The first thing this reporter wants to do is give a heartfelt thanks to Rotarian Amanda Bechen for taking the notes and writing the weekly article for the Wagner Post. Rotarian Bryan Slaba also submitted an article one of the weeks while I was on vacation. The articles were published with my name as Recorder but credit needs to be given to Amanda and Bryan for their efforts in keeping the Rotary news in the paper.

President Rachel Woods gave a warm welcome to all present on Wednesday, March 1st which lived up to its reputation with a cool, windy day to start the month.

Rotarian/Pastor Bill Herrmann gave a blessing of thanks for the food, fellowship and asked for guidance for the members to go about doing good in the Wagner Community.

Song leader Gerrit Juffer outdid himself by choosing an old favorite “Stoodala Pumpa” from the songbook. The Bluetooth accompaniment did not exactly match the words from our Rotary songbook which resulted in a great deal of mumbling and then everyone joining in on the refrain which was the only part we understood.

Rotarian Patty Frei gave the Membership Minute on February being Rotary “Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution” Month. February includes the first day that a Rotary meeting was held, February 23, 1905. It is now designated as “World Understanding and Peace Day”. Rotary International supports Peace Centers around the world and provides Rotary Peace Fellow scholarships to attend. The mission of these centers is to “empower, educate, and increase the capacity of peace builders through rigorous academic training, practice and global networking opportunities”. These fellowships develop the skills needed to act as “leaders and catalysts for peace and conflict resolutions both in their communities and around the globe”.

Sergeant at Arms Jordan Weber fined : $2 to Jerry Weber for looking at his phone; $1 to Jeff Doom, Bryan Slaba, Bill Frei, Jerry Weber, and Gerrit Juffer for being the “Trouble Table”; $2 to Rachel Woods for scheduling a program next week on Wednesday night which is a church night for some members; $5 to Linda Soukup for being gone for six weeks; $2 to Bryan Slaba for the “lopsided food” in our meal containers which evidently happened when Slaba took a corner a little too fast thereby mixing up the mashed potatoes and coleslaw; $4 Happy fine from Jordan Weber; $4 Happy and Unhappy Fine from Bryan Slaba for complaining about a certain other Rotarian that he wanted to be fined; $4 to Gerrit Juffer for being gone for so long and the song being out of whack.

Rotarian Linda Soukup said good-bye to $300 by only pulling the Ace of Hearts out of the deck of cards. The Weber Team had perfect attendance for the day and the Soukup Team had two misses leaving Weber’s Team with 11 misses and Soukup’s Team with only 8 misses.

President Rachel thanked Amanda for filling in for Linda Soukup and also announced that she was passing out the annual Rotary Foundation Raffle Books. There are over thirty prizes plus the grand prize of a new set of appliances worth $6,000.00 going to be given away this year. See a Rotarian to buy a ticket to win a lot!!

Woods then called Rotarian Jeff Doom forward to receive another Paul Harris Fellowship Pin containing two rubies. Any Rotarian can obtain a Paul Harris Fellowship Pin by contributing to the Rotary Fellowship fund.

Jordan Weber introduced his program for the day; Doctor Ti-Anna Smith who has been the new Wagner Community Hospital/ Medical Director of the Emergency Room and the Hospital since December. She is originally from Bonesteel and now lives Northwest of Utica, South Dakota with her husband Jordan. They have three children, a six-year-old, three year old, and a seven month old. Her husband Jordan works at the Yankton Fish and Wildlife at Yankton and is the Missouri River conservator for endangered species.

Dr. Smith took over for Doctor Pinter, who was at WCMH for many years. Bryan Slaba on behalf of the WCMH recruited Doctor Smith when she was still in medical school in 2016. She studied family medicine at USD and took a residency in Sioux Falls as well as taking Administrative Courses in preparation for her role in Wagner.

Several minutes were spent with questions from the club members about her duties, hours, and her time spent dividing her hours between the ER and administration. She stated that she is always available and encourages her practitioners to call her at any time for consultations. The ER at WCMH currently has five providers and they are losing two but gaining a new one. She stated that Telemedicine is a big help for rural hospitals and Wagner is very lucky to have access to this resource. Not all rural hospitals can take advantage of this service.

Welcome to Wagner Doctor Smith!

The meeting was adjourned with our usual recitation of the Rotary Four-Way Test: 1. IS it the TRUTH? 2. Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? 4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?