June 28, 2016

Rotary Club Meeting #49, (5158)

Changing of the Guard, evening meeting, Xfinity Arena

Janice Ellis and Scott Casselman greeted Rotarians to the last meeting of President Deb Wright’s year.

PP Larry Byers provided great music before our program began.  VP Jeff Cornish welcomed Rotarians, visiting Rotarians and guests, citing that our Rotary ship was about to switch captains and crew this evening, while still on the same voyage, introducing President Deb. 

 After leading the group in the Pledge of Allegiance, President Deb offered the Thought of the Day, with thoughts about “attitude”.  Attitude is one of the most important factors in one’s life; we are in charge of our attitude. 

President Deb offered highlights of the past year:

Dominican Republic – international project

AVID – helping students achieve

Fundraisers, including the annual scholarship and Walk-A-Thon

Publicity – keeping awareness of our Club’s activities

Centennial Committee – planning our Club’s 100 year celebration

Young professional activities – they are the future of our Club

Rotary connection – Web / Facebook / Twitter

District 5050 Public Relations Award

Local Impact – began 3-year award, food bank volunteer opportunities

Family friendly projects

Scholarships - $180,000 awarded this year!!!

Ryla & Interact Clubs

Past District Governor Tom Rainville presented an interesting review of the beginnings of Rotary, highlighting special years.  Two noteworthy years were 1916, when our Club began and 1987, when women were “eligible” to be Rotarians.  The review concluded with his personalized Rotary tribute. 

PDG Tom Rainville installed new Board Directors Betsey Baker-Bold and Janice Ellis, with Neil Angst agreeing to Chair the Sgt. At Arms Committee.  PDG Tom Rainville’s final duty was to install Incoming President Ed Petersen.  The gavel was passed! 

New President Ed formally kicked off our Club’s centennial year, acknowledging the highlights of last year will continue.  As part of our centennial year, each of our 36 Club Past Presidents will share brief highlights of their year as President; this will be a new addition to our weekly meeting agenda. 

President Ed noted that 2016 – 2017 is also a year in transition.  He had PP Mark Nesse, Greg Lineberry, Eileen Simmons and Walt Greenwood all speak about the upcoming year.  President Ed is also introducing a great new travel idea, which he will explain in detail to our Club.

Special recognition went to the Recovery Café, a non-profit who is receiving our Local Impact’s first 3-year grant.  Bill Kluin and Wendy Grove gave a brief overview of the community day-center, which serves individuals with mental health, substance abuse or homelessness.  They believe in loving accountability, finding what’s right about each person personally – not what’s wrong. 

Jeff Cornish was the Big Winner of $220 cash prize raffle winner!  Jeff turned it around and gave President Ed $100 for the first bell ringer!

The evening concluded with many thanks to Rotarians, visiting Rotarians and guests.  It was a fun evening meeting, enjoyed by all!