St. Paul Rotary pitches in to help revitalize downtown

St. Paul Rotary pitches in to help revitalize downtown;
Community forum and youth club coming soon
By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | September 2025

“Rotary is about helping society. It’s about helping everyone become the best that they can be,” said DeKeuster, who has been a Rotarian for 19 years. “The friendships and the relationships that you create with other leaders that care about the community – I love it.”

Downtown challenges – Rucks lives downtown and said road work has been a major issue lately, and that the community is still adapting to the blend of remote and in-office work. Although a recent mandate from Gov. Tim Walz called for state workers to return to the office for at least 50% of their workweek, Rucks and DeKeuster are skeptical as to how many people have returned so far, partly due to how national budget cuts have affected staffing at some state departments. They hope to have a better gauge on the level of community activity this fall after things have had a few months to settle.

“The culture hasn’t adjusted to what it’s going to be yet,” said Rucks. “I do feel like St. Paul is working on a plan. Some of the [Rotary meeting] speakers we’ve had leave me inspired.”

DeKeuster added: “I agree that there’s a plan, but it just doesn’t seem like it’s moving as fast as all of us would like.”

Each fall the St. Paul club partners with a few other local clubs to hold a community forum that’s open to the public. This year’s forum is held at 4:15 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 16 at Fort Snelling and the topic is “Making sense of AI risks, rewards, and responsible use.” There will be a moderator, and panelists include the senior director of data science and research at TRSS, the principal at Eden Prairie K-12 Online School, and the chief officer for Minneapolis Area Realtors. Cost is $30 to attend in person or virtually.

History-making club
Rotary was founded in Chicago in 1905 and has clubs around the world. The St. Paul club was the 10th established. It organized in 1909 and later became the first club to admit women as members. The name Rotary stems from the fact that meetings used to “rotate” among members’ offices.

The St. Paul club is open to all and meets each Tuesday, alternating between a noontime lunch at InterContinental Hotel Riverfront in downtown, and a 5 p.m. dinner at the Pool & Yacht Club in Lilydale. Each can be attended virtually. Meetings include a guest speaker presenting a topic affecting the city and, in some cases, addressing national or international issues. For example, August meetings featured Hunter Babcock of Healthy Home MN as well as visitors from the Club’s sister club in Nagasaki, Japan. September meetings will feature Rotary district governor Glenn Bowers as well as representatives from a group working to end human trafficking in St. Paul. Presentations are strictly educational – fundraising isn’t allowed – and there’s generally time for questions and discussions.

“I’ve learned so much about St. Paul and all of the different facets of our community because we have such diverse speakers,” said DeKeuster. “We try not to have any one specific niche…some are non-profit, some are business-oriented, so we hit on every cylinder of what actually is going on. It’s amazing what you can learn about, and to understand how the world is being impacted by decisions happening both locally, nationally and internationally – and how people are adapting, or maybe aren’t.”

This year, the 125-member St. Paul Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary of being a sister club with the Rotary Club of Nagasaki, Japan – likewise, the City of St. Paul is celebrating its 70th anniversary of being a sister city with that same city. The mayor and councilmembers from Nagasaki are staying in St. Paul for a week at the end of August, where they’ll engage in a host of activities, including a “relationship ceremony” with city leaders. The sister clubs have operated a foreign exchange student program for 50 years. In St. Paul, the exchange students typically attend Central High School or Highland High School, living with three different families for about three months each.

Student leadership
The club is gearing up to unveil a new Interact Club this fall, designed to foster leadership skills among high schoolers. It will be based at a St. Paul high school, and students will be able to attend two informal meetings a month at which St. Paul Rotary Club members will mentor them and help them develop service projects. Students may also have the chance to job-shadow and complete mock interviews with Rotary members. The club already has a partnership with Gordon Parks High School to provide those opportunities.

Rucks said she’s seen a trend of Generation Z students being more focused on service and she’s optimistic that some will one day be involved in Rotary. Historically, Rotary was only for ages 35 and up, but now it’s open to all.

The club’s annual 5-day Camp RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) is held each spring. About 65 junior and senior high school students and 10 college-age junior counselors attend the camp and are tasked with solving a handful of problems that teach leadership skills. One student who attends the camp receives the club’s annual Centennial Scholarship, which was established 15 years ago in celebration of the Club’s centennial. It offers $5,000-per-year college scholarships for up to four years. The St. Paul club established the camp in the 1950s and clubs across the world have fashioned similar programs after it. DeKeuster himself had his first foray into Rotary when he attended one of the camps in Minnesota as a young adult.

“I really love what we can do and the impact we make on our high school youth and the outcomes I see in these young people year after year,” said DeKeuster. “They can use those [leadership skills] in everyday life, whether that’s in school, at their church, at their synagogue, in sports or wherever else…they can implement those to be a better leader.”

The club also operates a foundation that raises money to cover costs for its service projects and to award grants to community organizations. Last year it donated more than $60,000. During the pandemic, club members volunteered to deliver free meals to students, and the foundation gave grants to emergency food shelters and hot meal programs across the city. Rucks said they are always looking for passionate people to pitch new ideas designed to help the community, and who will bring it to fruition if a grant is awarded.

A wide variety of local service projects and volunteer opportunities abound through the club and people can give as much time as they want. Members can also participate in national and international service projects. For example, in May, Rucks joined a service trip to Guatemala to provide water purification systems for a small village. Ultimately, the club makes sure they respond to needs rather than pushing their own agenda for what they think is the right course of action in any given scenario. In Guatemala, for example, they had the option to make a fresh water well, but the residents specifically asked for filters because sourcing water is not their challenge.

The club’s operating costs and weekly meals are supported through monthly member dues. There are various levels of membership ranging from $52.50-$175 a month. For a list of upcoming speakers and more information about the club, visit stpaulrotary.org.

The annual Rotary International convention will be held in Minneapolis in 2028.

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