ROTARY INTERNATIONAL

Flag Presentation: Phil Solseng presented the flag from Denmark and the Odense Rotary Club (or Klubber if you speak the language). The Odense club has raised over 10M Krona for the help of Ukraine. Our connection is a former exchange student, Lisa Baisgaard, in 2000-2001. Lisa became a Paul Harris Fellow in 2013 and as of 2019 was still in Rotary. Phil was unable to make a connection prior to today. Ken Hiller shared that Hans Christian Anderson was from Odense originally.

YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT – Ane Otsby

 Ane’s update:  Soccer, soccer, soccer!! Some wins and some drama. Soar Hawks! Girl’s last game is tonight in Coon Rapids. Over the weekend, Ane got to go on a boat trip with her host family.

STUDENT INTERN – Gonzalo Romero

Gonzalo got to help a friend celebrate a birthday in between not feeling great. Wish him luck on his AP Stats test. He had to tell a funny story for a class at school and he shared how he flooded an elementary school bathroom in first grade…not exactly by accident. Chief Ryan’s first grader had a similar bathroom situation with soap and mirrors - yesterday.

PRESENTATION:  Laura Helmer, League of Women Voters (LWV) of Eastern Carver County

Laura has been a member of LWV since 1995 - the League of Women Voters has been on the front line of democracy since 1919. Laura continues to serve as local president for the past six years.

The LWV is a nonpartisan organization - neither supporting or opposing any party or candidate. However, nonpartisan doesn’t mean neutral and does mirror the government, but having offices at the national, state, and local levels. Each level of league tackles issues germane to their immediate area.

National impact is 1+M members and supporters; 9.38 voter rights protected through LWV litigation, and 70T voter to voter conversations among many other accomplishments.

Local leagues focus on local issues. Some examples: in 1971, the League supported an equal amount of organized activities for females as well as for males - based on research and data collection. In 1982, special projects included a focus on recycling and as a result, there was an increase in household recycling. In 1983, the League took a position on local justice issues and supported police/school liaison officers. In 1992 there was a position on female adolescents supporting gender fair curriculum. In 1993, Lucie Hartley was a 1993 Recipient of the George Klein Award sponsored by Chaska Rotary (member of class of 1928) and was 10 when women earned the right to vote.

Work today: Voter registration, candidate forums, naturalization ceremonies, and advocacy work. The advocacy work is kept separate from the voter registration work Positions are only taken after careful and rigorous consideration and are voted on by members of LWV.

Coming up:

District 112 School Board Panel Discussion - Tuesday, October 28 at 6:30 in Crown of Glory Church in Chaska focusing on the upcoming referendum, co-hosted by the SW Metro Chamber.

Questions:

-Issues of primary concern currently are threats to democracy and making sure people who are eligible to vote can exercise their right to vote, focusing on civil discourse, as well as an upcoming redistricting project.

-Another question was raised about a situation where a Rotary member was asked their party affiliation at a volunteer event - again, the LWV is nonpartisan and there will be a private conversation to see what happened.

-Carver County LWV meets once a month, different chapters have different meeting schedules.

-Guys can also join the LWV and it’s a great place to meet folks who really care about the community and share in their commitment in making a positive difference right here where we live. As an example, one of the topics in the recent past was how to maintain civility in contentious times.

-Membership is open to ALL ages 16 and older.

-How we get the message out, now that the paper is gone, is through the on-line paper (CCLN), social media, and existing civic organizations… Honestly, the local newspaper is very missed. All candidate forums are recorded so they can be viewed. 411.org website also has details. To participate in a candidate forum, they need to complete the LWV questionnaire and if they don’t the League includes their basic information along with guidance to their website.

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Our raffle drawing -  Gary Hardel is the winner of the drawing with the prize to be determined. Pat W., you’re on the hook.