Exchange Student Emme Torgerson - MORNING meeting (Sep. 13, 2025)

Exchange Student Experiences in Spain - Emme Torgerson

Short-term exchange student Emme Torgerson spoke to the club about her time in Spain. She spent her month in Spain in Alicante; our club has a flag from the Rotary Club of Alicante on one of our banners. Emme gave us her impressions of Spanish food, including the emphasis on meat and a widespread love of Coke. Spanish meal times were an adjustment for her, since dinner is eaten very late by US standards. Emme showed photosof churches as well as photos from a festival to Mary that she attended with her exchange sister. Because of Alicante's location on the Mediterranen, swimming in the sea was a frequent activity.

When Emme's Spanish exchange sister was here, they took in a Twins game as well as a Loons game, and many other activities. Emme's family showed her many aspects of American life.

Eve Olson - Exchange Student in Finland

Eve Olson spoke to the club about her experience as an exchange student in Finland as well as her time hosting her exchange 'sister' Nella from Kauhava Finland. The first part of the short term exchange was here, with Nella visiting from June 10 through July 9th, which meant that Nella experienced July 4th here. They went kayaking twice, saw the MN orchestra at the Hudson bandshell and of course the Mall of America. The family made flying from Chicago to Helsinki an event, taking the time to tour in Chicago, where they'd never been as tourists.

In Finland, Nella's family spent time in Helsinki, which they'd not had previous reason to do. Then it was off to Kauhana where Eve spent a month experiencing the near 24-hour daylight of a Finnish summer and other aspects of life there. The family also took Eve to a spectacular national park in eastern Finland. Eve talked about meeting Nella's extended family, with only one member who didn't speak English. Because Finnish is such an unusual -- and difficult -- language, Eve picked up only a little Finnish during her time there. She noted that English tends to be the language used when Finns travel to other Scandinavian countries.

One fun part of Eve's presentation was her listing of "culture shocks" experienced in both directions. It was clear from what Eve said that both Nella and Eve learned a lot from their exchange.

This Week's Announcements

--Holiday Backpack Program Presentation: Scott Morrissette has been collecting our club members' contributions, and he will present them to Shelly Smith at this week's meeting. Please make sure you have yours to Scott in time.

-Sharing Families is Underway: Tony Pedriana has been coordinating the signup list for gifts and gift cards to families in need as identified by the Sharing Families group. He reports that the list is fully subscribed, including the grocery and gas cards. As a reminder, the deadline for gifts to Sharing Families is December 6. Click READ MORE for more details.

--Jim DiPeso is our latest Paul Harris Fellow and Randy Cudd reached the next level PHF!: George presented Jim with his PHF certificate and pin at the October 28th meeting, and on 11/11 Randy received his PHF+3. Congratulations and thanks, Jim and Randy!

--November Calendar: Click READ MORE to see the November calendar.

--Diaper Drive is Wrapping Up! It's all over except for some school collections and awards to competition winners.

Club Assembly - Contributions and Visioning

The previous meeting (8/26) was a club assembly to discuss and vote on proposals from the board to make 2 major donations: one to Our Neighbors' Place and one to the River Falls Public Library, both in response to their capital campaigns. Shelly Smith from ONP and Tanya Misselt from the RFPL spoke briefly about their campaigns, and both have submitted request forms for contributions. They also answered questions before exiting to allow for member discussion and a vote. Rick Wilson provided a quick summary of our financial position to indicate that affording the two contributions would be no problem. After members expressed their views on supporting these projects and on future directions for the club, George Ball called for a vote and both contributions passed by a clear majority. In the time remaining, George presented a brief overview of the Club Visioning event planned for the evening of October 14th. He noted that the visioning will be a perfect time to set our club's future direction, and he noted that the process depends on having a good cross section of our membership at the session.

Earth Fest Follow-up: Community Conversation

As a past supporter of Earth Fest through our food serving and participation by many Rotarians in other community activities represented at this community event, we have been invited to participate in a community conversation about the future of sustainability actions in River Falls. Click Read More for details on the September 18th event. The email includes a link to respond that you'll be there.