The Rotary Club of Edina is collecting holiday gifts for families in need in our community. Rotarian Jean Morrison is spearheading the Holiday Giving Program, and asks that members bring UNWRAPPED gifts for children of any age (infant all the way through teens) as well as gifts for moms, dads, and families, to the Edina Country Club in December. The gifts can still be dropped off at the Dec. 8 meeting, or at the Holiday Party on Thursday, Dec. 15.  Gift cards, cash or check donations are also welcome at the Dec. 8 meeting. Jean will take the funds donated and buy gift cards or other gifts to be donated as well. This year, the organizations benefiting from the Edina Rotary Holiday Giving Program will be:

 

• Cornerstone—every year for the holidays, Cornerstone hosts the Holiday Shop for the families they serve. The Holiday Shop gives children from abusive homes the opportunity to shop for gifts for their parents and siblings. Cornerstone is a nonprofit agency that serves adults and children who  have been impacted by domestic violence, sexual violence and/or human trafficking. Cornerstone believes that together, we can ease the stress of the season and make the holidays brighter for families who are rebuilding their lives.  

 
If you have questions about the program, or need gift ideas for children or families, contact Jean Morrison at jean@jeanmorrisonhr.com. 

 

Thank you for sharing your holiday spirit with those in need!

 

 

Join us for the Edina Rotary Happy Hour/Vocational Development Group. The December Rotary Happy Hour will be held at a different date and time than usual. The next gathering will be Monday, Dec. 12, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at The Mezz, located upstairs in Lunds & Byerly's at 7171 France Ave. S. in Edina. Access The Mezz from the entrance closest to France Avenue (SW corner of the store). Wine and craft beer is available at your own cost. A limited menu may be available, but you can also purchase food in the grocery deli and bring it upstairs.

The event will feature a short social period, with a "formal" program beginning at 6 p.m. Each person will have a brief opportunity to introduce themselves and make new connections. A featured presenter will have 15 minutes to share information that is relevant to his or her profession followed by a short Q&A period. The speaker at the Dec. 12 gathering is Dick Crockett of the Edina Community Foundation. Dick is a member of the Edina Morningside Rotary Club. 

Other upcoming speakers are:

• Jan. 4, 2017—Dan Hennen
• Feb. 1, 2017—Sutton McGraw
• March 1, 2017—Ann Platt

Rotary Happy Hour is a collaboration between the Rotary Club of Edina and EMRC. Contact Renee Harberts for more information. 

Come and check out this Rotary event! 

 

Valet parking will be offered. Make sure you check in at the registration table when you arrive at the ECC that evening. Note that only cash will be accepted to purchase beverages at the bar. The ECC does not have a cash machine on site.

For more information, contact Marty Kupper or Steve Slyce.

 

Thanks again [Tom Ries] for remembering me with the invitation to the Veterans Day Luncheon. Really nice tribute each year for all the vets. Good program, speakers, food and fellowship. 

 

 

On behalf of us at Little Hospice, "thank you" for the incredible generosity, once again, of the Rotary Club of Edina and its members. Your donation of three turkeys along with all the fixings and canned goods and desserts are so deeply appreciated and have been put to good use. We had something over 35 guests visiting our patients at noon on Thanksgiving, most of whom were recipients of the most delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal anyone could ever hope to enjoy.

 

Scott and Sam MacDonald, together with two Rotary [Youth] Exchange students, arrived about 2 p.m. today with baskets filled with more food than we could possibly imagine or hope for. And they brought lots of laughter and goodwill to our home at the same time! They were greeted with enthusiasm by our cook and several nurses, volunteers and me. This has become an anticipated tradition that makes a significant difference for us, for which we are all most grateful!

 

The Rotary Club of Edina continues to make a difference to so many in so many ways. I am both humbled and proud to be associated with our great and generous Club and so grateful that the Little Hospice is a beneficiary of this goodness! Thank you. 

 

With gratitude,

 

 

 

We were greeted today by our newest inducted member and the only Boomer Sooner in the club, Jen Tregarthen, the Unstoppable Dave Hatzung and, I guess, Billy McReavy. Just around the corner the fun begins with Mr. & Ms. Claus, or better known as Tom Pirsch and Jean Morrison, collecting gifts for the Rotary Holiday Giving Program, which will be given to Cornerstone's Holiday Shop and VEAP's Holiday Toy Drive. Donations can also be brought to the Dec. 8 meeting and to the Rotary Holiday Party Dec. 15. Cash and check donations are accepted.

 

 

Diligently working the front desk with Jen Garske was Tom Ries. Madame President Ann Platt began the meeting with a sincere thank you to Michael Stanzak and Mary Hustad for all their work on another successful Thanksgiving Basket meeting. Great job Mary and Michael.

 

A very thoughtful invocation was brought to us by John Buttolph, with an excellent quote from Ben Franklin. Chuck Agan introduced the following guests and visiting Rotarians: 

 

Dan Hallberg announced the dates and location of this year's Salvation Army’s Bell Ringing for our club, and that one day of the bell ringing will be in honor of Joel Jennings. All donations collected that day during our club's time ringing the bell will be matched! Members will be ringing at Jerry's Foods on Vernon Avenue in Edina from 2 to 8 p.m. Dec. 19 through 22, and from 2 to 6 p.m. on Dec. 23. Wednesday, Dec. 21, is Ring for Joel Day.

 

 

Membership Committee Member and Past President Steve Slyce inducted our newest member, Jen Tregarthen, at the meeting. Jen is sponsored by Greg Yoch. Jen is new to our club but not to Rotary as she was a member of the Norman Sooner Rotary Club in Oklahoma. Welcome Jen.

 

Mike Kallas introduced one of our 2015–2016 outbound Youth Exchange students, Walter Sullivan, who gave an informative review of his experience in Sweden. Steve Buettner brought our Edina High School students guests, Eric Etukyo and Emily Neville, (former neighbor and talented kid).

 

 

Our program was brought to us by Tom Bach, Edina West Class of '79, who has had a distinguished career with Northwest Airlines and United HealthCare. Tom introduced Scott F. Wolter who is a forensic geologist and petrographer. Wolter graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Minnesota–Duluth in 1982. Professionally, he has worked as a petrographer since 1985. 
 
Wolter is the host of History channel's hit show "America Unearthed," which follows him on his quest to uncover the truth behind controversial historic artifacts. He also co-hosted History’s "Pirate Treasure of the Knights Templar" about late 17th century pirate shipwrecks, Freemasons and the Knights Templar.

Scott did an excellent job of tailoring his program to fit our timeline. Scott has an ongoing quest to uncover the mysteries of the controversial Kensington Rune Stone he examined in 2001. We discovered only about half of the members and guests present knew about the Kensington Rune Stone. As Scott explained, the Kensington Rune Stone is a medieval document carved in rock. Scott proposed it is a land claim, carved in Minnesota in 1362. It is said to have been written by a party of Templar Knights. The rune stone was found in Kensington, Minnesota, by Olof Ohman in 1890 in the roots of an Aspen tree. As said, the runes were caked with mud so Olof used a nail to scratch them out and attempt to read them. Those scratch marks would haunt the rune stone as detractors claimed that they were the marks of recent carving. In fact the scratches are down in the runes and the remainder of the carved surfaces show obvious weathering compared to the scratches. The runes were quite old, certainly older than the 20 years Olof had been in the area. Scott conducted a study to compare the weathering of the rune stone to other similar stones exposed to similar climate for a known period in order to deduce an age. Tombstones of slate in Maine that were approximately 200 years old were selected. Samples were taken with permission and studied. The carvings on the tombstones did not have complete mica deterioration and the rune stone did. This made it possible to conclude that the rune stone was carved more than 200 years ago. This of course, rules out any any hoax and any conclusion other than the rune stone is an artifact of pre-Columbian European contact. More information can be found at http://scottwolteranswers.blogspot.com/2016/02/kensington-rune-stone-deception.html

 

In 1990, Scott founded American Petrographic Services and continues to serve as president. He has been the principal petrographer in more than 7,000 material forensic investigations throughout the world, including the evaluation of fire-damaged concrete from the Pentagon following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Scott quest to find Jeff Ohe's heart has come up empty, but he did find a big ego. 

 

Leann Stessman thanked Scott, and Madame President Platt concluded another successful meeting.