April was a busy month for the Hutchinson Rotary Club!!! We started the month hosting a Group Study Exchange from France.  Jim Wendling & Keith Heikes attended the District Convention in Bloomington.   We sent two high school students to Camp RYLA.  The same day we held our 9^th Annual Taste of Rotary at Crow River Country Club.  We finished out the month with a fun, relaxing party hosted by Ronda & Mark Matthias.  Excellent food, great fun!!!

Taste of Rotary—The top winning tickets for the Taste of Rotary raffle were:  Kay Haag—winner of the $5000 vacation voucher or $4000 cash, Sheri Goldschmidt—winner of $1000, and L&P Supply—winner of $500.  Of course, there were over 50 winners of various silent auction items and 25+ winners of various door prizes.  A special THANK YOU to all the committee chairs (especially Sheila Elder) and all the Rotarians!  Without the participation of EVERYONE, this event could not be a success!   More pictures will follow!!!

Now it’s time to think about our next event….the Watercarnival Bike Ride on Saturday, June 16th.  Look for more information next week!

Sheila Elder gave an update on the Rotary Raffle and Taste of Rotary.

This week’s announcements:

Our speaker today was Scott Chalzon. He is the Interim Associate Dean at the University of Minnesota Center for Community Vitality. He gave a detailed presentation of how the extension center works to build effective community spirit throughout Minnesota. Thank you, Scott!

Announcements:

Group Study Exchange–Kim Winter is looking for two drivers for Friday, April 13th. The drivers need to pick up the GSE participants here in Hutchinson at 2 p.m. and take them to Bloomington. Please contact Kim ASAP if you are willing to help. kdwinter@mchsi.com.

Rotary Raffle Event–Committees met on March 29th. Next week’s regular Rotary meeting, run by Sheila Elder, will be an update of the committees’ reports. KEEP SELLING!! Congratulations to Rotarian Simon Leung! He has sold 38 tickets so far!!! Nice work, Simon!

Hutchinson Leadership Institute--The Hutchinson Rotary Club will host a World Café discussion around ethics in business for the Hutchinson Leadership Institute participants on Wednesday, April 18th.  Ethical business practice is a core value of Rotary International, and the local club appreciates the opportunity to engage community leaders in a lively discussion of what it means to behave in an ethical manner, both personally and professionally.  The World Café is a discussion format that allows participants to travel around the room and share their individual experiences in response to a set of thought-provoking questions.  The goal is to increase the group’s collective understanding of challenging issues. Please contact Diana Anderson ASAP if you are able to help with this event. dianaa@swifoundation.org.

Wine and Beer Tasting–The food committe for the Rotary Raffle will be meeting THIS WEDNESDAY, April 3rd, at 5:30 p.m. at the Crow River Country Club to sample the possible wine and beer options for the raffle. You are welcome to join the committee to give your opinion. A donation will be requested to cover the cost of the samples. If you have any questions, please contact Ronda Matthias at rjmatthias24@hotmail.com.

Rotary Park–We are planning the annual clean up of Rotary Park. If you have any ideas for new additions to the park, please contact Jim Wendling at wendling@hutchtel.net.

Mark your calendars–Tim Murphy will be our guest speaker on May 3rd and he will give us an update of the current Area 8 project. Please plan to attend!

Have a great week everyone!

Miles & Jim

The guest speaker for this week’s Rotary meeting was Miles Seppelt, the Hutchinson Development Economic Director.  His message consisted of three items:  the Depot Marketplace, the Hutchinson Marketing Campaign, and Minnesota Angel Network.

The Depot Marketplace– The existing depot building will be moved to an east-west orientation for better access on the site.  There will be a new parking lot and plans to build a pavilion.  The pavilion is modeled after the Rotary shelter and will house the Farmer’s Market in the future.  There are also plans to have a bicycle trail leading to the marketplace as a future stopping point of the Luce Line Trail.  Plans are in the works to have the block cleaned up and the pavilion built hopefully by the end of the summer.

Marketing Campaign–EDA is promoting the message of the positive things that are happening in Hutchinson. Hutchinson is one of few cities with a new, shovel-ready industrial park and also has access to a $1.2 million revolving loan fund. In order to get Hutchinson’s message out, EDA plans to modernize its logo and look.   There are also plans to adopt a brand (Minnesota’s Manufacturing City), create a new website, establish a social media presence, develop new marketing materials, and push relentlessly!!! EDA wants to increase visibility and attract business expansions.

Minneosta Angel Network—This group helps new companies get ready to meet with investors. It is based on proven models from other states and Miles anticipates 50-60 companies state wide to participate.   About 1/2 of these will be location neutral, which is an opportunity to bring the businesses to Hutchinson.

Thank you, Miles, for a very informative presentation!

Other News:

Group Study Exchange is in need six drivers!!!!   Please contact Kim Winters if you can help out!   The board did not anticipate that we would be selected to host the GSE this year and does not have a line item budgeted for the expenses.  If you are interested in helping, the following opportunities are available.  Expenses will include:  Cactus Jacks–$60, Rotary lunch–$35, McLeod County Museum–$78, Subway lunch–$50, Crow River Winery–$35.  We welcome you or your business to sponsor an activity or to give a small donation towards these expenses.  If you are interested in sponsorship, please contact Jim Wendling, wendling@hutchtel.net or Kim Winters, kdwinter@mchsi.com.

Raffle—The April 5 meeting is an update of all the plans for the raffle. Hopefully all the committees will have met and then we can update everyone. The raffle is on April 20–only 5 weeks away!!!!! If you have SOLD tickets, please drop them off with Carla Reinowski at Piehl Hanson Beckman office. You must have the ticket AND the money to turn them in. Silent Auction–Each member is encouraged to donate an item for the auction.  Please contact Bruce Christianson, cshoes@hutchtel.net or Kim Winter for more information on the silent auction.

Duane Hoversten,  representative of the Small Business Development Center, was the guest speaker at the March 15^th meeting of Rotary.  McLeod County in included in the Southwest Region of the SBDC.  The main office of this region is located in Marshall, but some classes are held here in Hutchinson at Ridgewater College.  The purpose of the SBDC is to provide assistance to individuals in either starting or expanding a non-profit.  They provide one-on-one business consulting services and will also help with marketing strategies and finding professional help (banking, legal and accounting) for their clients.

Thank you, Duane, for a very informative presentation!

Other news:

The 5950 District Convention is scheduled for April 13 and 14 in Bloomington.  Jim Wendling and Keith Heikes plan to attend on Friday.  Our Rotary club will cover the cost of your meals at the convention.  For more information on the District Convention, please check out the District website.   If you are interested in attending the convention, please contact Jim ASAP at  wendling@hutchtel.net .

The Group Study Exchange will be in the Hutchinson area on  April 11, 12, and 13.  Kim Winters is looking for people to help shuttle them from place to place.  If you can help, please contact Kim at kdwinter@mchsi.com.

Linnea Klassen is still looking for a driver to take the RYLA students to Hudson on April 20.  Please contact her at linneak@cbhutch.com if you can help.

The next meeting of the Bike Committee is on Tuesday, March 27^th at 10:30 a.m. at Outdoor Motion.  Please feel free to stop by!  If you have any questions, please contact Carla Reinowski at consulting@phbcpa.com .

Remember to sell, sell, sell those Rotary International Taste of Rotary raffle and event tickets!  This event is coming up FAST!

Please check back next week for more information on the 2012 and 2013 Area 8 projects!

Brad Emans, fire chief for the City of Hutchinson since 1990, was the guest speaker at the Hutchinson Rotary meeting this week.  Brad provided a handout of various statistics involved with his job during his tenure as fire chief.  He went on to describe how the firefighters are broken into three ‘teams’ at a fire so that each has a specific job when they get to the scene of a fire.

Brad was very proud of his firefighting team who won the Fight for Air stair climb for the second consecutive year this spring.  The team of 8 firefighters, dressed in full gear, race to the top of the 30 story Accenture Tower in downtown Minneapolis to raise money for the American Lung Association.

Congratulations, Brad, on the fine work you and your fire fighters are doing for the City of Hutchinson!

Other news:

The Jaycee Bike Committee met this past Wednesday to go through the list of responsibilities and time lines.  They will be meeting again on Tuesday, March 27^th at 10:30 a.m. at Outdoor Motion.  You are welcome to join them!

The Hutchinson Rotary Board of Directors meeting is THIS TUESDAY morning at 7 a.m. at Vivid Image offices.  Make a point to attend a meeting to see all the ‘behind the scenes’ work that takes place to keep our club viable!

This year’s students chosen to attend the RYLA camp are Jakob Schauberger and Eleanor Turrell.  (See additional blog for a description of RYLA.)  We have one person who has volunteered to pick up the students in St. Paul at the end of the camp.  We are looking for someone to take them.  Please contact Linnea Klassen (linnea@cbhutch.com) if you can help out.

The Ethics workshop has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 18^th.  If you are interested, please contact Diane Anderson (dianaa@swifoundation.org ).

Don’t forget to keep selling tickets for the Rotary Foundation Taste of Rotary!!!  The ticket selling committee will start to need numbers in the coming weeks!

Steve, Brian, Jim

Dr. Steve Mulder invited Brian LaCroix , the president of Allina Medical Transportation, to our meeting to discuss their new agreement with the Hutchinson  Hospital.  Brian began his presentation by giving us the history of emergency medicine starting in Europe in 1797, continuing to 1967 with virtually no changes with how the process was handled.  During that period the main objective was to go to the scene and as fast as possible and bring the patient back to a facility to start to take care of him.  In the late 1960’s, the process of treating patients at the scene started.  It was also at that time that the position of a paramedic was ‘created’.

The Allina system serves about 80 clinics, 11 hospitals and a cluster of specialty care services, such as hospice, laboratory and pharmacy, home oxygen and medical equipment, in addition to the ambulance and dispatch services.  Brian described the relationship with Allina and the Hutchinson hospital and how 911 calls are handled.  Allina currently has a staff of about 20 paramedics and EMTs in Hutchinson and serves most of McLeod County and a small portion of Meeker and Renville Counties.

Thank you to Brian and Steve for a very interesting presentation!!!!

The Water Carnival Bike Ride committee has a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 6^th at 10:30 a.m. at Outdoor Motion.  You are welcome to join us!

The District 5950 Conference is scheduled for April 13-14 at the Airport Hilton in Bloomington.  All Rotarians are encouraged to attend.  If you are interested, please contact Jim Wendling.

The Group Study Exchange will be here on April 12^th.  Please mark this on your calendar as it is a great time to meet our Rotary friends from France.

Check back next week for more news on RYLA!

Our guest speakers at the February 23, 2012 meeting represented Pioneer Television.  Les Heen, general manager and Jon Panzer, station manager, gave an interesting presentation about their television station.

Pioneer Public Television started in 1966 and serves over 45 rural counties in western Minnesota, northwestern Iowa and eastern South Dakota.  PPT broadcasts programs to facilitate educational growth, support cultural opportunities and promote economic development for their viewing area.

Last year, as a result of their outstanding service, they were nominated for an Emmy for Service to the Community.

One of the programs that PPT broadcasts weekly is called Your Legislators hosted by Hutchinson Rotary Club member Barry Anderson.  During the meeting, Les and Jon presented Barry with a plaque, recognizing Barry’s outstanding service as host of this program for over 23 years.  Congratulations, Barry!  We are lucky to have you as a member of our club!  AND, thank you to Les and Jon for your outstanding work to bring public television to our airwaves!

Les, Barry and Jon