The North Suburban Saint Paul Kiwanis Welcomes You

The Kiwanis Club of North Suburban Saint Paul is a service organization comprised of caring men and women from all walks of life. Our objective is to bring aid to children in need. The majority of our efforts have benefited children in our community since 1958. A portion of the funds we raise go to help meet Kiwanis International objectives which focus on the special needs of young children from prenatal development to age five. We serve by sponsoring fund raising activities, which provide monetary support for children’s programs and through personal involvement in the giving of our time and skills.

Anyone interested in serving others will feel very welcome here. If you would like to see why we do what we do, click here.

4-H Foundation Executive Director Coming April 15th

Guest speaker at the North Suburban Kiwanis Club of St Paul on Monday, April 15 will be Cara Miller, Executive Director of Minnesota 4-H Foundation.

In recent years programs and technology have inspired 4-H youth to become more involved in science and she will be assisted by Hui Hui Wong, the state program specialist for 4-H science.

The club meets at Pippins Restaurant, Snelling Avenue North and County Road C2 in Roseville at 6:00PM.

For further information please contact 651 206-3818.

Good Friday Breakfast

The annual Kiwanis Good Friday Breakfast was held on March 29th at the Frist Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Over 90 Kiwanians attended this annual breakfast. The North Suburban Saint Paul club had four members that attended the breakfast; President Bob Henkes, Donna Burger, Annette Jones and Lou Michaels. A prayer was given by Lyle Root of Anoka Club. Music was performed by Bill Strom and Gordon Gaitbright. The message of Good Friday was given by Rev. Kory Kleinsaser of the Waite Park Wesleyan Church Minneapolis, MN.

“Pork, Be Inspired” with Elissa Schlueter

On March 11th, Elissa Schlueter came to speak to our club about Pork Production in the U.S. Elissa is a 4th year veterinary student at the University of Minnesota and will earn her doctorate in veterinary medicine this year. She earned her Science Degree in animal science at the U in 2009 and works at the U of M College of Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Laboratory as a technician.

Today the U.S. is a global supplier of pork and the world’s largest exporter of pork.

Compared to the 1950’s pork today is 75% leaner. Where pigs had 3 inches of fat on their back during World War II today is less than 1 inch. In the 1970’s people became more aware of fat in their diet and society changed their diet to eat more chicken. When the demand fell 4% the industry made necessary changes.

Pigs today are protected in barns so animals are not exposed to weather conditions and disease and individually receive constant level of care and nutrition. The barns are specialized with different phases of production. After 21 days they leave the birthing for the nursery where they are weaned and receive a specialized diet to transition from mother. The gestation period is 114 days and a normal litter would be about 13 piglets. The finishing barn is on a larger scale than nursery where there is more of everything where they reach 260 pounds before market.

The main focus is to prevent disease and security measures are in place to prevent any parasite so pork no longer needs to be cooked until it is dry. The recommended temperature is 145 degrees and should be pink and moist. Research paid off and today pork is more lean than chicken or beef.

Employment in the pig industry has risen 80% and a major contributor to the U.S. economy. Minnesota ranks number 3 in pork production.

The slogan, “Pork the Other White Meat” has changed to “Pork, Be Inspired”.

Pictures by Lou the PhotoGuy