President Becky Brunsing gave the Rotary Bell a good whack which resulted in an ear-splitting ring that got everyone’s attention immediately. There were two guests present, Chris and Barbara Jacobi from Connecticut. Chris is a nephew of Rotarian Kathe Henke.

Pastor/Rotarian Bill Heermann gave thanks for the cool North wind which was a welcome relief from the heat we had been experiencing for weeks, our food and asked for assistance in guiding each Rotarian to do what is needed in our Wagner Community.

There were several members absent due to a conflict with another meeting, so the President picked out an easy song for everyone to sing without accompaniment “Smile.”

Rotarian Ken Cotton chose some basic facts about Rotary to help our guests understand better what our organization does. Rotary is a global network of more than 1.4 million people of action in more than 46,000 clubs who share a passion for and commitment to enhancing communities and improving lives around the world. Rotary and Rotaract clubs exist in almost every country. Rotary members change their lives locally and connect with other clubs to work on international projects that address today’s most pressing challenges. They act and make a difference, and it brings them personal rewards and lifelong friendships in the process. Did you know that the name Rotary was selected by early members because meeting locations rotated among the members’ offices?

Sergeant at Arms Jamie Soukup said fines would be short today: $2 to Becky Brunsing for her strong bell ringing; $2 to Jeff for trying to solicit concrete instead of asphalt at the last meeting; $2 to Jamie for forgetting Jeff and Amanda; $2 to Rachel Doom for her business Apparel Worx winning at the Labor Day Family Feud competition; $2 to Amanda for writing in her book; $2 to Craig Krsnak, Jordan Weber, and Jamie Soukup for their good job of announcing in different locations over the Labor Day Weekend. A large Happy Fine of $80 came from Jerry Henke who announced that his wife Kathe was turning 80 years old at the meeting and twenty-two of those years had been spent with him. That brought a round of applause and the membership sang Happy Birthday to Kathe, Bill Heermann, and Jordan Weber for their September birthdays; Bill Heermann also paid a Happy Fine for his car cycle winning second place in the auto entries.

It was fitting that Kathe Henke drew the lucky ticket number and she attempted to draw the Queen of Hearts for her birthday; but came up short with the ten of Clubs.

Kathe lost out on $107.00, the amount now sitting and growing again. Secretary/Treasurer Krsnak reported that the attendance race has gone to the dogs with the Juffer team having five missing at today’s meeting and only one missing on Frei’s team. That totals out to thirteen misses for Gerrit and six misses for Bill.

President Brunsing gave a brief outline for next week’s events with no regular meeting on Wednesday. Our Australian visitors will arrive on Wednesday; with a tour of the school planned for 10:45 am and other events for the visitors. There will be a noon meeting on Thursday. Watch your email and texts for further details on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

Rotarian Bill Frei was to have the program for the day but had traded with President Brunsing to attend a community meeting. Fellow Rotarians have been encouraged to give a bio-overview of themselves if the opportunity arises. Brunsing spoke about herself beginning with being born and raised in Wagner and graduating from WCS in 1985. She attended National college in Rapid City where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a minor in Business. She worked for the SD Department of Revenue as a Sales Tax Auditor, stationed in Yankton. While living there she met her future husband, Mike Brunsing through mutual friends. Mike was attending USD and received his Master’s in Fisheries Management. Their first home was in Montana where Mike worked for the Montana Game, Fish and Parks at Fort Peck Lake. Becky worked for Milk River Inc. as Financial Director and later at the Glasgow hospital in the Human Resources Department. They moved back to South Dakota with two children, Dylan and Emily to live on the Soukup Homestead and another daughter came along, Abby. She worked at an accounting firm in Wagner for three years and then went on to spend twenty years working for the City of Wagner as the City Administrator/Finance officer.

Brunsing’s new position is with the South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance as a Member Services Representative. The SDPAA was formed in 1987 in response to a hardening commercial market. The SD Legislature recognized the need for an alternative solution to coverage needs and created the enabling statutes through which the SDPAA and other governmental risk pools were formed. The SDPAA originated with only seven participating entities. Today the SDPAA provides property, liability, cyber, enhanced crime, and equipment breakdown coverages to over 458 local governments including 57 of 66 counties, and approximately 85% of the cities, also townships, conservation districts, fire and ambulance districts, and other special purchasing districts.

Brunsing explained that the SDPAA believes that providing loss control and risk management tools and resources provides their members with the ability to recognize and reduce risk which results in low claims experience. A Board of Directors consisting of city and county officials carefully considers trends in cost and extent of coverage, collaborating with the administrative team to determine the most effective methods for ensuring stable rates and services that are provided to the Members. She meets with members about their coverage, provides quotes to potential members, attends city, county and conservation district meetings and conferences. She enjoys the balance of working from home and traveling across the state. It consists of 428 members that are South Dakota entities such as county commissioners, townships, fire departments, city councils. If these members meet South Dakota codified status she meets with these entities and provides property and liability coverage for board members, insurance against embezzlement, structures, and equipment. There is a third party to assist them that helps provide quotes. There is also a Board of Directors that oversees all the employees that work for the SDRA. She attends county and city meetings, conferences, and makes trips to all these locations from the city of White River on the Western side of South Dakota to Mobridge in the North and is responsible for some entities in Eastern South Dakota.

Becky works at home and logs all her hours. It has been an adjustment, but she loves her job and enjoys meeting new people and traveling around the state.