President Jeff called the fourth meeting of our Rotary year to order at 12:05 pm. The pledge of allegiance was led by Vaughan Winborne and Hoppy Hopkins led us in a hearty rendition of Vive le Rotary in honor of our District Governor's visit.
Karin Eberhard from FUSD was on hand to thank Flagstaff Rotary for the donation of 2,200 computer mice. 1,800 were used in the FUSD schools while others were sent to smaller area schools such as Cameron and the Grand Canyon. This project was made possible by PDG Tonya Watson obtaining the devices at the District Conference and then coordinating with FUSD.ROTARY MINUTE: Eric Walden had all members close their eyes and imagine how their life would be different living with a cleft palate. Since 1992 when Rotaplast was founded by the Rotary Club of San Francisco, they have been performing surgical missions for thousands around the world to correct this condition.
PROGRAM: Assistant Governor Paul Ferris introduced 2018/2109 District Governor Jim Erickson. DG Jim is a third generation Rotarian from the Superstition Mountain Rotary Club, with 41 years of perfect attendance! DG Jim presented this year's theme banner to President Jeff, as well as his DG coin to Mike Hosking, Trish Hosking, and PDG Tonya Watson.
DG Jim's Rotary passion is polio, starting as a young boy, when he was in the hospital recovering and observed another child in an iron lung. He has traveled to both India and Africa raising polio awareness and participating in national days of immunization. This year he would like to see every member donate a minimum $50 to Polio Plus. He also has an emphasis on membership. District 5495 membership is down 83 members from July 1, 2017 and has lost 5 clubs while only chartering 3 new clubs. The average club will lose 10% of their membership in a year, so we need to add at least 3 new members just to stay even! Remember that someone gave you the gift of an invitation to Rotary and returning that gift to others is how we will grow our club and our organization.
Left: President Jeff presents District Governor Jim with the book "The Hogan Way" in recognition of Jim's passion for golf.
Eric Wolverton distributed copies of the Volunteer and Community Programs flyer listing our service projects for the year, which can be handed out to prospective members. Eric Walden led us in the Four Way Test and President Jeff adjourned the meeting at 1:00 pm.
Our next meeting is September 4, when our speakers will be Mike Penca, Superintendant of FUSD and Dr. Colleen Smith, President of Coconino Community College, discussing the local education related ballot measures.
Right: Community Service brochure presented by Eric Wolverton