Wagner Rotarians gathered on September 4th with President Jordan Weber giving a nice soft ring of the bell to bring everyone to order. Rotarian Jeff Doom introduced his two guests: his mother Jeanette Doom and his brother Bruce. Song leader Gerrit Juffer led the group in singing two verses of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Rotarian Patty Frei gave a presentation about the Official Rotary Flag for the weekly Membership Minute. An official flag was formally adopted by Rotary International at the 1929 Convention in Dallas, Texas. The Rotary flag consists of a white field with the official wheel emblem emblazoned in gold in the center of the field. The four depressed spaces on the rim of the Rotary wheel are colored royal blue. The words “Rotary” and “international” printed at the top and bottom depressions on the wheel rim are also gold. The shaft in the hub and the key way of the wheel are white.

The first official Rotary flag was flown in Kansas City, Missouri in January 1915. A small flag was carried over the South Pole by Admiral Richard Byrd, a member of the Winchester, Virginia Rotary Club. Four years later, the admiral carried a Rotary flag in his expedition to the North Pole. Some Rotary clubs use the official Rotary flag as a banner at club meetings. In these instances, it is appropriate to print the words “Rotary Club” above the wheel symbol, and the name of the city, state, or nation below the emblem. The Rotary flag is always prominently displayed at the World Headquarters as well as at all conventions and official events of Rotary International.

The lucky table struck again! Rotarian Kathe Henke held the winning ticket number but missed the money by only drawing the seven of clubs. The amount in the Queen of Hearts drawing is up to $290. Secretary/ Treasurer Craig Krsnak announced that the Brunsing team now has five misses and the Soukup Team has nine misses and there is only the month of September left in this second quarter.

Rotarian Jamie Soukup was Program Chairperson of the day, and he gave an interesting report on an organization he has been a member of for several years, the Wagner Knights of Columbus.

The Knights of Columbus are a organization of Catholic Laymen who become -filled leaders in their families and community and strive to help their friends and neighbors in need. The Wagner/ Dante District #12 in the State of South Dakota is club member 2676 and was formed on April 20, 1928. Soukup said that he joined at the legal age of eighteen before attending college. The Knights have a core group of members who are continually active and can always be counted on to be present, willing, and able to help in any way.

They have certain activities that they sponsor each month. For instance, the group cleans the streets on Labor Day Weekend in September. They pick up the garbage each morning and early on Tuesday morning they wash Main Street down after the carnival has left. They also have a Trap Shoot in the month of September.

In October they sponsor a gun raffle and sell tickets at the two bazaars of Dante and Wagner and draw for the winner in November when they sponsor Turkey Bingo. The month of December finds them holding a Father and Son Banquet which has been a tradition for several decades. They also sell Tootsie Rolls and the proceeds for this event are given to the school for the Special Education students.

In the winter months, they sponsor a Free Throw Contest in January and February as well as having a Father and Son Banquet where they announce the Knight of the Year and combine this with a Valentine event.

In March they serve the concessions at the Farm, Home, and Garden Show and in April you can attend their annual Fish Fry. They have also recently constructed an additional cooking area to the rear of the church which they use for their fish fries and their steak supper in June. During the summer months Knights can be found doing any number of volunteer work around the CCD Center, the Cemetery, and the church grounds.

They are committed to donating money to any young man who wishes to go into the Priesthood as they must begin Seminary without any debts. He listed some of the famous people who have been Knights of Columbus members as Vince Lombardi, Babe Ruth, and John F. Kennedy.

Soukup says the Wagner/ Dante membership is around 160 members but there is a very committed group of twenty to thirty members who can be counted on to do anything at any given time.

This was an interesting program about an organization in our Wagner/Dante community. If you know of any other organizations that do charity work or have a unique purpose in our community let a Rotarian know and get your information out to our club and then into the community.

We adjourned in our usual fashion by reciting The Four-Way Test of the things we think, say, or do: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL & BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?