President Becky Brunsing brought the Wagner Rotary Club members to order on the last Wednesday of March 27th which signaled the end of the third quarter of our Rotary year. We were fortunate that the sidewalks and roads on Main Street were cleared for traffic after the big snowstorm that dumped on our community the past Monday.

Rotarian/Pastor Bill Herrmann gave thanks for the plentiful sunshine that will melt our huge snowdrifts, the food and for keeping us all safe during the storm.

Song leader Gerrit Juffer chose “Roll Rotary” as our song for the day. Membership Minute Chairperson Ken Cotton was partaking of the delicious meal from Valley Pump so Rotarian Amanda Bechen gave the Membership Minute for him: Rotary Peace Centers--- Each year, up to 130 Peace and development leaders are selected as Rotary Peace Fellows. They earn either a master’s degree or a professional development certificate in peace and conflict studies at one of the Rotary Peace Centers at leading universities around the world. Through academic training, firsthand projects, and global networking opportunities, the Rotary Peace Centers program develops the capacity of peace and development professionals to be effective catalysts for peace.

Rotary districts may nominate as many candidates as they wish for the competitive selection process every year. Rotary Peace Fellows go on to serve as leaders in government, nongovernmental organizations, education, the military, law enforcement, humanitarian action, and international agencies such the United Nations.

Sergeant at Arms Jamie Soukup always manages to come up with some fines: $2 to Jeff Doom for saying he is luckier than Jerry Henke; $1 each to Becky, Joe, Jordan, Patty, Ken, and Jerry Henke for all wearing plaids to the meeting; $2 to Jerry Weber for wearing a Kansas City Chiefs sweatshirt; $2 to Amanda Bechen for taking Kens place for the Membership Minute; $2 to Rachel for a phone violation; $2 to Jamie Soukup for overcharging guests; $2 to Linda Soukup and Jeff Doom for talking about their books. A $2 Happy Fine came from Rotarian Gerrit Juffer who spoke about his recent meeting with the group that is picking candidates for the Australian Exchange and he happily reported that Wagner’s Nick Dion is the top pick right now; $2 from Jeff Doom for getting his “Don’t Let the Old Man In” T shirt from Amazon which he proudly modeled.

Rachel Woods tried to find the Queen of Hearts from the card deck but accidentally pulled the King of Diamonds. She missed winning $517.00.

Secretary/Treasurer Craig Krsnak announced that the third quarter totals were in for attendance and Gerrit Juffer’s Team had fifteen misses and Bill Frei’s team had only eight misses. The Juffer Team will be paying for all the steaks on our Steak Meeting Day in a couple of weeks.

Rotarian Jerry Henke introduced his program speaker which was Neil Von Eschen. Neil is a lifelong resident of the Wagner Community and Jerry recently saw some of Neil’s woodworking. Neil said, “this is my hobby, not my business.” He slowly got into working with various kinds of wood after he retired. He has a shop in Wagner where he stores his materials, tools, and wood. Walnut is his favorite wood to work with. He likes walnut because the colors vary from area to area. The soil that the tree grows in determines the colors.

He does not advertise his skills but instead relies on word of mouth for customers. He had a full notebook of projects he has produced in the past and they were all beautiful. He has finished projects all over the United States.

He also does not deliver but relies on the customer to pick up their orders. Wood projects tend to be big and heavy, and it is more economical for the customer to drive to pick up their order. He was asked how long it takes for him to make a project. “It depends on the size that a customer wants, for an ordinary table about three or four days.”

Neil also makes end tables, benches for the tables, and has done a few projects involving dresses and gun storage. If you want something unique from a tree growing on your property and the tree is dying, Neil can make something beautiful out of it.

He is also the leading force at the Charles Mix County Historical Society Museum along with Jim Bouza and spoke briefly about the need for raising funds to improve the museum buildings. He invited anyone who is interested to contact him or Jim Bouza for more information.