About the Presentation: Mark Turbak told our club about the recovery hub in Hudson that represents Hazelden Betty Ford's expansion across the river from Minnesota into western Wisconsin.  During his presentation, Mark provided a lot of useful and thought-provoking information on addiction and its effects on individuals and their families.  His talk was very interactive, resulting in interesting comments from our members.  Click Read More to learn more about Mark Turbak.

Olivia Girdeen, Retail Store Manager for the Ellsworth Creamery, gave our club an overview of the history, current status, products, and economic impact of the Creamery to the Ellsworth area.  Rather than trying to abbreviate such a comprehensive presentation, a pdf of the Powerpoint is available below as a Download.

 

In terms of economic impact, here is a summary of one slide:  the Ellsworth location employs 182 people, comprising 8% of total Village of Ellsworth employment.  The business impacts 1233 jobs within Pierce County indirectly or influenced (about 10% of total jobs).  Each added creamery job affects 3.75 other jobs.  About 45% of employees live in Ellsworth, and wages paid to those employees total just over $4 million.  The retail store gets 254,000 visits per year with over 120,000 retail transactions and an estimated economic retail impact in Pierce County of almost $12 million.  The business remains a cooperative, owned collectively by hundreds of farm families.  The raw material for the cheeses and, of course, cheese curds made in Ellsworth come from around 200 farms.

 

About the Speaker:  Olivia Girdeen was born and raised in Ellsworth.  She started working at the Ellsworth Creamery at 16, and she has worked her way up to her current position of Retail Store Manager.  In December 2023 Olivia graduated from the University of Wisconsin River Falls with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Service Opportunities Coming Up This Fall:  Now that school is back and summer is over, our club looks forward to times when we can be people of action, putting service above self (how's that for stringing together Rotary principles?).  What's coming, you ask:  Rotary Readers, Highway Cleanup, Veteran's Park Cleanup, and then in October we will be collecting contributions for the annual holiday backpack program support.  Details to come at meetings and in future Tidings.

 

Looking for Host Families for 2024-25:   Elaine is seeking one more host family for our club's incoming exchange student, a 15-year-old girl from Spain.  Requirements are pretty basic, rewards are extensive.  Please click Read More below for the full announcement and details.  

 

 

Grow to Share Upcoming Programs:  As part of the presentation, Tonya Schmitt invited us to these upcoming events:

-- Powered by Electricity (at UWRF North Hall) -- Saturday Sept. 28th, 10 AM - 12 Noon

-- Fall Fest (including equipment):  Saturday October 19th 10 AM - 12 Noon

Jim Harsdorf has been part of a church mission trip that has been going to Ecuador for 16 years.  He spoke to us about how the relationship with the Lote Tres community in rural Ecuador has evolved over that time, and how beneficial the consistent travel and contact have been.   Ecuador has 17 million people, and it's located on west side of South America.  Much of the country is mountainous, including the remote area where Lote Tres is located -- at an elevation of about 13,500 feet.  Long after lowland areas were visited by Catholic missionaries, Swedish missions started in the 50’s going to the mountainous areas of Ecuador.  The Swedes found that there was a great need for mission work in those areas.

This Week's Joke of the week (This one's for Elaine, as a nod to her past):   

Q: How do you make a bandstand?

A:  Take away their chairs!