March 5, 2015 (Mar 02, 2015)

March 5, 2015

Chip Kent IV

Cecropia Capital, a Plymouth Hedge Fund

CLUB NEWS:

Last Week's Program - Russ Carlson and Norm Okerstrom conducted CPR and AED Training for the Club. Twenty-three (23) Rotarians and guests received the training. Some were new trainees and some were being re-trained since their original training was over two years ago.

There were a number of Club Members who were unable to be present. They will be encouraged to get trained/re-trained at one of our public trainings in the near future so we can boast of having 100% of the Club trained! American Heart Association recommends training every two years to stay proficient.

We also welcomed our former member Lynette Hoffman, who stopped by to visit. Ricardo Ortizcazarin brought one of his employees for lunch and the meeting, and they both participated in the training. Sandi Arndt, has become an additional designee for the Corporate Membership of Wayzata School District-Continuing Education, joining Bob Wittman, the primary member. Sandi became CPR/AED trained today as well. Please welcome Sandi at your first opportunity. Jim Bird, visiting Rotarian, (see below) also stayed for the training.

New Member Application Received. James Bird, current visitor the last two weeks, has applied for membership. Jim is a Plymouth resident and a retired General Mills Executive. He is also a former member of Golden Valley Rotary Club (since 1985), where he served as President in 1991-92. Jim has also served as CFO for Rotary District 5950 (2005-2012), and is currently Treasurer of District 5950.

While at General Mills for 30 years, Jim served as a Manager of Information Technology Services.

The Plymouth Rotary Board of Directors has unanimously approved Jim's application. We will continue his classification of Information Technology Service - Retired. Welcome JIm!

Heart Safe Plymouth: As of 2/26/2015 2,020 people trained (and counting!).

REMINDER: Preview your member profile on the Club website for accuracy and update any missing data. Contact VP Steve Juetten or Secretary/Club Administrator Joe Thompson with any questions you may have. To assist, Dwain Erickson and Diane Moyer can shoot smart phone photographs of members whose photos are missing in the Club Membership roster.

Important Dates/Events:

West Metro Rotaract Club: The kickoff event is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, 2015, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Location will be Cooper's Pub, West End, St. Louis Park or Wayzata Country Club, depending on size of attendance. Keynote speaker will be Jacquie Berglund, Entrepreneur and President of Finnegans, Inc. Rotaract is for younger men and women ages 18-30 who have interest in Rotary. We need each of you to suggest names of your children, neighbors, co-workers, or other young people we can send information about this new opportunity. Help us build a contact list. There is no cost our obligation for attendees - just come and learn more, then decide if they want to pursue getting involved.

Please let Steve Beachler, Jason Cardwell, Norm Okerstrom or Ricardo Ortizcazarin know of young people you would like add to our email list. We are cooperating with Wayzata, Orono, Excelsior, Lake Minnetonka-Excelsior, and Mound-Westonka Rotary Clubs to help get this new Rotary Club started.

The 2015 Rotary District 5950 Conference is set for Saturday, May 16, 2015 at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Mall of America, Bloomington. Early Bird discounts are available; register at Rotary5950.org. This is a one-day full conference of Rotary information, fellowship, dining and entertainment. Registrations are open online now!

We are planning to offer CPR/AED training as a scheduled event during the conference at the invitation of District Governor Jim Nelson. A good turnout from Plymouth Rotarians will be important to provide help during the training, and the conference generally will be a good use of your time

Rotary Peace Centers has announced the application for 2016 Rotary Peace Fellowships is now open online. (rotarypeasecenters@rotary.org). Applications are available at the web site along with brochures and program guides. Applicants for these distinguished scholarships must be endorsed at the District level by 31 May 2015, with their results forwarded to RI by 1 July 2015. A Rotary webinar is scheduled for 10 February 2015 to learn how to coach and recruit applicants. Rotary Pace Scholarships formerly were known as Ambassadorial Scholarships. See Steve Beachler for registration details.

Special Olympics - Abby Pearson, daughter of our former member Jeff Pearson, is once again raising funds to support Special Olympics, by participating in a Polar Plunge Event in Eden Prairie on March 14th. Anyone interested in contributing can do so through the web site https://reg.plungemn.org/participant/abbypearson. Abby is well known to Plymouth Rotarians, as she often helps with our Highway 6 cleanup, and the Fire & Ice Fishing Contest.

Check out our Facebook page - Thanks to Diane Moyer for keeping up the postings. Contact her if you need to learn how to "be-friend" Rotary so you can keep up from time to time.

Amazon Purchases: Please remember to select RCOP Foundation when you make on-line purchases at Amazon.Smile. The Rotary Club of Plymouth Foundation is registered with Amazon and may be chosen when you make purchases through Amazon.Smile. Amazon will donate .05% of your total purchase to RCOP Foundation. The AmazonSmile web site provides all the same products as the regular site, but in addition allows you to designate a charity which Amazon will support. Please tell your friends and associates who shop through Amazon Smile! The contribution comes out of Amazon's pocket - not yours! Click here to get started:http://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-3054927 You Shop/ Amazon Gives!

APHORISIMS:

- If at first you don't succeed, Skydiving is not for you!

- We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse!

-Red meat is not bad for you. Fuzzy green meat IS BAD for you!

-Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!

-"I think Congressmen should wear uniforms. You know, like NASCAR drivers, so we could identify their corporate sponsors!"

Rotary International Theme: Light Up Rotary

Plymouth Rotary Club Theme: Participation Leads to Passion for Rotary

Rotary International Convention June 6-9 , 2015 Sao Paulo, Brazil