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Can’t Stop The Music SO, FOUR CARGILL GUYS: TWO ACCOUNTANTS, A STEEL TRADER, AND A TREASURY GUY, WALK INTO A BAR… No, this isn’t a setup for a joke, it’s a setup for a gig. And the following is a short, colorful, history of Cargill’s Hunker’d Down Blues Band. Sometime in the cool Spring (Fall?) months of 2007, Eduardo Colangelo, Global HR Control- ler, and I, Assistant Treasurer, found ourselves together at dinner at a Cargill global finance conference at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis. Eduardo mentioned his glory days as a teen rock & roll singer/guitarist in his native Buenos Aires. I confessed my own similar past in the Midwest. Furthermore, for decades, we had each kept the dream alive strumming along to CDs in the basement… We vowed to jam together sometime, and just like “let’s do lunch”, a year sped by before we kept the promise. A few 2008 jam sessions in my basement “music room” (that we wisely sound-insulated when our son was a Jr. High rock drummer), revealed our mutual love of the Blues. Around that time, at a Hispanic Finance Association meeting in Phoenix, Eduardo was wedged into the back seat of a car with Hugo Garcia and this kid, Fabio Suenaga, a TSF accountant who had joined Cargill at age 13 in his native Sao Paulo. Hugo (naturally) surfaced a connection between Eduardo and this young guitar wizard. Who says networking doesn’t work!! A couple of jams with these guys convinced me to temper my guitar fantasies and dust off my elementary school piano education. Next, we went looking for a bass player, and again networking paid off. Fabio ran into Marc Syverson (CFI Trader) who happened to work on the same floor. Marc, a guitarist in his own right, who had played bass for a number of bands in his adult years and loved the Blues, much to our delight, agreed to hang around with us. Not only that, his son, Andy, was a drummer, who despite the demands of a very young family, also threw in his lot with us. So, by late 2008, we were becoming a band, a nearly all-Cargill band at that! And, every band needs a name. As we threw around names during this down cycle in Cargill’s fortunes, someone remarked on the Cargill’s then-current mantra “Hunker Down Wisely.” With a nod to the band’s corporate incubator, and a stylish spelling conceit, we dubbed ourselves the Hunker’d Down Blues Band. PRESIDENTS CORNER A New Look You have probably noticed that we’ve changed the “look” of our Quarterly Retiree Newsletter. We made this change so that our Newsletter is consistent with Cargill’s recent changes to its Brand Identity. Brand Identity is how a business wants a brand’s name, communication style, logo and other visual elements to be perceived by consumers. You’ve seen these visual changes in recent Cargill Magazines. Cargill also wanted to express its brand in a way that reflected on its’ focus to “help people and organizations become more successful”. To choose one word that would be “relevant to people across geographies, businesses and perspectives”. The word Cargill chose was “Thrive”. “Thrive” is about helping stakeholders become more successful relative to their goals. Cargill retirees and the non-profit organizations that we support are the stakeholders of our organiza- tion. It is our desire to provide our member stakeholders volunteer, educational, and social activities that can help all of us “Thrive”. We therefore feel that it is appropriate to incorpo- rate these changes to Cargill’s brand identity and brand expression into our retiree organization. Also, we would appreciate your feedback on how the changes to the prescription drug plan and gap health insurance went for your household. Please provide written comments in an email to Twin_Cit- ies_Retirees@Cargill. com. Thanks for your input. SUBMITTED BY Dave Braden SUBMITTED BY Mike Hall Continued on page 2 Cargill Cares Retiree Newsletter Spring 2014
8

Cargill Cares FroM THe CArGiLL ArCHiveS How in the World did Cargill Get into Steel? By Bruce Bruemmer one of the traditional criticisms of oral history is that it relies on memories

Jul 30, 2018

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Page 1: Cargill Cares FroM THe CArGiLL ArCHiveS How in the World did Cargill Get into Steel? By Bruce Bruemmer one of the traditional criticisms of oral history is that it relies on memories

Can’t Stop The MusicSo, four Cargill guyS: two aCCountantS, a Steel trader, and a treaSury guy, walk into a bar…

No, this isn’t a setup for a joke, it’s a setup for a gig. And the following is a short, colorful, history of Cargill’s Hunker’d Down Blues Band.

Sometime in the cool Spring (Fall?) months of 2007, Eduardo Colangelo, Global HR Control-ler, and I, Assistant Treasurer, found ourselves together at dinner at a Cargill global finance conference at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis. Eduardo mentioned his glory days as a teen rock & roll singer/guitarist in his native Buenos Aires. I confessed my own similar past in the Midwest. Furthermore, for decades, we had each kept the dream alive strumming along to CDs in the basement… We vowed to jam together sometime, and just like “let’s do lunch”, a year sped by before we kept the promise.

A few 2008 jam sessions in my basement “music room” (that we wisely sound-insulated when our son was a Jr. High rock drummer), revealed our mutual love of the Blues. Around that time, at a Hispanic Finance Association meeting in Phoenix, Eduardo was wedged into the back seat of a car with Hugo Garcia and this kid, Fabio Suenaga, a TSF accountant who had joined Cargill at age 13 in his native Sao Paulo. Hugo (naturally) surfaced a connection between Eduardo and this young guitar wizard. Who says networking doesn’t work!!

A couple of jams with these guys convinced me to temper my guitar fantasies and dust off my elementary school piano education. Next, we went looking for a bass player, and again networking paid off. Fabio ran into Marc Syverson (CFI Trader) who happened to work on the same floor. Marc, a guitarist in his own right, who had played bass for a number of bands in his adult years and loved the Blues, much to our delight, agreed to hang around with us. Not only that, his son, Andy, was a drummer, who despite the demands of a very young family, also threw in his lot with us.

So, by late 2008, we were becoming a band, a nearly all-Cargill band at that! And, every band needs a name. As we threw around names during this down cycle in Cargill’s fortunes, someone remarked on the Cargill’s then-current mantra “Hunker Down Wisely.” With a nod to the band’s corporate incubator, and a stylish spelling conceit, we dubbed ourselves the Hunker’d Down Blues Band.

PreSiDeNTS CorNer

A New LookYou have probably noticed that we’ve changed the “look” of our Quarterly Retiree Newsletter. We made this change so that our Newsletter is consistent with Cargill’s recent changes to its Brand Identity. Brand Identity is how a business wants a brand’s name, communication style, logo and other visual elements to be perceived by consumers. You’ve seen these visual changes in recent Cargill Magazines.

Cargill also wanted to express its brand in a way that reflected on its’ focus to “help people and organizations become more successful”. To choose one word that would be “relevant to people across geographies, businesses and perspectives”. The word Cargill chose was “Thrive”.

“Thrive” is about helping stakeholders become more successful relative to their goals. Cargill retirees and the non-profit organizations that we support are the stakeholders of our organiza-tion. It is our desire to provide our member stakeholders volunteer, educational, and social activities that can help all of us “Thrive”. We therefore feel that it is appropriate to incorpo-rate these changes to Cargill’s brand identity and brand expression into our retiree organization.

Also, we would appreciate your feedback on how the changes to the prescription drug plan and gap health insurance went for your household. Please provide written comments in an email to [email protected]. Thanks for your input.

SuBMITTED BY

Dave BradenSuBMITTED BY

Mike Hall

Continued on page 2

CargillCares

retiree Newsletter Spring 2014

Page 2: Cargill Cares FroM THe CArGiLL ArCHiveS How in the World did Cargill Get into Steel? By Bruce Bruemmer one of the traditional criticisms of oral history is that it relies on memories

2

Can’t stop the music - from page 1

Naturally (as Cargill folk) needing an objec-tive, we scheduled our own first gig at “The Barn” in Eden Prairie for June, 2009. The place was packed with Cargill and other friends who encouraged us and set us on our way. Keith Tvedten devised our next gig by asking us to play a few songs in the Office Center Atrium before the start of the 2009 Turkey Trek 5K. By this time, some employee reaction to “Hunker Down Wisely” had begotten the Corporate Center’s short-lived substitute mantra “Managing for the Future”. At the Trek, Greg Page gave some opening remarks, and, upon seeing HDBB’s logo, pulled me aside, asking whether we had named the band before, or after, “Hunker Down Wisely” was implemented. In panicked confusion about his angle(!), I quickly declared that we had considered the “Man-aging for the Future Blues Band”, but it lacked the proper ring… He chuckled, and I started breathing again.

A few real gigs started developing, and a year later, we cut a demo CD in the profession-al-grade home studio of yet another Cargill employee, Nate Reitsma, Sr. IT Analyst for GOSC. And, we went long about 100 HDBB T-shirts, for it’s all about the “merch”! Our big break arrived in late 2011, when we entered, and placed 2nd, in the uptown Famous Dave’s Battle of the Bands. This earned us the chance to open that December for Corey Stevens, a nationally-known Blues artist, performing at Famous Dave’s.

HDBB’s 4.5-year, 40-gig life so far has been a great thrill. And, aside from sourcing 4 of its 5 members, Cargill has been a tremendous part of it. Half of our gigs have been Cargill-related performances, from Tartan recognition events, to a global Cargill recognition conference, to four Turkey Treks and five Sleep Outs to End Homelessness. Our “homes away from Car-gill” include Famous Dave’s and Hopkins’ Main Street Bar, at which we’ve taken the stage seven times each.

Last Spring, due to the demands of a growing family, Marc’s son, Andy, turned over the drummer’s seat to Todd Wicklander, an accomplished former bandmate of Marc’s who is a great addition to the group. I’ve retired from Cargill after 34 years. HDBB continues to look for new gig opportunities and continues to be a source of great joy and satisfaction to those of us who are (re)living the dream! We encourage you to check out the band on Facebook, You Tube, or our own website, and let me know at [email protected] if you want to know about upcoming band events.

SuBMITTED BY

Tim Lesmeister

Fishing Hawaii - on the CheapRae and I began vacationing in Hawaii in 1993. until Rae retired a few years ago our stay was just a couple of weeks. Now we get the luxury of spending a couple of months there.

As many know I have a real love for fishing. I’ll spend hours casting off a dock just hoping for one good bite. I’ve spent the better part of many days drifting in a boat searching for the hotspot on lakes, rivers and reservoirs all over the world. Hawaii turned out to be my toughest challenge when it came to catching fish from shore.

Because I like to fish ever day I choose to fish the coral reefs from shore. I know there are loads of fish there. I can see them when I snorkel.

The first year I brought a rod and reel over to Hawaii I assembled a tackle box full of lures. I fished every day and didn’t get a single bite.

The next year I tried a lot of different lure combinations and never got a bite.

I was not going to give up. I came back the next year and while renting my snorkel gear noticed a big sign on the dive-shop wall. “Do Not Feed Fish Peas” was what it said. The light went off in my head. These reef fish are plant eaters and they won’t hit lures. unlike me; they like vegetables.

I immediately invested in a bag of frozen peas but that wasn’t the only piece of the equation. I discovered that small hooks were necessary and floats or bobbers to keep the line out of the corral. With some experimentation I have come up with the perfect presentation for Hawaiian reef fishing and I catch loads of wrasse, parrotfish, unicorns, mamos, tang, snappers and even the occasional puffer. The size ranges from a quarter pound up to eight pounds. There are good days and great days and if you’re on a

decent spot you will catch loads of fish.

This is my exact program. I use a medi-um-weight spin casting rod and reel spooled with 14 pound test Berkley Fireline Crystal. To the end of the line I tie on a small barrel swivel and a 24 inch section of six pound test fluoro-carbon monofilament leader line. To the end of the leader I tie on a number twelve treble hook or a number ten trout hook. I attach a weighted foam bobber about a foot above the swivel add a pea or some pea dough-ball to the hook and cast it to the fish. When the bobber goes down I set the hook.

It took me a long time to get the timing down for setting the hook. These sharp-teethed reef fish can strip a pea off a hook quickly so for the uninitiated I discovered a tiny treble hook covered with some dough ball I make by pulverizing the peas in a food processor and kneading it into white bread results in a solid hooking ratio most times.

So next time you’re your planning a trip to the Hawaiian islands shove a pack rod and reel into the golf bag you’re bringing over. Toss in a few hooks and bobbers and have some fun catching fish on the coral from shore.

Mike Hall, President Bob Bridges, Editor Barbara Luke, Co-Editor

The CCR newsletter is published quarterly in spring, summer, fall and winter, and is distributed to Cargill retirees throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Submit items of interest to the CCR office (Community Relations/137).

For additional information about CCR volunteer activities, call the CCR office at 952/742-6188 or email [email protected]

CCr -TC Board

retirees e-Mail Directory

If you are not currently receiving email updates from the Cargill Cares Retirees office and would like to be added to the CCR Email Directory, please send your name and Email address to [email protected].

Shirley AndersonElaine BrownDave BradenJoe Fournier

Tom GeisenGene GrossJim GuyreMike Hall

John KeefeDane KernMike LillyJim Little

John LokenBarbara LukeRich PetersLois Tolentino

John Tschumperlin

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FroM THe CArGiLL ArCHiveS

How in the World did Cargill Get into Steel?By Bruce Bruemmer

one of the traditional criticisms of oral history is that it relies on memories sometimes years after the fact. Memories may fade or become embellished, and often two persons will have dramatically different perspectives on a shared event. Still, it is a useful way to move closer to understanding past events and personalities, particularly when no other documentation survives.

With oral history, quantity enhances quality. Consider three different perspectives on the 1974 acquisition of North Star Steel by Cargill, all captured by historian Wayne Broehl in 1993. CEO Erv Kelm and Vice-Chairman Bob Diercks both point to Pete McVay’s role in convincing Cargill to invest in this business. President McVay, for his part, credits Duncan MacMillan for the initial idea.

Although the North Star acquisition was successful and led Cargill’s emphasis on quality in the 1990s, much of Cargill never seemed completely at ease with the business. It was sold to Gerdau Ameri-steel thirty years after the acquisition.

+++

DIERCKS: That’s an interesting thing. I was absolutely against going into the steel business. I couldn’t see [it] for the life of me, I thought we were getting completely away from our solid business experience. But Pete McVay came in one day and he said, “Bob, you just don’t understand this.” I said, “Well, explain it to me.” So Pete said, “Now you know how successful we’ve been in the oilseed crushing.” No question about that. “Well, if you can just visualize that the scrap iron plays the same role as the soybean and the steel plant plays the same role as a crushing plant, all the other economic factors are the same. The supply of your raw material, the freight structure that supports the location of the plant, the location of the destination of your products; all the same.” And he was right.

BROEHL: It’s a commodity business.

DIERCKS: It’s a commodity business but I had to be sat down and told. When he put it in that light, I agreed and it has been very successful. It took that kind of an explanation for me to see through it.

+++

KELM: I remember he wanted to buy the steel mill.

BROEHL: North Star.

KELM: North Star. So I said Pete, this is a little bit out of our list but one of my principles has been since I took over is that we stick to our list. And he said there is a similarity. He said in the oil business we buy soybeans, we crush them, we have two products. We have meal and we have oil. The management problem is very similar. We buy scrap, we sell rods, we sell those corner things and so I said, “Well,

I’d like to go over to the plant. I’d like to see this.” We went over there, talked to their management, I went through the plant and sure enough, the management problems were very similar. So I became an enthusiastic supporter and we bought North Star Steel and went through the roof.

+++

MCVAY: Steel -- We knew nothing of the steel business. So far as I know it was not on anyone’s list of businesses that fit Cargill. Howev-er, Duncan MacMillan representing Waycrosse had joined a group of Minneapolis and St. Paul investors in owning 50% of an electric furnace steel mill located on the river in St. Paul. Their partner was a Canadian company named Co-Steel. The principal was Jerry Heffernen, who was supported by an experienced staff. They were in the forefront of developing electric furnaces and continuous casting technology. The mill had operated only a short time but promised to be a success.

The investors wanted to sell. Duncan convinced us that we should take a look. We did and found that it had many of the characteristics that we were keeping in new product lines. New technology made capital highly productive. A ton of steel producing capacity cast a fraction of that of a traditional mill as well as man hours per ton was greatly reduced.

We bought 50% of St. Paul. Shortly thereafter, we were asked to take over a partly constructed steel mill in Wilton, Iowa. The investors had run out of money. We did so. Co-Steel did not like us being in a possible competitive position. We went through the buy or sell ritual and we bought their 50% of St. Paul. The two mills were a large investment for Cargill at the time. We were quite comfortable with the economics of the business and its fit with Cargill. We had two primary concerns. One was raw material (scrap) supply. The other [was] product diversification. Electric mills could produce products that they could make much cheaper than a traditional mill but their line was limited.

erv KeLM, PeTe MCvAy, DiCK BALDWiN, AND BoB DierCKS AT THe 8TH MANAGeMeNT CoNFereNCe iN LiTTLe FALLS, MiNNeSoTA (1962). THiS WAS oNe oF THe SeMiNArS TAuGHT By BeN TreGoe DeSiGNeD To ForMALize AND orGANize ProBLeM reCoGNiTioN AND SoLviNG.

Page 4: Cargill Cares FroM THe CArGiLL ArCHiveS How in the World did Cargill Get into Steel? By Bruce Bruemmer one of the traditional criticisms of oral history is that it relies on memories

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SuBMITTED BY

Jerry and Anna rohlfsen

Cuba From November 11 to November 24 of 2013, my wife Anna and i took a 12-day cultural exchange trip to our island neighbor of Cuba. When we returned i was asked to rate our trip on a scale of 1 to 10, my response was, it was a 13. in my life i’ve visited over 50 countries and Cuba was amongst the most interesting i’ve visited.

The trip started with a pre-trip meeting at the Airport Sheraton in Miami, with a mid-morning departure for Havana the next day. Surprisingly, we were the fourth American Airlines plane leaving Miami before noon on the day of departure. Our plane was full with maybe 15-20 tourists and the balance were Cubans carrying large bags/containers of purchased goods. The 50-minute flight to Havana and the passage through customs was uneventful. Eighteen u.S. tourists and one u.S. tour guide/translator accompanied us.

A 45-passenger air-conditioned bus picked us up, which would be our means of transportation for the next 11 days. Our first destination was the Hotel Saratoga, which is a recently restored hotel in the middle of Havana. This would be our base for the next three nights as we explored the many cultural opportunities in Havana, to include:

• A visit to Habana Vieja (Old Havana) a uNESCO World Heritage site.

• A visit to the Museum of the Revolution which includes many displays of three famous Cuban revolutionaries, Messrs.’: Fidel, Che’, and Mr. Cienfuegos; the boat that brought Fidel and 60-80 Cubans to Cuba from Mexico to start the revolution, a piece of the jet plane shot down during the Bay of Pigs attack; to some rather uncomplimentary caricatures of the two Bush Presidents.

• A visit to a senior center where we did the Hokey Pokey for 50 or so seniors.

• A visit to a learning center for disabled and Downs Syndrome children and adults who were working on various crafts.

• A bicycle rickshaw trip to the local produce market where each couple was given the Spanish name of a fruit or vegetable with goal of buying as much of the items as possible for one CuC currency (1 CuC = $.90). Our Cuban bike drivers were a lot of fun. The fruits and vegetables were donated to the Learning Center.

• An organic farming operation on the outskirts of Havana.• A visit to the Cuban Fine Arts Museum.• A discussion with two Cuban engineers regarding the future of

Cuban/u.S. relations. It seems ridiculous that the u.S. continues the ineffective embargo on Cuba. Cubans long for the opportunity of having an open business /travel relationship with us.

The Hotel Saratoga was very nice and comparable to a three or four-star hotel in the u.S. On day five we packed up and left by bus for the city of Cienfuegos, which was a four-hour bus ride from Havana. The bus ride took us through the countryside, and what struck me the most, was the high percentage of unused farmland. In Cuba the government owns most of the land. The unused farmland is a symbol of Socialism in my opinion. Cuban has the capability of increasing it’s farm output substantially with some land reforms.

In Cienfuegos we stayed at the Hotel La union for two days, again nice accommodations in the heart of this city of 80,000. Some highlights of our stay were:

• A singing concert by the Chorus of Cienfuegos, which was OuTSTANDING.

• A meeting with the union of Writer and Artists who discussed how artists and writers manage to freely express their ideas in Cuba.

• A visit to a school to observe a social program with young children.

• An evening with the music and dancing of a Son band playing traditional Cuban/Afro music. We enjoyed the tradition mojito and cuba libre before and during the music and dance.

On day eight we were off to the uNESCO World Heritage Site in the city of Trinidad, a city of over 100,000 people and a three-night stay at the Hotel La Ronda. Once again, it was a very nice hotel in the center of the city. Some of the highlights of our stay included:

• A visit to a basket making business, where all the baskets and hats were hand made the 20 employees.

• A pottery factory that made some very nice pots out of clay.• A visit to a historic sugar mill where we pressed cane into liquid

the same as the slaves of 200 years ago.

HAvANA, CuBA – A TyPiCAL viNTAGe u.S. CAr.

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5

• An enjoyable dinner at a local paladar, which is a new opportunity for entrepreneurs to own their own restaurants. Most of there paladars are located in older, larger homes. The food was excellent.

• We visited a coffee farm in the Escambray Mountains. The farmers MuST sell 80 percent of their coffee beans to the government at cost, with the remaining 20 percent they can sell at whatever price they can get.

• A visit to a beautiful Arboretum, which reflects the diverse ecosystem of Cuba.

• A lecture on the Santeria, a religion that blends Afro-Caribbean and Roman Catholic beliefs. It was interesting, but somewhat confusing.

On day ten it was back to Havana, by bus, for a two-night stay at the historic Nacional Hotel. This is the hotel in The Godfather where the revolution started. Some highlights of last few days were:

• A dinner reception with the scholars from the Ludwig Foundation. The Ludwig family was German and supported artists of all types in many locations around the world.

• A visit to the Cristobal Colon cemetery in Havana. This is one of the most fascinating/beautiful cemeteries in the world. Our guide was also most interesting.

• Attending an Afro-Cuban dance group’s rehearsal. Wow, what athleticism.

• And a farewell dinner at an outstanding restaurant near the harbor in Havana. The meal was outstanding, and we all returned to the hotel in vintage 1958-60 u.S. convertibles, which was nice touch. By the way, my guess is that 45-50% of ALL cars on the road in Havana are vintage u.S. cars.

On the last day we were bused to the airport with a brief stop at the Revolutionary Square for a photo op. Our exit from the airport was a non-event as was our flight back to Miami.

All in all it was a great trip that we highly recommend.

SuBMITTED BY

Mike Lilly

roger Wherry Travels the Country for Habitat and Wounded veteransAfter working daily at the Cargill sponsored Habitat for Humanity house in Crystal, Minnesota this fall, Roger Wherry headed west again this Winter where building is in full swing.

First, he spent two weeks with Mesilla Valley Habitat in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He met up with Pete Pemberton, with whom he worked in Minnesota last June. The volun-teer group in Las Cruces was made up of two or three locals and a group of RV people. The RV people travel around the country building at various Habitat sites for two weeks at a time. Interestingly most live in their RV’s year around

Roger then left for San Diego in early December. He joined a group of local San Diego volunteers to help build a four home complex for wounded veterans. Many of the volunteers were active and retired military. The four-unit projected features 1500 square foot homes with wheel chair access.

Roger reports that the San Diego Habitat (SDHFH) volunteer group is much like Habitat in Minnesota with a number of “regulars” and a new group of local area people and/or military people stationed in San Diego who participate each workday.  They build on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, so there is a rest day in the middle of the week. He built with them for 10 days last year and was happy to see that some of the same regulars were back.

The local NBC news station covered the San Diego story with a tour of the facility under construction. Roger has worked 18 days on the project. He will return when the snow melts to build more Habitat for Humanity homes in Minnesota.

I asked Roger where he garnered his excellent building skills. Roger told me, “I have always been handy with tools and am interested in how things work.  I can remem-ber, ‘helping’ the carpenters build a house addition and small barn as a kid, probably in the 6th grade.  I have volunteered with Habitat in MN for over 20 years, so I have had plenty of time to learn and forget a number of things.  My brother Tom also volunteers with me most days here in San Diego.  He has worked some years on the Cargill Habitat build.” 

If you have an interest in joining the Habitat crew, please let us know at

[email protected].

For THe reCorD

Deceased Gayle Emberland Mary Lou Flood Ralph Grier Robert Oien Fred Saltvold Henry Tavares Verona Wallace

recently retiredJean Anderson Carol Benson Dorothy Bohneman Susan BrownMarion Burmeister Mary Danielson Noreen Fitzgerald Nabil Gobran Sharilyn Haggenmiller Bonnie Harris Sarah Jones Mary KurthClaudia Lane Stacy Lewis Robert Lommel Mary Lee Steven Lumsden Edward Nelsen Cheryl Shaver Loren Sinning Mary Sis Darlene Smith Janet Voss Doil Williams Susan Wittwer Marcia Wilson Xinsheng Zhu James Yanecek

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SuBMITTED BY

Tom Geisen

Seniors Health Care will strain State BudgetFor the first time in Minnesota history in 2020 there will be more 65+ than school age children.

Susan Brower from the Minnesota State Demographic Center presented the three major trends impacting the demographics in Minnesota to a group of 26 retirees at the Office Center on January 28, 2014

#1 Population aging is beginning to affect Minnesota and the nation. Number of older adults (over 65) has averaged an increase of 65,000 per period from 1950 – 2000. Projec-tions show an increase of 335,000 older adults in 2010 period and 285,000 in 2020 period but returning to average of 70,000 during 2030 - 2050. This will put a major strain on our general fund expenditures which in 2013 were split 42% for K-12 education and 31% for health & human services.

If health care costs continue their trend, state spending on other services can’t grow. The struggle for use of expenditures between health care and education will be intense. Our need for replacement of the aging population in the work force is increased education for the younger generation to be properly trained. While at the same time health care services will be needed to take care of the aged.

Increased labor force growth is anticipated to be very slow and won’t be enough to counter the aging trend. The reliance on immigration to fill the void increases each year through 2045.

#2 Post recession growth looks new and different from 2000 – 2010. Results show a +25% increase in population in large metro area and loss of population in the rural market. Largest increase from 2005 – 2010 was in the city and dense suburbs.

#3 Minnesota and the Twin Cities are becoming more diverse. Over 50 years of growing diversity showed less than 5% population of color in 1960 to 24% in 2010 in the Twin Cities which compares to 17% in the state of Minnesota. In 2000 few parts of the city had more than 15% population of color compared to 2010 where many parts of the city had more than 20%. A portrait of Minnesota by age breakdown of white (non

Hispanic) and of color shows at over 45 the majority of white is predominant but the trend decreases at age 45 and under. International immigration has been increasing in recent decades but immigration is not a new phenomenon in Minnesota. Our foreign born population is becoming increasingly diverse. In 1950, over 90% of the immigrants came from Europe and in 2010-2011 it was less than 15% and over 75% were from Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Education and proper skills are the primary need today. In 1973, only 28% of the jobs needed some post-secondary education and in 2011 and going forward 73% need some form of higher education. The challenge has been increased largely due to the decline in Minnesota high school graduation rate. Racial gaps in attaining a degree are large and persistent but have improved a little in 2010.

The education of all of our residents is more important than it has ever been before” it’s the time for talent”. Minnesota has a high retention of Minnesota born workforce. Minnesota ranks 4th in the nation in degreed talent retention and 6th in creative talent retention nationally.

Thoughts taken away from wrap up of presentation are:

• Fewer school age children relative to older adults will mean pressures to shift recourses (public, nonprofit) from younger to older.

• Education/training of our workforce is more important than ever.

• Big changes and big opportunities are ahead of us.

The presentation was followed by a very interactive question/answer session with several thought provoking comments on the challenges of preparing our workforce for the diverse work environment and society today.

**John Keefe is using “Survey Monkey” to send out a brief survey to obtain feedback on this seminar and suggestions for future seminars.

CArGiLL CAreS reTireeS

363 SandwichesOn May 6th, 2013, Cargill Cares Retirees launched the 363 Sandwich Project as our newest opportunity to serve our community. The 363 Sandwich Project, part of the Minneapolis Recreation Development program, is dedicated to serving the home-less community, vulnerable individuals, disadvantaged youth, and their families in the Twin Cities. The 363 Sandwich Project strives to serve when the volunteers on Thanksgiving and Christmas have returned to their homes. The 363 sandwiches are the key food distributed the year round. The sandwiches are donated by community groups, churches, schools and companies. The sandwiches are distributed by a retired Minneapolis school teacher, Allan Law, in Minneapolis through Catholic Charities, Hospitality House, Little Earth, the urban League, Loaves & Fishes, the Marie Sandvik Center, The River of Life Church, The Salvation Army/Harbor Light Safe Bay and Sharing & Caring Hands. In St. Paul the union Gospel Mission, Catholic Charities and the Dorothy Day Center are involved.

We initially thought that 1,000 sandwiches would be a big effort. Doug Lindberg, who brought the idea to CCR-TC and our facilities partner, the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park assured us we could handle the challenge. Lots of “Can Do” and a strong community service attitude from 20 CCR-TC volunteers and wonderful church facilities had 1,000 sandwiches packaged, loaded in a truck and ready for delivery in under 90 minutes. We are looking forward to preparing 1,500 sandwiches on February 21st.

CCR-TC volunteers make sandwiches every even numbered month, most recently on February 21st. We meet from 9-11 AM at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 7217 West Broadway Avenue, in Brooklyn Park, normally on the last Friday of the month. CCR-TC has partnered twice with Cargill Foods NA which has provided the meat. CCR-TC is looking to partner with additional Bus and Administra-tive groups looking for community focused team building projects.

Exact dates are on the calendar of the CCR-TC website: http://www.cargillcaresre-tirees.com/. You can also find 363 Sandwich-es and signup at: http:// cargillcarepoints.com/ or contact the project leader: Dane Kern at 952-472-448 or Email: [email protected].

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7

SuBMITTED BY

John Loken

Pickleball

The poem below was written by Jerry Peterson, a nationally-ranked local pickleball player.

SAve THe DATe - March 11, 2014

Travel to Turkey without the cost of airfare……Listen to Lyall Schwarzkopf share his entertaining story of their trips to Central Turkey specifically the Cap-padocia area. You will hear about Cave Cities, underground Cities, Chimneys, Christian Cave churches and a short history of the tribes of the country. They spent time meeting the local people and tasting their delicious food.

Lyall’s travel experience has been to all 50 states and over 40 counties in 7 continents. His work experience was Chief of Staff for Governor Arne Carlson, Minneapolis City Administrator, Director of Planning for Metro Council and State Legislator.

Married 55 years, 4 adult children, 6 grandchildren.

Plink, plenk, plink, plenk, plink, plenk… If you’re walking around a neighborhood community center (indoors) or some multiple-purposed tennis courts (outdoors) and hear a noise like this, you’ve probably come across a pickleball game in progress. Further investigation will reveal a happy group of people (usually retirees) playing or waiting to play.

What is pickleball? You’ve probably heard about this “new” sport with the weird name. It’s kind of like tennis and kind of like ping pong, played on a court kind of like badminton. It’s played with fiberglass (or sometimes wood) paddles and a heavy wiffle ball. So basically it’s a lot like other sports …. but different. Pickleball can be played singles but is predomi-nantly a doubles game.

One of the attractions of pickleball is that it is mostly gender neutral (i.e. not a big advantage for either men or women). Another is that it’s easy on the joints and a great way to get together and exercise with a group of friends. It is an ideal activity for people with a high energy level. Spin-off groups are playing bridge, scrabble, biking, etc. and even taking trips with their new friends from pickleball.

Pickleball started in Washington in the 1960’s and spread to retirement communities in the snowbird states (Florida, Texas, Arizona, etc.) In the past several years it has been growing rapidly in Minnesota. For example, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Bloomington, and Maple Grove all have very active groups of players.

CCR is planning to have a Pickleball 101 orientation day in late spring or early summer. Be sure to watch the retirees e-mail (Cargill Retirees TC) for announcements regarding date and time. So get ready to get up off the couch and join the fun!!

To find out more info about pickleball, please see the following web sites:

Global Web Site:

www.usapa.org

Southwest Metro: www.swmetropickleball.weebly.com

The people are friendlymore awesome than not,lasting friendships developwith each passing shot.

At 2 AM your legs cramp upand you fall into the shower door,at 6 AM your alarm goes offand you jump out of bed for more.

Whether you win or whether you fall,one can always proclaim "it's a great day for pickleball!"

copyright 2012

IT'S A GREAT DAY FOR PICKLEBALL

Whether you "live to play"or "play to live,"in the game of pickleballit is the effort you give.

They play in their 50's,60's, 70's and more,the ultimate goal is Championin age 90-94.

Smash it or dink itno matter the shot,the benefits are fantasticwhether you win or not.

As each game is endedwith an eleven point score,you touch paddles at the netand wish you could play more.

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Cargill Cares retireesPACr/137Box 5723Minneapolis, MN [email protected]/742-6188

PRSRT STD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPermit No. 936

Twin Cities, Minn.

Compiled by Lois TolentinoContact the CARGILL CARES RETIREE Office for more information, 952/742-6188

upcoming events:

Seminar’s- reservation letters will be sent.

March 11, 2014Turkey Travelogue withLyall Schwarzkopf

June 20, 2014Consumer Fraud withGary Johnson

July 23, 2014Rethinking Retirement withChris Farrell

Feed My Starving ChildrenMonday, March 24, 2014Coon Rapids 9:30-11:30401 93rd Ave NW Coon Rapids, 55433Calling tree will be used.

MN zoo Beastly BallSaturday, April 26, 2014Shirley Anderson, coordinator

one Day Trip-Monday May 5, 2014“Simply Amazing Amish” Harmony, MnLeave 8:00 AM-Return approx 5:15 PMReservation letter will be sent.

CoMiNG eveNTS-iNForMATioN

ongoing events:

BridgingContact Jim Little @612/338-1872 orDon Olmsted @952/941-6122Bloomington and RosevilleFirst Tuesday every month.12:30-3:30 pm.

emergency Foodshelf New Hope. 9:00-11:00 AM 1st Wed each month.Contact John Tschumperlin @ 952/472-4465

retiree Golf LeagueContact Joe Fournier 763/420-6720

Second HarvestContact Joe Fournier-763/420-6720On the 3rd Tuesday and Last Wednesday each month.

Loaves and FishesContact Dane Kern-952-472-4488

Sandwich Project-9 AM-11 AMPrince of Peace Church-BPFriday- every other month/F/A/J/A/O/DContact Dane Kern-952-472-4488

Store to Door- Contact Marge Klimmek-763/732-1733

Habitat for Humanity Contact Mike Lilly, 763/546-9665