Pledge: President Sam Fulginiti
Prayer: Rev. Ed Cornell
Brents Card Game Winner: Jess Wenzel (Guest)
Sergeants Report: Joe Arcari
Raffle: Pat, Brian, Jan
Happy Bucks: many for the upcoming Torchlight Parade and out 30th year of hosting the hospitality tent, Joe going to Arlington Cemetery but sad because its for a military friend's wife, Dr. Eugene was happy to be at the meeting after a long absence, snow for this weekend, Jess Wenzel, a former member, was happy to be here and to let us know that after 40 years of community banking he was retiring (sort of).
Marty announced the Torchlight Parade happening this Saturday. A quick organizational meeting after the meeting will be held to assign pickups, etc.
Marty will be taking in the last of the Rotary items from Rick Beck. We may need to rent space but maybe not because Marty may be able to make the room by reorganizing space at NMP and cleaning things out.
Meals on Wheels: Brian and Brent
Club Business
Sam started things off by putting a question to the club - when was the last time you asked someone about joining our club? There are many reasons why people don't join especially younger people. Time is the biggest obtacle and many think the meeting time of 7AM is a problem. An idea that gained some traction is changing from 4 meetings a month to 3 and make one of those meetings a "happy hour" meeting which would take place after work hours. Instead of a fourth meeting, perhaps committees could use that time to meet. Rev. Ed suggested articulating to prospective members in 20 seconds or less what our club does. Find out what that person is interested in and try to appeal to that in 20 seconds. Brian said happy hour meetings will attract young professionals. Pat liked the idea of having meetings at a set time and place and that the kind of people you want (active participants in club funtions and activities) will join regardless of venue. In other words, stay the course. Pete said he has proposed several times but the breakfast venue doesn't work for them. Jan said the reasons for joining are not the same as the reasons for staying in the club - people don't have time in most cases but if you get them in the club and get them engaged, they will stay. Marty talked about the time he joined and meetings were after work at the Castle Inn. Those meetings were fun and agrees that a happy hour meeting could help attract new members. Mark suggested we try it, Jan suggested a minimum of 6 months, and see how it goes. We can always change back to the regular format.
The Bylaws Committee will be meeting tomorrow at 4:30.
There is $17.5K available in the Outreach budget. The committee will meet next week to discuss plans. Joan, who chairs the committee, will meet with Susan Consoli of Youth & Family Services to discuss their needs.
Brent will find out the cost of sending bikes (from Bikes for Kids) by truck to the Houston area. The club will foot the bill.
Mark has a friend in Puerto Rico who is working with relief organizations there. We want to be careful and make sure 100% of the funds are going where they are needed. More on this later.
Treasurer Kathy has been working on our accounting statements and while the Foundation books are balanced, she is having a problem reconciling the club ledger. A journal entry was made on March 2, 2017 that puts it out of balance. Kathy will see if she can work with someone who knows the Quickbooks software. Marty offered his office manager who uses the software.
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