Thursday, August 20, 2026

Lunch Buffet

Judy’s Delicious Cookies

Doors Open 11:30AM

At

 

 

My Secret Garden

    

Natalie Junk is a Home Health Specialist who has dedicated her work to supporting aging adults, both in Duluth and in Nebraska, where she was born and raised. Since moving to Duluth a year ago, Natalie has continued to build connections through her work and her community. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys raising butterflies in her backyard garden. What began as a weedy, overlooked space became a hidden treasure when she discovered the butterfly garden waiting beneath it. Natalie’s story reflects her care for people, her curiosity about nature, and her appreciation for the unexpected beauty found close to home.

 

The annual Lake Superior Harvest Festival will kick-off at Bayfront Festival Park!

Rotarians are needed to help!

Contact Geiger Yount to volunteer.

geigman@aol.com

 

Twin Ports Rotary Interclub Council Opportunities

 

 

Twin Ports Rotary Pickleball Players: Starting in September 
We’ll organize it as a men’s & women’s mixed doubles league. We’ll play twice/month on a flexible schedule. We won’t be keeping track of wins and losses. We’re just playing for pure fun.  To sign up or for more information contact Brad Jenson (past president of Harbortown) at 218-349-7566 or bradley.jenson1956@gmailcom.

 

By Anthony Nordan

 

President Dan Maki rang our meeting to order with the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test.

 

President Dan Maki

 

Anthony Nordan delivered our reflection today. The reflection focused on the last way of the 4-way test. “Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” Anthony reflected on his time passing the torch to his successor in Fergus Falls. This is something that we all do in our jobs and lives. We pass on work that we have given much of our time to, and we can’t be certain that our successors will give to this work the attention we did. We must strive to make sure that our work is beneficial both to those currently and to those who take up our work behind us. For we can’t be sure what they will do with it, but we must be good stewards while we have it.

We had no Golden Can moments.
Writers Note: This writer 2 weeks ago forgot to put the amount that Andy Thielen put in the golden can for his wonderful 35 years of marriage. Andy put in $10 for every wonderful year of marriage. This amounted to $350 in the Golden Can 2 weeks ago.  (Editors Note: Thank you Andy Thielen for bring this oversight tour attention)

 

We had 6 guests this week:

Judy Sage

Mark Leutgeb (Skyline Rotary)

Dan Blank (Superior Rotary)

Bob McClellan (Superior Rotary)

Andy Oforikumah (Superior Rotary)

Caitlin Corn (North Shore Bank)

 

 

We had 4 announcements this week.

 

Dan Blank, Bob McClellan and Andy Oforikumah from Superior Rotary brought us information about The Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival that is coming up August 21-22^nd. It is family friendly and has two partners this year. The 23^rd Veterans and Second Harvest, both of which have done presentations over the last year at this club

 

Bob McClellan discussed that Skyline Rotary Peaches will be able to be picked up on Friday and over the weekend. It cost $25 for half a lug, and $45 for a full lug. People often come earlier than the 11am designated start.

 

President Dan Maki brought the by-laws and the business meeting last week. It was a very engaging meeting and very productive conversations. This week is the time to vote for the by-laws in person. Per the by-laws you can vote by e-mail, as an FYI for those reading the gimlet who weren’t at the meeting in person.

President Dan Maki put the motion up.

Dean Casperson made the motion to accept the new by-laws.

Darlene 2^nd the motion

All in favor, none opposed

 

Geiger Yount brought up the Fall Harvest Festival that is coming up. She barely has enough volunteers. She would appreciate 2 more volunteers. If you want to volunteer, please contact Geiger (geigman@aol.com).

 

Our presenter today needed little introduction, but the introduction given to him was spectacular. His credentials, as well as some story telling about past experiences, fit very well. “The Valve” seemed to be a point of heckling about a previous experience with Andy Thielen.

 

Since the 1980s, Andy Thielen has been stepping onto job sites right after disaster strikes. As an engineer hired by insurance companies, he often arrives too late to stop the damage, dealing instead with the costly aftermath of equipment failures that can freeze vital business operations. This reality is why he strongly advocates for regular preventative maintenance. While his career has its high points, it also demands tedious behind-the-scenes effort: managing mountains of paperwork, conducting meticulous site inspections, giving court depositions, and navigating legal battles—work so demanding it even pulls him away from his routine Rotary meetings.

 

Did you know that building codes are as ancient as civilization itself? Even the Code of Hammurabi and the book of Deuteronomy laid out strict punishments for contractors whose poorly constructed buildings harmed their residents. Using this historical backdrop as a launchpad, Andy pivots his presentation to showcase various real-world building code failures. As he walks us through these examples, it becomes clear that when codes fail, the impact on residents varies wildly spanning from minor inconveniences ("this isn’t working") to complete, life-threatening catastrophes.

 

 

There were 3 questions asked at the end of the presentation:

 

Q: I feel asleep could you repeat the presentation?

Andy: No.

Q: Have you ever been bribed and what is your largest case?

Andy: No, he has not. $2.5 billion was his largest case. His current largest case he is working on is $300-$400 million.

Q: Have you ever seen a case of sabotage? Intentionally creating a problem?

Andy: No.

 

Andy Thielen draws This week's 50/50 winner worth $60. The numbers are 1726193.

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