In review

 
We were greeted by Dennis Hykes, Melinda Inman and Jim Platt. Royce Pavelka handled the front desk duty. Scott Neal shared a special invocation with us (more on that later), and led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test. 
 
We had a busy and exciting meeting with lots of guests. Lisa Walker introduced the following guests who attended the meeting:
  • Susan Gunderson, CEO of LifeSource, guest of the speaker
  • Robert Emery, surgeon, guest of the speaker
  • Ari Malek of Impact Web Solutions, guest of the speaker
  • Denise Nelson, owner of VIP Expert Nurse Consulting, guest of Josh Sprague  
  • Turner Neal, son and guest of Scott Neal
  • Jeff Hall, founder of One Village Partners, guest of Dan Mott. Jeff shared an update on a Rotary and One Village Partners project.
  • Jill LaLonde, executive director of One Village Partners, guest of Dan Mott
  • Visiting Rotarian Erica Hollom, with the Edina Chamber of Commerce, member of the Edina Morningside Rotary Club  
We heard from David Clynes and his recent visit to Rotary clubs in both London and Stockholm. Rotary members are welcomed and encouraged to visit other clubs throughout the world and share our fellowship. Consider visiting another club when traveling and bring a part of our club with you to share. Edina Rotary has representative material from our club to present to the host club. See President Ann Platt for these items.

Ron Kalich and Mike Sitek, chairs of the Live Auction committee for the 2016 Fundraiser & Gala, presented a sneak preview of auction items for our upcoming New York State Of Mind-themed Gala Oct. 1. Members of our club have been very generous with their donations to the Live Auction, so save your dollars for the following items:
  • New York, New York—a trip to New York City with roundtrip airfare for two included (donated by Tom Bach), a two-night hotel stay, and two tickets to see Late Night with Seth Meyers (donated by Paul Peterson).
  • Broadway in Chicago—a trip to Chicago that includes roundtrip airfare for two, two-night lodging at Union League Club of Chicago, dinner in the club's elegant dining room, and tickets to a Broadway-class presentation at one of the nearby theaters (all donated by Ron Kalich).
  • Grandview Villa and Golf—enjoy three days and two nights in the Golf Villa, which easily sleeps six (donated by Ed Bather), and two rounds of golf for four at the Pines or Preserve (donated by Sam Cote). 
  • Full Week Winter or Summer Escape to Caribou Lake—A week lodging in a private home on Caribou Lake by Lutsen on the North Shore (donated by Mike Sitek). The vacation home sleeps up to 10, and guests can enjoy golf, skiing, fishing, snowmobiing and much more depending on the season.
  • Dinner for 10 at the Bridgewater—Tomato Vine restaurant will prepare dinner, and your hosts Dan Mott and Sam Thompson will serve the food! The meal from Tomato Vine, winner of 2016 Taste of Edina, will be multiple courses, and will include wine and cocktails for 10. The eighth-floor room where guests will dine features a beautiful view of downtown, and an outdoor patio with a fire pit for after dinner enjoyment.
  • Personal appearance at your home by Paul Peterson—our own Rotary member, and incredible musician, is just off the road after touring with Peter Frampton this summer. His next stop will be the lucky winner's home for a one-hour performance! Don't miss out on the chance to bid on this priceless item, and an evening you will always remember.
What a list for the Live Auction! If you have items to donate to the Silent Auction, please contact Susan Johnson at susan@fidelitybankmn.com. 

Terry Moore gave his classification talk at the meeting. He is primarily a small business attorney and works at Hellmuth & Johnson. He has worked with other firms prior to Hellmuth & Johnson, and also as a solo practitioner. Terry is a 1985 graduate of St John’s University, where he studied government, rugby and beer, but not necessarily in that order.  After St John’s he went on to receive his law degree from University of Minnesota in 1988. Terry lives in Edina with his wife, who is a physician at TRIA, a daughter and two sons. Interestingly, we learned that the radio station WAYL was actually started by his father. Radio station ownership became a family business. Because of his exposure to radio stations, Terry has represented a number of clients in that field. Besides radio stations, Terry worked in the ND oil patch for awhile helping with the creation and dissolution of various companies in that area. Terry is also one of the owners of 4 on 4 hockey, which is played at Braemar.
 
We also learned at the meeting that John Flynn has been a passionate photographer since the age 8. This explains why he is so good! Ann Platt shared that since retiring from Lifetouch, John has continued to pursue another of his lifelong passions, which is golf. In fact, he has played on major courses worldwide. John introduced our speaker at the meeting, Bill Sullivan.
 
Bill has run Dr. John Najarian’s medical research foundation for the past 32 years. He shared some interesting information with us about organ transplantation. Recipients of donations are determined by medical need as well as proximity to the donor. Money, prestige or race are not qualifying or disqualifying factors in determining who shall receive an organ. A doctor will determine the viability of an organ given for donation, so age of the donor is not a restriction either. The immunological system of the body has to be regulated to accept the organ and not reject it. Today, better training, 3D printing and xenotransplantation are all contributing to a higher success rate.

Scott Neal, the city manager for Edina, talked in his invocation about the topic of waiting for an organ transplant. Later in our speaker’s presentation we learned that Scott’s son, Turner Neal, actually had a heart condition that made him a candidate for a heart transplant when he was 12 years old. After a successful transplant and recovery he has lead a normal life. Turner is the athletic director of the International School in Eden Prairie. As a recipient of an organ transplant, the Neal family can speak first hand to the impactful gift of organ donation.  

Susan Gunderson, CEO of LifeSource (www.life-source.org), spoke throughout the presentation as to the importance of becoming a donor and shared some interesting facts. If you haven’t become a donor yet, you may want to consider it. It is an easy process. We learned that the largest continuous organ donation chain was 67 donations. A chain is where a spouse or relative of a donated organ decides to give an organ of their own—such as a kidney. Another website to visit is http://www.DonateLifeMN.org. The organ donation need is great. Please help expand the awareness and organ availability. In fact 21 people die every day due to a lack of available organs. There is a 96 percent success rate with kidney transplants and an 87 percent success rate with heart transplants. All states are “opt in."  You have to make the effort to indicate you wish to be a donor. Consider doing so while you are healthy and can then share your wishes with your family.

Our speaker leases office space in Edina from fellow Rotarian Ed Bather. During the presentation, Bill promised to explain to Ed through the presentation the actual duties of his job. But, I sat next to Ed at lunch, wherein he told me still doesn’t know! So, it looks like Bill and Ed need to get together for a follow-up discussion.
 
Deirdre Kvale thanked the speaker. President Ann Platt adjourned the meeting.