This Week in

The last Wagner Rotary Club meeting of the year 2018 was called to order on Wednesday, December 26th. There was a light attendance of only 13 members. President Jerry Weber introduced his guest, Bill Herrman from St. John’s Lutheran church in Wagner and asked him to offer up a blessing which he did.

We were lacking a piano player, so we bravely tried one verse of Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It was a valiant effort, but many found the high notes impossible to reach.

As luck would have it, Kathe Henke drew the lucky ticket and tried to draw the Queen of Hearts but only managed to draw a 7 of Clubs.

Patty Frei announced that the attendance race is at 30 misses for the Henke Team and 35 misses for the Frei Team with only two weeks for makeups to reverse the results. We collected $15 to bring the Queen of Hearts drawing up to a total of $235.00

Football Book winners were Sydney Juffer sold by Gerrit Juffer and Callie Frei sold by Bill Frei. These were the last regular play winners. Next week all the names will go into a drawing for $300, $200, and $100. Even those names that did not win will be eligible for this drawing.

A Thank You was read from Margaret Mach for the Christmas gift the Club gave her. President Jerry reminded everyone that we will need a back up reporter for the reporter starting in January. He also announced that the 2019 Predictions will be made and recorded next week. The Board of Directors has chosen four topics: Stock Market, Super Bowl Winners, Weather, Local Sports and you may offer two predictions of your own choosing. All members will be charged $5 each and at the end of the year the Predictions will be viewed, and a tally made of who guessed the most predictions correctly. The prize money will be given to a local charity of the winner’s choice.

Rotarian Rachel Woods introduced her program which was her husband David Woods. He spoke about the Chip Program which is being sponsored in the Wagner area by the Masonic Lodge Arcania #97 located in Armour, SD.

A parent’s worst nightmare is the disappearance of a child. In todays society with over one million children being reported missing each year, the problem cannot be ignored. (South Dakota Child Identification Program) is designed to give families a measure of protection against this increasing problem.

SD-CHIP is the most comprehensive child identification currently available to our communities. Masonichip International, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, South Dakota Sheriff’s Association, South Dakota Dental Association, South Dakota Highway Patrol, South Dakota Attorney General, South Dakota Academy of Physician Assistants and South Dakota Freemasons are working together and attempting to make this program available to all South Dakota Families. This service is brought at no charge to the participants.

The program consists of five major components: (1) A Web-cam still photo, (2) a brief 10 to 20 second Webcam interview, (3) Fingerprinting by a scanner, (4) a dental bite impression, and (5) a DNA cheek swab. The CD each child takes home contains still photos, video interview and fingerprints. The “movie” interview is a recovery tool that provides far more individual characteristics and mannerisms than any still photo could possible accomplish Fingerprinting is a tried and true method of individual identification. The dental bite impressions provide an impression of the biting surface of the teeth that, like finger prints, are unique to everyone. In addition, enough saliva is on the bite impression to provide a DNA sample and a source of scent in canine recovery. The cheek swab, when frozen, can provide a DNA sample for 25-30 years. The child’s CD can be readily used for purposes of the Amber Alert program. Together, all this information provides a powerful identification and recovery tool.

SD-CHIP program is a voluntary program for preschool children and K-12 students. A student cannot participate unless a SD-CHIP parental consent form and a child information form are brought to or filled out by a parent or guardian at the event. The actual program will take place at the Wagner Community School possibly on the 31st day of January. Please watch your local newspaper for definite time and location. This will include the Armour, Marty, Lake Andes, and Wagner schools. All information collected is given to the parents for safe keeping. No information is retained by anyone else.

If you have questions regarding the program feel free to go our website www.sd-chip.org or email office@mygrandlodge.org