Breaking News:  For the next 2 months, we will change our meeting location to Family Means

1875 Northwestern Ave S.

Stillwater

 

Events of the past month

August 5 

At our Annual meeting we summarized ours accomplishments, our finances, elected officers, gave awards, and begin to make plans for the future. We gave a Helen Keller Award to Jim McKinney, a Melvin Jones Award to Paul Spilseth, and a scholarship award to Nady Youssef.

 

August 5  Our club served hundreds of people water and sodas at Summer Tuesday sales event in Downtown Stillwater. 

 

August 15 Picnic at Singer Farm in Houlton.  Great food, beautiful evening.

Thanks to main organizers, Gary and Sue, and chief cook, Jon.  See picture below.

 

Coming Events

September 2  Noon Stillwater City Council member Mike Polehna will discuss community improvement projects that are happening in Stillwater.  Note that meeting will be held at Family Means.

 

September 16  6PM    Final picnic of the summer season at Bayport Lakeside Park

 

October 7  Noon   Speaker Kelly Nygaard from Discover Stillwater will speak on Tourism in Stillwater: Exploring the economic benefits, strategies and goals of Discover Stillwater.

Meeting at Family Means

 

From Jim McKinney on receiving the Helen Keller Award at the Annual Meeting:

“I am pleased that the Board chose to honor me with the Helen Keller Award for 2025. They have asked me to reflect on the ways our lives may have intersected.

Helen Keller is mostly known for overcoming her loss of sight and hearing at a very early age, but as an adult she emerged as an educated and productive author and lecturer. After fighting against the limitations to her sight, hearing, and speech as a child, she continued her fight against some of the constraints of society by her political activism, her advocacy for disability rights, and by her writing and lecturing.  As a member of the Socialist Party of America and founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union, she sharpened her vision of  a caring and peaceful society as she strongly defended women’s suffrage, labor rights, and world peace.

My admiration of Helen Keller extends both to her fight to overcome her physical disabilities and to her political activism and the causes that she chose to defend. Blessed with the gifts of sight and hearing (which were denied to her), I chose to become educated in the sciences – especially physics – and used that education as a foundation for my 40-year career as a physical scientist. Since retiring 25 years ago I have spent considerable time in volunteer activities that I hope would rate high on Heller Keller’s list of priorities. One of these is with Peace House Community in Minneapolis, a center that aims to nourish the minds and bodies of some of the marginalized and unhoused residents of the Twin Cities area. Open 9-3 each weekday, Peace House provides a respite from the streets, a warm meal, a group discussion at noon and an opportunity for individual personal interactions and reflections throughout the day. I have served Peace House as a 25-year volunteer, Board member, and member of the management team. Closer to my Stillwater home, I volunteered for many years as a tax-aide, then as the Local Coordinator, of the Tax Aide Foundation that helps senior citizens and the disconnected in their annual preparation of their income tax returns. I felt rewarded in this activity not because I assisted the tax collectors in extracting their due, but because I assisted fellow citizens of Washington County in dealing with a necessary but sometimes unpleasant annual task. While this activity might not have been on the top of Helen Keller’s list of concerns, she was an involved and socially conscious citizen, and I expect that she would approve of any activity that reduces the stress-level of the marginalized. Perhaps we would all do better to emulate Helen Keller’s response to her physical limitations and to her vigorous defense of human rights.”

 

Volunteer Opportunity

 

Lowes Bed Build Community Event

Date: Saturday, September 6, 2025       9 am to 3 pm  (2 shifts)

Place:  Lowes:  5888 Nova Scotia Avenue, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082

Description

Volunteers will help process wood by sanding, drilling and assembling the parts into bed pieces so that we can later deliver them to families throughout our local area. No need for tools, we provide them all for you we also have PPE (gloves, ear, eye pro., dust masks) we just need people to help! Ages can be from about 10 and up (children should have an adult with) the event will be outside and will be dusty. But it is fun event to see piles of wood become beds for those in need of them. Come work side by side with so many amazing members of your community that have been helping the community in so many ways, not just this event. 

 

Purpose

To help us build some beds that will be delivered to families within our local communities. These beds are for families who have children aged 3-17 and do not have adequate sleeping arrangements. (ie. beds!)

 

Role

The participants will be helping us sand and assemble bed parts. It’s a bit of hard work, fun times and great people to work with.

 

Vibe

Locally impactful! Heartwarming! 

 

Sign up  via:             https://shpbeds.org/chapter/mn-white-bear-lake/