The September 10th meeting of the Wagner Rotary Club was held at the club headquarters in the Barkl Building despite a power outage that had affected the northwestern part of the City of Wagner. Power was restored and our food was prepared by Boom’s and delivered in a timely fashion.

Song Leader Rachel Doom announced the song for the day was Viva Le Rotary! This is an old standard in the world of Rotary music, and everyone knows it by heart. Membership Minute Chairperson Patty Frei delivered our minute of important news giving members information about our annual District Conference to be held October 17-18 at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance at 1600 West Russell St. Sioiux Fall’s, SD. The Alliance building is a beautiful facility, and Rotarians are going to be amazed by its amenities.

There are keynote speakers, breakout sessions in smaller groups, fellowship opportunities with Rotarians from across our large 5610 region. There will be celebrations of achievements, awards, and milestones and great insights into Rotary’s future and how your club can thrive. There are two facilities located right along Russell Street where overnight accommodation can be arranged.

SAA Juffer reminded everyone that there were only fifteen cards left in the deck for the Queen of Hearts drawing. Jamie Soukup drew a Joker and won $10 but the Queen is still hiding. Jamie blew his chance at winning the $619.00 pot!

Football winners will be announced now each week. Rachel Doom and Barb Johannsen were winners for the week. President Jamie Soukuip announced that the “Can Bin” is almost full and ready for a trip to Mitchell. Rotarian Amanda Bechen spoke briefly about the Todd Becker Foundation group that will be coming to WCS on September 23 and 24. Rotarians are helping to provide accommodation for eighteen members when they are in Wagner for two nights. Rotarian Linda Soukup asked if she could take the blueprints that were recently found in the safe of the building to the Historical Society Museum. They show the blueprints and a contract between Strohbein, Eggers, and JV Barkl for adding on an addition to our present Rotary Building. Our building was built by JV Barkl and the contract specified that the rest of the building to be constructed had to match on the outside brick exactly! Most of this original building is still intact except for the far western lots which were so irreparably damaged by renters that they were demolished in the 1950’s. One of the stipulations in the contract was for a “iron staircase” on the far western edge of the two stories to evacuate patients from what became the Duggan Hospital.

Rotarian Tim Thaler introduced his program which was Joe Sees and Kelsey Gaston, physical therapists from the WCH. They gave a lot of interesting information about “Dry Needling.” This is a technique used in physical therapy and acupuncture to treat musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. It involves inserting thin, solid needles into specific points in the body known as trigger points.

These needles are very, very thin. They help to relieve muscle tightness and promote healing by targeting trigger points and knots in joints. This activates the muscle’s local healing response and improves the blood flow. Dry needling can reduce pain and inflammation, improve movement, and help treat various musculoskeletal issues like back pain, headaches, tennis elbows, muscle knots from gardening and other “overuse” of certain areas. It can also provide relief from joint pain, tension headaches, repetitive strain injuries, and postural imbalances. The trigger points are found by squeezing and palpating muscle areas. There is an extremely minimal risk of complications from this procedure. It has been around since the early 1990’s and is being widely adapted by chiropractors, trainers, physical therapists, etc. It requires training and certification. There are training sessions of three-day courses. This practice has just begun in South Dakota in the last five years. There have been satisfactory results and there is constant research being done and studies being analyzed. It can only be used by a trainer after certification by professions.

Medicare and insurance are not presently paying for Needling. However, the procedure does not take long and our WCM Hospital is not presently charging for this procedure. A typical application only involves about two to five sessions, or once or twice a week for acute conditions.

It was an interesting presentation and was followed by questions from the Rotarians who then adjourned the meeting 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?