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Online-Only Programming Offered in April

Posted on Mar 25, 2020

Beginning Monday, April 6th, we will offer online-only programming until we are able to meet in-person again. We know there are many topics that are of upmost interest as everyone navigates this pandemic. We will be hosting timely conversations with leaders to help keep you informed and connected. The club leadership has made the decision to cancel in-person meetings through April, but hopes that you'll find value in these online programs. As always, you can tune in LIVE and participate in the chat and pose questions, or you'll be able to view the recorded Facebook video afterward. Hopefully, you can join the conversation and connect with fellow Rotarians.

We are continually monitoring the situation and will make decisions regarding future events as needed.

Thank you for your understanding as we work to keep our Rotarians safe. We hope to greet you in-person at Rotary again very soon.

Sioux 52 Mentoring Initiative Announced

On January 27th, Mayor Paul TenHaken announced a new mentoring initiative to a over-capacity crowd at the Washington Pavilion Belbas Theater. Nearly 350 business and non-profit leaders were in attendance. The Sioux 52 Mentoring Initiative seeks to unify Sioux Falls area non-profit, business, and faith communities in order to create a universal, significant and long-lasting commitment to mentoring in our city. The goal is to recruit 5,200 mentors by 2026 and for the City of Sioux Falls to become known as the City of Mentoring. Mentoring in our community truly makes a difference and changes lives for the better. Sioux 52 is a collaboration between the City of Sioux Falls, Helpline Center, the Rotary Club of Downtown Sioux Falls, Lawrence & Schiller as well as business leaders and mentoring organizations in the Sioux Falls region. For more information to to become a mentor or business visit Sioux52.org.

Rotary Mentoring Report

In January, we received the results of our RFP with the Augustana Research Institute (ARI). The report in its entirety is available for download using this link: Rotary Mentoring Report. ARI 's Principal Investigator, Dr. Suzanne Smith, and her team created an extremely well executed report allowing us to put our club's next steps together. Here is an Executive Summary of the information.

Rotarian & Architectural Visionary Jeff Hazard Passes Away

Posted on Sep 03, 2019

Jeff Hazard, CEO and principal of Koch Hazard Architects passed away on Friday, August 30th. Jeff was a member of Downtown Rotary for 30 years.

He was remembered in lovely tributes by the Argus Leader and by Jodi Schwan on SiouxFalls.Biz. Please see each of the tributes below.

Argus Leader

SiouxFalls.Biz Story

South Dakota Hall of Fame Inductees

Posted on Jul 30, 2019

Downtown Rotary hosted two of the 2019 South Dakota Hall of Fame inductees for a panel discussion on Monday, July 29th. Fellow Rotarian Dick Brown and Clyde Fredrickson participated in a panel moderated by Past President Michelle Lavallee. Not surprisingly, many members of the Hall are also members of Downtown Rotary and many of them were on hand to welcome these new inductees.

Rod Carlson Named Ritz Rotarian of the Year

Posted on Jun 28, 2019

Rod Carlson was honored at the Annual General Meeting as the Ritz Rotarian of the Year. The recipient should exhibit the award principles: "Emanates integrity, decency, and humility; is a servant leader; guides with dedication, outstanding leadership and tremendous motivation." Mr. Carlson's nominators said, "Rod has been a positive force for Sioux Falls as a resident since 1973. He is married (49 years) and together have raised 3 children and 8 grandchildren. Rod served our nation with his commitment to the US Air Force (1967-71) and was awarded Bronze Star with Valor (Vietnam). In the business community, Rod worked 31 years at Midcontinent Communications/Sioux Falls Cable. In his tenure, he displayed his leadership for 25 years as a GM of Operations and 6 years in a Vice President role for Government Affairs and Community Relations. His assertiveness, professionalism and charisma were successfully channeled for lobbying efforts in South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota. Rod also worked as Vice President Business Development at First Premier Bank and was Sanford Health Director of Public Relations from 2007 - 2014. Rod's calm demeanor, sense of humor and tenacity to do what right continue to open doors for him and he continues to stay busy as the current Director Public Relations/Marketing at Active Generations. Staying busy has never been a problem for Rod. He has been active in the Sioux Falls community for 45 years through numerous organizations. This impressive resume is why I nominate Rod Carlson as Rotarian of the year. Rod exemplifies the Four Way Test: being true and fair, building goodwill and friendships and benefiting the community." Congratulations Rod!

One Relevant It Announced

During the past couple of months, we have completed eight focus groups plus an online survey. Forty-one percent of our club participated in a focus group or survey. We also heard from experts on each topic to help us choose our One Relevant It, a long-term project that Downtown Rotary will be known for. We thank you for all your engagement and especially your thoughtful comments.

Many of you mentioned that you felt both projects – cleaning up the Big Sioux and mentoring – were worthy and deserving of our attentions. The final vote had 153 of 296 members voting and the tally was 59% choosing mentoring and 41% selecting the Big Sioux.

So the official One Relevant It will indeed be mentoring, the details of which will be worked out beginning at the first planning session in July. Who will we partner with? How many groups already mentor? We want to offer mentoring for multiple populations so we need to do this research. Kids, recently released offenders, start-up businesses, etc. are all on the table. Please let us know if you are willing and interested in helping to establish our approach.

Many of you may know that mentoring is a great fit in Mayor TenHaken’s One Sioux Falls. We have also spoken with the Mayor about his plans for the Big Sioux. He feels this is definitely a long-term play and requires state officials, and other agency involvement. That said, there were such passionate comments about Rotary involvement with clean water, we feel we should form an ad hoc committee to at least study the issue and gain more information. If anyone would like to be a part of this, please let us know.

So while this year may be spent in planning rather than doing, we think the outcomes will be well worth our efforts. Jessie Schmidt, our incoming President on July 1, 2019 will spearhead the planning process. Then in 2020, under Jason Herrboldt’s leadership, we will begin to execute the plan.