Ely Rotary Club Newsletter (May 29, 2025)

5/7/2025 - Speaker - Florencia Sund with Zone 3 Gardens.

Florencia and Dan have owned Zone 3 Gardens for eight years. She talked about native species, good pollinators for our area and other helpful hints for pollinator gardens.
She is from California and has a bilingual background in outdoor education. She and Dan own 10 acres with a goal to grow native plants for clients.
Florencia provided education on pollinators and the importance to our environment and food supply.
There are over 500 species of bees in Minnesota.
Butterflies are pollinators and there are over 200 species in Minnesota. Moths are also pollinators.
She talked about the different types of native plants that attract pollinators. ZigZag goldenrod, basswood or pin cherry trees, cornflower, wild bergamot and blueberries to name a few.
She covered the process of developing a landscape conducive to pollinators and some of her best practices.
The state will reimburse up to $400 when you hire someone to build a pollinator garden. The program is Lawns to Legumes.
Fall is the best time to start a garden.
Keeping up with weeds is important.
Florencia has great resources for planning and suggestions for success.

Thank you to Florencia for helping us to learn about pollinators and how to support them in our area.

To learn more contact Zone 3 Gardens.

Website: https://www.zone3gardens.com

5/14/2025 Speaker - Jill Swanson - Ely Community Resources, Executive Director.

Jill has lived in Ely since 2009. Originally from Bristol, Connecticut.
She began working at Ely Community Resource in the Spring of 2011 as a Youth Program Coordinator. In November of 2024 she became Executive Director of ECR.
She has a background in teaching and received a masters of Education in Environmental Education Degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
She spoke about programs at Ely Community Resource, what they have to offer, how many students and families they serve, volunteer opportunities and the new initiative they are now a part of in North St. Louis County as a Community and Family Resource Center.
For more information check out their website. They welcome volunteers and donations to support their programs.
ECR Websitehttps://sites.google.com/elycommunityresource.org/ecr

5/21/2025 - Angela Campbell and Tara Forsman, Co-Chairs - Rose Sale Kick Off

Angela and Tara presented this year's annual Rose Sale fundraiser.

Angela shared a slideshow of events and fundraisers through the years. So many great memories.

Tickets were distributed to members with plans for each member to sell a book. Everyone was encouraged to sign up for a two hour time slot at Zup's to sell tickets.

Prices were increased by $1.85 a dozen. Ticket prices stayed at $25.00. The roses are grown in Columbia. There will be a variety of colors.

5/28/2025 - Tracy Thibodeau and Susan Polege updated members on the Youth Exchange Program. Tracy will leave this summer for her student exchange program experience.

Highlights:

Tracy said thank you in Italian to express her appreciation for our sponsoring the Youth Exchange Program. Very cool! Thank you Tracy!

Susan also focused on the seven areas of focus of Rotary:

Promoting peace
Disease prevention and treatment
Providing clean water
Sanitation and hygiene
Saving mothers and children
Supporting education and literacy
Growing local economies
Protecting the environment

Tracy and Piotr are ambassadors of these efforts and in kind will develop leadership skills with their participation in the Youth Exchange Program.

As mentioned above Susan and Tracy attended the language retreat in Bemidji.

Susan reports that it was interesting to hear what the students had gained through the year.
The gathering allows the students to hear where everyone is from, hear stories and receive advice to make their experience successful such as language studies make it much easier.
Cell phone communication makes it a challenge not to turn to friends back home, but to work at communication within the environment you are visiting. Say yes to everything.
The D's, no dating, no drinking, no drugs, no driving. Safety first.
Piotr will be coming from Poland to spend the school year here. Still looking for more host families to serve. They discussed experiences of other host families this area has experienced and all of the benefits afforded.

The remaining time was answering questions, wishing Tracy well and thanking Susan for her efforts in great support of the Youth Exchange program.

Thank you to Tracy and Susan for updates on their adventures. All the best to Tracy for her summer and travels in the fall.