REMINDER: Thursday May 17, 2018 Richfield Rotary Morning Meeting 7:25 - 8:30 AM Richfield Bloomington Honda.
Sign-in / Happy Dollars: Tommy Thompson
Thought for the Week: Hae Kyung Thompson
Program: Krysta Peterson, District 5950 / Area 3 Assistant Governor – "Using Social Media to Further our Club’s Public Image"
Richfield Rotary is one of six clubs that make up Area 3 of Rotary District 5950. The other clubs include Bloomington Noon, Eden Prairie AM & PM, Edina Morningside and Edina Noon. Krysta Peterson, who is new in the role of Assistant District Governor, will introduce herself and share thoughts about the use of social media to support our club’s public image and Rotarians as “People of Action.”
Other Club Business – President Chip Groth
Background information and preparations for the Cameron Scholarship presentations at our May 24 meeting.
2018-19 Club goal setting as it pertains to Rotary.org
Plans for Club and Richfield Rotary Foundation open elections
Dave Melcher was thinking about the Parkland, FL students and other protesters, and concluded that protests can be a way of demonstrating citizenship. He shared the quote, "To sin by silence when we should protest makes us cowards."
Announcements / Happy Dollars
Jean Fox, sporting a boot for her broken foot, observed that “walking with a boot is hard but I can still crawl in the garden." Another positive: “Denny has to do all the heavy lifting!” Jean also shared great news about her daughter, Darcy, who is battling cancer. Darcy’s new chemotherapy treatments are working well and her tumor has shrunk to one half of its original size.
David Butler reported that the walls are going up on the new Richfield bandshell, and noted that Richfield Rotary has been the biggest contributor to the project. David (far right) also welcomed Richfield’s Police Chief but laughed sheepishly when our guest pointed out, "I'm a Lieutenant; the real chief is peering over your shoulder!"
John Devlin (right) encouraged club members to sign up for the Richfield Rotary team to place flags at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on the morning of Saturday, May 6, 7-9 PM.
Chip Groth invited members to sign up to help serve pizza at the conclusion of Richfield Safety Day, Friday, June 8, 3:50 – 5:15 PM.
(See “Richfield Rotary in Service” below for more information and to register for both service opportunities.)
Program: Lieutenant Mike Flaherty, city of Richfield, “Community Engagement by Richfield Police”
Lieutenant Flaherty has been part of the Richfield Police Department for nearly 22 years, serving in a variety of roles including patrol, sergeant, detective, and in three different Lieutenant roles: patrol, investigative, and now community engagement. Lt. Flaherty stated, “The RPD has put an enormous amount of energy into community engagement to help engage with people and build trust,” requiring all officers to participate in community-oriented policing training and activities. Examples of community engagement initiatives and activities include:
Coffee with a Cop – (A prior event was held at Assumption Church, to connect with Latino residents. An upcoming event is scheduled for May 17 at Starbucks.)
May 24 - Unity in the Community (formerly Cinqo de Mayo) - outreach to Richfield’s diverse communities
May 31 - Bike give-back event at the police department. Mike explained that the RPD recovers 60-70 bikes over the course of a year. RPD has partnered with RHS to recruit students to help repair the bikes and help out at the give-back event, which includes distribution of bikes and helmets along with training on safe bike riding.
Neighborhood Crime Watch Program
Richfield Safety Day
Lt. Flaherty responded to a wide range of questions relating to policing, reflecting that "expectations of policing have moved way beyond law enforcement. We are expected to respond to mental health issues, negotiate threats, and even rescue or eradicate animals." He concluded that, with careful hiring and training in areas such as conflict resolution and implicit bias, "the RPD has an excellent group of officers."
On the morning of Saturday, May 26, thousands of volunteers will come together to remember our American heroes by placing flags on graves of veterans buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Starting in the Atrium at the North Entrance to Mall of America®, volunteers will arrive in assigned waves for registration and training (every 30 minutes between 5:30 and 8:00 AM). Volunteers will be shuttled to and from the cemetery for flag placement. The volunteer time for each group is estimated at two hours.
John Devlin will register the Rotary Club of Richfield as a team. He will sign us up for the 7 AM registration wave, but we could be assigned a different time slot. Click here to let John know if you will join fellow Rotarians Laura Briggs, Pat Dale, and John and Barb Devlin as part of the Richfield Rotary flag placement team. Thank you!
The Bread of Hope initiative provides unsold bread from Lakewinds Cooperative to Hope Presbyterian Church for the Loaves and Fishes evening meal. The Rotary, Optimists and Lions Clubs along with Headway Family Services each deliver bread one day per week, with Rotary delivering on Thursday morning following our regular meeting.
Listed below are volunteers who have signed up to are deliver bread through May 2018. Thanks to our volunteers!Thank you!
Thanks to the current and past members of Richfield Rotary who have joined volunteers from the Bloomington and Edina Rotary Clubs to assemble food bags for distribution to students from families with limited incomes so they don't go hungry over the weekend.
Following are the Richfield Rotary volunteers scheduled during the remaining weeks of the 2017-2018 school year:
Once you've reset your password, you can then login and access the secure member's area of our website. Please note that the Membership tab includes contact information for all club members. In this section, you can also add to or edit your own profile information.
Click here to learn more about ClubRunner and visit the ClubRunner knowledge base.
How to Avoid Blocking e-Spokester
Recently, a Richfield Rotarian reported that he was no longer receiving the e-Spokester. Other Rotarians have reported this from time to time as well.
Denny Fox contacted ClubRunner Support, who noted that the block occurs when the Rotarian reports a ClubRunner document as spam (usually a District 5950 e-mail message or notice), which then blocks all future ClubRunner documents, including the e-Spokester. ClubRunner Support recommends, “If someone gets an unwanted email from ClubRunner their best bet is to delete it. If they choose report as spam it can stop future emails.”
Note: Click here to view how to remove blocked emails.
Richfield Rotary members and friends - here is a great way to help support our foundation and its good works as you do your online shopping. You do not need to be a member of Richfield Rotary to participate.
Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the Richfield Rotary Foundation Inc whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service.
Support the Richfield Rotary Foundation by doing your shopping at smile.amazon.com.
Please click here to get started, and share this information with your friends so they can start supporting Richfield Rotary as well, throughout the year!
Please notify Barb Devlin of your program topic and speaker, for inclusion in the e-Spokester. If you cannot cover your assignment, please exchange with someone else and let Barb Devlinknow. Thank you.
Click here to see the full schedule through September 27, which reflects changes that will take effect in June. Contact John Devlin if you have any questions.