Alexandria Rotary Club

2007 Ice Fishing Challenge

MN State High School League

Lee Hockert introduced Dave Hartmann (District 206 Director of Activities) and Dave Harris (Regional Secretary for District 8AA), both representatives of the Minnesota State High School League.  Jefferson High School has been a member of the MSHSL since 1916 which was formed to unify and set common rules and work together in high school sports. It is a voluntary, nonprofit association of public and private schools with a history of service to Minnesota's high school youth since it's formation.

Today, nearly 500 schools are members of the League. Most - about 435 - are actual high schools. The remainder are either special schools or home schools. These member schools provide opportunities for athletics and fine arts competition for more than 200,000 high school students statewide each year.

Member schools annually choose to join the League. The League exists to provide competitive, equitable and uniform opportunities for high school students to learn valuable lessons through participation in athletics and fine arts. The League also provides support for member schools with programs that address sportsmanship, chemical health, scholarship recognition. The League also oversees more than 4,500 registered contest officials and judges. The League provides educational programs for coaches.

The Minnesota State High School League neither solicits nor receives any state funding. Most revenue comes from state tournament ticket sales, broadcast rights, and corporate partnerships, plus some from the sale of tournament merchandise. The League also annually returns hundreds of thousands of dollars to schools which had participants in state tournaments and contests to help offset the costs associated with "Going to State."

5 Questions with Alex. Rotarian, Tim Asche

1. What high school did you attend and what is the school mascot? BDRSH (Belview-Danube-Renville-Sacred Heart) which is located in Renville, MN.  Our mascot is the Jaguar. 

2.Where did you go for your last vacation? Las Vegas during Christmas of 2006 with my wife, parents and sister. My wife and sister went shopping all day and my parents and I checked out the casinos. Worked out well for everyone!

3. Who would you like to meet and have dinner with?  I'd rather have dinner with a friend or family member any day of the week.  But, if I had to choose someone it would probably be Jack Canfield.  I attended his program when he came to Alexandria last year, but it would be fun to speak with him in person over dinner.  It's fun to get a different outlook on life & work rather than the norm we live in day to day.

4. What book are you currently reading? I'm currently getting my MBA, so that takes up a lot of my reading time every day.  I enjoy reading this type of material to actually learn something rather than a fictional book.  I think there's something to that saying "knowledge is power and power is knowledge".

5. What cd is mostly likely to be playing in your car? I don't ever play CD's anymore since I had XM Radio installed. On XM, it's nice to turn it to the "Cinemagic" station.  This station plays the background orchestral music for popular movies.  Some of my favorites include the movies: "Braveheart", "Rudy", "Harry Potter", and "Lord of the Rings".  It's nice after sometimes having a hectic day and just sitting back relaxing to this music.

Timothy D. Asche
Commercial Banker
U.S. Bank
Alexandria, Minnesota

The Rotary Foundation

The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty. It is a not-for-profit corporation that is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world. The Rotary Foundation was created in 1917 by Rotary International's sixth president, Arch C. Klumph, as an endowment fund for Rotary "to do good in the world." It has grown from an initial contribution of $26.50 to more than $117.9 million contributed in 2004-05.

In 2000, RI launched a credit card program that raises money for the Foundation each time a Rotarian uses the card. Last year, RI President Bill Boyd presented Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Lusi Giay with a check for $550,000 in royalties from the credit card program.

The card is emblazoned with the Rotary emblem which also helps raise awareness about Rotary. To learn more about this program visit www.rotary.org/shopping.

VISTA and Habitat for Humanity

Kayla Koep of Alexandria is a VISTA (Volunteer In Service to America) volunteer at the Douglas County Habitat for Humanity. Since 1965, over 120,000 Americans have performed national service as VISTA Volunteers. VISTA places individuals with community-based agencies to help find long-term solutions to the problems caused by urban and rural poverty.

As  VISTA Volunteer, Kayla dedicates a full-time schedule at Habitat for Humanity of Douglas County, which was established in 1997 by a group of interested citizens that formed an affiliate chapter of Habitat for Humanity International.  Kayla described the role of coordinating all aspects of Habitat home building in our community including fund raising, finding land, partner family selection and support, volunteer coordination, house construction and mortgage servicing. Kayla also shared information (and chocolate to some Rotarians!) about the history, mission and purpose of Habitat for Humanity.