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Most of the meeting was taken up with the presentation of the
School District Referendum committee. We did have a preliminary
presentation earlier in the year, but the presenters felt that
some new information would help Sertomans make an educated
decision about the upcoming election. Reed Campbell, Steve
Dickinson-Director of Business Services, and Steve Razidlo-Assistant
Superintendent are very concerned about the consequences if the
referendum fails to pass. The slide presentation is entitled Our
Schools, Our Future, Our Choice. The Brainerd School includes
7,150 students who come from a 750 mile radius and has a 98
million dollar impact on the community. The bottom line says
that either the referendum passes or 60-70 full time people will
no longer be employed at key teaching positions. The Brainerd
School system has long been one of the best in the area.
Standard and Poors ranks it in the top 10 schools of excellence
in the State,it has had a Blue Ribbon elementary school for
several years and has been listed in the top 1000 schools in the
nation according to Newsweek. The Board foresaw this dilemma in
2003 and has managed through attrition to avoid drastic cuts up
until this point. This has included not replacing 42 teachers
and 18 staff. Larger class sizes and more responsibilities for
administrators have resulted. Also it has meant not fulfilling
community expectations for future goals. The District continues
to grow. For example this year kindergarten numbers went from
480 to 537. Ninety percent of the districts have referendums in
place because of the changes that were made in the financial
support on the state level. Our current referendum is at a low
level and will have to be repealed as part of the ballot with a
considerably larger amount put in place to cover the 5.5 million
needed to balance the budget. The District currently spends 74
cents of every dollar on the classroom 13 cents on operations
and maintenance, 7 cents on student support, and 6 cents on
administration. The cuts will include transportation, closing 4
small elementary schools, athletics, and limiting community use
of facilities as well as the staff cuts. The group is willing to
speak to any interested citizens who would like more
information. The district website also provides additional
information. The Board of Education is putting this in the hands
of the citizens. They will not be asking for another referendum
the following year if this one fails. |
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Thanks Bob Nibbe and Julia Sullivan for taking notes! |
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| Announcements |
| October 6th Take Down in Wadena still
needs helpers. Meet at Cub Foods at 1:30 p.m. to carpool.
There are 50 booths to take down and the more hands, the
quicker it will go. Friday, the group is now leaving at 2:00
note the time change. |
| Bonnie Cumberland got up and thanked everyone
who helped organize the Children's Winter Wonderland
contest. She was working with her co-chair Karla Nelson
and they enlisted many volunteers too numerous to mention
along the way. They have narrowed the entries to the six
finalists. Special thanks to Ron Morris and Rory Coit for
their printing assistance. |
Vision and Hearing Screenings Set for
the Fall--sign up at a meeting or call Bob Ehrich to
volunteer
Monday, October 15th, Tuesday October 16th Forest View 5th
Graders
Wednesday November 14th, Thursday November 15th, Forest View
7th Graders |
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Sertoma Winter Wonderland |
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Great In '08 website is up. Take a look. |
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Brainerd Area
Sertoma Club Calendar
Got a big event coming up—want to let everyone know?
Go to
the
interactive calendar and post it for all
to see. |
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| Pipe and
Drape Schedule |
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| Ceiling Dates |
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Blue Ticket Winner |
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Kathy Williams' guest Keith Kolstad |
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| Pot-O-Gold
Winner |
| Would have been Jo Lovitz |
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| Attendance |
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Guests: Shayna McCulloch from Legacy Title and Abstract,
Stephen Dickinson and Steve Rizidlo from the School District,
and Keith Kolstad from Sylvan Learning Center. |
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| *Everyone is encouraged to bring potential
members to a Sertoma meeting with the Club picking up the cost.
However, you will be billed $9.50 for any other guests. |
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| Greeter
Schedule |
| Remember:
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 for the social committee and
half goes to the Club President along with the bucket of tickets.
Be there by 11:45 and call somebody to substitute for you if you
can't be there. |
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| ATTENTION THE GREETER SCHEDULE CHANGED DUE
TO THE CHILI COOKOFF |
| Oct. 10 |
Nate Grotzke, Allen Hall, Nanci Hallam |
| Oct. 17 |
Matt Hanneken, Jim Hanson, Patti Hartman |
| Oct. 24 |
Jinny Haugen, Kurt and Verna Hawkinson |
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| Sertoman of the Day |
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Of
Note |
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Sertoma is very proud to be the home of the Brainerd Citizen of
the Year, Karen Owen.
Read more about her honor. On a more somber note, we would
like to extend our condolences to Bill O'Hara and his family on
the loss of his wife. |
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Rumor Corner
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-
 The
float committee is meeting at Besmehn's Thursday night to
construct our Winter Wonderland Parade float. Be sure to attend
the Parade if you have a chance.
- Bonnie Cumberland and Milo Johnson were caught under the
table doing what?
- Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back--Joyce Frid, Kim
Ellingson, Joyce Anderson, Holly Connaker (she was late but the
sergeants are saving BIG fines for next week since they didn't
have time to work today.
- Mike Boen got a C+ in math today--he didn't fail because he
realized he was doing something wrong.
- Congratulations to the Sertoma team who took home the
gold--they won the Chili Cookoff costume contest! Missy Lake,
Joe Schulte, Lori Rubin and Anna Gorecky made up this good
looking crew.
- We continue to be busier and busier. We need everyone to do
their part to make sure all of our projects continue to provide
income for the sponsorship committee.
-
 Congratulations to Tami Webb who is a new grandmother. And
of course Sergeant Pam got to introduce herself as the Mother of
the Homecoming Queen.
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Photo's |
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Photos
Photos Everywhere New photos go up almost every week on our new
Sertoma Photo Gallery.
http://sertomaphotos.brainerd.com |
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Notes from your President |
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If you are not receiving the newsletter notification or the
emails announcing special events, please contact Pam Sachs
either at 218 829 7761 or
eglponys@brainerd.net. |
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Sandra Bonde (ehrichappraisals@charter.net) is in charge of the
Sertoman of the Day schedule. Contact her to take advantage of
this great opportunity to share your story and get some free
advertising (and no fines for the day). The form is also
available here on our website.
Kari Barnes and her assistant Cathy Picek are the go-to folks
for Pipe and Drape information.
Need awards? Did you lose your pin? Bonnie Cumberland
(bcumberland@mailstation.com) is the person
in charge of awards and meeting paraphernalia. |
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