The Wagner Rotary Club gathered on Wednesday, December 7th, which is an unforgettable date for many. December 7th, 1941, Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and destroyed the United States Naval fleet and caused considerable loss of life. It is often remembered as Day of Infamy a phrase coined by President Franklin Roosevelt in his speech to the country in which America declared war on Japan and WWII began.

Rotarian Pastor/Rotarian Bill Heermann gave thanks for the day, the food, and our Advent Season in which we remember the gift of our Savior at Christmas time.

Song leader Gerrit Juffer passed out the old Christmas songbooks which were found in the vault in our building which serves as a storage room for Rotary now. He cranked up his phone for “O Little Town of Bethlehem” but the notes in the old songbook did not match the notes on his phone. We bravely sang it anyway. All the old Christmas songbooks were stamped with “Commercial State Bank.” They must have been a gift to the Rotary Club from the bank.

Sergeant at Arms Jordan Weber had been very busy during the meal writing up fines: $2 to Rachel Woods for commenting on Gerrit Juffer’s shirt and another $2 for correcting Gerrit about calling the Netherlands “New Zealand” in the soccer tournament that is the rage on TV right now; $2 to Gerrit for his flashy orange shirt supporting the Netherlands; $3 to Bryan Slaba for talking which is nothing new; $2 to Kathe Henke for having the best hairdo at the meeting; $2 to Jeff Doom for calling out Jordan; $2 to Jerry Weber for his comments about his work shoes which he left in the entryway and another $2 for saying that he isn’t deaf; $2 to Rachel for using the wrong medical term describing Becky Brunsings cold fingers; an offering of $3 from Jeff Doom for taking a phone call during the meeting. Happy Fines: Jerry Henke received several heart stints eighteen years ago and the doctors gave him 15 years. Three years ago, he needed another three stints, so he offered $18 for the doctor being correct! We are so glad you are still with us Jerry! Rachel Doom offered up $2 for taking her boys to a Vikings game last weekend. They went on a WNAX bus tour, and she highly recommended it.

Secretary/Treasurer Craig Krsnak pulled the lucky ticket for a chance at the Queen of Hearts. He quickly totaled up the winnings and promptly pulled out a four of Diamonds which meant he had lost $199.00 Krsnak reported that the football winners were Nora Weber sold by Craig Krsnak and Radak Kotab sold by Patty Frei.

The Program Chairman for the day was Jerry Henke who reported on an article in our recent Rotary magazine, the December 2022 issue. “Turning wine bottles back into sand” A club in Washington’s wine country uses a novel approach to keep glass out of the landfill. Glass is derived from a naturally occurring material, once that substance is transformed into bottles, it is hardly a boon to the environment. Each year in the US, people throw away some 8 million tons of glass, a bulky part of landfills that can last ages. The EPA reports that only about a third of glass that Americans buy gets recycled. The Rotary Club of Chelan, Washington, began a 911 Glass Rescue project that turns used bottles and broken glass in gardening, landscaping, playgrounds, and biological water filter projects. A company called Andela Products of Richfield Springs, New York sells glass pulverizing machines.

It is estimated that landfill glass could take a million years to decompose. Rotary Club members from the Chelan Washington club helped install a glass crushing machine in cooperation with an Andela representative. Club members and local volunteers collect used glass from a long line of arriving vehicles every week. The club sells the product, pulverized glass sand and aggregate in buckets and residents buy the product for their yards, gardening, and other projects. People believe in it and are happy to rescue all the glass they can.

Club members spent several minutes discussing this project, local sand, and gravel products etc. It was a very interesting topic. The Club adjourned its usual 4-Way Test: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?