Brookings Rotarians and guests filled the community room at Peaceful Pines Senior Living for our regular weekly meeting on Nov. 5, as we met off-site due to the Brookings Activity Center serving as a polling place. Executive Director Autumn Cogdill gave the presentation on Brookings' newest senior living option, and many Rotarians toured the facility, which includes independent living, assisted living, and memory care. Then later in the week, Rotarians met at Ray's Corner for Thirsty Thursday, enjoying fellowship and raising $160 for Disabled American Veterans. Rotarians love to know more about their community and support local efforts!
Welcome to November!
The year as Brookings Rotary Club President is flying by. I am enjoying it immensely.
October continued to be a busy month for Brookings Rotary - starting with Thirsty Thursday on October 3 at
Jim’s Tap, which raised $115 for the Brookings Backpack Program. On Monday, October 7, Brookings Rotary
Club sponsored six SDSU students for Bum-A-Meal at Michael and Tiffany Gonda’s house. Numerous
Rotarians donated food, prizes and gift bags and fun was had by all. It was a good opportunity for us - as
Rotarians - to plant seeds with young adults about Rotary and maybe someday…..they will become Rotarians
themselves. Finally on Friday, October 25, Brookings Rotary hosted Gemma Sisia and Dr. Suleman from The
School of St. Jude in Tanzania. It was a wonderful event with many in attendance with Rotarians from Madison
SD, Marshall MN, Sioux Falls SD, Rapid City SD, Watertown SD, Brookings SD and friends from The Landing
in Brookings SD.
The School of St. Jude is located in Tanzania Africa. It was founded in 2003 with 3 students and graduated 60
in the inaugural class in 2015. Today, the school has more than 1,800 students who are provided a free,
quality education through scholarships from generous donations. Each student comes from a considerably
poor (poverty) background. The School of St. Jude’s mission is to fight poverty through education.
Currently, our Club and it’s members provide scholarships for:
Gregg & Vi Jongeling and Brookings Rotary Club Sponsor 1 child for $2,640/year
Marcia & Larry Janssen Sponsor ½ child for $1,320/year
Doug & Mary Malo Sponsor ½ child for $1,320/year
Gregg & Vi Jongeling and Brookings Rotary Club Sponsor 1 child for $2,640/year
Marcia & Larry Janssen Sponsor ½ child for $1,320/year
Doug & Mary Malo Sponsor ½ child for $1,320/year
Gemma Sisia is the Founding Director of the school. During her visit on October 25, she provided a full
background history of the school and how children receive their scholarships. She was accompanied by one of
her inaugural graduates from 2015, Dr. Suleman who has gone on to college, medical school and is now
employed at the largest hospital in Tanzania as a General Practitioner in the Emergency Department. 97% of
St. Jude’s alumni go onto access higher education after secondary school. Of these alumni, 80% are working
in crucial sectors to ensure Tanzania’s prosperity, including engineering, health, education, information
technology, financing and accounting. To learn about this amazing school, see their website:
https://www.schoolofstjude.org/. If interested, visit with Gregg Jongeling for more information. AND…FYI,
there will be an Africa trip which will include a visit to The School of St. Jude in 2026. Pat Sutliff from The
Rushmore Club in Rapid City is a driving force for The School of St. Jude.
November is Rotary Foundation Month. This is a time when Rotary International highlights the importance of
supporting the Rotary Foundation, which is the charitable arm of Rotary International. All donations to the
foundation support humanitarian and educational programs locally and around the world. The Rotary
Foundation transforms more than 90% of its gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home
and globally. Every Rotarian is invited and encouraged to support the Annual Fund with a personal
contribution each year. https://www.rotary.org/en/foundation-build
Here are some examples of how your generous donation in the Rotary Foundation makes a difference:
$100/year provides 3 backpacks filled with supplies for primary school children in Honduras.
$100/year provided 50 malaria diagnostic tests to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria in Mali.
$100/year provides 1 biosand filter and water-hygiene training for a family in Peru.
$1,000/year provides 14 HIV antiretroviral drugs to prevent the transmission of HIV from injected
mothers to their babies in Liberia.
$1,000/year provides 1 bicycle to play sports for youth with disabilities in France/
$1,000/year provides sexual assault and domestic abuse education women in Texas.
The power of giving enriches lives – both the giver and the recipient. Giving activates the reward centers in the
brain and releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine and endorphins, producing what researchers call the
“helper’s high.” Giving also can lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, boost self-esteem and lower depression
risk. By making you happier, giving back helps you live longer. While giving feels good, its deeper significance
is bringing help to those in need. Simple ways to give are donations, volunteering and performing acts of
kindness. Giving has the power to transform lives.
Remember Rotary’s Motto: Service Above Self.
President Jen Olson
The Brookings Rotary Club is honored to welcome three new members, introduced to the membership at the Oct. 29 meeting. Club President Jen Olson, left, presented Four-Way Test plaques and new member information to Stacey VanBeek, Kayla Stuefen and Brad Hennings. Stacey, Kayla and Brad, we look forward to working side by side with you in "Service Above Self" in the Brookings community, with Rotary impact around the world!
The Brookings Rotary Club hosted a very special reception Friday evening for members, guests, and visiting Rotarians to welcome Gemma Sisia, the founding director of The School of St. Jude in Tanzania, which is enthusiastically supported by Rotary and its clubs and members. Gemma is traveling throughout the state along with St. Jude alum Dr. Suleiman Mohammed, who is now a physician in one of Tanzania's most prestigious hospitals, to tell the amazing success story of the school. Gemma began The School of St. Jude, a privately funded school for extremely impoverished but bright youngsters in Tanzania, more than twenty years ago with only three students. Today the school serves 1,800 primary and secondary students on several campuses, and also supports university students. Scroll through these photos from our very special gathering last evening, and click here for more info on The School of St. Jude:
Randy Grimsley, Brookings Area United Way Development Director, presented a great program this week to the Brookings Rotary Club. BAUW helps fund 46 agencies and programs throughout the county. Its mission is to enhance the health, education, and financial stability of community members. While fundraising is still paramount to its mission, Brookings Area United Way staff and volunteers also are known as facilitators and connectors. Thanks, Randy, and thanks to the BAUW for all you do for our community!
Brookings Rotarian Ginger Thomson and her husband, Jay Vanduch, presented the program this week on their invention, The Doorhickey, a device that allows hands-free opening and closing of sliding glass doors. Their story of creating, patenting, and marketing this device is one of determination and perseverance, and they announced that it will be demonstrated on a new Amazon Prime-streamed show "Buy It Now" in the coming weeks. Thanks, Ginger and Jay, for a great program, and congratulations on the success of The Doorhickey!
The first day of fall officially arrived on September 22nd so that means we can all buy our pumpkins, right? The first full week of fall has been experiencing above normal temperatures in the upper 70s and 80s. Thus, it is hard to believe that fall is really here. Once the trees start to turn color, then maybe the autumn spirit will appear.
The new season brings new projects to help others. The Celebrate Community Event is a wonderful example of collaboration between the civic organizations to help those in need and save lives. Donating food, cleaning supplies and hygiene products is an important project that benefits multiple organizations, such as The Food Pantry, Salvation Army and Harvest Table. Each of these groups helps so many people in the community by providing daily items that may be unaffordable.
Brookings Rotarians also volunteered time and money towards the worldwide problem of mental health. The annual state NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) conference was held in Brookings on September 19-20 with numerous speakers and attendees. Presentations and speakers focused on addiction, mental health care, improving mental health as a public priority, and success stories.
Being in Rotary also includes getting to know your fellow Rotarians and having some social and fun time. The Brookings Rotary Club has a social each month on the first Thursday called “Thirsty Thursday.” Every month the location changes but the fun times and laughs are always in abundance. I encourage each of you to attend a Thirsty Thursday to enjoy the good company. It is a come-and-go event so feel free to come for an hour or two depending on your schedule!
Looking forward to October – it is going to be a busy month! It kicks off with Thirsty Thursday on Oct. 3rd, followed up with the Brookings Rotary Club hosting SDSU students for Bum-A-Meal on Monday, October 7th at Michael & Tiffany Gonda’s house. Relating to our younger generation is very important to the future of Rotary to help increase membership.
World Polio Day is commemorated on October 24th. Polio has no cure but it can prevented with vaccination and we are so close to eradicating this devastating disease. Rotary’s continual fight against polio needs all of us!
Finally, remember to stop and enjoy the beautiful fall days. Enjoy the crisp mornings and the changing of the colors! Side Note: Fall is my favorite time of year and I am known by my friends and family as a “leaf peeper,” which means I take a lot of pictures of colorful trees and love to share. So…be watching for my emails! Happy Fall!
Brookings Rotarians were honored to welcome Purple Heart recipients Lars Perry and Connie Johnson as speakers this week, presenting a great program on the history of the award. Purple Hearts are awarded to service men and women who have been wounded or killed in military action. Launched by President George Washington in 1782, there are more than 1.8 million Purple Heart recipients registered, but it is a self-registry, so the actual number of those eligible for the recognition is undoubtedly much higher. Thank you, Lars and Connie, for a great program and for your sacrifice to our country.
Rotarians love HOBOS! Members of the Brookings Rotary Club provided a meal for SDSU Hobos this week at the home of Past President Michael, and we enjoyed learning about the students and their educational and career plans. Thanks for joining us, Hobos, and GO JACKS!
A full house at today's Brookings Rotary Club, as SDSU Men's Basketball Head Coach Eric Henderson and Assistant Coach Tramel Barnes updated the group on this season's roster (11 of 15 are new Jackrabbits this year!) and the continued emphasis on the five traits that make a successful player: honesty, respect, communication, selflessness, and competition. Although many of the young men are new to the team, Coach Henderson emphasized, "What hasn't changed are the values and characters of the players." GO, JACKS!
The Brookings Rotary Club was pleased to have been a sponsor for the 2024 National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) statewide conference, held last week in Brookings. Rotarians also volunteered their time to help out at the two-day event. Pictured from left are: Larry Janssen, Del Johnson, Jen Olson, Michael Gonda and Lisa Roker.
President Jen Olson has re-instated the "Rotary Magazine Minute" once a month at our Club meetings, and today Rotarian Deb DeBates gave an excellent overview of the recent edition. Every issue features terrific articles about worldwide Rotary projects and examples of Service Above Self. Thanks, Deb, for encouraging us to pick up this interesting publication!
The Brookings Rotary Club welcomes new member Alexis Stolicker, left, who was introduced to the club by President Jen Olson. Alexis, even before becoming an "official" member, completed a service project by volunteering at last weekend's Festival of Books for six hours. Thank you for joining us in "Service Above Self," Alexis!
Sadie Thramer, SDSU Women's Basketball Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, spoke to Brookings Rotarians this week about this year's team members and the competition they face this season. She is most proud, she said, of these student-athletes' characters and academic achievements: the team earned a 3.63 GPA, demonstrating "excellence on the court and in the classroom." Way to go, Jackrabbits! Thanks for a great program, Coach!
SDSU Head Football Coach Jimmy Rogers made his annual presentation to the Brookings Rotary Club this week, updating members on the team's plans for continued growth this year in spite of injuries and many new student athletes. Coach also noted how invaluable community support is to these young men, and thanked everyone for remaining enthusiastically committed to the Jacks. Thanks, Coach...Go Big. Go BLUE. GO JACKS!!
SDSU President and Rotarian Dr. Barry Dunn addressed the Brookings Rotary Club today, updating members and guests on several important university-related topics: enrollment (it's up, and we'll know just how much on September 11); residence halls (they're at capacity); scholarships (greatly increased, thanks to a tremendous Bold & Blue campaign); and campus infrastructure improvements (part of the campus master plan). Dr. Dunn also spoke about the university's strategic plan and SDSU's pursuit of R-1 status, dependent upon research funding levels and Ph.D. degrees conferred. President Dunn also noted SDSU's status as the state's safest campus, and while he touted the campus and Brookings police for their work in keeping the campus secure, he also gave credit to the young people on campus: "It has to do with the students we attract. They make great decisions." Thank you, President Barry, for your leadership and for a great presentation! GO JACKS!
Vision and tenacity: two qualities that architect Angela Boersma of ID8 Architecture says are critical to success. Angie updated the Brookings Rotary Club earlier this month on several important projects her design firm is spearheading, including renovating and expanding the Armory into a downtown boutique hotel, convention-capable meeting space, and beautiful dining areas. She even presented the first public viewing of the artist's renderings of the new space! Thanks, Angie, for a terrific program, and for your dedication to the community.
Thanks to representatives of the South Dakota Humanities Council, who spoke to Brookings Rotarians this week about the upcoming 2024 South Dakota Festival of Books. SDHC Executive Director Christina Oey and Center for the Book Director Jennifer Widman shared information about the Sept. 20-22 event, which will be held in several venues throughout the city. Almost all the events and activities are free, including talks and workshops by authors and numerous activities for all ages. For more information on the Festival of Books visit www.sdbookfestival.com
Thanks to speaker Josh Bauman, Assistant Director of Brookings Parks, Recreation & Forestry, for presenting a great program on the many and varied recreational opportunities in our community. Who knew there are 24 miles of trails in Brookings?
August has come way too fast! That means that summer is more than half over and my first month of being President of Brookings Rotary has come and gone. WOW!
July was an extremely busy month for Brookings Rotary with numerous projects! July started with Brookings Rotarians helping to plant the Rotary Garden at McCrory Garden. It is in the shape of our Rotary COG so try to find some time to wander around the gardens and enjoy the flowers!
Service to others continued with Brookings Rotary Club serving the Harvest Table on Monday, July 8. Food insecurity in South Dakota is a real problem! According to Feeding
South Dakota – there are 106,170 people in South Dakota facing hunger, which means 1 in 9 South Dakotans is hungry. Of those facing hunger, 38,780 are children (1 in 6 South Dakota children). The Brookings Harvest Table provides a free meal every Monday evening and it goes along way with helping provide food for hungry people. Thank you to the many Rotarians who helped cook, serve and clean up for this event and to Brad Blaha for organizing the event.
Then a few days later on Thursday, July 11, Rotarians stepped up again and met to pack family dental bags. These bags included 4 toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash
and more to be given out to families in need. This project was completed in collaboration with Brookings Area United Way and was the kick-off for a possible district grant that Brookings Rotary has applied for – more to come on that! After the dental kits were packed, a little social time for Rotarians was held at Craft for Thirsty Thursday.
Rotarians stepped up again on Saturday, July 20 and sponsored a hole at the SDSU Veterans Affairs Golf Tournament at Edgebrook Golf Course. The large inflatable Rotary COG
was on hand to help promote Rotary and putting games were held on the hole with much fun and laughter. Thank you to Steve Sewell for pulling this all together and the Rotarians that gave their time to help raise money and awareness for veterans. Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30am started the day with Rotarians at the Hillcrest Park repainting the Born Learning Trail. This project was sponsored by Brookings Rotary along with the Brookings Area United Way in 2020. I encourage each of you to take a walk this summer on the south side of the tennis courts at Hillcrest and experience the Born Learning Trail. Try to enjoy the brightness and color on the sidewalk. Maybe some of you will be taken back to your childhood and do a little “hopscotch.”
and more to be given out to families in need. This project was completed in collaboration with Brookings Area United Way and was the kick-off for a possible district grant that Brookings Rotary has applied for – more to come on that! After the dental kits were packed, a little social time for Rotarians was held at Craft for Thirsty Thursday.
Rotarians stepped up again on Saturday, July 20 and sponsored a hole at the SDSU Veterans Affairs Golf Tournament at Edgebrook Golf Course. The large inflatable Rotary COG
was on hand to help promote Rotary and putting games were held on the hole with much fun and laughter. Thank you to Steve Sewell for pulling this all together and the Rotarians that gave their time to help raise money and awareness for veterans. Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30am started the day with Rotarians at the Hillcrest Park repainting the Born Learning Trail. This project was sponsored by Brookings Rotary along with the Brookings Area United Way in 2020. I encourage each of you to take a walk this summer on the south side of the tennis courts at Hillcrest and experience the Born Learning Trail. Try to enjoy the brightness and color on the sidewalk. Maybe some of you will be taken back to your childhood and do a little “hopscotch.”
The month of July was wrapped up with Club Assembly for the 5th Tuesday of the month. I am going to be personally honest….I truly did not appreciate a Club Assembly my
first month as President so if anyone knows who I can complain to about the calendar … let me know. But – a fun activity occurred. I will touch on this more in next month’s article because I am never sure when the Amazing Gregg Jongeling will publish the new COG and I don’t want to give away the surprise if he publishes before the meeting on the 30th.
first month as President so if anyone knows who I can complain to about the calendar … let me know. But – a fun activity occurred. I will touch on this more in next month’s article because I am never sure when the Amazing Gregg Jongeling will publish the new COG and I don’t want to give away the surprise if he publishes before the meeting on the 30th.
So….what can we take away from the month of July from the Brookings Rotary Club….Service Above Self is going strong in our club! The Magic of Rotary is all around and
we as Rotarians just have to step up, volunteer, and give back to increase Rotary’s power to save lives. I think…no…I know that we got a great start for the upcoming year!
we as Rotarians just have to step up, volunteer, and give back to increase Rotary’s power to save lives. I think…no…I know that we got a great start for the upcoming year!
Jennifer (Jen) Olson
A Very Proud President of Brookings Rotary
A Very Proud President of Brookings Rotary
Brookings, SD
United States of America