 A
special guest, coming all the way from Greenfield,
Massachusetts, joined the Brainerd Noon Sertoma group today. Al
Norman is an expert speaker brought to the Baxter area by a
group of concerned citizens who wish to prevent the expansion of
WalMart into a Superstore. His "day" job involves working with
30 agencies in his area who have formed a corporation to keep
senior citizens at home. Details of his visit can be found in
the Brainerd Daily Dispatch. He was scheduled to speak the same
evening to interested parties at 7:00 p.m. at the high school.
Mr. Norman was a very educated speaker. He started by
complimenting the Brainerd Noon Sertoma Club when he said, I
congratulate you for being so active in your community; in my
hometown no club could draw this many people. Mr. Norman is a
former city dweller who sought refuge from big and large in
rural Massachusetts in a town with the population of about
18,000. He was asked to spearhead a committee to stop WalMart
from coming into Greenfield about 10 years ago. He became very
adamant about his position after doing his research. His three
main areas of concern are: treatment of workers, source of
goods, and contributions to the community. The advent of a large
WalMart in a community means the closing of double the amount of
square feet in local businesses. Jobs are usually about 1/5 of
those promised. Most WalMart employees are not full time, have
to work off the clock hours, and earn a wage that is at the
poverty level. The WalMart that is closed to make way for the
SuperStore usually becomes a dead building. For instance, there
are currently 6 dead stores in Minnesota and over 300 in the
United States. Mr. Norman said, WalMart wants the whole pie,
including gas, groceries and used cars. His theme for Baxter
residents was that they control the way the 371 Gateway to the
North expands and that control lies in either a one year
moratorium to consider how a WalMart Superstore fits into the
comprehensive plan which was implemented in 1996 and is
currently being revised, and/or limiting the growth of retail
stores with a limit on square feet. His newfound slogan is Save
the ox, drop the box. He would prefer to see Babe the Blue Ox
remain in Brainerd instead of being transported elsewhere to
make room for a box store |
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| Announcements |
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April 26 - Saturday, all Sertomans are invited to the wedding
dance at the Moose at 7:30 for Erik Bonde and Sandra
Ehrich. |
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May 15 - Spring Ditch Pick--come and get your hands
dirty and your appetite whetted for a wonderful picnic supper of
Walleye prepared by Gary Loge and his crew. |
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Julia Sullivan thanked everyone for their help with the big
Pipe and Drape two weeks ago. She also officially announced her
new job--she will be in charge of Pipe and Drape. Many thanks to
retiring chairman Mike Howard. |
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Joe Schulte and his Gossamer Ceiling Committee are all set
to decorate for the Junior Senior Prom on April 23rd. Gossamer, a
very curious word. How could a ceiling make money for Sertoma? Six
months ago three Sertomans who were planning the 2002 Rookie Party
(Robin Loftis, Kristine Welle, and Joe Schulte) and they decided
to invest in something to make the party more fun and to earn
money for future events. Gossamer material is a light delicate
fabric sometimes compared to cobwebs floating in air. The ceiling
is black with silver stars and consists of three by seventy foot
panels overlapped together to cover an entire basketball court
area. The project requires a minimum of six people for set up and
four for take down. The time is 1 1/2 hours for a set up and 1
hour for a take down. Sign up to help when you get the
opportunity. |
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Elections will be held at the next meeting. If you are
asked to be on the ballot, please consider accepting the
responsibility. |
 The
Pequot Lakes Sertoma Club shared some of its flowers
leftover from their flower promotion. Bouquets were presented to
the waitresses and the following people won one: Jeff Deihl, Joyce
Seymour, Robin Loftis, Jeremy Horn, Julia Sullivan, Beth Burnard,
and Carole Paulson. |
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FAS: |
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| Ticket
Winner |
| Todd Froemming (donated to Shoes
for Haiti. If anyone is considering a donation to this effort,
now is the time. The shoe shopper is purchasing his next batch
next week. Tom Rosenberger appreciates all of these donations. |
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| Pot-O-Gold
Winner |
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Lowell Carlson |
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Attendance - |
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| (including Steve
Quisberg and his manger for Cub Foods) It was very splendid to
have Roy Miller come back as a guest--it was great to see him
again. You have been missed at Sertoma Roy. |
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| Greeter
Schedule |
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Remember: Greeters (Be sure to take care of your duties
that include meeting people at the door and getting the ticket
money counted and divided with half going to Tami to give away
and half to Diane for the social committee's budget). As greeter you have several duties. You need to
arrive about 10 minutes early. It is your job to greet people,
help them find their badges and sell them a ticket if they wish
to participate. The money collected must be divided by the
Greeters equally--half goes to the Club Treasurer (Diane Rook
Johnson) and half goes to the Club President along with the
bucket of tickets. Be there
by 11:45 and call somebody if you can't. Call Patty Hartman. |
| April 30 |
Rob Johnson, Vicki Mandt, Mary Marana |
| May 7 |
Wendy Johnson, Bob McBeath, Jackie
McCall |
| May 14 |
Denny Benjamin, Mike McFarland , Traci
McFarlin |
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Sertoman of the Day
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| Notes |
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Photo Contest: This is the fourth week, the prize is up to
$40????? Surely someone can match the rookie names and faces.
Pictures are here (link
to photo page) and names are: Michele Sjoblom, Steve
Warren, Jean Marshon, Eric Edwards, Denny Benjamin, Wendy Johnson,
Amarie Nelson, Scott Johnson, Steve Mau, Ryan Hokanson, Jeff Deihl,
Jeremy Horn, Sandy Kleist, The person with the most correct
answers before Tuesday of next week sent to eglponys@brainerd.net
will win the FAS sawbucks.. Remember there are two more names than
there are faces. |
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Rumor Corner: |
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- Kevin Goedker has joined the expectant father list.
- Rory Coit's new part time job is drivers education and his first
student is blonde and dangerous behind the wheel.
- Charlie Bartles can now be reached at bs.com, the new web site for
all of the people who got fined for adding dot. com to their place
of employment today. Our speaker even joined in, his web site was happytobehere.com.
- Lynn Franz and Jeff Birks will be working closely together in the
future--actually Jeff is Lynn's new boss.
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Find a Sawbuck Corner: Call 829-7761
The FAS Program was designed to encourage people to read the newsletter. Even those who attend the meeting can benefit from reviewing the announcements etc. If you find the letters FAS followed by your name, you must call the number provided and just leave a message that you called and attend the next meeting to collect your money. Simple--however 90% of the people never respond.
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Photos Photos Everywhere New photos go up almost every week on our new MSN Community homepage. This community is for the club, easy to join and gives you the opportunity to add edit or delete any photos that are posted as well as leave messages for fellow Sertomans. It is a good way to thank someone for doing a good job or give them some positive feedback for a big event in their life. If you wish to view the current photographs or check out the new online directory go to:
http://communities.msn.com/BrainerdNoonSertoma/_whatsnew.msnw
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Pipe and Drape |
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2002 Pipe and Drape Schedule |
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