President Slaba called the Wagner Club to order on a cold and very windy Wednesday. Goodbye to our beautiful fall weather.

Pastor Bill Herrmann gave the blessing on the food and those who prepared it and asked for protection for all those who are not able to be out of the wintry weather.

There were no guests present so Rotarian Laurie Kidd led the members in singing “We Gather Together” as Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Members raised the roof in singing the next Rotary song “Vivi Le Rotary!”

Rotarian Ken Cotton spoke about More Rotary Firsts in his Membership Minute. He used some of the first incidents in the form of a question to test the members knowledge.

Rotary first presented “Significant Achievement Awards” in 1969 to clubs with outstanding international or community services projects.

Rotary’s first Interact club was organized in Melbourne, Florida, in 1962 to become the pioneer for about 72,00 Interact clubs in eightyeight countries.

Rotary’s first convention held in the Southern Hemisphere was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1948.

Rotary was assigned the copyright on the “4-Way Test” in 1954 when its author, Herbert Taylor, became president of Rotary International.

Rotary’s first Community Service project took place in 1907 when Chicago Rotarians led a campaign to install a public “comfort station” in the city Hall.

1964-65 was the first year when the Rotary Foundation received total contributions of a million dollars in a single year.

Rotary’s first appeal for aid to disaster victims was in 1913 when $25,000 was given for flood relief in Ohio and Indiana.

Rotary’s motto, “He Profits Most Who Serves Best,” was first expressed at Rotary’s very first Convention in Chicago in 1910.

Sergeant at Arms Jerry Weber had worked overtime on his list of fines:

$2 to Bryan Slaba for sitting awkwardly in his chair last week and pushing Weber out of the way and another $2 for protesting the fine

$1 to every man in the Rotary Club for a bathroom infraction

$3 to Jamie Soukup for his bad luck at hunting West River deer

$5 to Bill Frei for having a 10th Row seat at the recent George Strait Concert

$2 to Jerry and Kathe each for parking in the meal vehicles spot

$2 to Scott McAdaragh for trying to “butter up” the Sergeant at Arms

$2 to Craig Krsnak for bragging up Bryan Slaba’s President job

$2 Bill Herrmann for not buying anything at a recent farm sale

$ 2 to Jeff Doom for sitting by Judge Anderson and reminiscing about the old days

$2 to Rachel Woods for having ESP and answering a MM question

Happy Fines: $9 from Jerry Weber for his Uncle JB Weber turning 90 years old

$2 from Gerrit Juffer for USD beating SDSU last Saturday in football

$5 from Laurie Kidd for taking a River Cruise on the Rhine soon

$6.10 from Jeff Doom for having his 61st birthday

$3.10 from Becky Brunsing for the DWU Volleyball hosting the NAIA Tournament for the first time in 31 years

$10 from Linda Soukup for going to Pierre on Saturday to decorate a tree at the Christmas at the Capitol event for the 125th Soukup Homestead Celebration

$5 from Kara Frei for the DWU volleyball girls’ team and another $5 for the Wagner Red Raiders volleyball team

Becky Brunsing held the winning numbered ticket but only pulled a seven of spades from the deck

Secretary/Treasurer Craig Krsnak gave his report and informed Becky she could have won $170 from the Queen of Hearts drawing already. The attendance teams are still far apart with Brunsing’s team having only four misses and Wood’s team having eleven misses

Jerry Weber, Program chairperson for the meeting introduced his speaker, Judge Bruce Anderson of Wagner, South Dakota. Bruce was born and raised in Wagner, graduated, from WHS, and pursued a law degree in college. He practiced law in Wagner for some time and became a Circuit Court Judge in 2006 when he was appointed by Governor Mike Rounds. He was re-elected in 2014 for a term that expires in 2022.

The First Judicial Circuit Court is served by six circuit court judges, two magistrate judges, and court clerk magistrates in each county in the circuit. Assisting the presiding judge is an appointed circuit court administrator and a chief court services officer. Circuit administrative offices are in the Yankton County Courthouse and Safety Center, 410 Walnut Street, Yankton SD.

Judge Bruce Anderson is responsible for all the court systems in Aurora, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, and Charles Mix Counties.

Judge Anderson shared some of his experiences in presiding over the court system during the recent COVID pandemic of last year and this year. He remembered sitting on the bench on March 8, 2020, when he received a call from the Sheriff that everyone was to be sent home. A total lockdown was declared all over South Dakota by Governor Noem as ten cases of COVID were presented that day. Charles Mix Court was effectively closed but some court systems did not close. Anderson was the first judge to raise questions about how the judicial system could continue to function with masks, social distancing, etc.

Not only was the courthouse closed but there were issues to deal with concerning inmates at the Charles Mix County Jail. Drug testing was also discontinued, and inmates were sent home. There were no provisions for keeping prisoners separate. Eventually the Judge and Sheriff Randy Thaler established guidelines for the operation. Court times were held remotely by having TV court. Witness testimonies were staggered so that there would not be congestion in the courtroom.

Eventually the system was restored to normal, but there is a backlog of cases. The court is now fully staffed. The Judge said he is now seeing cases resulting from the impact of people being in lockdown and isolated such as divorce, more drug and alcohol use, and children have definitely been affected.

The club members had questions for Judge Anderson, and he patiently and effectively answered everyone’s questions. It was a good discussion for all.