Chair of the Day, Mark Boben, introduced our speaker Trent Wetmore, Director of Superior Region Operations for Enbridge Energy. Trent is a mechanical engineer who joined Enbridge in 2007.  The title of his presentation was “Serving the Twin Ports for 65 Years.”  Trent first discussed the relative size of the Enbridge operation and its relationship to the crude oil supply in North America, the  United States and Minnesota.  The  US uses 18 million barrels of oil per day.  Enbridge  transports 2.5 out of a total of 3 million barrels exported daily from Canada to the US  Enbridge delivers 80% of the oil used in Minnesota.  Enbridge is an  energy company, not just crude oil.  In the last ten years Enbridge has invested five billion dollars in wind, solar, and geothermal energy production.

The 600 Enbridge employees located in Duluth and Superior have a large regional economic impact.  In addition to wages, employees are encouraged to give back to their community through their volunteer program connecting employees with local volunteer events. 

One of several questions from the audience asked about rail as an alternative transportation method to pipelines.  In certain US regions, such as the Northeast, rail is the most  efficient method.  A 100- car train can transport 66 thousand barrels of crude oil. Being that Trent is an engineer, he left us with a math problem.  How many trains would it take each day to deliver 2 ½ million barrels? 

  

Pictured above: Trent Wetmore & Mark Boben

 

A cadre of hospitality-plus Rotarians hosted Tuesday’s enjoyable evening of donated fish, wild game and accoutrements for the 80-plus guests at G.B. Schneider’s.  Emcee Skeeter Moore offered kudos to the committee, those who donated items for the  dinner, Gary Schneider and his staff and master chef Dick Pelinka for his wizardry in the kitchen.  He then  auctioned a signed (deer) print, won by Dave Fulda, with the $300 proceeds headed toward the event expenses.  Rotarian Chris James, son of Club 25er Bob James who founded this event in 1996, was  introduced along with Bob’s granddaughter   Maria.  Fish biologist and facility manager Greg Fischer of the UW-Stevens Point Aquaculture Demonstration Facility near Bayfield then  highlighted their role in fishing research, fish-farming (aquaculture), fish-plant research (aquaponics), training and equipment design, eg. self-cleaning tanks, flow-through tanks, outdoor aerated ponds. Greg’s UW-SP facility has research partnerships with major universities and fish farming operations using the most up-to-date equipment needed to grow Atlantic  Salmon.  Fish consumption is up everywhere due primarily to health and economic benefits.  It takes only 1.1 pounds of feed to produce a one pound fish, compared to 6.8 pounds of feed to produce a one bound burger.  Consumers and restaurants prefer farm-raised tilapia because it can be paired with unlimited flavors.   Wild-caught fish out of Lake Superior is plentiful and clean, compared with fish coming from other Great Lakes.  However, fish-farming is the wave of the future primarily due to demand, the quality and size of the fish produced on farms, and better controls over disease and spoilage. 

 

Picture above: Tom Homan, Elizabeth Simonson & Jerry Pelofske

 

Pictured above: Chana Stocke, Greg Fischer & Skeeter Moore

 

Pictured above: Gary Schneider & Dick Pelinka

 

 

Several Rotarians gathered at Second Harvest to fill bags with food for youth in need throughout the area. The Backpack Program provides meals to children who, without this program, may not have food over the weekend.

 

Pictured above: Bill Zimbinski & Jon Welles

 

Pictured above: Jerry Pelofske & Steve Yorde

 

Pictured above: Jon Welles, Jay Parker & Mark Eckman

 

Pictured above (left to right): Dan Bergeland, Steve Yorde, Jay Parker, Jim Schwartz, Jon Welles, Jerry Pelofske, John Moir, Bill Zimbinski, Tim Mowbray & Tom McCabe

 

The Northeastern Minnesota Regional Science Fair celebrated its 65th year. Rotary has played a role in this event for more than twenty years. This year Mark Boben, Denny Falk, Allen Anway and Dick Fischer served as judges.  Each of the following students received a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card from Club 25.

 

 

Nabiha Imtiaz, an 8th grader from Ordean East, for her project entitled, "The Effect of Cigarette Butts on the Environment

 

 

Gabriella Laubach and Cassandra  Neumann, 9th graders from  Cloquet, for their project entitled, "Busting Bad Buckthorn Phase Three”

 

 

MacKenzie Brummer and Payten Schneberger, 10th graders from Cloquet, for their project, "The use of ArcGIS to determine land topography, atmospheric conditions, and their  effects on ozone levels"

 

 

Jacob Schmidt and Levi Peterson, 12th graders from Cloquet, for their project, "Testing Protocal to Test De-Icing Qualities of Fracking Salt Pellets When Compared to Road Salt (NaCl).”

 

After many years at the Radisson Hotel, Club 25 will be changing its location for our Thursday Noon meetings. Contract changes have forced us to search for a new home. The Commissary and House Committee  created a task force of Jon Welles, Betty George Sola, Peter Bagley and Traci Marciniak to tackle the task of researching locations. After much deliberation between the committee and the Board of Directors, our options have been narrowed down to the Kitchi Gammi Club and the Holiday Inn. We will be testing out both locations over the next few weeks to determine which would be a better fit. Please join us at the Holiday Inn on Thursday, February 9th to put the location to the test. All comments can be directed to the Commissary and House Committee via Traci Marciniak, tmarciniak@mdfoundation.org.

 

The Club 25 Grants Committee is accepting applications to provide funding to qualifying  organizations in 2017. For more information on the   criteria for receiving funding from Club 25, review the Grant Guidelines. To apply for funding, the organization should complete the Grant Application Form. All applications are due to Bri, bri@duluthrotary.org, by February 15th. If the organization received a grant from Club 25 last year, a Final Report must be  completed prior to being    considered for further  funding.