St. Michael-Albertville Rotary Club Receives Awards

Information provided by St. Michael-Albertville Rotary Club

The St. Michael-Albertville Rotary Club was honored recently with Awards of Excellence in Community Service and Public Relations from District 5950 of Rotary International.  District 5950 is a group of 60 Rotary Clubs located in Central and Southwestern Minnesota.

The Award of Excellence in Community Service recognizes STMA Rotary’s commitment to the St. Michael-Albertville community.

The club has been very active this year in the community. In August, the club coordinated and participated with the STMA high school football team to perform yard clean-up and window washing for local senior citizens. The same day, club members and football players cleaned up a roadside Rotary has adopted. In November, the club sponsored a holiday tree lighting celebration with Shop Saint Michael that attracted more than 300 community members and included a toy and children’s book drive and collection for Polio Plus.

At the high school, the club coordinates the STRIVE mentoring program and has started a Rotary Student of the Month program to honor outstanding juniors.  STMA Rotary also is working with the high school shop class to build and install Little Libraries in the community.  In March, Rotary Club members read to more than 500 first graders to celebrate Read Across America Day.  The club also sponsored a fish fry at the American Legion and donated all the proceeds back to the Legion for the purchase of a granite plaque to honor Legion members’ military service. 

The Award of Excellence in Public Relations recognizes the club’s public relations campaign for the Holiday Tree Lighting Celebration, an event Rotary co-sponsored with Shop Saint Michael with the assistance of two Rotary District 5950 grants. STMA Rotary and Shop Saint Michael partnered to plant a tree outside of the St. Michael City Center and purchase lighting and electrical service.  The tree lighting was attended by more than 300 residents and included caroling by STMA High School’s Chamber Choir and the Crow River Senior Center Choir, holiday stories read by Friends of the Library and local Rotarians, and a special visit from Santa.  Free hot dogs, chili, cookies and cocoa were served and toys and children’s books were collected for the Hanover Area Food Shelf.  The tree was lit by St. Michael’s very own “Holiday Cheermeister” who was nominated by the community and selected by Shop Saint Michael and STMA Rotary. This year’s 2nd Annual Holiday Tree Lighting Celebration is scheduled for Dec. 3.

The St. Michael-Albertville Rotary meets at 7:30 a.m. Tuesdays in the Crow River Senior Center at the new St. Michael City Center.

For more information, visit www.stmarotary.org