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Wagner Rotary Club began its September 14th meeting with a full house. There were six Seniors from the Wagner Community School present as well as a guest speaker. Pastor/Rotarian Bill Heermann gave the opening prayer with thanks for our time of being together and for being Rotarians who serve our Wagner Community.

Assistant Song Leader Gerrit Juffer led us in singing “Home on the Range,” and we were proud of the job we did but still missing you, Laurie!

Every year the Rotary Club has Seniors attend one Rotary meeting as a way of getting to know the students and exposing them to what Rotary is all about. The guests were: Theron Zephier who is currently undecided about his future educational location. His parents are Christel Zephier. Chris Nelson is also undecided about his future now and his parents are Mark and Laura Nelson. Emma Yost whose parents are Matt and Amy Yost has already chosen her future college. She is going to attend Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell and plans to play basketball for the women’s team. Shalayne Nagel’s parents are Blane and Cindy Nagel, and she has also chosen DWU and will be joining the women’s basketball team as well. Payton Petry is going to major in business at the University of South Dakota as well as other minor subjects. His parents are Cherie and Steven Petry. Tex Langdeaux is undecided about his future education as of now and his parents are Jennie and Richard Langdeaux.

Sergeant at Arms Jordan Weber dove right into a long list of fines: $2 to Rachel Woods for something involving Jamie Soukup; $3 to Bryan Slaba for wearing a leather jacket in the parade and trying to be “hip”; $3 to Jerry Weber for going on vacation and leaving the Sergeant to do the farm chores; $5 to Jeff Doom who can’t talk today; $2 each to Bill and Patty Frei for jamming with the Hairball band; $2 to Jerry Henke for bringing the Sheriff into our meeting; $2 to Kathe Henke for talking; $5 to Jerrit Juffer for missing several weeks and putting Jordan Weber’s team in jeopardy to lose; $3.10 to Linda Soukup for being a Wagner High School graduate back in 1962; $2 to Becky Brunsing for trying to get a DWU cheer going; $2 to Rachel Woods for ditching her husband at the Hairball concert. Happy Fines of $2 came from Kathe Henke for having another birthday and $2from Craig Krsnak for the football committee.

The Queen of Hearts has left the building!!! Rotarian Kathe Henke drew the Queen card from the remaining three cards. Congratulations to Kathe who has won $778.00 Jamie Soukup’s attendance team is holding at 12 misses and Jordan Weber’s team is at seventeen misses.

A sympathy card was passed around the room for all Rotarians present to sign for the Roger Wiltz family. Roger was a Wagner Rotarian for many years and served a term as a District Governor for District #5610. He was instrumental in bringing the annual District Conference to the Wagner location one year.

Rotarian Jerry Henke introduced his program for the club. Sheriff Randy Thaler of Charles Mix County. Randy thanked the club for the invitation and said that he has been to the club about six times in the past. Thaler said that right now he is unchallenged for his office term which is presently coming up in November and he has determined that this will be his last term in office as he is approaching the sixties mark.

Sherriff Thaler began his program by giving tribute to a long time Charles Mix County Law Enforcement employee, Jackie Brecke who recently passed away. Thaler outlined all the duties that Jackie oversaw. She administered the 24/7 program which involves a lot of time; she was a 911 operator for dispatching and managed all the administrative duties involved in the Lake Andes facility. All law enforcement personnel will greatly miss her.

The Sherriff emphasized the importance of voting in the November election. One of the issues on the ballot is to legalize recreational marijuana. The only way to obtain marijuana legally right now is with a medical ID card which can only be obtained from a licensed physician. Thaler stated that “law enforcement is very opposed to legalizing recreational marijuana” and the biggest reason is that alcohol has destroyed families and now marijuana will only create more problems for the children of the families in South Dakota. This issue will be on the ballot as Initiated measure #27.

The other reason law enforcement is opposed is because there is no legalized limit right now for testing. If an individual is evaluated for alcohol there is a limit to be observed. Marijuana can be in your blood stream anywhere from 30 to 60 days. At what level can a person be considered illegal to be driving. This is something that the legislature needs to determine for law enforcement in South Dakota.

The other topic Thaler chose to expand on is the need for more law enforcement officers. “Years ago, every kid wanted to grow up and be a policeman or a fireman.” That isn’t the case anymore. Nobody wants to be a police officer. They are always looking for people to apply for these positions. He described the locations that the county patrols, the hours they put in each week, and finished with the reminder that Charles Mix County is sixty miles long and thirty-five miles wide. Not only do they serve and protect the whole county they have contracted with the City of Lake Andes and Pickstown for patrolling in those communities. The City of Platte only has one officer, and they are needing help.

Thaler would also like to see a new Law Enforcement facility in CM County. The present one was built in 1976 and has had numerous upgrades; but it leaves much to be desired in terms of holding facilities and safety.

The meeting adjourned with our recitation of our 4-Way Test.

Seniors Chris Neslon, Theron Zephier, Emma Yost, Shalayne Nagel, Tex Langdeaux and Payton Petry.

Jerry Henke introducing his program for the club, Sheriff Randy Thaler.Courtesy Photos.