Adler Howe spoke to the club just before he leaves next week for The Czech Republic, which has recently renamed itself as Czechia (the things one learns at Rotary meetings!).  Adler said that he has never been out of the US, even to Canada.   He told us that he will live in a small town about 1 hour from Prague, which gives him opportunity to benefit from what Prague has to offer.  He is becoming more confident about the language differences he’ll face.  Using technology to his advantage, Adler has been watching Netflix movies in the Czech language.    

Diaper Drive is "going gangbusters" - let's keep it going:  Rotary and Ezekiel are collecting diapers and donations for purchase of diapers for St Croix Valley United Way.  This is in response to a need Steve McCarthy mentioned in his talk  about the work of SCV United Way.  Click Read More for the full description of the project.  And by the way, the Amazon link works very well if you choose to donate that way!

 

Joke of the Week Reader Challenge:  We're stretching last week's admittedly stretchy joke by asking you to come up with wordplay on the same theme.  Thanks to Tony Pedriana for submitting the two that led to this idea; see his first two down below.  And be warned, Scott -- more to come!

Club in D5960 Hits the Century Mark!  Linda received an email announcing that the current RI President will be visiting Rice Lake as they celebrate their club's 100th anniversary.  While they are close to capacity for the event, they have offered us the possibility of attending.  Click Read More for details.

Casie Bass from the UWRF faculty provided the club with an overview of the equine science program.  The Equine Program is an undergraduate program with 250 students. The University Horse Farm has 100 acres with 60 horses at 1475 Wasson Lane. Casie noted that these large animals are expensive to feed. The farm breeding program has three stallions and nine mares that produce 3 to 11 foals a year.  The farm is expecing 9 foals this spring, with six coming in February. Dr. Bass also described the specialties of the three other faculty members in the department.

Amy Peterson, Community Development Director for River Falls, described the vision for the Kinni Corridor plan and how the Army Corps of Engineers study that is underway will contribute.  In the vision:  the river will serve as an asset to the city, provide for economic vitality, improve and provide ecological stability, connect residents and visitors to nature, strengthen a sense of place, balance public use with property rights, promote history and culture, and improve the quality of life for future generations.  She described the role of the US Army Corps of Engineers in conducting a study to evaluate proposed changes and how those changes will affect the ability to realize the vision.