The Rotary Club of Edina will welcome Sister Mary Madonna Ashton as program speaker at the Thursday, June 23, meeting. Sister Mary Madonna was a 2016 National Women's History Month Honoree. This is the second-to-the-last meeting of the Rotary year.

 

Here is more about Sister Mary Madonna from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet & Consociates:

 

March is National Women's History Month and the Sisters of St. Joseph are proud to announce Sister Mary Madonna Ashton, CSJ, is a 2016 National Women’s History Month Honoree. The 2016 theme established by the National Women’s History Project is “Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government.” 

 

"Sister Mary Madonna, at age 92, is oldest living recipient to be honored and only the second woman religious (Sister Aloysius Molloy, OSF, honored in 2007) to be honored since the project began in 1980” explained Molly Murphy MacGregor of the Women’s History Project (NWHP). NWHP is a clearinghouse providing information and training in multicultural women’s history for educators, community organizations, parents or anyone seeking to expand their understanding of women’s contributions to U.S. history.

 

Sister Mary Madonna has an impressive Minnesota-based career in public and private service. She served as president and CEO of St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis, State Commissioner of Health under Governor Rudy Perpich, and founded St. Mary’s Health Clinics. 

 

She worked in medical social work and hospital administration, ultimately serving as president and CEO at St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis. 

After resigning her CEO position, she was contacted by then Minnesota Governor-elect Rudy Perpich who asked her to serve as Commissioner of Health. “There was a tremendous amount of opposition,” recalls Sister Ashton. She wasn’t a doctor. She was a woman and a nun! During consecutive terms she addressed smoking cessation and AIDS, becoming a highly respected and successful Commissioner of Health. 

 

After her term, she founded St. Mary’s Health Clinics for people without access to healthcare. The free clinics, run by volunteer physicians and nurses, still serve the Twin Cities metropolitan area. “We opened our first clinic in January of 1992. We thought it would be temporary,” said Ashton. By the time she retired in 2000, SMHC had 11 clinics. Today, the clinics continue operating. “Even after Obamacare, there are still people without access to healthcare.” 

 

Sister Mary Madonna holds a Bachelor of Arts from the College of St. Catherine (now St. Catherine University) and servies as a University trustee emerita, a Master of Hospital Administration from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Science in social work from St. Louis University. She received honorary doctorate degrees from The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul in 1996 and Hamline University in St. Paul in 1997.

 

Mary Madonna received her award in Washington, D.C. March 19, 2016. 

 

The Rotary Club of Edina meets at 12:15 p.m. Thursdays at the Edina Country Club. All are welcome to attend the program and have lunch. Cost for the meal is $19 for adults and $12 for children.

 

Strong community and the joy of being together with friends and family outshines any clouds or rain.

 

More than 60 Rotarians and enthusiastic family and kids enjoyed a fun evening of community and fun at Bryant Lake Park tonight. Table after table was a mix of old friends and new friends, little kids and veterans. Each one with a special story, each one enjoying the fun.

 

Lisa Walker and Hugh Hadlund outdid themselves with the amazing caterer, Divine Swine, and their delectable pulled pork and turkey. Oh, the barbecue sauce - they have the touch! Plenty of napkins, but this was finger-licking good. I saw more than one big kid with a touch of the red sauce on their nose or a dollop of the special frosting on the delicious cupcakes on their cheek.

 

I’ve never seen so many prizes—each of us stuffed a card with our name into a basket, each one of us hoping against hope that our name would be drawn...this card, no the next one, no the next. Certificates for fine gourmet sandwiches, exotic Italian cuisine and haute cuisine baking and coffee—where did they find these prizes? Wow, I don’t want to miss next year.

Entertainer Tuey Wilson—what an amazing juggler1—wowed the crowd doing complex and death-defying feats. Even the special mood lighting that warmed the latter part of our evening didn’t seem to deter his ability to awe and inspire all of us. There was even audience participation, showing we have a lot of talent in our midst.

 

New Generations Exchange student Andrea, here from Korea for a few weeks to meet Minnesota and grow her community of sports medicine professionals—ready or not—got a big taste of our club’s spirit and joy. Little kids and big kids all having a fabulous time.

 

Other responsibilities required that I leave before the last jug was juggled but the room was full of wows and awes and I can just imagine that things kept rocking with joy long after I left.

 

Lisa and Hugh—you really out did yourselves. Many thanks for a special evening for everyone.

 

 

 

Classification: Medicine—Allergy

Sponsor: Josh Sprague

 

Written objections to the applications must be submitted before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, to Rotary Club of Edina, 4801 W. 50^th St., Edina, MN  55424.