Thursday, August 21, 2025

Lunch Buffet

Doors Open 11:30AM

At

 

 

Past President Club 25

 

Past President Tricia Bunten and her husband, Richard, retired early to follow a dream of living on a sailboat to explore the world. Since April 2024 they have been sailing and exploring the Nordic and Baltic countries. She will share photos and talk about what it is like to live with one other person on a 45 ft. sailboat.

 

Tricia was a member of Club 25 from 2001 until late 2023 and was Club President and an Assistant District Governor. Prior to retirement, Tricia was the Chief Development Officer at UMD. She and her husband Richard raised their two sons in Duluth. They still consider Duluth their home and are renting their house so that they can return here if and when they stop their sailing adventures. When they are not on their sailboat, they live at their cabin in Nisswa, MN.

Chair of the Day: Rob Hofmann

 

Aug. 27, 2025
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

The Local Service Committee meeting will be held over Zoom to discuss past and future volunteer efforts for the Club, as well to brainstorm new ideas.    If you are interested in joining, please contact Dan Maki at dmaki@ascentialwealth.com for a meeting link. 

 

Highlights from Last Week’s Meeting

By Patra Sevastiades

 

It seemed like a regular meeting day. President Zach Walters rang the bell, then led the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Rotary 4-Way Test.

President Zach Walters leads the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

But when Jerry Thoreson delivered the Reflection, something started to change. We learned that in his “first adult life” he served as an associate pastor for 15 years. Who knew? He praised the life-changing work of a woman named Grandma Sylvia.

Jerry Thoreson spoke about his “first adult life” and celebrated today’s speaker.

President Zach introduced four marvelous guests: Judy Sage, guest and wife of Allen Anway; speaker Sylvia Allen (so that’s Grandma Sylvia!) and Beth Kuiken, guests of Michael Orman; and LuAnne Anderson, guest of Past President and Assistant Governor Dean Casperson and former member of Club 25.

Past President Al Makynen celebrates three people.

It was time for self-reporting, and the room was brimming with good will. Past President Al Makynen put two checks in the golden can. One, to recognize his wedding anniversary with his wife, Liz. The other to thank Andy Thielen, who generously advised St. Benedict’s Church on the matter of a new church boiler. Al also mentioned that a manager at waterfront establishment Pier B, when asked for a favor, said, “We can do that!” Pier B owner and Past President Sanford Hoff smiled and added, “It’s the culture of the place.”

Catherine Carter-Huber honors her father on what would have been his 100^th birthday.

Catherine Carter-Huber slipped $100 into the golden can. “Today would have been my father’s 100^th birthday,” she said, smiling broadly. “He was a model of service above self: president of the Lion’s Club, chair of the school board, and president of the church council. I was fortunate to grow up under his influence.”

 

Geiger Yount invites all to volunteer at the Lake Superior Harvest Festival.

“Announcements?” asked President Zach, and Geiger Yount raised one lovely hand and took to the podium. She invited all Rotarians to volunteer on Saturday, September 6 at the 31^st annual Lake Superior Harvest Festival at Bayfront Festival Park. Rotarians will accept cash donations from those attending the free, family-friendly event, which is possible in large part because our Rotarian volunteers turn over the donations to the Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Associate. You can stroll by farmers’ booths and sample everything from jams and jellies to knit garments to wood carvings. Come be part of an annual tradition and have a heckuva lot of fun doing it. Email Geiger today! (geigman@aol.com)

Michael Orman introduces speaker of the day, Sylvia Allen.

Chair of the day Michael Orman introduced Sylvia Allen. Originally from Aitken (MN), she owns a consulting company in New Jersey and founded a boarding school in Uganda. Her dynamism at the podium has rarely been matched. The very first words out of her mouth captivated the audience. She is 88 years old!

Speaker Sylvia Allen and Chair of the Day Michael Orman met while attending high school together.

 

It is evident that Sylvia loves her life, running Allen Consulting in New Jersey, training people to be effective fundraisers and teaching at New York University (NYU) as an adjunct professor. The latter doesn’t pay a lot, but she enjoys inspiring students. (She has also taught Marines in Okinawa and was once a producer for KSTP-TV.)

 

One day, one of her students, a pastor, invited her to join him and four other pastors on a mission trip to Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. In Uganda, she recounted, she felt like she “had a 2 x 4 pressing on her chest.” She knew she needed to do something, but what?

 

Back in New Jersey, she created a 501(c)(3), Sylvia’s Children. She raised funds to build a boarding school. Many of the students are orphans. The students regard her as their grandmother and call her “Grand Slyvia.” At first, she tried to correct them, then realized, “What does it matter?”

 

In the intervening 23 years, she has grown the school to teach 1,000 students. She has added a girls’ dormitory and a boys’ dormitory, medical clinic, library, food farm, 20,000 chickens, 500 coffee trees, and 100 pigs.

 

Now, she’s raising $57,000 to build lavatories to replace the school’s outhouses. She’s half-way there. Will Rotary Club 25 consider helping make it possible? (It’s already under discussion.) While on vacation in Aitken, she is visiting churches and Rotary clubs to support the school.

 

 

Each year, she raises $30,000 to make it possible to celebrate Christmas at the school. Each girl receives a new dress, each boy a new shirt, and everyone receives a gift bag. You can help with this, too. Visit www.sylviaschildren.org

 

Sylvia’s aim: that the school will become a self-reliant facility that does not depend on donations.

 

Inspiring and quick-witted, this spitfire of a woman brought her charm and passion to our meeting. A regular day became something extraordinary.

 

President Zach thanked Sylvia and stirringly recalled the beauty of Africa and the nation of Madagascar, where he grew up. The 50/50 drawing yielded $46 for Bob Reichert.