Paul Knutson enjoys talking to people and being around them, and that’s what his career has gravitated towards.

Paul, one of the Waunakee Rotary Club’s newer members, gave his classification talk at the Sept. 5 meeting. 

He described a scene from when he was 6 years old that seemed to set the stage for his development. Growing up in Dousman with few friends around and just his baby sister, he often played baseball alone, hitting balls toward the house. One time, he hit a ball and it ricocheted off. When he went to retrieve it, he saw his sister at the bottom of the pool. 

He jumped in and took her out as she coughed up water, and then his parents raced over and expressed their relief and gratitude.

“All I can remember is the feeling I got for doing something special,” he said, adding he got a lot of hugs then. 

And so today, Paul sells life insurance. 

But that wasn’t always the case. 

Paul was born in Waukesha and said his parents spent a lot of time playing sports and cards. His father was a dentist and his mother worked in a number of different professions. 

After graduating from Kettle Moraine High School, Paul attended UW-Oshkosh and thought he would go into dentistry. He majored in biology and minored in chemistry. 

Afterwards, he went to work at Winnebago Dental Lab then went into selling pharmaceuticals. He said he enjoyed working with doctors and nurses training them on products to use in surgical operations. 

He then held a similar job working with veterinarians before joining Country Financial, which offers auto, home and life insurance. He spoke highly of Country Financial, which is highly rated by Forbes and JD Powers, and said he enjoys being able to serve people and protect. 

He does it all for his family – his wife and their four children, he said. 

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Other News: 

-Shifts are mostly filled for Wauktoberfest, but one person is needed to serve wine on Saturday from 4-8 p.m. Set-up will begin around 1 p.m. Wednesday and then finalized at 1 p.m. Thursday. 

-Jim Elvekrog, our club treasurer, was the Hero of the Week. 

-The Rotary Lights brochure is just about ready. If you are available to contact businesses, let Jennifer Tasker know. 

-President Phil Willems listed all of the donations from the club. 

-Phil also went over the club’s donations which have totled about $64,000 each year, but last year totaled $133,000.

Guests: ??

Visiting Rotarians: None

Birthdays: Sept. 14, Fritz Durst.

Anniversaries: Sept. 14, Dan and Kimberly Evans;  Sept. 17, Ken and Mary Pesik.

Greeters: Sept. 12, Tracy Graber and Jen Tasker; Sept. 19, Shelley Moffatt and David Kennedy; Sept. 26, Jean Elvekrog and Robert Arntz; Oct. 3, Chris Zellner and Todd Schmidt. 

To sign up to greet or to find out if you are greeting, visit: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805054CAAAA2CA7F85-44320149-2023#/