Source for Jan. 12 (Jan 12, 2017)

You're in for a treat

Yes, it's cold. It's winter in Minnesota. That happens. But today's a Rotary day. And even better, it's a Student of the Month day. So put on some long underwear. Find your warmest mittens. Wrap a scarf around your entire torso. Then come join us for lunch and help us celebrate a couple of remarkable students.

This week

This week, in our ongoing effort to address the stereotype that young people are the worst we will once again welcome two students of the month.

This month we will recognize Farmington High School student Ryan Jara and Riverview Elementary School student Dylan Henrikson. I don't know more about them than that, but if I had to guess I'd say they're both smart, personable and so involved you'll wonder when they have time to sleep or eat or use the bathroom.

Next week

Next week we will hear from the National Association for Mental Illness with a presentation called Together We Can Make It OK. I'm not sure what, exactly, we're going to make OK, but the presentation is a minimum of 45 minutes, so be sure to show up on time.

I'm board. Are you?

You know those secret groups that meet in smoke-filled room to plot the decisions that lurk behind everything that happens in the world around them? A Rotary board meeting is kind of like that, only without the smoke and no real plotting and our decisions are mostly about who to give money and whether we want to jump in a frozen lake.

If that sounds like your kind of meeting, feel free to stick around after today's regular meeting and join us.

The Farmington Rotary board wants you

You love Rotary. Of course you do. If you love it so much one meeting a month isn't nearly enough, I've got some good news.

Krysia Moe, our president elect, is currently putting together her board. If you've been looking for a way to get involved in some of the behind-the-scenes activity of the club, this is a great chance. Joining the board could mean becoming a committee chair. It could also mean joining as a director at large. Don't feel like you need to come in knowing everything that's involved. You'd have plenty of people willing to offer help and advice.

If you're curious, talk to Krysia. If you'd like to know more about any of the individual positions, talk to one of the current board members. If you're interested in Argentinian folk music, I don't know, try Google.

Farmington Community EXPO

Our club needs new members. We want to promote all the good we do in our community. And we want people to attend Ramble Jam. Now we have the opportunity to do all of that at the Farmington Community EXPO.

Our club has the opportunity to host a booth at the EXPO this Saturday, Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. to noon at Farmington High School. Please consider giving a couple of hours of your time to help promote our club. Many of our fellow Rotarians have businesses and are working their own booth, so it's always hard to get volunteers to help with the Rotary booth. It's easy and fun, and the place to see and be seen in town! Let Nathan know if you can help.

Drew Carey isn't a Farmington Rotarian

Drew Carey, popular host of such memorable shows as Who's Line Is It Anyway and The Price is Right, isn't a member of Farmington Rotary. Bummer. Because he would be the most awesome meeting host ever! But until he joins, club members will continue acting as hosts for our weekly meetings. This responsibility is critically important to creating meetings that are organized, welcoming and informative. So what does that mean for you?

Each Rotarian is assigned to one month a year to be a meeting host. Newer Rotarians are always scheduled to host with longer-tenured Rotarians so there is someone to mentor those who haven't hosted before. Meeting hosts arrange for speakers for their assigned month, plus they arrive to meetings early for setup and stay after for cleanup. And monthly hosts are expected to communicate with each other about the plans for their month, plus arrange for someone to take your place as host if you cannot be at a meeting. The time commitment is about an hour a week for one month each year. Easy peasy! Specific instructions and responsibilities are detailed on an instruction guide found in the plastic file box kept in the closet at Celt's.

Heidi, our current club admin chair, emails meeting hosts two-to-three months in advance so you can plan speakers for your month. She also makes several announcements at meetings throughout the year. And meeting hosts for the up-coming months are listed each week in the Source. If you are unsure which month you are scheduled for, or what you're supposed to do, please reach out to Heidi, Linda or your co-hosts for the month.

Linda and Heidi have taken over the hosting duties for March. Hosts for upcoming months are as follows:

April: Jay and Lori
May: Rachelle, Kyle, Don and Brian
June: Krysia, Steve and Barb

Thank you for your service to the club and your fellow Rotarians.