Wednesday, January 8th, found the Wagner Rotary members back in their clubhouse for a regular meeting after a three-week absence due to the holidays. President Jordan Weber almost broke the handle on the Rotary bell by giving it such a hard crack! The last time the club members were together was on December 17th when we had a social meeting at the Choteau Creek Brewery. It was a fun and relaxing evening. President Jordan gave an opening prayer which gave thanks for our new year and asked for comfort for the Stedronsky family and all Rotary members as we begin a new year without our oldest member.

Amanda Bechen introduced her two guests who were two young interns that have been at her business for two weeks getting a feel for the accounting field. Chase Marshall and Alexis Rueb were welcomed with a round of applause. Jeanie Crowe was also recognized and Bechen announced that Crowe had requested to join the Wagner Rotary. Crowe was asked to give a brief biography of her life for the members to get to know her better. She is no stranger to the Wagner area having grown up in the Pickstown- Lake Andes area. She is the daughter of Mick Kirwan and Ed Kirwan is her brother. Ed has given many programs to the Wagner Rotary over the years in his interesting field of mining operations.

Rotarian and Song leader Gerrit Juffer led us in two verses of “Home on the Range” which was appropriate considering we have been absent from our meeting building for quite some time.

Membership Minute Chairperson Patty Frei gave out December Membership Certificates in lieu of an informational message as we missed several anniversary moments. Becky Brunsing was awarded a twelve-year certificate of membership as well as twelve years for Gerald and Kathe Henke. It should be noted that the Henkes were in Rotary for over thirty years in another location before they moved to South Dakota. Bill Frei and Jerry Weber both received a twenty-five-year certificate, and the oldest membership certificate of thirty-eight years was awarded to Jeff Doom. Frei announced that among eighteen members we had a total of three hundred and eighty-four years of membership! “Our little club has and is doing big things.”

As if the lengthy list of fines wasn’t enough, Jerry Weber held the winning ticket number and went for the Queen of Hearts but produced the King of Diamonds.

Secretary/Treasurer Craig Krsnak reported that the last football book winners were Joan Payer sold by Ken Cotton and Kathy Jaeger sold by Linda Soukup. The officers proceeded to draw names for the new attendance teams. The new captains are Ken Cotton and Bill Frei.

Rotarian Jeff Doom oversaw the program for the day. He arrived at the podium and declared it was “Joe Stedronsky Day.” Joe’s funeral program was at the table where Joe sat for every Rotary meeting for several years. The remaining time was spent with various Rotarians sharing their memories of Joe over the years. He was a Rotarian for sixty-four years and was beloved for his gentle nature, dedication to Rotary, family, his church, and his community. The most recent memory all club members had was of the social gathering at the Choteau Creek Brewery on December 17th. Joe had looked forward to this and enjoyed the evening experience. Farewell Joe, the Wagner Rotary Club loves you and will miss you!