Submitted by Christ M. Stonecipher
The Bismarck Rotary Club has been busy this spring!
On Thursday, April 20, the Frontier Trails District of the Northern Lights Council of Boy Scouts presented the Bismarck Rotary Club with their "Outstanding Community Partner" award at their spring banquet. The Bismarck Rotary Club has hosted the Boy Scouts Report to the Governor for over 100 years! Dan Schreck accepted the award on behalf of the club from fellow Rotarian and Boy Scout leader Tamie Schmidt.
On Wednesday, May 3, the club awarded $15,000 in scholarships to six graduating seniors from area high schools ($2,500 each) at their annual Scholarship Awards Banquet. The money for the scholarships comes from their endowed scholarship fund, established in 1993 at the North Dakota Community Foundation.
On Friday, May 5, many members attended the funeral of John "Bob" Sakariassen, a valuable, highly respected, long-time member of the Bismarck Rotary Club. Bob was a member for 63 years and served as Club President in the 1968-1969 Rotary year. Bob's father John was also a member of our club and his son Erik and granddaughter Emily are current members. Those who knew and loved him thought of him as a gentleman. He will be missed by many.
On Saturday, May 6, the club hosted the 10th annual Keep Bismarck Beautiful, an annual city-wide spring clean-up event. Over 200 people registered to clean-up a city park or along a busy street. Bismarck Rotary Club members coordinate this event with city and park district staff, offering volunteers free t-shirts, doughnuts, and coffee. A separate group of Bismarck Rotarians use this time to clean up the Bismarck Rotary Club Arboretum.