Detroit Lakes Morning Rotary

Detroit Lakes Morning Rotary Detroit Lakes Morning Rotary Club meets Tuesday mornings at 6:55am at the Holiday Inn, Detroit Lakes, MN
(previously Detroit Lakes Breakfast Rotary)

DL Morning Rotary - May 26, 2026:Jeana Peinovich, director of Lend a Hand Up, a program that helps people fundraise, spo...
05/31/2026

DL Morning Rotary - May 26, 2026:

Jeana Peinovich, director of Lend a Hand Up, a program that helps people fundraise, spoke about the program. Lend a Hand Up started in 2008 in Cass and Clay counties and expanded to Becker County in 2019. As of April 2026, it serves the entire state of North Dakota and 12 counties in Minnesota.

Their mission is to make it easy for caring people to support neighbors experiencing hardship due to health issues, trauma, or the recent death of a family member.

Jeana reported that 2/3 of bankruptcies are due to medical expenses. Lend a Hand Up provides a free online giving platform, personal guidance on fundraising, and a 20% boost up to $5000 on funds raised through the online giving site.

Fundraisers set up with Lend a Hand Up are linked to a bank account, and all funds raised go directly to the family. The site can remain active for 6 months, and the 20% is calculated on total funds raised, deposited into the bank account (up to $5000). There are no extra fees or charges for using the online giving site. Donations made through the site are considered gifts and are non-taxable to the family receiving the money. An online auction tool is also available.

Lend a Hand Up recently met milestones, including its 1000th fundraiser and its largest fundraiser of $200,000.

For those donating to a family through an online fundraiser, those funds are not tax-deductible. However, donations to Lend a Hand Up are tax-deductible.

Giving Hearts Day, a brainchild of Jeana, started through Lend A Hand Up.

DL Morning Rotary Program 5/19/26:Vern introduced the 7 retiring teachers at our morning meeting. All are from Detroit L...
05/23/2026

DL Morning Rotary Program 5/19/26:

Vern introduced the 7 retiring teachers at our morning meeting. All are from Detroit Lakes, except Frazee.

Samantha Galloway, a 34-year DL Middle School teacher, and her husband will spend summers in Detroit Lakes.

Tammy Langworthy, a 13-year reading and math interventionist at Lake Park Audubon and Roosevelt Elementary School, plans to spend more time with her grandchildren and possibly sub at Roosevelt.

Mindy Nielsen, a 37-year DLHS teacher, will spend more time with her grandchildren and travel the US with her husband.

Rob Nielsen, a 36-year district teacher, plans to spend time with grandchildren and travel.

Al Squires, a DLHS graduate of 1984, taught at DLHS for 7 years and coached football for 3 years. He also taught at DLMS for 26 years and coached golf for 12 years.
Emily Odegaard-Bliss, a retired Detroit Lakes teacher, enjoys sleeping in, drinking a full cup of coffee, and drinking more water. Deanna Baukol, another retired Detroit Lakes teacher, taught kindergarten, 1st grade, 3rd grade, Title, and Reading Recovery. She and her mother are leaving on a cruise on June 7th.

DL Morning Rotary 5/12/26:Jeff Carney and Mona from Dark Horse IT spoke about AI, a pattern recognition system on a mass...
05/14/2026

DL Morning Rotary 5/12/26:

Jeff Carney and Mona from Dark Horse IT spoke about AI, a pattern recognition system on a massive scale. It’s a fast-moving service that reached over 100 million users in a short time. For instance, the World Wide Web took 7 years to reach 100 million users, Facebook took 4.5 years, and ChatGPT took 2 months.

AI has several options, including Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and CoPilot. CoPilot, a Microsoft product, is included on most new computers. Most services are free, but Jeff recommends the paid versions, which are about $20/month.

AI is a great tool for researching and organizing, helping with writing notes, speeches, documents, and papers.

Jeff discussed the risks of AI but emphasized the benefits outweigh them. He advised us to watch out for scams and highly recommended 2-factor verification when logging into websites. Use different passwords for each site and longer passwords are better.

Jeff created a game to test your knowledge of identifying potential scams. You can play it at game.darkhorseit.com

DL Morning Rotary Program 5/5/26 Kelsey Klemm and Jon Pratt presented city updates and projects. The city park, listed o...
05/11/2026

DL Morning Rotary Program 5/5/26

Kelsey Klemm and Jon Pratt presented city updates and projects. The city park, listed on the Registry of Historical Places since 2007, requires additional hoops to ensure renovation meets standards.

Kelsey discussed the Washington Ballpark project, which will undergo a complete renovation, improving the field, bathrooms, seats, dugouts, concessions, and safety netting. The grandstand needs lead paint removal, and the second phase will include artificial turf in the in-field. Funding is still ongoing, but they’ve almost reached their goal. Phase 3 will improve lighting, requiring lead paint removal from light posts.

Pavilion and city park completion is expected in fall 2027, funded by a $17.3 million referendum. The new pavilion will be 18,000 square feet, compared to the current 12,000 square feet. Construction on the current building will start early June, with demolition and construction beginning early fall.

Jon Brett talked about the new water tower, which is operational but still needs interior work. Expect it to be operational later this summer or early fall. The new tower is taller and has 50% more water capacity. The water tower on the south side of the lake will be replaced within 3 years.

Jon also discussed the West Lake Drive and Beach projects. A website provides progress updates for each project. See below for more information. Scan the QR code.

QR code you can scan to see the plans for West Lake Drive.
05/06/2026

QR code you can scan to see the plans for West Lake Drive.

DL Morning Rotary members gathered to do some ditch beautification and have a meal afterwards. ChatGPT enhanced photos j...
05/05/2026

DL Morning Rotary members gathered to do some ditch beautification and have a meal afterwards. ChatGPT enhanced photos just for fun!

DL Morning Rotary 4/28/2026 program:Kelly Blackledge discussed the Tamarac Festival of Birds and the ongoing bird migrat...
05/04/2026

DL Morning Rotary 4/28/2026 program:
Kelly Blackledge discussed the Tamarac Festival of Birds and the ongoing bird migration. She highlighted several birds, including the yellow-rumped warbler, bald eagles, swans, Ruffed Grouse, prairie chickens, grosbeaks, and blue heron rookery.

Blackledge conducted a “sound quiz” to test our knowledge of bird sounds. The Golden-winged Warbler’s sound, zzzbeepbeep, is popular among birdwatchers. Despite a small population, they’re not endangered. Loss of habitat is a contributing factor to their decline.

The Friends of Tamarac volunteer group seeks more volunteers to assist with youth activities. The refuge offers various opportunities for hiking, wildlife drives, bird sightings, and other animal encounters. The visitor center will be open Wednesday through Sundays from May 15th to October 15th.

They’re re-offering the “Wild Wednesday” program for youth ages 3 to 7. Due to its popularity, registration is required on their website.

DL Morning Rotary Program 4/21/26: Ugnius Bieliunas, a former Lithuanian foreign exchange student, attended Moorhead Sta...
04/23/2026

DL Morning Rotary Program 4/21/26: Ugnius Bieliunas, a former Lithuanian foreign exchange student, attended Moorhead State University to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity. He will graduate on May 8th. In 2019/2020, he stayed with Guetter’s, Rotter’s, and Moen’s due to COVID-19. He sought help from Tim Sayler to complete the paperwork for his return to college. Rotter shared his insights on cybersecurity:
- Hacks occur during lunchtime or holidays.
- Use strong passwords.
- Enable multifactor ID.
- Keep devices updated.
- Regularly turn devices off.
- Ensure Windows Defender is enabled on Windows 11.
Rotter’s will host a graduation party for Ugnius on May 8th from 4 to 8 at their house.

DL Morning Rotary officially welcomed two new members, Kara McDonald and Charles Buck. Kathy & Rick Michaelson are their...
04/23/2026

DL Morning Rotary officially welcomed two new members, Kara McDonald and Charles Buck. Kathy & Rick Michaelson are their sponsors.

Help out Tamarac and head to Bucks Mill Brewing tonight!
04/23/2026

Help out Tamarac and head to Bucks Mill Brewing tonight!

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Detroit Lakes, MN
56501

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