President Elect Becky Brunsing called the Wagner Rotary Club to order on Wednesday, September 29th. The ringing of the bell was an incredibly soft touch which Assistant Sergeant at Arms Jeff Doom quickly remedied by grabbing the gavel and giving the bell a loud hit. Rotarians bowed their heads in prayer as Pastor Laurie Kidd gave thanks for all the people in our lives, past and present, and asked for guidance in our relationships in the community.

Laurie led us once again in our new song “Blue and Gold are Our Colors” sung to the tune of “Red Sails in the Sunset”. We need a lot of work on this one. The membership sang heartily when we switched to, “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover.”

The Membership Minute given by Rotarian Ken Cotton was about First Names or Nicknames. From the earliest days of Rotary, members have referred to each other on a first-name basis. Since personal acquaintanceship and friendship are cornerstones of Rotary, it was natural that many clubs adopted the practice of setting aside formal titles in conversations among members. Individuals who normally would be addressed as Doctor, Professor, Mister, the Honorable or Sir are repeatedly called Joe, Bill, Charley, or Jerry by other Rotarians. The characteristic Rotary club’s name badge fosters the first-name custom.

In a few areas, such as Europe, club members use a more formal style in addressing fellow members. In other parts of the world, Asian countries, the practice is to assign each new Rotarian a humorous nickname which relates to some personal characteristic, or which is descriptive of the member’s business or profession. A member nicknamed “Oxygen” is the manufacturer of chemical gas products. “Trees” is the nickname for the Rotarian in the lumber business, “Building” is the contractor, “Paper” is the stationery or office supply retailer. Other members might carry nicknames like “Muscles, Foghorn” or “Smiles” as commentaries on their physical features.

The nicknames are frequently a source of good-natured fun and fellowship. But whether a Rotarian is addressed by a given first name or a nickname, the spirit of personal friendship is the initial step which opens doors to all other opportunities for service.

Of course, this information led to several comments about who should have a nickname in the Wagner Rotary and what that nickname should be.

The Secretary-Treasurer report was next which earned Craig Krsnak a fine. He announced that the football winners were Amanda Bechen sold by herself, and DeNelle Dvorak sold by Jerry Henke.

The end of the second quarter in the attendance race shows the Brunsing team with nine misses and the Woods Team with only six misses.

Rotarian Jeff Doom called for the winning ticket number ending in seventy-four which Ken Cotton was holding. He came close to winning when he drew the Jack of Hearts.

Jeff proceeded to hand out the day’s fines. $2 to Becky Brunsing for mixing up the agenda and calling on the Secretary first instead of the SAA; $1 to Craig for making up some nicknames; $3 from Jeff for a fall he took while using his phone as a flashlight; Happy Fines were: $5 from Linda Soukup on the nice article in the Daily Republic about her two granddaughters in volleyball at DWU; $3 from Gerrit Juffer for sitting with the Three Amigos once again; $5 from Kara Frei for the birth of her new niece; $5 in celebration from Ken Cotton for the birth of another grandchild; Henry Wales Cotton, son of Steven and Olivia Cotton; $8 from Becky Brunsing for her Dad’s 80th Birthday and he is still farming every day; $3 from Patty Frei for managing three little ones in the house again as they baby sat for a relative

The program chair for the day was Laurie Kidd. She made a fun experience for all the club members by conducting a contest to see what everyone knew about the State of South Dakota. Members were given a hand pom pom to use if they knew the answer and rules about when to raise their pom pom.

She found the trivia on the Internet and found it quite interesting as she has only lived in South Dakota for 21 years and before that was a Missouri resident. There was a candy prize given for every correct answer. It made for an interesting exchange of information.

(Note: Last week there was an error in the information about Kathe Henke’s son competing in his first Iron Man competition. It was his twelfth competition., not his first.

The meeting was adjourned with our recitation of the 4-Way Test. Of all the things we think, say, or do: Is it the truth? Is it Fair to All concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER Friendships? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?