Nov 14 – Celebrate India, Chaska Event Center, 5:30 to 8:30 PM LINK
Nov 23 – Chaska Tree Lighting, Firemen's Park, 6 to 7:30 PM LINK
Dec 5 – Board Meeting via Zoom
Link to District 5950 Calendar of Events This includes activities and meetings related to Rotary Foundation, Polio Plus, President-elect Education, Camp Enterprise for high school juniors + seniors, Rotary Women happy hour, and Veterans Day.
Link to Southwest Chamber of Commerce Events Calendar This includes business ribbon-cuttings, Carver County Family Resource Center opening, Southwest Christian High School Theatre, group coffee meetings and holiday events and markets.
INVOCATION: Jim Halloran
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ryan Seibert listed the Birthday Boys for October – Bob, Vic, Mark, Gary and David; then congratulated members for their Rotary anniversaries:
Vic Benetti, 38 years
Matt Szybnski, 25 years
Michelle Kraus, 17 years
Sheryl Hough, 14 years
Jim Halloran, 1 year
Gretchen Oppriecht asked for more volunteers to staff the Rotary table at the Sun Meadow Farm Holiday Market on Nov. 8 + 9.
Celi Haga noted the increased need for support at the Bountiful Basket Food Shelf. If you want to help, please review their website LINK. At Cub Foods Chaska, you can give the gift of a holiday meal. Simply purchase a pre-packaged Thanksgiving bag, filled with holiday sides and $5 donation towards the purchase of a turkey. After you purchase the bag, Cub will donate it directly to Bountiful Basket, where it will be shared with local families in need. Mackenthun’s Minnetrista store is also helping fight food insecurity. On its website, you can Make a Cash Gift to go even further to help provide Thanksgiving meals for families. We will collect suitable food at our next meeting.
Bob Chinnock and the mentors accompanied the STRIVE students to Normandale and Hennepin Technical Colleges after our meeting. Ken Hiller provided this photo of the group visiting the Dental Lab at Hennepin.
HAPPY DOLLARS
Wayne Ward was the only person to proclaim happiness in donating.
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL Flag Presentation
Robin Nesburg gave us information about the Rotary club in Oulu, Finland. From the images in their club’s web page, Robin concluded that their club activities are similar to ours.
YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT – Ane Otsby
Ane visited the Stillwater home of the youth exchange student who is living with Ane’s family in Norway. She is interested in joining the Chaska High School Quiz Bowl and Knowledge Bowl teams.
STUDENT INTERN – Gonzalo Romero
Gonzalo continued to prepare college applications and essays. He has caught the American football spirit and is hopeful for the school’s sectional playoff games.
Ryan Seibert introduced Hunter Panning, a School Resource Officer and leader of the Drone unit for Chaska. Hunter grew up here and graduated from Chaska High School in 2014. He is FAA-certified to operate the two drones held by the department. The drones have proved to be valuable tools when responding to emergencies where sending in an officer could expose them to risks that are safely addressed by a drone.
Hunter showed photos and video examples of drone use. These included fire responses that benefited from the “hot-spot” detection provided by the infrared camera. We also saw the photos taken by the drones of Minnesota River flooding in 2024.
The drones carry lights and the Outdoor model also has a speaker to communicate with personnel when needed. Hunter noted that the department’s use of the drones is tightly controlled and documented. They cannot use facial recognition or carry weapons.
Hunter’s presentation brought out the techno-geek in many of us, and Santa’s holiday list may have requests for some new toys!
Invocations can be a faith traditional prayer, or a meditation, or inspirational verse or quote. Brief 20 – 30 seconds. Light-hearted is okay. Option: focus on our Mission of Service Above Self. Need an idea – Google Rotary Invocations.
