The Rotary Club of Edina will welcome Christopher B. Clark as program speaker at the Thursday, March 3, meeting. Clark is the president of Northern States Power Company—Minnesota, an Xcel Energy company. He will speak about "Xcel Energy's Vision of the Future." 

 

Before becoming president of Northern States Power Company — Minnesota, Clark was Regional vice president of Rates and Regulatory Affairs — Minnesota. He was responsible for Xcel Energy’s regulatory filings with the utility commissions in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, including rate, resource acquisition and service quality filings. Clark joined Xcel Energy in 1999 as a senior attorney. He was later appointed managing attorney, Northern States Power Company — Minnesota, an Xcel Energy company, with responsibility for the company’s state public utility law and power purchase agreement issues for operations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Clark represented Xcel Energy in regulatory proceedings before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and handled most issues related to rate cases, renewable energy and long-term power purchase projects and supported retail product and programs, including conservation improvement programs. He has more than 20 years of experience in energy and regulation.

 
Clark serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and People Serving People.

Prior to joining Xcel Energy, he worked as an in-house attorney for Alliant Energy, appearing for that company before public utility commissions in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. Clark received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science from the University of Iowa and earned his law degree from Drake University.

The Edina Country Club was festively decorated with many banners (“Be a Gift to the World”) for the joint meeting with the Rotary Club of Edina and Edina Morningside Rotary Club, as the serving dishes were promptly opened at 7:30 a.m. A throng of Rotarians were present for program speaker the Honorable Alan Page and additional tables had to be rolled in for the crowd. The morning meeting time was convenient for Paul Mooty, who graced us with his presence before his commute down to the sheep farm and rendering plant. President Jennifer Bennerotte worked the room with a camera in John Flynn’s absence (Golf? Skiing?).

 

At 7:53 a.m. President Jennifer and EMRC President Heather Anderson started us off with a ring of the bell. Members enjoyed a wonderful buffet as the meeting got rolling. We did the pledge (with the extra comma, ouch), the 4-way test and a quote from John Soderberg (“When you do nothing you feel powerless”).  Six visitors were welcomed. While not publically mentioned, the front desk was staffed by Dave Hatzung and Mark Hegman, and the greeters were Ann Platt and Les Wanninger.

 

Youth Exchange Officer Jenn Glass (EMRC) gave an update on the Youth Exchange program. Tina (from Norway) and Jane (from South Korea, note Wooj) were present. They are looking for committee members and host families. For 2016 there will be three outbound students (to Italy, Sweden and the Czech Republic) and two inbound students.

 

Club announcements featured:

•    Historic moment: Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. when we officially charter the new Interact Club at Edina High School.
•    State of Community Address by Mayor Jim Hovland (MC by none other than Scott Neal). The theme is “Continuing Excellence, Making Edina Better for Tomorrow."
•    Pictures of Chamber/Rotary mixer last week.
•    Sheri announced the upcoming Edina Morningside plant sale.
•    Other fundraisers to benefit Open Hands
•    Ann Platt and Tom Gump discussed how the two Edina Rotary clubs collaborate, noting that we do better when the two clubs work together. Examples: Camp Enterprise (EMRC's Peter Kelly is this year’s chair), VEAP lunch program, Southdale Y room, etc.

 

Jennifer Bennerotte (16-year Edina city employee) noted what it takes to sell newspapers (LA Times, Washington Post take note)—photos of local sports events and kids. The Cannon Falls Beacon will soon have a higher circulation than those dying brands. 
 
Ian Imeroff was then called to the mic to do a brief (clock was ticking) intro of the featured speaker the Honorable Alan Page, retired Minnesota Supreme Court justice. Ian was a clerk for Page.

 

Judge Page said he would cover his background and history:

•    He was born and raised in Canton, Ohio (home of NFL Hall of Fame, a presage to his future no doubt) in the 1950s.
•    He has seen lots of changes, especially in race relations. Mostly for the better, but not all for the better.
•    His parents taught him the value of education so he could have a life better than theirs.
•    Judge Page took that to heart (but not always as well as he should have).
•    He didn’t have to work hard to get reasonable good grades in school, so he didn’t learn how to learn (which is hard).
•    His parents taught him to seek excellence. Whatever you do in life, do it as well as you can.
•    He started playing football, where excellence is defined by wins and losses. But W/L doesn’t tell whether you did as good as you can, and while an individual may work to be the best he/she is, some play to the level of the opponent. So while you may win, you didn’t achieve your full potential.
•    When he was 7 or 8 years old, he decided he wanted to become an attorney. He didn’t know why, because he didn’t know any lawyers, but he had seen the Perry Mason show.
•    From watching that show he determined that lawyers (note Joe, Dave, Wooj, and others) didn’t work hard, made lots of money, drove fancy cars and golfed on Wednesdays.  He also understood that working in a steel mill was dirty, dangerous, and repetitious. So, he chose being a lawyer. (Note he didn’t mention installing home security systems or charging $149 for an oil change as an option.)
•    A great influence on his life was the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education. At that time, many regions of the United States were impacted by state-sponsored segregation. But, the Supreme Court had the power to change that, which fascinated him.
•    The ruling was simple and eloquent: In education, separate is inherently unequal.
•    Judge Page then went on to Notre Dame (tough medicine for this Purdue Boilermaker) on an athletic scholarship playing football. He graduated in 1967.
•    In 1968 he enrolled at William Mitchell Law School in Minneapolis and lasted only three weeks, mostly because it took that long to un-enroll. He was in over his head.
•    He then played nine seasons with the Vikings (no mention of those four Super Bowl loses and did every player give as much as they could).
•    In 1975 he went back to law school, and he was committed to the learning process, and he needed a change from football.
•    Judge Page loved law school (many don’t) as it challenged him.
•    He graduated in 1978 when his time with the Vikings ended (football is a business) and he was traded to Chicago (‘da Bears).
•    Over his lifetime he has spent lots of time talking to young children in school. It started in ninth grade when they wanted him to talk about the value of sports and football, but he wanted to talk about the value of education.
•    After he left football he joined a private law firm, then moved to the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, and then was honored to be elected in 1992 to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
•    He spent 22 years and 8 months on the Court.
•    He loved every minute of it, and woke up excited every day about what will come his way.
•    He said when he joined the Supreme Court he did not know the rules, and Ian was a great help.
•    In 1988 he formed the Page Educational Foundation, with the goal of encouraging and motivating achievement beyond high school. The foundation has two goals:(1) Financial Assistance; (2) Requiring Page Scholars work with children (K-8) to teach them that education is a tool to achieve their goals.
•    The Foundation stats:
—first year 10 scholars

—this year 536 scholars
—total Page scholars since inception: 6,000
—total grants: $12 million
—Page is most proud of the scholars and the work they have done as role models.

Q&A

During the question-and-answer session, Judge Page talked about his passion for education. His motto is: One child, one classroom, one school at a time. His view is that we need to teach a child to read and write, and that will force them to think critically. Beyond reading and writing, anyone can figure it out. He thinks (biting his tongue) that we don’t need another test to tell kids they aren’t doing well. They know that.

When asked what was it like growing up in a segregated society, he said there was state-sponsored segregation in the south, but not in Ohio. But we can still see segregation today in the lines of our communities. He said in his upbringing, it is hard to describe segregation because it is just part of your daily life. You know where you can go, who you can talk to, places you are not welcome, etc.

Judge Page got the honorable hook at 8:32 a.m. as all speakers do as we are committed to on-time meeting schedules. He was presented with a coffee mug and Rotary will make a donation to the Page Educational Foundation.

 

EMRC President Heather implored us to have a good week and to “Be a Gift to the World."

 

 

 

Classification: Retail Banking

Sponsor: Josh Sprague

 

Written objections to the applications must be submitted before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, to Rotary Club of Edina, 4801 W. 50^th St., Edina, MN  55424.