Events

Bob Junghans, aka Rob Jung, was born in the wine country of California, grew up in a beautiful little Mississippi River town in Wisconsin, and was educated in the Minnesota State University system and Harvard Law School. He now lives in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, Kathy. Prior to becoming a lawyer 50+ years ago, Junghans was a newspaper writer. He is a life-long student of history, geography, religion, politics, and the human condition, and has traveled in every continent except Antarctica. His books often find their origin in historical events discovered in his travels. He has four published novels. The first, Cloud Warriors, is a stand-alone action/adventure story, published by John Hunt Publishing (UK) in 2019. The Reaper and The Sower are the first two books of the Chimera Chronicles trilogy; a story that evolves from the disappearance of a famous painting and how, 75 years later, that still-lost painting sets in motion a psychological struggle between an artist and his estranged mother; a struggle that shakes the foundation of our legal and political systems. Judgment Day, the third and final book of the series, chronicles the story of the first elected U.S. Senator to be charged with murder. It will be released in June, 2023. Junghans is a member of The Loft Literary Society, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, a founding member of South of the River Writers, and is the producer and host of Minnesota Mystery Night, a monthly live event featuring the best mystery and thriller writers in the Midwest. He is the father of three adult children, four grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and countless other “adopted” children of all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, and genders. In addition to writing, Junghans likes to cook, garden, read, fish, travel, watch baseball, attend classic car auctions, tell stories, and strive to make the world’s best manhattan. *Rob Jung is the pen name of Robert W. Junghans who also writes limericks and tells stories under pseudonym “C.J. Rakham”. https://robjungwriter.com/

Jerry Rubino is a conductor/teacher/pianist/coach/singer regarded for his diverse musical interests, engaging artistry, and passionate enthusiasm for performing arts. Jerry founded and directs VOICES 360, is on the staff of the Wesley Balk Institute for the singer/actor, and teaches voice and piano at MacPhail Center for Music. He is a busy choral arranger and conductor working with the Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale, Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, Voices of Experience, Nautilus Music Theater, the Hal Leonard Corporation, and Spirit of Hope United Methodist Church.

Chuck Wagner has worked in property management for most of his career in many various roles. He started in rental and went to managing senior independent living. Following that, Chuck worked in a Continuing Care Retirement Community followed by several years in association management, and lastly as a cooperative living manager and consultant. Wagner is currently employed part-time as a consultant with Lifestyle communities. He has acquired many different designations including Certified Rental Manager, Certified Senior Advisor, Minnesota Real-Estate Agent, and Certified Manager of Community Associations. Chuck's very first home was in Golden Valley and he now resides in Plymouth.

https://artessaliving.com/

Laura Packer has over 30 years of experience sharing and teaching storytelling. Her sole proprietorship, thinkstory, helps organizations identify, craft, and use their stories to create better places to work, more useful products, and more authentic and effective recruiting, sales, and visibility. She is the author of the award-winning From Audience to Zeal: The ABCs of FInding, Crafting and Telling a Great Story.

Colleen O'Connor Toberman is the Land Use & Planning Director at Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR), where she works to ensure that the natural, scenic, cultural, historical, recreational, and public values of the Mississippi River corridor are understood, protected, enhanced, and celebrated. This includes working with community and public-sector partners to develop land-use policies, advocate for parks and public access, and guide riverfront development.

Prior to FMR, Colleen was with the Blue Line Coalition and Center for Economic Inclusion where she focused on equitable development policy and collaboration with local government partners. Her past work has included policy, advocacy, and community engagement around urban development, housing, and transportation issues.

Colleen recently sat on the City of Minneapolis Advisory Committee on Housing and is the former board president of the Northeast Investment Cooperative. She holds a bachelor's in sociology from the University of St. Thomas.

The Golden Valley Rotary Club will gather with members of the community to celebrate all things Rotary during the 2022-2023 year. We will present the Citizen of the Year award and the Rotarian of the Year award. Mary Timmons, Club President, will pass the gavel to incoming Club President, Shep Harris. A great celebratory event in the fifty year history of the Golden Valley Rotary Club!