 The
new Wausau Paper Mill in Brainerd is up and running and a very
enthusiastic, positive Employee Relations Coordinator spoke about
the people and the paper at today’s Noon Sertoma meeting. Tom Isle
comes from three generations of paper mill employees and has
worked at the Brainerd plant for 39 years.
Thirty four of those years were with Potlatch and he decided to
retire from that company and make the switch to Missota because of
the program he coordinates. Tom sets up self directed work teams
which means no supervisors and less management. He explained that
Missota’s major problem was its lack of customers. They were
making good paper but had no sales team promoting it. Wausau on
the other hand has 35 sales people and they are struggling to keep
up with the orders coming in to the Brainerd plant. They
specialize in non-coated paper so this plant is ideal for them.
They hired back 87 of the 135 Missota workers.
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 Tom
is predicting that their two year plan will succeed and the mill
will have many more employees in the future. Tom then gave a very
excellent slide show that emphasized the theme of his talk—people
make the difference. He used the words “team”, “togetherness” and
“family” to describe the Brainerd work force at the mill.
Thanks Tom for sharing the picture of the new sign from the
slide show so that it could be included in this article. The paper
mill union wanted to start things off with a bang so they paid for
the new sign. |
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 Tom
and I compared cameras at a recent social function, and his is
much fancier than mine. The speech concluded with a few questions
from the audience, Rory presenting Tom with one of the famous
Sertoma pens, and Tom giving Rory a nice glass paperweight
containing a portion of the first run of paper at the new company. |
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Thanks Bob Nibbe for taking notes (Bob and Dave Clausen
want to issue a challenge to the rest of the “male” members of
Sertoma to step up and help out with note-taking. It is a great
way to get out of fines for the day!) |
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| Announcements |
| Mark Your Pipe and Drape Calendars January
24th at 5:30 p.m. Breezy Point Convention Center Set-up.
Take down will be January 27th at 5:30 p.m. Sign up sheets
next week. Also February 4th at 5:30p.m. 40 Club,
202 Minnesota Ave N, Aitkin. See details below under the Pipe
and Drape schedule. |
| Pipe and Drape - Set - Up at 40 Club,
202 Minnesota Ave N, Aitkin |
| Holiday Party Tickets are now available
for the gala event at Camp Confidence to celebrate Valentine’s
Day. Diane Ulmen promises a sumptuous elegant meal that
includes a glass of wine and a rose for all the ladies.
Entertainment is the “Deuces Wild”, an excellent performing
group from the Twin Cities. Everyone who has heard them had
positive things to say about the dueling pianos. Tickets are
$35 per person and you need to sign up. We have to have 100
paid attendees to break even and plans are to open the event
up to the public if we don’t get enough Sertoman response. |
| Jan 6 - New Member Induction, Sawmill
Inn at Noon. Contact Kris Hoheisel (Welle) at Hawthorne if you
need to sign up. |
| Jan. 22 - Bucket Checkers Wanted -
Mike Howard (828-8224) is looking for people to check buckets
at the $150,000 Ice Fishing Tournament. This is a fund raiser
for Camp Sertoma. You have to be on the ice at 7 a.m. and you
are finished in time to join your group and participate in the
event. Pam is also looking for one person for a comfy
inside ticket selling job that morning from 7:00-10:30 for the
same event. |
| Feb 10 - Denny Benjamin and the social committee have decided to go for an all out gala event that will not be a Holiday Party but instead will be a Valentine’s Celebration. It is scheduled for Thursday, at the Mariucci Lodge at Camp Confidence. Seating is limited so you need to sign up early. They are also requesting that you pay when you sign up at a cost of $35 per person. Promises are for a great meal with top notch entertainment and more details to follow. |
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| Pipe and
Drape Schedule |
|
Where : |
Breezy Point Convention Center |
| Jan 24 |
Set - Up Monday at 5:30pm (25 volunteers
needed ) |
| Jan 27 |
Take - Down Thursday at 5:30pm |
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| Where : |
40 Club - Bridal Show |
| Feb 4 |
Set - Up Friday at 5:30pm (12 volunteers
needed) |
| Feb 5 |
Take - Down Saturday at 5:30pm |
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| Ceiling Dates |
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| Ticket Winner |
| Mary Marana |
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| Pot-O-Gold
Winner |
| Would have been Deb Ryan |
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| Attendance |
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| Guests:
Jerry Retka from ServiceMaster of Brainerd, Tyler Jensen from the
Forest View School who was shadowing Jason Bertram today, Brigid
Bonde who is six months old, and Tom Isle who is the Employee
Relations Manager from Wausau. We couldn’t decide if Iam Newkirk
from Tanner Motors was a “guest” or “member” this time but welcome
anyway! |
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| Greeter
Schedule |
| 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 Current Club
Treasurer 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. |
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| Jan 12 |
Mark Puschinsky, John Raboin, Dennis
Renowski |
| Jan 19 |
LoAnn Reponen, Kari Robinson, Steve Rose |
| Jan 26 |
Tom Rosenberger, Lori Rubin, and Pam Sachs |
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| Sertoman of
the Day |
 Chuck
Brenny thought he would choose January to do his part as Sertoman
of the Day because he thought attendance would be down. Much to
his surprise, he gave his speech to a packed house. Chuck talked
about his early years and his friendship with Dave Burggraph
growing up in Little Falls. He has had considerable training
including a vo tech degree in Aviation Electronics, a college
education at St. Cloud State and mortician training at the
University of Minnesota when he decided to join the family
business. His educational experience also included some extensive
work with radio stations. Twelve years ago he decided to make a
career change and purchased an insurance agency in North Brainerd.
Chuck has been married to his wife Hope for 6 years. She is a
teacher and plans to retire this year. He has two grown children
and his son Randy has made him a grandfather. His brother Joe
sponsored him in Sertoma and he was very interested in becoming
involved with the Swinging Sertomans but that hasn’t materialized
yet. He loves all outdoor activities and ended his speech with an
amusing anecdote about coeducation dorms, showers, and trips with
the police dressed only in your towel. Chuck has been a member for
three years. |
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Of
Note |
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| Welcome the following newly inducted
members: Ian Newkirk,Tanner Companies; Mark Smith, The UPS Store;
Veronica Jensen, Bremer Banks; Ron Morris, Insty-Prints; Bryan
Jelinski, Cub Foods; Craig Swenson, Affinity Plus; Kris Winum,
Bremer Banks; Gene Farone, Lake Region Storage; Rhonda Mareck,
Brenny Funeral Chapels, and Darren Larson, American National Bank.
Take a look at the
photo's. |
|
| Rumor Corner |
- Raboin’s back-- claiming to run a funeral home and showing
off his green longjohns.
- Dick Stoltman has a new never ending job—cleaning up the
basement of his fishhouse.
- Three Bremers in a Row—Jeff Marchand’s new song.
- Sharing the Love Fines included a buck from Andrea Holmes to
celebrate the return of Jean Mershon and a dollar from Jinny who
is going to be a “mother-in-law”.
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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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