March 29, 2017 at Rotary:
After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and The Four-Way Test Keith Olson gave the invocation. President Katie reminded us that we need volunteers to distribute Josh the Otter books after our April 12th meeting. Buzz Lundeen asked for contributions for his MS Walk Team. It was reported that Paul Beithon fell at Pioneer Pointe on Monday, the 27th, but that thankfully he was not seriously injured.
Katie led off the bragging to report on her son's upcoming trip to Orlando to participate in a national competition and as she looked forward to her trip to Montana. Dave Johnson reminisced about all the great Otter basketball games he enjoyed this past year and congratulated the team for coming home with the State Consolation Trophy; also, he celebrated his 75th birthday. Stan Carignan talked about Habitat for Humanity's major fundraiser that is a dinner scheduled for April 27th.
There was an effort to recruit members to serve on an ad hoc committee to support hosting a youth exchange student this coming year and the following individuals stepped forward and said yes: Katie Johnson, Randy Kempfer, Lori Larson, Dave Peters and Bob Russell.
The day was scheduled for a meeting of club committees, which President Katie led into by her thoughtful e-mail to members the day before the meeting that was reproduced in last week's e-Rounds. At the meeting, Katie commented on how are club is not growing and seems to be shrinking and that this is weighing heavily on her. That would lead some to question whether or not it is time for the club to die and she solicited comments from members as to their thoughts on where we are headed. Tim Hunt said that one thing he would like to see return is a formal induction ceremony for new members that again highlights what Rotary is and does. This writer said we need to have people stepping forward to take on responsibilities, and that includes past presidents, while Lois Josefson talked about the need to recruit the younger, future leaders of our community. Katie concluded by saying she hoped all of us would find something personal about being a Rotarian, making it more than a weekly meeting where we show up to exchange greetings and listen to a program. Those assembled then broke into committees to discuss their responsibilities, plans and objectives going forward.
I want to personally say that although I too feel like too many of our club members may be in a hibernating mode as Katie wrote about last week, it has nothing to do with Katie's efforts as she has done a wonderful job of leading and challenging us. We need to take that challenge seriously. At the minimum, I would suggest that everyone of us rank and file members find something new we are going to do in Rotary, or maybe simply start re-doing something we use to do but have decided for whatever reason isn't for us anymore, such as attending regularly, writing the e-Rounds, volunteering when human power is needed, or heaven forbid, suggesting we try something new. It is time for everyone of us to take our membership seriously and discover what Rotary has to offer.
From the March 2017 Rotarian: Rotary Foundation Named World's Outstanding Foundation:
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) recognized The Rotary Foundation at the end of 2016 with its annual Outstanding Foundation Award. The award honors organizations that show philanthropic commitment and leadership through financial support, innovation, encouragement of others, and involvement in public affairs. "We are honored to receive this recognition from AFP, which gives us even more reason to celebrate during our Foundation's centennial year," says Foundation Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee. "The continued strong support of Rotary members will help us keep our promise of a polio-free world for all children and enable the Foundation to carry out its mission of advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace. We look forward to another 100 years of Rotary members taking action to make communities better around the world."
"While almost everyone is familiar with Rotary, not everyone realizes how much of an impact Rotary and The Rotary Foundation have had on people and communities across the globe," says Jason Lee, AFP president and CEO. "All of us at AFP are honored t be able to recognize The Rotary Foundation as our 2016 Outstanding Foundation." AFP's committee of judges cited Rotary's comprehensive campaign to eradicate polio as a major driver of the selection. They also noted Rotary's methodical, purposeful approach to supporting a wide variety of causes, from providing clean water to educating the next generation of peace professionals.
