Pledge/Prayer: President Gerri
Song: Asst. Gov. Lynn led us in God Bless America - great voice Lynn! President Gerri followed with our traditional club greeting song.
Brents Card Game Winner: Keith
Sargeant's Report: Keith
Raffle Winners: Donna, Gerri, Ted, Mark
Happy Bucks: Lots, mostly for our guests Asst DG Lynn and DG Chip
Club Business:
Dues are now past due so if you haven't paid yet, please do so
Brent announced that our club golf outing date at Black Hall CC has been changed to Tues, Sept. 26. Be there at 11:30 for lunch. We should be teeing off around 1. Bring cash to pay the green fees which is $60 plus $15 if you take and share a cart. Thanks to Charlie and Andy, the members who are getting us out on this premier course. You may bring a guest - it'll be a great time!
Program:
Asst. Gov. Lynn introduced our speaker, District Gov. Chip Lewis
Gov. Chip started by thanking all of us for being Rotarians and being at the meeting today. Without us, there would be no Rotary. He thanked Lynn for all her efforts in helping him meet his obligations. Our own John Donnelly was the ADG for several years and everyone agrees this was a great idea. Chip thanked Gerri whom he goes back with in his District Secretary days. Gov. Chip is a member of the Wallingford club since 1990. Attending the district assembly opened his eyes to all the possibilities Rotary offers. He encourages anyone to get involved on the district level.
Gov. Chip acknowledged some of our club projects, namely the Dictionary Project headed up by Charlie Norz. Charlie presented it to the district and many clubs started their own project. Last year, our district distributed 30,000 dictionaries and thats without the participation of all clubs. Gov. Chip spoke of the new Water Project being forwarded - a simple and inexpensive water purifier that lasts 25 years can provide potable water to thousands and he urged our clubs participation. Acamil, a mixture of beans and rice ground and cooked in a bowl (consistency of oatmeal) can provide needed nutrition to starving populations.
We need to encourage young members. The average age of Rotarians is 68 and membership has been level or in decline. Gov. Chip suggested having family meetings to include spouces, children, grandchildren, etc. to show them what we do and perhaps they will become interested and join someday. Ask people to join, you may be surprised to get a positive response.
Gov. Chip asked every Rotarian to pledge $100/yr to the RI Foundation. Thirteen of our members have done so.
Gov. Chip acknowledged our Paul Harris honors in which the club pays $1000 to RI and honors someone for their contributions to Rotary. The most visible RI project is Polio Plus - a project that Rotary has taken the lead in to eradicate Polio from the planet. There are parts of Nigeria and India that must be reached and that is the focus right now.
Gov. Chip closed by informing us of the upcoming District Conference in Saratoga which takes place May 31 thru June 3, 2007. Hopefully we can send our President and President-Elect.
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