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Rotarian Bryan Slaba sat in the President’s chair at the Wagner Rotary Meeting Wednesday, April 23rd. President Jordan Weber had business to take care of at the hospital. Rotarians are busy people, but there is always someone willing to help!

Another recent example of help is the road ditches going North out of Wagner on Front Avenue towards Highway 18. Wagner Rotarians were out there cleaning up the ditches on Tuesday evening. Rain was forecast for Thursday, so the members got busy and “gotter done!'

Slaba quickly went down the list of chores to be attended to at the meeting. The only guest was Mary Ringling from Platte, courtesy of her Mother Linda Soukup. All members went into silent prayer before the rest of the agenda was followed. Some of our Rotarians have lost a family member and it was on everyone’s mind. Prayer is our solace in times of loss and need.

Song leader Gerrit Juffer lead us in singing two verses of “Dinah’s in the Kitchen.” If she was in the kitchen, she was plugging her ears as we were a little off key to say the least.

Membership Minute Chairperson Patty Frei reminded us of our duty with public relations in Rotary. Historically Rotarians perpetuated a myth that Rotary should not seek publicity, but rather let our good works speak for themselves. A 1923 policy stating that “publicity should not be the primary goal of a Rotary club in selecting an activity of community service meaning that publicity should be avoided at service projects. A more modern public relations philosophy was adopted in the mid-1970s which affirms that “good publicity, favorable public relations, and a positive image are desirable and essential goals for Rotary” if it is to foster understanding, appreciation and support for its Object and programs and to broaden Rotary’s service to humanity. Active public relations are vital to the success of Rotary.

A service project well carried out is considered one of the finest public relations messages of Rotary.

Rotarian Amanda held the lucky ticket number which was questioned by some and proceeded to not draw the Queen of Hearts but just a two of Clubs. She could have won $327.00. This is when the Queen of Hearts drawing gets interesting!

Craig Krsnak reported that there were three absences on Kathe Henke's team and two on Jerry Henke's team so the total stands at six for Kathe and five for Jerry.

Rotarian Jerry Henke introduced his program which was Sheriff Randy Thaler of Charles Mix County. Thaler has given a program before and he always has interesting information and answers many questions from the club members.

Randy began by saying that he is in his sixteenth year of being Sheriff and he plans to run once more before he retires. If he wins, he will have spent over thirty years in law enforcement.

Thaler gave a list of things that he has done and plans to do in the future. Many were not aware that the county provides additional coverage for Lake Andes and Pickstown in the summer only.

Among the staff is Chief Deputy who is Derik Rolston, and Deputy Sgt. Tanner Novak. Jarred Niehus is Deputy Seargent, and seven other Deputies: Janet Budavich, Cydney Porter, Trevor Deurmier, Gage Nelson, Gene Niehus, Pete Eng, and Greg Doty. There are times he must hire extras for special occasions. He has twelve-hour shifts from 5 to 5 and 6 to 6 in an 80-hour week work cycle. He also has one person in school now waiting for certification. There are always jail sergeants on duty at the jail. Special arrangements are made for extras when there must be transportation to Sioux Falls, Rapid City, or Yankton for inmates who need particular care.

The 911 Service has four part-time employees and is in the process of cross training for another four part-time. There are always two jailers on duty. Thaler was asked about the number of 911 calls per week. He answered about 8,000 a week and about 36,000 per year. He believes that five to ten percent are not real emergencies. There is one administrative person with a total of twenty-four full-time employees and four part-time staff hired in total at the jail.

At his last presentation to Rotary, he had been hoping and planning to get a new jail facility built. That did not happen as many of the grants and monies available for that kind of project dried up in Washington with the advent of COVID in our country. The present jail facility was built in 1977 and is not holding up well at all. The biggest issue is plumbing, which must be fixed constantly.

When asked how many inmates are present in a week he replied, “about 25 to 30.' The jail can hold as many as sixty inmates if necessary. Some of these inmates are at times from Douglas County as they no longer have a facility to hold inmates. Our county

receives $90 per day for housing these inmates. Women inmates are separated from the men and those inmates deemed dangerous are in a single cell. All necessary precautions at the time of arrests are made by the officers. There is a lot of training that goes into law enforcement.

Thaler stated that there are presently ten patrol vehicles, one boat for river search and rescue that was given to them by the Fish and Game Department, and they also have 4 x 4 Sides by Sides to use, when necessary.

There was additional discussion on relations with Tribal authorities and he replied that any tribal member who is arrested on tribal lands is held at the tribal jail in south Wagner. Presently they do not have a mutual assistance agreement with the Yankton Sioux Tribe.

When asked about his vision for the future: “I still dream about seeing a new facility built, and I hope to serve one more term and turn 65 in order to retire!” Wagner Rotary wishes Sheriff Thaler the best in the future.

If you are interested in reading more about our Charles Mix Law Enforcement Department and all the other county departments, google Charles Mix County, SD Government. There is a lot of useful information there.

We adjourned in our usual fashion by reciting our FOURWAY 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?