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Kristen Stuenkel
 
 
Joining the FCH Rotary breakfast meetings on Zoom:  open the link below, click on Open Zoom Meetings, and follow the prompts.
 
December 7, 2022
 
PROGRAM
 
18 members and visiting Rotarian Julie Gotham, District 5960 Assistant Governor and member of Blaine-Ham Lake Rotary, heard member Kristen Stuenkel speak of the history of the Ku Klux Klan in Minnesota, in which Stuenkel believes one or more of her forebears may have been active in the 1920s. Best known for violently racist beliefs and activities in the South, the KKK was more widely a promoter of white Protestant supremacy.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Amada Márquez Simula and Stuenkel reported that the Pollination Committee met yesterday via Zoom. Columbia Heights High School’s Blooming Heights garden coordinator Wes Negteren joined Rotary members Márquez Simula, Mike Oakman, Stuenkel, and Bob Tholkes to discuss goal-setting and plans for 2023 for the Blooming Sunshine Pollinator Garden at Lomianki Park in Columbia Heights and the Columbia Heights Mayor’s Monarch Festival. Stuenkel plans to attend the Rotary International Pollinator group meeting via Zoom next week. Márquez Simula confirmed that the HeightsNEXT Community Foundation’s grant application to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, for which the club provided a letter of support, was submitted last week.
 
President-Elect Stephen Keeler noted in his Rotary Minute that Rotary International produces podcasts on various subjects, available at https://on.rotary.org/3VnjizH.
 
Breakfast will not be held on Wednesday, December 28, due to the holidays.
 
REMINDERS
 
The club board meets today after the breakfast, at the Fridley Community Center, 6085 61st Avenue North. All members are welcome.
 
The first bellringing opportunity for the Salvation Army takes place today from 3-7 p.m. at Sam’s Club, 8150 University Avenue NE in Fridley.
 
A Lunch with the Fridley STRIVE students is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. at the high school on Dec. 13.  Additional mentors for the STRIVE students are sought. Contact Steve Klaers at 612-599-8103. STRIVE students from both schools will visit Anoka Hennepin tech school today.
 
Bellringing for the Salvation Army continues at Sam’s Club, 8150 University Avenue NE in Fridley, from 3-7 p.m. on the next two Wednesdays, December 14, and 21. A sign-up sheet for 2 hour time blocks will be circulated. Contact Gordon Backlund at 612-296-0375 to participate.
 
The Pollination Committee will meet next on Tuesday, January 3 at 7:30 a.m. on Zoom. The Zoom link is https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/86557933324. Contact organizer Kristen Stuenkel with any questions at stuenkek@colheights.k12.mn.us.
 
Rotary District’s annual free midterm event takes place January 7. See https://rotary5960.org/Stories/2022-mid-term-taste-of-rotary for details.
 
Save The Date: the annual district 5960 conference is scheduled for April 29, 2023, a joint conference with District 5950 at Madden’s Golf Resort on Gull Lake in Brainerd.
 
Speaker on December 14: Retiring Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo provides an update on his office’s activities.
 
Speaker on December 21: Anoka County Director of Economic Development Greg Frahm-Gilles provides an update on his office’s activities.
 
Speaker on January 4: David Van Wagner of Humana will inform about Medicare and changes for 2023.