On a sunny, breezy late autumn afternoon, Rena Perrigo opened the doors of her home to host the Brownsdale Study Club on Wednesday, Nov. 20.  The meeting was called to order by President Sharon Willis, with the reading of the Collect.  Minutes of the previous month’s meeting were read by Secretary, Mary Kidwiler Moritz.

In old business, efforts to recruit new members to the organization have, so far, been unsuccessful.  Since three of the organization’s members were not present, it is not known if any of those individuals have been able to contact any prospective new members.  The minutes had no additions or corrections.

In new business, discussion about what to do for filling the two vacancies in the organization will be tabled until the December meeting, when it is hoped that all current members can be in attendance.

In addition, as we approach the end of the year, it has been customary in the past to provide a monetary donation to a charitable or civic source in need of financial assistance.  Ideas were proposed, but a decision will be tabled until the December meeting when, hopefully, all members can attend.

Two announcements were brought to the attention of the group.  The first is the Austin Assurance Scholarship Plan, through the Hormel Foundation, grants free tuition for two years to any high school graduate of Austin Public Schools and Pacelli Catholic schools, at Riverland Community College.  It was noted in this discussion that it would be nice if every high school graduate in Mower County had the same opportunity.

The second announcement was the date of the “Messiah” Concert at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hayfield at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 1. Proceeds from the performance will be donated to the Dodge County Food Shelf.  The meeting was adjourned with a motion by Mary Gallaher and seconded by Jane Hartson.

The main topic of this month’s meeting was presented by Shelly Vogel entitled, “Where’d That Number Come From?”  Examples of why numbers are selected include “2,000 calories a day,” selecting “911” for emergency calls, why speed limits were, once, reduced to 55 mph, why four digits were selected for PINs (personal identification numbers), why 26.2 miles was selected for marathons, and why February has 28 days in the calendar year.  That topic was followed by an outside reading from Mary Kidwiler Moritz regarding the Arbor Day Foundation’s desire to help the country of Peru to maintain high-quality coffee while seeking to restore and maintain the rich biodiversity of the mountain region  by halting destructive landslides while growing high quality, shade-grown coffee.

Rena treated the members to coffee, tea and chocolate cake.