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May 6th Speaker:
 
Joe Field: Finding Dad After 60 Years.
 
Joe Field, a successful attorney of 26 years, is the son of a Texas Hispanic mother.
 
Joe’s father was an unknown. Joe’s birth certificate contained a blank line for “father”.  Joe’s mother married another man not too long after Joe’s birth and soon Joe would have three other siblings.
 
They would live in Fayetteville, North Carolina.Then, when Joe was nearly seven years old, his mom and stepdad separated, and child protection entered in. They stripped Joe’s mother of the care of other children and placed them all in foster care. Only a valiant, in-the-light-of-day, kidnapping by his pregnant mother would secure Joe’s future with his mother. Joe’s other siblings would have it not it so lucky. Neither Joe nor his mother would see them again for 17 years.
 
Joe’s mother moved to Texas and lived there until Joe was 10 years old. It was then that Joe’s mom did something either extremely reckless or extremely courageous that would forever change his life, and that of his two new siblings.
 
With 70 cents to her name and less than 24 hours to prepare, she joined a migrant worker caravan headed to the sugar beet fields of Montevideo, Minnesota. Soon Joe, his mom and his two sisters, found themselves in the back of a canvas top pickup truck, along with about a dozen others, headed to Minnesota.
 
Throughout Joe’s 60 years of life the identity of his father remained veiled from him and his yearning to know him intensified, particularly when he had children of his own. His only leads were his mother’s statements that his dad “was in the Air Force” and that “he was a firefighter”. And Joe was of white complexion, so his dad was likely the same. At one time Joe’s mother mentioned that his dad’s last name was “Adams” but doubts about that surfaced when family members said otherwise. Private searches yielded no results. To make matters worse, when Joe was 37 years old, his mother died and the task of finding his father now seemed insurmountable.
 
But then it happened. Thanks to a DNA test and some other fortunate happenings, on July 29, 2017 Joe was filmed, by a national news network, meeting his father for the first time.
 
But it was how he was received by his father and new found seven siblings that will be talked about for years to come.
 
Be inspired, as Joe shares his story of setbacks and triumphs and how he ended up eventually finding his father and, what has happened since.
 
 
April 29th Speaker:
 
Jim Huff, executive director, Cars for Neighbors (C4N), will be our speaker.    Free To Be, Inc. is now called Cars for Neighbors.  They’re still the same 501c3 non-profit.  The name change better reflects the services they provide.
 
Are all car donation charities the same?  There are 75 charities in MN that receive donated cars.  C4N uses proceeds from the sale to help neighbors in need of car repair services.
 
The mission of C4N is fostering independence by providing car care.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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EDITOR’S NOTES
 
PEACOCK AWARD:  All men wearing plaid shirts.
MONEY WINNER:  Bob Gander
HORSESHACK:  None
 
  • Rapid Sampler Planning Meeting is this Monday, May 6th at 11:00am Kendall’s.
 
  • ALERT:  NOON START TO MAY 13TH MEETING!
 
  • ROAD CLEAN-UP DATE is May 11th.  
 
  • May 13th will be the annual writing contest recognition lunch.
 
 
  • Teachers Appreciation Week will be held the second weekend in May.  The Club has donated $200 toward supplies for the event.
 
  • 2019-20 Club Treasurer and Secretary nominations are Dan Thomsen and Bob Hyland, respectively.
 
 
  • Board Meeting and Annual Meeting will be held on May 20th 11:00am will be the Board Meeting at Kendall’s and at 12:40pm the Annual Meeting will be held at the regular lunch meeting.  The Club elections take place at the Annual Meeting.
 
  • Prospective Member:    Marty Fisher invited by Al Hamel
 
  • Minneapolis Crisis Nursery Dinner, Thursday, May 2nd from 4pm to 6:30pm.  Our Club is sponsoring an event to serve their clients a meal.  The meal supplies are provided, and the club needs to prepare and serve the meal.  To date, Khou, Gretchen, Nick and Grant, have signed up.  Two more recruits are needed.  Erik has the sign-up sheet.  The address of the MCN is:  4544 4th Ave Sough, Minneapolis, MN  55419.
 
  • LOAVES & FISHES next event will be Saturday, May 18th from 9am to 2pm.  This date is tentative depending on weather.  There will be an online sign-up instruction announced at our meeting. The location address is: Peace Lutheran, 20 Northdale Blvd NW, Coon Rapids
 
 
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Coon Rapids High School Musical
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Nick Bednarczyk
March 25
 
Jeff Athmann
March 29
 
Executives & Directors
Club President
 
President Elect
 
Treasurer
 
Secretary
 
Rotary Foundation
 
Club Past President
 
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