Stepping Stone Emergency Housing is the only homeless shelter in Anoka County that accepts single, homeless adults. The group’s mission is to provide emergency housing and support to adults and youth, who are 18 and older experiencing homelessness, as they strive towards self-sufficiency. Stepping Stone began serving homeless adults in 1994 under the management of Shiloh Ministries and in 2008 received non-profit status with a Board of Directors. In 2012, the shelter moved from a 16-bed facility on Ferry Street to the Cronin Building on the former State Hospital grounds. On Monday, February 12th, Tracy Pierce from Stepping Stone will talk about a new mentorship program that the group has launched. We hope you can join us for lunch and an informative program.
Jeff Hintz, CEO of the Minnesota PGA spoke to Coon Rapids Rotary on February 5, 2018.
If the past was any indication of the future, it's quite likely that Jeff Hintz wouldn't be here now. The former Director of the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National in Chaska, probably would have moved on to another event on the PGA tour. That had been his history, until he decided to stay in Minnesota with his family after the 2016 Ryder Cup was over. In January of 2017, he was named CEO of the Minnesota PGA section, which represents more than 600 PGA members in Minnesota, North and South Dakota. The Minnesota PGA's office is located on the lower level of the Clubhouse at Bunker Hills. Last Monday, Jeff spoke to Coon Rapids Rotary about the work of the Minnesota PGA, what went into organizing the 2016 Ryder Cup - along with his insights on the value of mega events like Super Bowl LII, which was hosted earlier this month at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Hintz started his career as an intern with the Coldwell Banker Burnet Senior Classic in 1999 and eventually moved around to various cities on the PGA tour to assist with event planning on the regular PGA Tour and Senior Tour. Eventually he was tabbed for the 2016 Ryder Cup, which brought he and his family to Minnesota. The 41st Ryder Cup was played at Hazeltine National and required 4,000 volunteers to assist the 295,000 guests who visited the event in October of 2016. The tournament included new twists on a traditionally button-up, stoic audience: music, a kiss cam and other things meant to entertain the masses. He believes the 2016 event helped transform the sport and make it more accessible to the public.
Hintz also spoke about the important work of the Minnesota PGA in helping to promote the game to the next generation of players. The Drive, Chip & Putt program is geared toward youth and lasts 10 weeks in the summer. There were 1,800 youth who played in 180 events in 2017. Additional programming is offered for veterans and disadvantaged populations to make the game more inclusive. Golf is going through a transition. The number of courses has been in decline in recent years, leading to fewer job opportunities for PGA professionals in the teaching and management fields. The Minnesota PGA is doing its best to change those trends. Thanks to Jeff Hintz for his remarks and to Tim Anderson for arranging the program.
Jeff Athmann on Monday, February 5th - moments before making his infamous quote.
No doubt it was an awkward moment this past Monday, when the editor showed up front and center, Smartphone in hand - ready to snap a photo of Jeff Athmann as he launched into his classification talk. At first blush, the editor swore he heard “I could really use a glass of water”, but upon closer examination of the notes, it appears Jeff's comments were more poignant: “I really hate cameras and…really, really don’t like my picture taken”. The irony of the situation (with the former publisher shunning a reporter) was not lost on the editor.
Jeff shared the highlights of his life and profession: proud member of Coon Rapids Rotary since 1990, married for 30 years with a daughter (a junior at St. Thomas), and a former employee-owner of ECM Publishers – one of the largest community newspaper publishers in the state. In 2009, Jeff left ECM to join the Institute for Environmental Assessment (IEA), which provides environmental health and safety consulting to a wide range of private and public organizations. The business was started in 1984 and has 6 offices around the state. For more information, check out: http://www.ieasafety.com/ Thanks to Jeff for sharing his story and sorry for taking your photo.
Coon Rapids Rotarians Gretchen Wesche-Sherman and Dave McCauley serving up another helping of the club's chili entry.
Snowflake Days Marquis, Tim Howe and what appear to be the winners of the 2018 Chili Challenge.
Thanks to everyone who assisted with this year's Chili Challenge held on Thursday, February 8th at the Coon Rapids VFW. Several community groups competed for chili dominance and there was only one winner (pictured above). Nonetheless, proceeds from the event went to a good cause: improvements as Hope4Youth's Coon Rapids transitional shelter.
Rotary International (RI) President-elect Barry Rassin’s theme for 2018-19, Be the Inspiration, asks Rotarians to inspire change in the world and in each other. “I ask all of you to Be the Inspiration to help Rotary move from reaction to action — to take a hard look at the environmental issues that affect health and welfare around the world and do what we can to help.” For more information: https://my.rotary.org/en/news-media/office-president/presidential-theme
District 5960 Grant Committee Reminder
Officials from District 5960 are reminding all clubs that in order to be considered for district grant funding, each club must send a representative to one of the upcoming grant seminars. Seminars will be held this coming Saturday, February 17th (9:00 AM - 11:30 AM) at the Family Means in Stillwater. Other training sessions are scheduled for March 17th (Rochester) and April 19th (Prior Lake). This is an opportunity for our club to leverage local dollars into a larger service project. We only need to attend one session. If anyone could assist and attend the training, please contact Grant Fernelius or Margie Rask. Here's a link with more information: http://rotary5960.org/page/grant-management-seminars.
