Heart Safe Plymouth: As of 1/27/2015 1820 people trained (and counting!). February 26th's entire Rotary meeting will be dedicated to training members who have missed previous trainings at the Club, and to refresh Rotarians who have been trained more than two years ago. Russ and Norm and their team will conduct the effort. Watch for more information.
REMINDER: Please review 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 in updates, Dwain Erickson and Diane Moyer will be shooting photographs of members whose photos are missing from the Club Membership roster.
Important Dates/Events:
Grant Management Seminars- We still have an opportunity to register additional members of the Club to become certified to write Grants to qualify the Club for any matching grants we might apply for during Rotary Year 2015-16. Peter Bartling qualified our Club last year and will get re-certified again this year. To qualkify for writing and submitting applications for matching grants, Plymouth Rotary needs to certified members trained each year. The sessions are four hours and the remaining possibilities this year are scheduled for Thursday, April 9th (4:00pm-8:00pm); Saturday, April 11th (8:30 am - 12:30 pm), both to be held in Golden Valley. Saturday, April 25th (9:00 am to 1:00 pm) is the last session to be help during the District Assembly in Edina. Lunch or dinner will be provided, depending on the meeting times.
This opportunity will be open for one more week so we can get you your preference in meeting dates. Sessions will be limited to 20 Rotarians. See Steve Beachler for details. This is critical that we have currently certified, trained members.
West Metro Rotaract Kick-off: This event was postponed due to a speaker conflict which has now been resolved. 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.
We still need Plymouth Rotarians to help reach out to young people (ages 18 - 30) from businesses, colleges and universities, or from your own families. Please provide contact information for anyone who may be interested and give it to Jason Cardwell, Norm Okerstrom, Ricardo Ortizcazarin, or Steve Beachler.
Jeff Wosje, our ADG for Area 12, kicked off the leadership course on February 6th. The 10-week course is held Friday mornings, 7:30 am to 8:30 am in the Conference Room of Lund's Grocery Store in Wayzata. The course is be based on the book "The 12 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership," by John Maxwell. Steve Juetten, Peter Bartling, and Steve Beachler are attending along with two members from Orono, one from Lake Minnetonka-Excelsior and one from Mound Westonka. There is still room for more Plymouth Rotarians who wish to take advantage of these sessions. The meetings are informal and two chapters of easy reading are used for each session and discussion.
Fire and Ice Festival February 7th. Thanks to Glenn Norton for organizing perhaps the largest turnout of youth and parents to experience ice fishing on Parker's Lake on a 40 degree afternoon. This was perhaps the largest turnout we've seen since Plymouth Rotary started the event. We also had a large group of Plymouth Rotarians to assist with our fishing guests!
The 2015 Rotary ​District 5950 Conference is set for May 16, 2015 at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Mall of America. 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 now!
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 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!
Chinese New Year Dinner Margaret Li has generously agreed to organize the 2015 Chinese New Year dinner we've been observing for several years. A straw vote from members indicated a desire to continue this fun evening of fellowship, dinner, and learning more about the tradition from Margaret. Watch for a special "invite" to be sent when more details, costs and location are set. Reservations will be required to assure the space in the restuarant.
Valentine's Day February 14th. Valentine's Day Facts:
- Pope Gelasius declard February 14th a day to honor St. Valentine in AD 496
- 58 million pounds of chocolate will be sold during Valentine's week
- 224 million roses will be grown for Valentine's Day
- 151 million cards will be exchanged
- $4.4 Billion is anticipated to be spent on jewelry
(Have you shopped for your special Valentine?)
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
