Wow, one month down already!  It was an exciting month at that with some great programs and some good fellowship over our noon meetings.  We had guest speakers from the Matalco, our District 6250 Governor gave us a motivated and entertaining discussion of the state of Rotary around our district and the world.  We got to tour the future of the McMillan library and got an update from their capital campaign, and we have arrived at our first evening social and service night. 

I wanted to review a few announcements and updates with the entirety of the club since not everyone has been able to “Zoom” in to say Hi at our Monday noon meetings.

 

 

 

We will get together in person with a Zoom option for those that would like to join us but don’t feel safe to gather yet.  We will be focusing our discussions on how we can plug our club back into the community as a well-known service club again.  Some of us have time, some of us have skills, and some of us have financial resources to give.  All these are valuable and we will try to dream up some ways to put them all together.  Come ready to think about what are our community needs that align with Rotary’s mission within our capabilities.  Our goal is to participate in two new to Rotary service events this year. There are a few asks of you if you are going to be in attendance.

 

 

Polio Plus contributions are being matched by our very own Chuck Gibbons to the end of August! – Double your contribution by giving any dollar amount up to $100 per Rotarian in the month of August toward Polio Eradication.  Chuck will match up to $1000 and I’d like us to make him fork it over!  I myself gave $10.00 for each of my children that don’t have to face the threat of Polio.  That’s $40.00 turned into $80.00.  Thank you to the others that have pledged as well.  (John Steele, Phil Brown, Jerry Feith, Richard Kenney, Susan Feith, Ahmad Mussalum, Jake close, and Kent Anderson).  Together that is a pledge of $460.00 that Chuck will turn into $920.00 total.  Keep it rolling!  You can make a verbal pledge at a meeting or email your pledge amount to Sue Sippel, director@familyctr.org.

 

The club’s power to do good in the community rests within its members.  Continually declining membership is concerning yet we are still a larger club than most.  We rested on the fact that we had 100 plus members at one time and it was comfortable.  The world is rapidly evolving and so are the needs of potential Rotary members.  I spoke to our club at the first July meeting this year about Value!  We are tweaking the experience of being a member and with the goal of raising the value of being a member.  Rotary is a vehicle that gives individuals power to immediately plug into and give back to their community.  Do you know anyone that might be missing the service pillar in their lives?  Most people don’t quite know what we do, and they never will unless you talk about what we do, and what 1.2 million people of action do around the globe.  We are local and we are international.  That is unique.  Now is an easy and great time to ask individuals that might just have an interest to join in and check us out.  Just share the e-mailed Zoom link.  There is no cost associated with visiting during our current set up and they don’t even have to leave the office.  Might I suggest inviting community leaders that have children going back to school to our meeting on 8/17/2020 where we will hear about how WRPS is making decisions to bring our kids back safely and what this will look like.  They can’t say yes if you don’t ask!

 

The District governor recognized Sue at our 8/3 meeting as a person who always steps up to the plate and saying “Yes,” I can do that.  The award recognizes a club’s individual that selflessly commits to the needs of the club without hesitation.  Each club in the district is recognizing one individual and at the 2021 District conference in Madison one of these individuals will be drawn and Bill Prichard will be paying their way to Taiwan for next year’s international conference!  Congrats Sue, and Thank You for all you do for the club. 

 

Attention all Noon Rotarians.  I cannot shout loud enough to get your attention regarding your “Every Rotarian Every Year” contributions.  This is the money we give to the Annual Fund that makes us eligible for district grants.  District grants bring back money to our area from ours and other clubs in the district.  Giving us the potential to have a greater impact by growing our financial support of a project through matching grant funds.  To qualify for these funds we need an average of $100 per Rotarian.  You used to be invoiced for this quarterly with a separate $25.00 ask.  This creates more work than needed so we are going to change it up.  Please give your $100 (or whatever you choose to donate, anything helps) via Rotary Direct. https://my.rotary.org/en/rotary-direct. This is an integral part of powering up our club to have the potential to do more!  The financial burden is lighter when we all do our part, and the funds given return to our district in the end.   

 

Kristie Egge, MPH from the Wood County Health department has joined us a few times over the last months giving us up to date information on the status in Wood County.  The county has some great resources that are updated every weekday in the afternoon.  Click on the links provided or explore the Wood Co website to find more information. 

 

Again I look forward to the future of our club and appreciate your help through this year and the years to come.  Thank you for all you do to make the community and the world a better place!  Have a great weekend.

 

Yours in Rotary,