JANUARY 15: Club Meeting - Program: District Governor Mark Shockey LOCATION CHANGE - ST. PETER'S - EDINA “The Rotary Story We are Writing Together to Serve Veterans and their Families”
JANUARY 22: Blood Driveat St. Peter's Edina We will need greeters, openers, and closers for our quarterly Blood Drive
FEBRUARY 7: Sofa Drive We are organizing a Sofa Drive for Sofas for Service inviting local Rotary clubs to participate
(We apologize for the poor connection last meeting - we have worked with the venue to make sure our connection has been reset)
Our meetings are always open to anyone desiring to serve, support and walk beside veterans and their families. Our monthly meeting is held on scheduled Thursdays at 5:30PM at the Chanhassen American Legion. We enjoy a topic of interest to veterans, Rotarians, and our metro community families. We meet in the lower level meeting room; there is a server to take our food and drink orders. The food is excellent, and portions are very generous.
Our other gatherings occur around service projects or social connections with the veteran community. These are held in various locations and times as scheduled. If you are part of a veteran organization [or any organization that cares about veterans] and would like to host a gathering of club members, please reach out to our President, Guy M. Marzano, (612)839-7288 [Phone or Text] or at guymarzano@gmail.com. We truly enjoy working on projects that benefit veterans.
The Rotary Club of Minnesota Veterans is committed to strengthening our community and helping meet hospital and patient needs through blood donations. Blood drives are a way of giving the community an opportunity to help save lives. Veterans are known for being concerned about the safety and wellbeing of others. That is why Rotary is such a good fit for those who want to serve veterans and their families. Our Blood Drives usually gather more than 50 units of blood!
Remember also that the drives include the collection of used electronics as well as clothing, and new household items for veteran organizations.
Would you be able to open the doors at Noon when the team arrives?
Would you be willing to lock up the building at 7pm when the drive wraps up?
We could use help to check donors in at the following times:
3-5pm
5-7pm
All you need is a friendly smile, the ability to legibly make a nametag, and a passion for securing donations for vets across the country. Non club members may volunteer.
Rotary Clubs of Area 3 Veterans Days event. This year's event will be held Thursday, November 13 beginning at 11:30 am held at the Edina Country Club. Registration required: rotarymnveterans@gmail.com
$33 a person
It would be great to have a group attend from the MN Vets club!
Mater of Ceremonies, Cory Hepola -- A 3-time Emmy Award-winning TV anchor and documentarian recognized for his work celebrating community, service, and resilience. A Minnesota native, he has built his career telling impactful stories and engaging audiences through “My Town” and “Rural By Choice” docuseries, making him a meaningful voice to help honor veterans.
Featured Speaker, Joe Bennek, Minnesotans' Military Appreciation Fund Project Director -- Co-Founded by Joe Bennek in 2005, the Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund (MMAF) has raised over $20 million and awarded nearly 20,000 grants to Minnesota service members and families who served in combat zones post-9/11. It remains the only statewide initiative of its kind, dedicated to honoring their sacrifice.
Featured Speaker, Richard Schulte, Sergeant First Class (Ret.), U.S. Army & MN National Guard
We are thrilled to announce a tour of the Rollx Facility in Savage - a joint event with the Vets Club and the Rotary Club of Savage.
• Meet at the facility in Savage at 12:00 noon, Thursday November 6. Meeting will start at 12:15 pm. • Pizza Served • While we eat, listen to a presentation and background information about the business, followed by Q&A. • We start touring your facility after that. • We finish tour and end our visit by 1:30 pm
Rollx is a Vet owned buisiness and provides services for veterans and their families!
The Savage Rotary club will host our club and buy pizza for us as well. We will need a participation count by end of day on Monday, November 03, 2025.
We have discovered the stress and burden that deployment has on military families. Our club is thrilled to launch a new program in 2026 to walk beside those who are facing heading a family by themselves for 6 months or a year.
We want to provide activities for children while the parent has an opportunity to spend time with other adults who understand what they are going through. We would also like to provide assistance around the home and offer food gift cards for those long days when there is not energy and no time to prepare a meal. We'd like to help the community support these families with restaurant cards, pizza, or even movie tickets just to let them know they are remembered and appreciated.
Interested in helping? Got ideas? Contact Club President Guy Marzano, 612-839-7288
