A strong whack of the Rotary Bell brought a smaller group of Rotarians to order on the first Wednesday of January 2024. Rotarian Bryan Slaba oversaw the meeting as President Brunsing was absent due to work commitments.

Rotarian/Pastor Bill Herrmann gave thanks for our New Year of 2024 and asked for blessings for all Rotarians and the Wagner Community.

The song for the day was an old Scottish song that everyone is familiar with as one year ends and another year begins, Auld Lang Syne.

Membership Minute Chairperson Ken Cotton gave a summary of an important goal in Rotary, eradicating polio worldwide. One benefit of Rotary membership is that you can take pride in being part of an organization that truly is effective in the world. Since 1985 Rotary members have served as community-based mobilizers for polio eradication, motivating international groups, governments, private organizations, communities, and individuals to join the global effort to rid the world of polio. Rotary works with partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, including the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease control and Prevention, United Nations Children’s Fund, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the governments of the world to achieve this historic public health goal. As part of the effort, members contribute their time and money to the cause, raising funds, advocating for government support, helping immunize children, and raising awareness in their communities. By the time, the world is certified polio-free, Rotary’s contributions to the global eradication effort will exceed $2.8 billion, including the matching funds from the Gates Foundation. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers have supported National Immunization Days. Since 1988 three billion children have received oral polio vaccine, and we’ve achieved a 99.9 % reduction in polio cases. It may be considered the greatest humanitarian service the world has ever seen, and every Rotary member can take pride in this achievement.

Sergeant at Arms Jamie Soukup levied the following fines: $2 to Jordan Weber for being at home last week when he should have been at the meeting; $2 to Jamie Soukup for thinking Gerrit had on a strange outfit at last week’s meeting before he realized it was part of the program; $2 to Linda for a “oops” in last week’s fines in the newspaper; $2 to Ken Cotton for being another “crazy pilot” in the Wagner Rotary Club; $2 to Scott McAdaragh for a big announcement coming soon; $2 to Jerry Weber for his entrance into the Rotary meeting with no shoes on. Happy Fines came from Jerry Henke; $5 for getting a refund on a scam charge on his credit card, $4 to Amanda Bechen who was happy not to get fined; $10 from Jerry Weber who was happy his brother was up and walking and going to rehab soon; $10 from Craig Krsnak that his daughters fiancée suffered a fall from a roof but was ok; $2 from Kathe Henke that she has a new husband with a “fuzzy front”. Jerry is growing a goatee.

Rotarian Rachel Woods had a chance at winning the $352 that is in the Queen of Hearts drawing but drew only the two of Hearts.

Secretary/Treasurer Craig Krsnak announced that there is a tie for the attendance teams. His calculations show that there is a total of seven absences for both the Juffer and Frei teams. Unless something else surfaces during the week each Rotarian will be paying for their own steak meal in the coming quarter.

Football book winners in the last drawing were Alex Kocer and Kinsley Deurmier.

Rotarian Joe Stedronsky drew the winners’ names for the final winners in the football book raffle. There were two bundles of tickets. In the first drawing $300 went to George and Terri Kie; $200 to Kinsley Deurmier and $100 to Randy Beeson.

In the second bundle of tickets the $300 prize went to Todd Doom, $200 to Seth Gill, and $100 to Angela Sperling.

The rest of the meeting was devoted to watching last year’s predictions by Rotary members for the year 2023. There were several Rotarians who came close to having their predictions right. The time grew short, and the meeting was adjourned. Predictions for the year 2024 will be given at next week’s meeting on January 10th.