President Jamie Soukup brought the meeting to order Wednesday, November 12th and proceeded to lead the members in saying the Rotary Grace. Rotarian Rachel Woods announced that our song for the day would be The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The day before our meeting was Veterans Day which made our song even more meaningful.

Membership Minute Chair Patty Frei gave a refresher course on the meaning of the Rotary Wheel Emblem. A wheel has been the symbol of Rotary since its earliest days. The first design was made by Chicago Rotarian Montage Bear, an engraver who drew a simple wagon wheel, with a few lines to show dust and motion. The wheel was said to illustrate “Civilization and Movement.” Most of the early clubs had some form of wagon wheel on their publications and letterheads. Finally, in 1922, it was decided that all Rotary clubs should adopt a single design as the exclusive emblem of Rotarians. Thus, in 1923, the present gear wheel, with twenty-four cogs and six spokes was adopted by the “Rotary International Association.” A group of engineers advised that the geared wheel was mechanically unsound and would not work without a “keyway” in the center of the gear to attach it to a power shaft. So, in 1923 the “keyway' was added and the design which we now recognize was formally adopted as the official Rotary International emblem.

Sergeant at Arms Gerrit Juffer promptly fined Rachel Woods $1 for coming back from a family vacation; $6 in fines went to Jerry Weber who has missed several meetings while harvesting; $2 to Tim Thaler for seeing his wife again at Rotary when he sees her every day at work; $1 to Deb Houseman for a picture on Facebook; $1 to Patty Frei for doing such a good job for Craig Krsnak; $1 to Bryan Slaba for a phone infraction; $1 to Amanda Bechen for her “chicken enterprise” at her residence; and $1 to all the Rotarians who viewed the Northern Lights last night. Jerry Weber paid a $10 Happy Fine for all the help he had from family and friends with his harvesting.

In case you missed reading about it, the Queen of Hearts drawing was won last week by Rotarian Joshua Christensen so there wasn’t a lot of excitement when it came time to draw from a new deck of cards. Bill Frei had the right number and making sure that the new deck had been shuffled well he chose a card which was not the right card. Just a Jack of Hearts, better luck next time Bill. He did receive a Lottery Ticket which can sometimes prove to be worth a lot of money.

Rotarian Frei announced that the Woods Attendance Team has had seven misses so far and the Christensen Team has thirteen misses. The number 62 Football book had two winners, Jackson Woods sold by his mother Rachel Woods and Jeannie Crowe who sold her own winning book.

Rotarian Bill Frei turned in a check for the load of cans taken to Mitchell last week and the load was worth $500. Please continue to throw your empty aluminum cans into a bin on the west side of the Rotary Building next to the alleyway. Thank you to everyone who has been donating cans as the money we collect goes toward our unique events and providing scholarships to Wagner Community Seniors. Rotarian Bill also presented a small banner of appreciation from District 5610 to the Wagner Rotary Club for being the second club in the district in per capita giving to our Rotary Foundation. That is a rather good showing for a small Rotary Club of about twenty-five members compared to Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and other large clubs!

Rotarian Jerry Henke introduced his program for the day which was Sandra Fortuna and Tori Thaler. If those names seem familiar to you, they are in the local paper every week. These ladies are certified in several areas of expertise in Grief/Loss, self-harm, Life changes, financial stressors, substance use, Anger/Aggression, Bullying, Depression, Anxiety, etc. etc.

They are currently working at the Wagner Community School twice a week for referrals from teachers, parents, or from individuals asking for their services. They currently have office rooms at the Wagner Community Memorial Hospital. For the first time in eighteen years there has been no construction going on at the facility and these two counselors are grateful for now having their own office space and other amenities. There are currently five full-time therapists at the hospital, an office manager, and other support staff workers.

These ladies go over to the WCS twice a week and have rooms available to them to see individuals seeking help. They can see many more patients this way, and it saves time in students and supervisors traveling back and forth. They also offer parenting classes all year long to anyone who wishes to attend a class. Billing statements for students are not charged nor are they paid by the school district for services. All services are billed directly to students’ parents or an adult. They average thirty to sixty referrals a week. They also spend one day a week in the Lake Andes School District. The length of treatment time depends on the severity of the issue, the age of the child or adult, and other pertinent issues.

Tori Thaler has recently begun getting her certification in Addiction Counseling in Sioux Falls, which will only add to her ability to help individuals from the school or community.

The meeting was adjourned with The Four Way Test: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL & BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?