District Governor, Jewelie Grape, has been a member of the Minneapolis City of Lakes Rotary Club since 2005 and is also an associate member of the Rotary eClub of Global Travelers. Jewelie is honored to be the 2023-24 District Governor for Rotary District 5950. She loves being a Rotarian because it gives her the opportunity to travel, develop friendships and make a difference in the world.
In the real world Jewelie is an employment and employee benefits attorney with several decades of experience working in Fortune 100 companies, large law firms and a large nonprofit organization. In 2019 (right before COVID – not the best timing) Jewelie opened her own law firm and provides practical legal and business advice to companies and nonprofit organizations. When not working or doing Rotary stuff, Jewelie loves to read, spend time with family and friends, and travel – her most exciting trips have been hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro and cruising to Antarctica.
Don Anderson, the founder of Fat Pants Brewery, likes to say beer is in his blood. Growing up around brewing, Don was inspired to start experimenting with different beers in his garage with his wife, Linda, and best friend Rick. Don pointed out that the only thing holding him back from going public and starting a brewery was convincing his wife, however he had always harbored an entrepreneurial spirit. When Don’s daughter, Elizabeth, finally helped him realize that he was at a point in his life where he could accept all the risks and go for his dream, Fat Pants Brewery was born.
Gratitude makes up a large part of the Fat Pants business, whether it’s directed towards patrons, the Eden Prairie community, or employees–a passion for giving back is “what makes Fat Pants a business,” according to Don, especially in relation to the support of the city during COVID. To represent this, Don shared that Fat Pants has given back to their community spectacularly since the start: they’ve hosted fundraising nights, contributed to auctions, paid off $12k in school lunch debt in the last school year, and donated to over 100 charity organizations. Also, the Fat Pants family keeps 4 commitments in mind when thinking about the brewery: good fun, good for the earth, good people, and good food and great beer. These commitments are religiously upheld, meaning Fat Pants uses almost completely recyclable or compostable materials, has virtually no carbon footprint, creates job opportunities (including spots for high schoolers!), and shares their atmosphere with clubs like Rotary, creating a space to hangout and talk to people, rather than just a spot to grab a bite and watch TV.
One of the most inspiring parts of Don’s journey was the amount of work he and his team put into learning and DIY-ing most of their business from the ground up–Don stated explicitly, “If you didn’t need a license to do it, we did it ourselves!” They built the bar, put together the brewhouse, decorated the restaurant, and even cut an entire truck in half to create the food truck!! Don’s 25 year career in IT left him unprepared for the immense generosity and kindness he received when putting together the brewery, and realized that the risks he took had paid off. It’s never too late to try!
Today, Don loves catering, especially beer fests, and giving out beer with the original Fat Pants crew, although today they’ve expanded to nearly 40 employees! Fat Pants was recognized in 2023 by Minnesota Best Of for the Best Brewery, Best Beer Selection, Second Best Burger, Second Best Chicken Wings, and Third Best Family Restaurant in the state. Looking ahead, Don wants to host more groups now that the event center is built, and also hopes that a new line of Flying Cloud THC beverages will take off. What’s the story behind the brewery’s unique name? Linda and Rick used to joke about putting on their “fat pants” or Zubaz pants when they got home, and Don wanted to embody that spirit of relaxation and familiarity!
Vocational - Janna Berkholtz
Announcements
People’s Patchwork Community Garden Watering needed – Lori Thune
Back to School Backpacks – Blake Cadwallader
Snow Pants, coats and mittens – Blake Cadwallader
Coming Soon: Pickleball in September
Flying Dutchman Distillery in October
Global Traveler’s E-Club
Upcoming Meetings
September 14 – Swallowship (5:00-7:00 at Fat Pants)
September 19 – Erik Backler – The Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership
October 3 – District 5950 Governor – Jewelie Grape
October 17 – Bill Goodwin – Priority Living – “Live 2 Lead”
Erik Beckler, CEO of The Afila Group, spoke about his journey from depression to success at the September 19th meeting. In March 2018, Beckler received a call from the Timberwolves letting him know he had been named Junior NBA Minnesota Coach of the Year. By that point, he had been coaching youth basketball for 15 years, and immediately called his family and players to thank them.
Just 7 years earlier, in 2011, Beckler had stopped coaching and was caught in the deepest part of a high functioning case of dysthymia, a type of depression, which affected his ability to be a good father to his kids. To find strength, Beckler often reflected on times he was truly happy, such as his time coaching at Hamline or hanging out with family, and noticed four main themes: love, respect, service, and fun. He decided to consistently practice these four themes, and see what happened.
4 years later, Beckler was ready to start coaching again and implemented his four themes with his 6th grade A team, telling them they had his unconditional love. Of course, they reacted as you would expect sixth graders to–blank stares and a couple giggles. However, Beckler began to build the team’s foundation on his four forces of leadership, and noticed changes in the way they communicated and cooperated.
Erik Beckler explains that love, as a force of leadership, means kindness and empathy for humankind. Instead of romantic love, it is love for the process, for the mission that you’re on. Respect, in terms of leadership, is looking at things differently to get a new perspective and set ourselves apart. Service involves making yourself and others as successful as possible, as well as holding yourself accountable. Finally, fun drives people to collaborate and innovate. Using all these forces in tandem helps organizations thrive and transform.
The forces don’t just apply to youth basketball teams–they help bosses learn how to love their teams at work, they create connections between players and coaches, and they help improve character at work which in turn improves processes and KPI outcomes. The four forces, honed and developed, and catalyzed by leadership, are what sets one employee apart from another–even in the same position at the same workplace. People who utilize the forces have higher goals and aspirations for themselves, especially prominent when leaders find and empower the four forces in all their employees. Helping others find success, and communicating on the same frequencies as them, leads to increased productivity and future reciprocity. Beckler’s consistent practice of the force of leadership helped him establish a power-trust dynamic with his players, as well as hit the ground running and pull himself from his depression.
Future meetings:
October 3—District 5950 Governor—Jewelie Grape
October 17—Bill Goodwin—Priority Living –“Live 2 Lead”
October 31—Superintendent Josh Swanson —“100 years of Eden Prairie Schools”
Announcements:
Volunteers for the Peoples’ Patchwork Community Garden watering are needed. Please sign up via Lori Thrune’s email.
Winter clothing drive. Snow pants, coats and mittens are needed. Clothes can be dropped off at the bin at Fat Pants or at Blake & Lori’s home.
Pickleball Social will be held on September 24 from 9:00 am—12:00 noon at Staring Lake. All are welcome.
Eden Prairie Gives will be held September 28 from 6:00—8:00pm at CMS. We will have a table there. Janna will request more volunteers to sit at the table, if needed.
The Rotary International Site Team will be in the Minneapolis area September 27 & 28. Minneapolis is one of two finalists for the 2029 RI International Convention. Sam Thompson gave further details.
Habitat for Humanity volunteer opportunity with the Eco Club will be held October 12 & 13. Volunteers will be installing solar paneling on homes. John Goergen will send an email with further information.
Swallowship in October is tentatively scheduled for October 12 at the Flying Dutchman Distillery.
Happy Fives:
Jenifer Loon celebrated her 60th birthday on Sunday. To honor her birthday, Jen and her husband traveled to Colorado and climbed a 14,000+ peak. Jen is also happy to have recovered from a recent bout of Covid.
Holly Link is happy to introduce the new Development Director for PROP—Matt Dymoke. Holly is also happy to announce that she will be a grandmother again. Holly’s daughter is expecting a baby in March.
Sharon Borine is happy to announce that today is National Voter Registration Day.
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District Governor, Jewelie Grape, has been a member of the Minneapolis City of Lakes Rotary Club since 2005 and is also an associate member of the Rotary eClub of Global Travelers. Jewelie is honored to be the 2023-24 District Governor for Rotary District 5950. She loves being a Rotarian because it gives her the opportunity to travel, develop friendships and make a difference in the world.
Don Anderson, the founder of Fat Pants Brewery, likes to say beer is in his blood. Growing up around brewing, Don was inspired to start experimenting with different beers in his garage with his wife, Linda, and best friend Rick. Don pointed out that the only thing holding him back from going public and starting a brewery was convincing his wife, however he had always harbored an entrepreneurial spirit. When Don’s daughter, Elizabeth, finally helped him realize that he was at a point in his life where he could accept all the risks and go for his dream, Fat Pants Brewery was born.
Erik Beckler, CEO of The Afila Group, spoke about his journey from depression to success at the September 19th meeting. In March 2018, Beckler received a call from the Timberwolves letting him know he had been named Junior NBA Minnesota Coach of the Year. By that point, he had been coaching youth basketball for 15 years, and immediately called his family and players to thank them.