Past Meeting Notes | Rotary Club of Saint Paul #10

Rotary in Review: Patrick Plonski, Books for Africa

Our Tuesday Signature Luncheon for Saint Paul Club #10 held on September 8^th was a packed house. Hotel staff had to add more chairs to accommodate everyone.

President Ken Schaefer rang the bell for week #10. Two and a half months under his stellar leadership as our Club President.

Bob Cardinal provided an inspirational minute around the word "knowledge". Bob shared the requirements for being a cab driver in London. The 4- Way Test plus 1 (FUN) was given by all in attendance.

Our MN Chief Scout Jeff Sulzbach welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests and collected lots of happy dollars at the end of our luncheon.

Patrick Plonski, executive director of Books for Africa gave an inspiring program sharing their mission of filling up libraries in Africa. Books for Africa organized in 1988 and will send over $2.5 million books this year. 65 million books since the start. They are celebrating their 38^th Anniversary as an organization. Books for Africa have warehouses in Minnesota and Atlanta Georgia. They rely on 10,000 volunteers to process the books. They collect text books, children's books, law books, novels and educational books.

President Ken put a plug in for Winter Magic which is set for December 3rd. If any club members have any experiences to offer up for the silent auction, please get your information to the committee by October 30th. Ken also plugged the Rotary Forum set for September 23. Our Club will not meet on September 22.

Rotary in Review: Kevin Nye, Demystifying Homelessness

At 5:15 pm, President Ken Schaefer, called the meeting to order at the Pool and Yacht Club. Ken thanked the volunteers helping at the meeting, Deb Katzmark was the greeter, Heidi Fisher for her introduction of guests and Happy Dollars, Jim Hart for the Inspirational Minute and Four-Way Test Jim spoke about his experience with his nephew’s family recently and quoted a poem by EE Cummings, “fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting”. Our amazing IT tech team of Rob Thomas and the scribe, Linda Mulhern. We had a couple of guests Marg, who is a member of the Oshkosh Rotary club and previous president of the St Paul club, and Lucky Lee, who is a member of the Stillwater club. We also had Klaudia, our youth exchange student from Slovakia and Mary Schaefer, the wife of President Ken.

Kevin Nye, a writer and advocate to get rid of homelessness, spoke to the club. He is the Housing Director of National Faith Coalition to End Homelessness. He said it touches everyone, be it a family member or seeing people without homes on sidewalks and parks. It thrives on invisibility to the public even though we see it daily. He is looking for faith communities to help with the issue and to change the mindset about the myths of homelessness.

How do we understand the root causes of homelessness? Most people note addiction and mental health issues, but there are other issues also playing a role. People often do not have safe locations to call home and will often sleep in a car or couch surf. The most common age of people that are homeless are infants and seniors due to living on a fixed income and costs continue to rise. Mental health is not the root cause, but it is like “musical chairs” with each round, someone losing a place, so society will often blame the victim or are not helping enough. The cities with the highest homelessness are some of the highest incomes cities in the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, San Franciso, and Seattle. Homelessness is a lack of housing problem. Here in the Twin Cities, it takes years to build homes for people. The AMI (Average median income) determines how well we can house people needing help with high housing costs. In the Twin Cities, we can help people who have incomes in the 80% range of the AMI, most of the time, but the actual need is helping people who only have an income in the range of 37-50% of the AMI and we have not been able to meet that goal yet.

Kevin is promoting the idea of YIGBY (Yes in God’s back yard), rather than NIMBY (Not in my back yard), such as converting old hotels into housing units to help with increasing the housing stock. He noted that HUD (Housing and Urban Development) was once one of the largest departments in the Federal government and the federal government understood that providing housing access was important up until 1980, but at that point, since then, the money has dwindled to just scraps. We need to have an understanding that it shouldn’t be “us” versus “them”, because homelessness affects everyone. Many people are working multiple jobs to earn enough for housing, and it still may not be enough. On 10/11/26, the National Faith Coalition will be asking religious institutions to learn more and share knowledge and opportunities to service their local community. Currently, 25 denominations are involved, and they would like to increase that number.

Kevin was given a certificate for his time by Ken and money will be donated to the YMCA homeless youth program. There were several Happy Dollars; Dick and Pat Hartford will celebrate their 58th anniversary, Al Zdrazil asked to borrow a laptop for a presentation, Dave Dominick celebrated the life of his dog that was put down recently, Brianna Haglin talked about her step-daughter showing llamas at the State Fair, Tricia Wiitanen talked about the upcoming Book Club meeting on the second Wednesday in November, Pete Grayson was at the fair with the Roseville Rotary Club and also over extended himself with Pilates with his wife, Dana Bruce reminded that people could join the Park Conservatory, and Linda Mulhern asked that members remember Klaudia if they will be attending a play or professional/college athletic game to learn more while in the United States.

Klaudia pulled the ticket for the sparking wine fund raiser and Beth Naughton won!

Upcoming meetings:
9/8 – Patrick Plonski – Books for Africa
9/15 – Kathleen Biggins – C Change Conversations
9/23 – The Community Forum at the Minneapolis Club – Resilience in Uncertain Times
9/29 – Gina Lindquist – The Drawer
11/10 – Dave Dominick will talk about the St Paul Foundation status
12/3 – Holiday Party at Union Depot

The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 pm.

Linda Mulhern

Rotary in Review: Richard Coffey, Ujamma Place

The meetings are recorded to assist in drafting minutes.

· At 12:15 on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Kenneth Schaefer, the St Paul Rotary President, called the meeting to order at the Intercontinental Hotel Pool and Yacht Club. ______ led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and thanked the volunteers helping at the meeting:

· Deb Katzmark and Jeff DeKeuster - greeters,

· Joy McElroy- Inspirational Minute and the Four Way Test,

· Bo Aylin introducing visiting Rotarians and guests

· Our tech team of Andrew Vincelli and Matt Magers.

· District Governor Michael-jon Pease - the scribe and

· Our club administrator Lindsey Beringer.

The speakers were Richard Coffey and Zentavius Graham from Ujamaa Place. Ken Schaefer introduced the speakers.

· Ujamaa Place serves men seeking jobs, financial literacy, housing and personal development

· New High School program to connect Juniors and Seniors about opportunities outside of the traditional 4-year college path.

· Richard shared a story about a young man re-entering the work force after prison whose life was turned around by his experience at Ujamaa Place. After receiving clothes, training and connections to get a good union job. “For the first time in my life, I have something I’m not giving up for anything or anybody. I have a job that allows me to care for my two daughters. That means more than anything ever has.”

· Richard introduced Zentavius Graham, who came to Saint Paul to play football at Concordia University. He shared a bit of his story with Ujamaa Place where he has gone on to start a Brother’s Circle and Run Club. He has since graduated from Concordia and has started his own juice business.

· Ujamaa is Swahili and means “family, community, economics.” These pillars are the pillars of the organization’s theory of change.

· Ujamaa Place provides culturally responsive, wraparound support for young Black men in Saint Paul, integrating education, employment, housing, wellness/life skills, family connection and reentry support to build long-term stability and self-sufficiency. They serve 300 men annually ages 16-40 – anyone who comes through their doors. Richard is working to expand the age cohort and to start programs for women.

Happy Dollars led by Bo Aylin that raised funds for Saint Paul Rotary Club Foundation.

Announcements:

· A moment of silence for the passing of long-time member (55 years!) Darrell Butterwick.

· Micah Thompson, returning exchange student recounted his experience in Brazil.

· Incoming exchange student Claudia from Slovakia.

The meeting ended at 1:15 pm.

Michael-jon Pease, Scribe

Rotary in Review: Anthony P.C. Dann, Founding BioAmerica Health

President Ken called the St. Paul Rotary 501 meeting to order. This is President Ken's 7^th week as our fearless leader.

President Ken thanked his meeting support team. Joel Theisen provided an inspirational minute around two words: disappointment and regret from George Clooney. With regret, you can't change something then led our group in the 4 Plus 1 Way Test which includes FUN.

PDG Ken Crabb introduced our speaker Anthony Dann, founder of Bio America Health. Anthony shared his life story which talked about health issues growing up as a kid and the challenges that his health created. Now, he works with Mayo Clinic. He talked about actual delivery versus patient perspective delivery. He tries to meet providers and patients where they are at. His focus is on prevention versus care.

Bill Collins provided a few moments around what his classification was when he joined the Club. He had an acting career when he became a Rotarian.

Many Rotarians were happy and the flow of happy dollars was evident.

With no further business, President Ken adjourned the meeting at 6:00 PM.

Rotary in Review: Rob Vischer, University of St. Thomas

Rotary Club of St. Paul Meeting Summary

Tuesday, August 11, 2026 Speaker: Rob Vischer, President, University of St. Thomas

Opening

President Ken Schaefer opened the meeting. Steve Young provided the inspirational moment, and Jim Hart introduced visiting Rotarians and guests.

A special guest was Kelin Fuentes and her family. Kelin is a Rotary Scholar and will be attending the University of St. Thomas this fall.

University of St. Thomas — Challenges and Opportunities

President Rob Vischer spoke about the challenges facing higher education, including increasing questions about whether a four-year college degree is worth the investment.

He highlighted several outcomes for St. Thomas graduates:

· 98% graduation rate

· 90% find full-time employment after graduation

· 89% have a job secured before graduation

· Median starting salary of approximately $70,000

For the Class of 2025, approximately half of students graduated with student loans. Average borrowing included about $20,000 in federal loans and $36,000 in private loans.

Access and Affordability

Vischer emphasized the diversity of the St. Thomas student population:

· 39% of students are first-generation college students.

· 30% qualify for a Pell Grant or state grant.

Although St. Thomas receives some public funding, Vischer noted that for every $1 of public funding, the university invests approximately $5 in private funding.

Recruiting Beyond Minnesota

St. Thomas operates in an increasingly competitive higher-education marketplace that Vischer characterized as a “winner takes most” environment.

Approximately 80% of St. Thomas students come from Minnesota. With Minnesota's youth population expected to decline over the coming decade, the university is focused on attracting more students from outside the state with a target of 30% in the next 10 years.

Division I Athletics and Entrepreneurship

Vischer discussed the significant impact of St. Thomas' move to NCAA Division I athletics. The women's volleyball team's appearance in the NCAA playoffs, for example, generated more than $3 million in media exposure for the university.

He also highlighted St. Thomas' national strength in entrepreneurship, noting its ranking among the nation's top 10 universities in the field.

Despite its growth and expanding national profile, Vischer emphasized that St. Thomas remains committed to its identity as a Catholic university.

Meaning, Purpose and Belonging

One of the more significant themes of Vischer's presentation was the challenge facing today's young people.

He described today's youth as experiencing significant loneliness and a loss of meaning, purpose and belonging. He believes universities can play an important role by giving students opportunities to develop an identity, build relationships and connect with others.

As part of that effort, all incoming St. Thomas freshmen will read The Meaning of Life by Arthur Brooks this year.

Vischer described the university's role as helping form tomorrow's leaders in the context of its Catholic mission. He expressed the hope that students will discover that they are loved, develop a sense of purpose, find meaningful work and ultimately contribute to the world.

Questions and Closing

Following his presentation, President Vischer took questions from the audience.

To close the meeting, Jim Hart opened the floor for Happy Dollars. Matt Majors announced that the club is looking for a volunteer to help reset its Microsoft 365/Microsoft suite.

President Ken closed by reminding members of Rotary’s 2026-27 theme, to Create a Lasting Impact.

Rotary in Review: Jamie Rand, Downtown Revival

President Ken Schaefer called the hybrid meeting of the 117 th Year of Rotary Club of Saint Paul
to order. Ken described Rotary in a nutshell: Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors,
friends, and leaders who volunteer their skills and resources to solve issues and address
community needs. Its projects include Polio eradication, water systems, education, foreign
exchange students and more! And New for Saint Paul in 2026 – Red, White and Boom!
Fireworks.
Ken thanked the support team: Sherry Howe, Helen Wagner, Lynne Beck, Rob Thomas, Matt
Magers, Michael-jon Pease, and Melissa Musliner. He thanked everyone for joining us.
Melissa Musliner introduced visiting Rotarians and guests. We were fortunate to have a number
of guests for the meeting. Michael-jon Pease provided an Inspirational Minute (about what?) and
led us in the 4-Way Test.
Ken Schaefer introduced the speaker Jamie Rand from the Downtown Revival. Trust. His topic was
“Why I Am Investing in Downtown St. Paul and Why I Believe Its Best Days Are Still Ahead.”
Jamie Rand is the Founder and Senior Managing Director of Prime Asset Fund, based in Tampa
Florida. Throughout his career, Jamie has built and managed real estate investment platforms
focused on acquiring. financing, operating, restructuring, and disposing of real estate assets
across multiple market cycles. Jamie’s current investment focus includes distressed debt, real-
estate-backed lending, adaptive reuse, commercial real estate repositioning, and the acquisition
and revitalization of underused real estate assets. He is working on the project in downtown St.
Paul involved in efforts to preserve, reposition, and reactivate historic commercial buildings for
long-term community and economic benefit.
Jamie talked about how he is working with partners like the Downtown Alliance, universities
and colleges to revitalize some vacant buildings in St. Paul. These projects involve efforts to
preserve, reposition, and reactivate historic commercial buildings for long-term community and
economic benefit. He emphasized that he preserves the original character of buildings without
reinventing them. The projects will also benefit the city by attracting high-paying labor union
jobs and bringing more revenue to St. Paul.
Melissa Musliner asked for Happy Dollars. Al Zdrazil has a ticket for tonight’s Minnesota
United game for someone who wants to attend. Christoper Taykalo is in the Fringe Festival show
A Real Piece of Work at the Theater in the Round and invited everyone to attend. Shelley Ruck
loves the positive attitude of the Spirit of Saint Paul. Linda Mulhern visited her host mother from
when she was an exchange student in Sweden. She attended her 86-year husband’s funeral.

Ken Schaefer closed the meeting with a list of upcoming events and meetings.

Rotary in Review: Richard Theime, Thinking Like a Hacker

At 12:16 pm, President Ken Schaefer, called the meeting to order at the Intercontinental Hotel. Ken thanked the volunteers helping at the meeting, Jeff Sulzbach and Tim McNiff were the greeters, Bill Collins for his introduction of guests and Happy Dollars, Steve Young for the Inspirational Minute and Four Way Test, Steve spoke about his experience of helping a lost 6 year old girl at the Rotary 4th of July fireworks at the Cathedral and how as Rotarians, we were able to reunite the family while keeping her safe in the chaos of the thunderstorm, our amazing IT tech team of Rob Thomas and Andrew Vincelli and the scribe, Linda Mulhern. We had a couple of guests Ezra who is moving to St Paul and works with UNICEF, and Huzaifa, who is looking for a Rotary club to join and has been active with Camp RYLA while in India and Pakistan.

Karin Ciano introduced our speaker, Richard Theime. He has been speaking about AI (artificial intelligence) for the past 35 years. We must learn to interact with a different culture and that “we shouldn’t go where you don’t know”. AI will transform everything and everyone should have a fundamental understanding of AI while maintaining both an “over and under trust” of the information provided. As humans, we need to gain a sixth sense of machine intelligence and be willing to do additional research if the information does not hold true. He spoke of KIMI released by China recently and how effective it is but also, we don’t know what type of monitoring is done by the Chinese by those who use it. He reiterated that we shouldn’t trust the system, while also challenging it to do better. Richard spoke about the “prompts”, which are the natural personality of AI, it will wait patiently for additional information from the slow human user. He uses ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini interchangeably and what information is produced by one, he will provide to another. He said that when he initially wanted to speak about AI, he wrote his speech about hackers and AI on his own and then requested Claude to provide topics, which provided 6, when inputted into Gemini and Chat GPT, he eventually ended up with 25 topics to speak about hackers use of AI. AI is multimodal, so it pulls all the information from the internet, books and even videos to answer questions. It doesn’t know what it is saying but finds relationships with all of the tokens (prompts) available and can find exponential growth. He noted that one advantage of people having philosophy degrees is that they can think “deeper” when AI provides the superficial answers rather than what could be provided, so there is an advantage for people with the “original unneeded degrees” from a university! AI has not found a way to think “deeply” yet. We are currently at an inflection point while dealing with a meta system and do not quite understand it, so we MUST understand it and engage with it. Young people are afraid of it from the standpoint of their future ability to find employment and like any technology it takes time to catch up with reality. He said that ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude are all good places to start and if you want to work with a more advanced AI, can pay a subscription rate of approximately $20 per month.

Richard was given a certificate for his time by Ken and money will be donated to the YMCA homeless youth program. Paul Harris awards were distributed by Brianna Haglin at the meeting today to Helen Wagner, Rob Thomas, Alison Brown, Karin Ciano, Carolyn Will, Jason DeKeuster and Susan Rostkowksi. There were several Happy Dollars; Dick Nicholson noted a new grandchild, Thanks from Jason DeKeuster for his roast last week and that he survived it, Melissa Musliner talked about her ex-husband watching AI movies in the past and how it has become the new reality.

Ken asked if we had a volunteer to lead the Service Opportunities position for the club, please let him know if you have any interest.

Rotary in Review: Dr. Thomas Kottke, Firearm Storage Safety

Rotary in Review

July 14, 2026

President Ken Schaefer opened the meeting in the InterContinental Hotel’s Great Ballroom on an extremely warm and sunny afternoon. He thanked the meeting volunteers and called upon Tricia Wiitanen to present an Inspirational Minute and the Four-Way Test. Tricia offered a poignant writing on mindset and led a recitation of the Four-Way Test.

President Ken called upon Jim Hart to introduce the day’s speaker, Dr. Thomas Kottke, describing him as a unique cardiologist and longtime friend. Dr. Kottke is a Senior Research Investigator, HealthPartners Institute and Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He focuses his research on learning how to improve health and well-being through community and clinical initiatives.

Dr. Kottke’s focus today was firearm injury prevention. He opened with reference to the Annunciation Catholic School shooting and to the account of ER physician Rachel Weisberg, framing his central argument in her words: our children do not need to live – and die – this way. The United States, he noted, is an outlier among peer nations on this measure.

Dr. Kottke then challenged a common assumption. Most people associate firearm deaths with mass shootings. In fact, he said, that most firearm deaths are suicides. After a short quiz on mass shootings, Dr. Kottke pointed out that roughly half of fatal shootings occur in the home, making the home the most dangerous location. He identified a single common denominator across these deaths: unsecured firearms. He also noted that suicide rates are lower in the metro area, where firearms are less prevalent than in outstate Minnesota.

Dr. Kottke’s prevention message was direct and practical. The most effective steps to properly secure firearms are:

1. Keep all firearms in a securely locked safe;

2. Always store unloaded; and

3. Keep ammunition stored separately.

Dr. Kottke further recommends off-site storage in households where mental illness is present.

Dr. Kottke does not blame firearms or firearms law. Instead, he focuses on what he and colleagues see daily in Emergency Rooms, and what he believes is the best way to reduce firearm deaths. Doctors and police cannot be the gatekeepers to solve the problem of unnecessary firearm deaths in this country.

Dr. Kottke closed with a call to action. Citizens need to step up and help. Ask friends and neighbors about safe firearm storage. Encourage others to follow the steps above. Let’s save our kids – together.

President Ken thanked Dr. Kottke and closed the meeting with a list of upcoming meetings and events.

Rotary in Review: Steve Young & Tara Marshall Revisited

President Ken Schaefer called his first meeting to order. He has only 50 more to go. He shared the Rotary Theme of Create Lasting Impact. President Ken thanked his meeting support team.

Brianna Haglin shared an inspirational minute around the 250^th Anniversary of our country, led us in the Four-Way Test and introduced visiting Rotarians and guests.

President Ken gave a tribute to Carolyn Will for her leadership organizing Red White & Boom. July birthdays were celebrated with Dave Dominick's delicious cupcakes. Our club had two youth exchange students presenting inbound and outbound experiences.

Steve Young and Tara Marshall presented a conversation around moving toward the center. Steve and Tara help people find their center. A question from the presentation was who am I, what are my values and principles? Who is in charge of me? A very enlightening presentation.

President Ken wrapped up the meeting with happy dollars and announcements. President Ken did a superb job with his first meeting as our 117^th Club President. Meeting #1 in the books.

Rotary in Review: Changing of the Guard

For over 116 years of the Saint Paul Rotary Club, June 30^th was the changing of the guard as President Jason DeKeuster passed the gavel to our 117^th Club President Ken Schaefer. Many past presidents came for the annual celebration.

President Jason rang his last bell and thanked his meeting support team. Steve Young provided an inspirational minute sharing information from Tom Payne, tying in the 4-way test and leadership. Steve was recognized with a Paul Harris recognition by President Jason.

Past President Todd Nicholson welcomed guests to the meeting. Incoming President Ken Schaefer bringing the Club's new first family to his installation were introduced including first lady of the Club Mary and his three sons (Joe, Tom and Bill).

President Jason introduced the incoming Club Foundation Board, shared the Club's achievements which included youth exchange, fiscal stewardship, our Sister City highlights, hiring a new club coordinator and the upcoming Red, White and Boom. One of Jason's goals was to make sure that Rotary is not the best kept secret and discussed the success around our marketing efforts.

Other highlights of the meeting included the introduction of the new board and recognition of past presidents of our Club.

President Ken Schaefer's goals include creating lasting impact, raising our Club's profile in the East Metro, member engagement along with fun and club fellowship opportunities. There were lots of happy dollars. Our meeting was adjourned with upcoming announcements.