The Rotary Club of Edina will welcome Ben Utecht as program speaker at the Thursday, Aug. 23, meeting. Utecht, a Minnesota native who played football for the University of Minnesota, and went on to play in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Colts in 2007. He is a professional singer as well as motivational speaker. He will speak about "The MVP Program/The Champion's Way."

 

New members Doug Drake and Forest Green will be officially inducted into the club at the meeting.

 

 

 

Have you dreamed of being the next Peter Frampton? Do thoughts of Slash keep you up at night? Bring on your best Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix because tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 23, is the BIG day you've been waiting for. 
 
We will be holding our Air Guitar tryouts for "Rotary's Got Talent" Fundraiser & Gala on Thursday! We can't wait to have you join the fun, or enjoy the fun. Either way, it is not to be missed.
 
See you there and then! (We'll also see  you Saturday, Sept. 29, for the Gala!)

Your Rotary Gala Committee

 

At the Aug. 16 Rotary Club of Edina meeting, our The Rotary Foundation Director, David Clynes, presented pins to the following Rotarians, who achieved Paul Harris Fellow status and beyond for their donations to The Rotary Foundation: 

 

For newer members, and those who need a reminder, here is what PHF and PHS mean:

 

Paul Harris Fellowship (PHF)—acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

The annual Edina Rotary Foundation Fundraiser & Gala Raffle sales have begun! Ticket distribution began at the Aug. 16 Rotary meeting and will continue at this week's meeting, Aug. 23. After Aug, 23 any remaining undistributed tickets will be mailed out to members.

We ask that all members do their best to either sell your tickets to family and friends, or do what most Edina Rotarians do—purchase the tickets yourself. Our goal is for 100 percent participation from members of our club. The Rotary Raffle is the second largest source of donations for our Gala after sponsorships. 

 

This year, the raffle prizes are:

 

• First place prize—$750. 

• Three second-place prizes—$250 each. 

Please bring your cash or check (made payable to the Edina Rotary Foundation) to a weekly meeting or feel free to mail checks (not cash) with your raffle stubs to Marty Kupper, Tom Bach or Mike Opitz. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to call Marty (952-841-2160), Mike (612-867-3465) or Tom (612-578-5274).

 

Your support is appreciated! We'll see you at the "Rotary's Got Talent" Edina Rotary Foundation Fundraiser & Gala Sept. 29!
 

WHAT: Lawn bowling!
WHERE: Brookview Golf Course, 316 Brookview Parkway S., Golden Valley

WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. next Wednesday, Aug. 29
WHO: All Rotarians, significant others and families
INFO: We have 48 spots reserved at the newly remodeled Brookview Golf Course for this fun family event! Cost is $14 per person. Click on the link below to find out where to send payment.

REGISTRATION: Go here. Please send in payment after registering.

 

The next Rotary Vocational Development Group will be Wednesday, Sept. 5.
 

Once a month, Edina Rotarians have a chance to connect with other club members, and any guests, at the happy hour. This Rotary event is held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at The Mezz at the Lunds & Byerly's in Edina. The meeting will feature a brief presentation from a featured Rotarian, plus time for introductions, networking and questions. The speaker at the Sept. 5 get-together is EMRC member Mark Arnold. He is a registered jeweler at Continental Diamond. The Rotary Club of Edina and EMRC collaborate on this event.

 

WHAT: Walk to End Alzheimer's

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 15, registration at 8 a.m., ceremony at 9:30, with walk immediately following
WHERE: Target Field, Minneapolis
WHO: All Rotarians, friends and families
INFO: Our club, along with other District 5950 Rotarians, are encouraged to join the Rotary Rally for Alz team and join us for the Walk to End Alzheimer's! Sign up to participate, donate to the team, or do both! Watch our video for more info!
REGISTRATION: Go here to register or donate. Contact Rick Carlson, Brad Hepp or Jennifer Hendrickson for more info.

 

The Rotary Club of Edina and the Edina Morningside Rotary Club are embarking on starting and supporting a Rotaract Club. Rotaract clubs consist of young professionals between the ages of 18 and 30. Starting a Rotaract Club is one of five of our clubs visioning goals. It also is Rotary International President Barry Rassin’s goal this year is to expand Rotaract globally and strengthen the transition from Rotaract into Rotary.

 

The first meeting of the Rotaract Club of Edina will be held 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, at The Mezz at Lunds & Bylerlys, 7171 France Ave. S. Thereafter, meetings will be held there 6 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. Each meeting will feature a speaker and focus on service projects in alignment with Rotary’s mission of “Service Above Self.”

 

We need Rotaract members. Please contact Sam Thompson at sthompson@transitionsib.com if you have friends, family, neighbors or work associates that would be interested in joining our Rotaract Club.

Click on the link below for more on Rotaract...

 

WHAT: Open house at Insight Vision Care, new vision clinic recently opened by Rotarian Afira Hasan
WHEN: Tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 23, 4 to 8 p.m.
WHERE: Insight Vision Care,  7731 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie

WHO: Everyone is welcome—Rotarians, family, friends
INFO: The open house will feature a raffle of frames and sunglasses from Prada, Modo and Prodesign and 40 percent those frame lines. Heavy hors d'oevres and refreshments will be served. Contact Afira at 952-486-7858 or insightvisioncaremn@gmail.com with questions. 

Thank you so much for your donation to Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Summer Camp! All of our campers and counselors got an Edina Rotary water bottle and they really loved it.

 

Everyone was very well hydrated all week. We appreciate your support and we hope to work with you again in the future.

 

 

 

The program speaker at our Aug. 16 Rotary Club of Edina meeting was Dr. Nancy Hutchison. She is a physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation and she is a national expert in helping patients recover from the physical side effects of cancer and cancer treatment. She is also wife of Rotarian Don Hutchison.

 

Rotarian Susan Stiles gave her Classification Talk at the meeting.

 

Click on the link below to see Barker writer Les Wanninger's observations of the meeting...