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Tour de Tonka 2023 with Tim Litfin

Our Program on May 2^nd was Tour de Tonka 2023 with the incomparable Tim Litfin and staff members Amber and Anna. Prior to Tim’s presentation President Steve awarded MCE with a check for $2,500 for basketballs for MCE programs.

TDT will take place this year on August 5^th. Tim started by asking members what the five numbers 18, 53, 41,390, 301 and 44 and Tim awarded prizes for correct answers. They numbers meant: TDT now in its 18^th year; there are 53 legacy who have ridden each year of TDT; over the last 17 years there has been a total of 41,390 riders; The various routes cove 301 miles; and TDT has drawn riders from 44 states! Anna discussed the volunteer structure noting that they have 11 of the 17 Route Captains needed for this years event six routes. Also the city of Winstead has been added to the route this upcoming year. Amber discussed the gifts and merchandising of the event and offered 2022 rider shirts to members that wanted one.

Tim went on to thank all of the 16 incredible sponsors and drew specific attention and thanks to Bob Boyer for not only being a main sponsor but also erects the scaffolding for the main entrances. Tim noted that in a University of Minnesota study the economic impact of 14.3 million dollars. One of the main benificieries is ICA hbaving received $97,000 over the years and $7,000 last year. This year’s event will honor the memory of ICA’s Ron Kamp who was a big support and promnoter of TDT.

TDT has gained the reputation of being the best ride in Minnesota. This is directly because of Tim’s meticulous planning and attention to detail. Not only are there volunteers all along the way to assist bikers but also bike mechanics at each of the rest stations to make adjustments and repairs. The cost per rider supports the cost of the event and the fees necessary for the 49 municipal permits and $25,000 it costs for public safety alone.

Tim completed his presentation by asking individual members about their involvement and experiences in volunteering to be part of TDT. Tim urged all of our club members to sign up for TDT23 on August 5^th and can register or volunteer at: www.tourdetonka.org or call (952) 401-4157. Have you signed up yet?

Boarder Battle - Saturday, May 13, 2023

Excelsior Rotary's 4th Year Book Drive at Deephaven School on May 2, 2023

Minnetonka High School Update with Jeff Erickson

Our Program on Tuesday, April 18th was Jeff Erickson giving us an update on Minnetonka High School. He was introduced by proud Mother-in -Law Linda Gustafson. Principal Jeff Erickson started by thanking our club for our work and also Don Draayer and the other superintendents that he has worke

d with in our school district. He is very appreciative of the support of the community and that of the student body and staff at Minnetonka High School.

Jeff started by talking about the goals of the graduating class and that it has been a matter of connecting the dots. At MHS the central goals are to incorporate and “Develop a strong sense of well-being, empathy and respect for others through deep relationships and a strong sense of belonging. To Engage in learning that encompasses all strands of the Framework across all courses and part of this includes; Work with an outside audience and mentor in an area of passion in an authentic setting. This means offering “Experience in higher level coursework including AP/IB and beyond” and to, “Take at least one online course.” Finally the goal is to encourage young people to Participate in clubs, athletics and arts and develop their leadership skills to serve the greater good.

Next Jeff spoke about the Minnetonka Experience that consists of three concentric circles. At the center are the students surrounded by culture of Learning and support services. Then surrounding those are all the other opportunity to experience the four A’s; activities, academics, athletics and the arts. So, put together a strong authentic education with strong relationship leads to successful well rounded students. Jeff noted that in spite of Covid MHS had 32 Merit Scholars this year that scored 36 on their ACT’s which is a perfect score and a record for MHS and so education continued under unprecedented circumstances.

Principal Erickson outlined all of the great programs that stress academic excellence and real life experience to improve the learning experience at MHS. This includes the Vantage Program that combines academic learning tied to business exposure; the Momentum Auto Shop Program with hands on exposure leading to certification; the Building Construction Program where they actually build Ice Castles fish houses; and new this year the Aviation Part I Program with parts II & III to come in 2024. The hope is that the Aviation exposure and education will lead to pre-flight certification when the entire program is developed. He also talked about the Rotary Interact Club, MHS Food Shelf, and STRIVE that provide students with meaningful mentorships with staff and outside groups and individuals.

Judge Frank Racek on Judicial Service

Our Program on April 4^th was retired Judge Frank Racek speaking on Judicial Service. Judge Racek now lives in the area but was a lawyer, county and then a district judge for 32 years on the bench in North Dakota and retired in 2020. From the outset the judge cautioned us that a lot of what he would be talking about was on the negative side. The judge said that there needs to be reform in the criminal justice system and some depressing parts of the system. Frank said, “I’m going to approach thi

s from my part, the judger part.” One of the reasons is that judges are given very little latitude with limited choices and tools to deal with the various types of convicted felons being probation, imprisonment and sentencing. Judges can only operate within the legislative confines of the law. So various trends of being tough or soft on crime will both fail because both ways do not work well with all types of criminals. Effective treatment is a huge issue.

“Law makers and public officials want to do something about crime but money is not the answer” said Judge Racek. However, there is more hope with recent sociological research about the various types of criminal minds and behavior. Public officials just don’t understand criminals and the general assumption is that given a chance normal people will change their behavior. To help us understand Judge Racek three basic types on criminals using another judge’s description of their behaviors. The first was called the NORP’s (Normal Ordinary Responsible People. These are people who will make a conscious choice to change and reform their lives. Generally they are people that were in trying times and are truly regretfull and work to improve their lives. One of the problems is that the legal system put to many rules and them an that causes them to spiral out of control. The Secon type is the SLIP’s who are serious criminals with no conscience, no empathy for others and make their own rules in life and not caring that they injure, hurt and/or kill others. These criminals are smart and hard to catch thus avoid getting caught. Minimum sentences do not deter them and thy need to be incarcerated to isolate them from the public. The third type is the SLUGS. These are people that had no system around them that taught them to understand the consequences of the actions with very little ability to think ahead. Many act impulsively and give no thought to what this will lead to or who they hurt. Many just feel that they had bad luck! Also many of the SLUG’s have experienced a life of abuse and often very easy to catch. The recidivism rate for these people is high and they keep recycling into the system.

Judge Racek gave us some hope in saying that modern technology and better understanding of the 47 syndromes of criminal minds can help us but we can no longer just try to buy our was out of the problem. He smiled and said, "How we get our selves out of this as a society in for another time!" Members enjoyed his presentation and ask that we have him back to explore this in an upcoming meeting.

Rotary Global Scholar Padee Yang

Our Program on Tuesday, March was the incredible Padee Yang our club sponsored International Scholar and she spoke about her experiences as Master’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution in England, her host club involvement and her plans for the future. She first thanked our club for the $30,000 scholarship to atten

d The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, England. “This Rotary Scholarship has definitely changed my life” said Padee. Her host club was the St. Marylebone Rotary Club of London and mentors there were President Margaret Pollock and John Bash. She attended meeting both in person and on Zoom during the pandemic. She attended the Robert Burns Night club fundraiser Triplet Orchestra, Marylebone Music Festival and the Rotary London District Conference and was introduced along with 25 other Peace Scholars. She also was the speaker at the Rotary club meetings of St. Marylebone and Battersea in London.

While she was abroad she also served as Field Coordinator for Starfish, Community Engagement Officer at the Refugee Council and International Development Officer for ILC Africa (Her favorite experience in 20220 besides her studies. She FOUND SOAS College to be an excellent small college and an incredible cultural experience with all the other students from all over the world. Her coursework was challenging covering all aspects of violence and conflict, gender, global health, Aid, war to peace transition and Persian studies. She even picked up another language to add to her several other languages she speaks! She loved studying at the SOAS Library which is also a regional library.

Padee is currently interviewing with two organizations to gain experience so that she can attain her future goal of being a manager or consultant in Mental Health and addressing gender based violence. The first organization is the International Republican Institute (IRI) that works to advance democracy worldwide. The have invited her to work in Iran as a Program Associate in communications, technology and women’s rights. She likes the opportunity to be Iran but is still negotiating pay and benefits. The other organization is Chemonics that promotes meaningful change helping people in Africa to live healthier, more productive, and independent lives. This would be a Senior Program Associate in East and Southern Africa Business Unit. She wants to see if Chemonics makes her an offer before deciding on which position to take.

She completed her presentation by again thanking our club for presenting her with the opportunity of a lifetime to to receive the Rotary Global Scholarship at a foreign university in the field she feels will be her life’s work. She then did Q&A with members. It has been a joy for our club to have been her International Host Club and Mentor and to be part of her life journey. We know that the world will be a better place because of her passion and efforts to serve the needs of others!