This week's Signature Lunch Program is all about fellowship, with the Club 10 Band playing holiday favorites followed by mini vocational talks from newer members. Join us for fun and the opportunity to get to know more about fellow Club members. Longtime members may recognize the format from Fellowship Breakfast Meetings of yore.
How It Works:
A designated person at each table will give a short informal vocational talk followed by Q&A about their career path, community involvement, etc.
After 15 minutes the presenters will rotate to a second table
Jim Delamater opened the meeting with a very nice Inspirational Minute and the 4 way test. Corey Edmunds introduced two guest and Bo Aylin was the greeter. Sarah Kolar, who worked with Arnie Bockstruck, read a beautiful memorial for this very special man. President Michael–jon then tolled the bell for a moment of silence in Arnie’s honor. Linda Mulhern introduced the exchange student Annika Nybraten, who told us a little about herself. The Getting to Know Your Fellow Rotarian was Rita Dibble: she told many interesting things that we did not know about her, she lived in 4 countries, visited 29 countries and she also sang! Her theme of what Rotary meant to her was: “it gave me wings.” Darrell Butterwick introduced our newest Rotarian: Elisa Rasmussen.
We all cheered and clapped for the Team that put together the fabulous Winter Spark at Dick and Nancy Nicholson's house: Deb Katzmark, Laura Nichols-Endres, Sue Katsiotis, Kim Kirmeier, Jennifer Evers, Elyssa Weber, Dana Bruce, Jodi Erickson and Preident Michael-jon.
You should have picked up your ballot at the meeting, it is due Dec. 31, 2019
But the Shen Yun presentation, which was our main program, made you want to go out and buy tickets for the show. It was superb! Pingping Yu gave us a good flavor for the dance event coming Feb. 20th in the stunning videos she showed. She talked about their loss of cultural identity and how Shen Yun brings it back. Shen Yun is an awakening. It is the spirit of Chinese culture: “the beauty of the divine, beings dancing; as it combines ballet, acrobatics, martial arts, and ancient Chinese dance. The video clips were stunning examples of the dancing, martial arts, and acrobatics. The costumes really make the dancing. They are also: stunning! As you might gather the word of the day was stunning to describe Shen Yun!
Arnie Bockstruck was born on Christmas Day 1927 in Saint Paul. He was a proud graduate of Saint Paul Academy and Dartmouth College. Upon graduation from college, he served as an officer in the Navy during the Korean War. It was during his time in the service that he met the love of his life, Jessie Mary Roberts under a Banyan tree in Honolulu. They were wed in California in 1953 and enjoyed 58 happy years together. Together they returned to Saint Paul where Arnie followed in his grandfather's and father's footsteps joining Bockstruck Jewelers.
Arnie was involved in many civic activities throughout the city of Saint Paul. He was truly known as a "mover and shaker" in the city. He was President of the Saint Paul Athletic Club; Prime Minister of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival and Chairman of the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce. Arnie was a leader in the Saint Paul Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was Chairman of the Saint Paul Open golf tourney in 1960 which was held at Keller Golf Course. He was solicited and served on the national PGA golf committee and made contributions to what is today the Billion-dollar organization of golf worldwide. He joined Saint Paul Rotary in 1965 and served as president in 1977-1978. He was also a member of the Inijiska Social Club for 61 years.
Arnie also was a significant influence nationally in the jewelry industry. He was honored to serve on the Board of Governors of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). In addition, he is a past president and former trustee of the American Gem Society (AGS). In 1990 Arnie received the prestigious Shipley award. This national award is presented to one recipient annually by the AGS for demonstrating outstanding service to society, and for his significant contribution to the science of gemology and for exemplifying the high purposes, objectives and ideals of the Society in the community. In their later years, Arnie and Jessie enjoyed spending their winters in Indian Wells, California. Arnie was an accomplished golfer and enjoyed many rounds at Somerset and Indian Wells Country Clubs (and even two hole-in-ones!).
We request that this memorial resolution be read into the minutes of the Rotary Club of Saint Paul and that a copy be sent to his family members.
For those who missed the fabulous testimonial given by our Second Century Scholar, Jacob Martin, at the WinterSpark Gala, here they are to enjoy at your leisure. You helped change this young man's life with your gifts to the St Paul Rotary Foundation by sending him overseas on a youth exchange, by sponsoring him at Camp RYLA, and by supporting our $20,000 college scholarships. Jacob is dedicated to being an ethical leader, to service above self and to preparing himself to be a great father and husband when that time comes for him.
WinterSpark may be over, but there's still time to change a young life today with your tax-deductible contribution to the St Paul Rotary Foundation. Click Here to Donate
Hello everyone, thank you for having me here today.
My name is Jacob Martin – recipient of the 2015 Second Century Scholarship. I’d like to express my deepest gratitude toward Mr. Jim Kosmo, Jason DeKeuster and all those who helped make this possible. This is truly changing the lives of myself and everyone who has, and will, receive this honor.
I’m currently in my final year at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and I’ll be graduating in May with a degree in Marketing and minor in Spanish. The job hunt is on, and I’m excited to be exploring different avenues for my life after graduation. So, if you, or anyone you know, is looking for someone like myself, please don’t hesitate to contact me – I brought business cards. A little shameless plug for myself there.
I owe an incredible debt to Rotary International because much of who I am today was made possible by you. My journey with Rotary began when I was 17 with an acceptance to the Youth Exchange Program granting me the opportunity to attend camp RYLA which changed my perspective on life and the power of someone’s story. I then went on the most challenging and rewarding of adventures as an exchange student to Southern Mexico which became, without a doubt, the defining year of my life. It was filled with incredible highs, debilitating lows, and un chingo de tacos – which roughly translates to, “A whole crapload of tacos.”
Then came time to choose the education I believed would prepare me for the rest of my life. I had two rather conflicting criteria for this: quality of education, and graduating with minimal debt. Because of the money from this scholarship, I was able to expand my search to better schools and graduate with a solid education completely debt-free. In this era, I feel absolutely blessed to be able to say that.
But this scholarship has given me so much more than just money. It’s given me belief in myself because I have people who believe in me. In dark and doubtful times, it serves as a reminder that I have value and the responsibility to share it with others, even when I can’t see it in myself. This scholarship has also allowed me the most valuable commodity in the world – time. I’ve used this time to focus on school, excel as a student-athlete, and serve the community.
As an Eagle Scout, service has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. These days, a lot of my service actually comes back through Rotary through organizations like the North Star Rotex Club which provides support for current, past, and future exchange students both native and otherwise. This Rotex Club is the first of its kind, and has been used as the template for creating hundreds of Rotex Clubs around the world. I just recently had the opportunity through Rotex to volunteer to lead a group of 51 exchange students on a 2-week trip through the west coast. It all went incredibly well aside from a 9-hour bus ride through the Mojave Desert with no A/C, a clogged on-board toilet, and a gassy Frenchman.
I plan to keep service as a part of my life, hopefully through the career path I find myself on. Self-improvement is my passion, so my goal is to find a job where I can learn as much as I can and improve the people around me, and I believe the rest will follow. My ultimate goal, however, is to be the best father I can be, and I hope to instill my values into that family so that my future children will grow to be better than myself and impact their communities in ways I can’t possibly imagine. This scholarship is so much more than money. This scholarship has provided me with the education to get a job that will support my family, it’s provided me with the time to improve myself to be the best father I can be, and it’s provided me with the belief in myself that I will make it all happen.
The board of directors has approved the following for Membership. If no written objection stating reasons is received by the board from any member of the club within 5 days following publication of the name, the prospective member shall be considered to be elected to membership.
Pingping Yu kindly shared the following group discount information for Shen Yun.
Group Discount Information:
For groups of 10 or more people, they offer a 10% discount after waiving the $8 processing fee. For example, with the $128 tickets, your price would be $108 with the discount. Ticket prices are $88, $98, $108, $128, $158 and $188. You can find more seating information here https://www.shenyun.com/mn/ordway-center-for-the-performing-arts
You can choose to purchase different show times (5 shows from Thursday through Sunday), or all go to the same show. People can also choose different price ranges and the same discount still applies.
