyewear for a better future. They started in 2017 and have helped provide eye care in India and Tanzania. They’ve partnered with Dr. Jadar Hasan and the Edina Community Foundation and have collected over $3,000 and 500 + pair of glasses. More info at www.omnisightintl.org/donate
Scott Hawkins – Human Trafficking Event
Sept 19th 11:30-1:30 at ECC. You must register by the Sept.14th. Carla Marroqyin, Kenna Dick, Heidi Nauman will be the speakers.
Lisa Walker - Sip’n’Serve
Sept 12th 6:30-9:30 at LIV Chiropractic. Pack 300 sandwiches for our neighbors in need.
Families are welcome!
Kip Peterson and Heather Hansen – Rotary Gala Update–
Oct 5th, 2019 at the Doubletree by Hilton in Bloomington. The Traveling Rotarians helped encourage raffle sales through their incredibly awesome music video! I mean, WOW!
Raffle tickets check and stubs are due Sept 30 to Marty Kupper, Kip Peterson or Heather Hansen. Six prizes to awarded are: 1st prize is $1000, and there are five $100 second prizes
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Heather Hansen – Silent Auction Committee
Heather encouraged us to come early to the Gala, bid high and have fun!
Jody Kern announced our speaker, Marty Bassett (aka Katy’s husband),
He is the president and CEO of Walman Optical. Marty gave fascinating insight on why Walman Optical is thriving as a 104-year-old, employee owned company. Their Mission Statement is “Enriching lives through better vision,” while their Vision Statement is “to be the most trusted business partner in the industry.”
Walman has multiple autonomous businesses:
Ultra Optics - a lens coating company,
X-Cel - maker of specialty contacts,
Walman Instruments - sells exam equipment,
ImageWare Nouveau - frames division,
ADO Practice Solutions - a consolidated buying group.
Walman offers its employees an ESOP, which Wooj kindly asked Marty to define. “An ESOP is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.” Walman employees receive a 23% ESOP contribution annually, which is way higher than the national average. They also contribute to their 401k plans. Marty explained that it’s an excellent way to recruit and retain employees.
Walman generously gives back 5% to the communities they serve.
Marty stated the eyeglass business is growing, not shrinking. For example, they now manufacture glasses that get rid of the harmful blue light given off by our computer and cell phone screens.
There was a question on how the tariffs with China will affect their business. Marty said that they have 6 months of supplies on the shelves, so they have around 60 days to figure that issue out.
Doug Johnson thanked our speaker, and Josh closed our meeting with a quote from Claude Monet. “It’s better to have done something than to have been someone.” Our meeting adjourned without any arrests.
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A gang of Rotarians -- Brad Pearson, John Flynn, Fred Sylvester, Kip Peterson