THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2023
NOT JUST A SOCIAL CLUB: HOW PERHAM ROTARY HELPS THE COMMUNITY THRIVE
Perham has never been described as your typical rural town, and its community Rotary club has helped steer it in that direction By Elizabeth Vierkant Rural Living When visitors or new residents first step foot in the Perham area, the first thing many of them notice is just how different this booming rural community is in comparison to other small towns throughout the Midwest. There’s new events, new businesses, new developments and an evergrowing population. Communities like this don’t just happen, though. They need people like those in the Perham Rotary to kickstart fundraising and complete projects — all on their own time and dime. “To me, organizations like Rotary — especially
the local club — is what makes a small town really thrive,” said Brad Neuerburg, a fouryear Perham Rotary member. “All of these business owners are in the same room, and they know each other. And when something comes up — like any type of issues or service project — you’ve got all the movers and shakers already together with these relationships. So they can all really help our town address things and make the place better, rather than everybody just acting individually.” While Rotary is often known as a global organization with over a million members and 46,000 clubs, those involved with
the Perham group have made it their mission to better the lives of everyone throughout the community. With a motto of “service above self,” its main goal is to provide its town with five “avenues of service”: club service, vocational service, community service, international service and youth service. Throughout its many years, the Perham club has done just that. Well-known residents like Neuerburg, Dennis Happel, Gordy Przybylski and more lead the charge and help to spearhead different developments and initiatives all throughout the area.
ROTARY: Page 3
Elizabeth Vierkant / Rural Living
The Courtyard of Caring, located in the center of Perham Living, was one of many Perham Rotary projects throughout the community
LIVING IT UP DOWN ON THE FARM
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Contributed / Wadena County Dairy Association
Wadena County Dairy Princesses. Sena Lehman, Natalie Vandermay, Jayma Lawson, Lexi Pickar, Mattea Smith and Emma Malone.
There are some who’d say living in the country is life at its finest – like Karyl Richter. Richter is the board secretary of the Wadena County Dairy Association. But she feels most at home on her family farm where cows were milked, work was hard and life is good. “Actually, we let the cows go almost three years ago now,” Richter said. “But we’ve stayed on because … we wanted to keep the dairy princess program alive.” Over the next year, dairy royalty will build their knowledge of
the dairy industry, enthusiasm for dairy promotion and their communication skills. “This way of life takes a real toll on somebody,” Richter said of her husband’s twicea-day cow-milking schedule. “The biggest reason we let the cows go was because of Bruce’s health. He got kicked by a cow and had to have a hip replaced. … He’s had two back surgeries.” According to the Minnesota State Demographic Center, about 7% of the state’s population, or nearly 390,000 people, live in or nearby small towns with at least 2,500 but less than 10,0000 residents, while 8%,
or more than 434,000 people, live in more remote rural areas. The Richters live on a rural property between Wadena and Verndale. Bruce Richter started milking cows in 1978, and they sold their 80 or so Holsteins years ago, but the couple remained and still locally promotes June as National Dairy Month. “Real milk comes from a cow!” Karyl Richter said as a representative of the Wadena County Dairy Association. “You can drink things that are called ‘milk.’ But you’d have to drink so much more of it.
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