Holsten, who lives in Stillwater, is a director with Deloitte Tax, an accounting firm in Minneapolis. A member of Sunrise for 22 years, his major focus during the coming year will be celebration of the club’s 25th anniversary and to support the club and its members in the pursuit of community and international programs. Last month, he, along with Sunrise members Jon Stillman and Cheryl Kohout, attended the Rotary International annual meeting in Birmingham, England.
Outgoing President Ken McGinley, Lake Elmo, reviewed club activities during his year as president before handing the gavel to Holsten. Highlights included the first nighttime “What’s Best for Kids” memorial golf outing, played under a full moon with golf balls which glowed, to raise money for several programs focused on our youth and young adults in Stillwater, some including STRIVE (a mentorship and scholarship program at SAHS), international student exchange (this year hosting of Maberline Alfaro, a 17-year-old exchange student from Chile who made the honor roll in her senior year at SAHS); leadership development; SAHS pep band; school activities; annual pre-Halloween parade at Boutwells (which drew 550 younger children to Boutwells Landing, where they were given treats by more than 80 Boutwell seniors) and YADP (Youth Alcohol and Drug Program). The moonlight golf “fun scramble” will be repeated this coming Sept. 12.
Other highlights of a long list mentioned by McGinley included; delivery of three wheel chairs to Nicaragua in cooperation with other District 5960 Rotary Clubs; a highly successful Brewers Bazaar fund-raiser;; more that $2,700 donated by Sunrise members to the RI program to eliminate polio worldwide; purchase of equipment for a new SAHS archery program, and a joint donation with the Stillwater Noon Club to provide a high-tech musical reclining chair to Stillwater’s Good Samaritan Society.
During the past year, Sunrise members attained a weekly attendance of more than 80%, one of the highest records in the district for Rotary Clubs with 50-plus members.
