Rabbi Mark Kula will speak to us this week about the University of Montana Hillel. Hillel International launched Hillel@Home to provide high-quality virtual learning and community experiences to Jewish students amid the coronavirus. Hillels around the world also began adapting their offerings for students in isolation, using online platforms to organize Jewish programs and providing to-go meals for students.

 

Rabbi Kula was ordained as a rabbi by The Rabbinical Academy of New York in 2012, and as a cantor by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1986. He has extensive experience as a spiritual leader and Jewish educator, having served at Bet Shira Congregation in Miami, Florida, for 30 years, first as cantor and then as rabbi. Most recently, Rabbi Kula has been enjoying a year living in Missoula with his family.

 

President-elect Dean Fiedler and Club Secretary Ryan Boyd provided a rousing and entertaining presentation on the benefits of being a member of the Rotary Club of Missoula at our June 2 meeting. Ryan showed pictures from ClubRunner of members who haven't changed their photos since they joined and asked other members to guess who they were. She encourages members to update their information in ClubRunner so people can easily identify them. 

 

Ryan and Dean asked everyone to share their "Rotary Why." Why did you join and why did you stay in Rotary?

 

Ryan said she joined Rotary because The Salvation Army encourages staff to be more involved in organizations that involve service. Rotary gave her an opportunity to offer service outside of her job which is also service oriented. She said she attended a Kiwanis meeting and a Rotary meeting, electing to join Rotary because it was a friendly group. She said she has met and worked alongside some wonderful people through Rotary. Service is part of her family's history.   

 

Dean was also encouraged by his employer, Comfort Inn, to become involved in a service club and Rotary was his choice. He said he had a bit of Rotary history in his family, as well, since his father was a past club president. Dean stayed in Rotary because of his involvement on the board and is now our president-elect for 2021-22. 

 

Kathy Schulte explained that she joined because she was headed for lunch one day when Betty Wilkins invited her out for lunch instead and they ended up at a Rotary meeting. She served as club president in 2010-2011 and started teaching at the president-elect nominee training in 2007. She loves the fellowship, generosity and found an awesome group of people. Kathy is currently our club treasurer and has done an outstanding job. 

 

Mike Schauf said he joined due to his commitment to serving and loves to tease Ryan and other members as our Sergeant-at-Arms and Board member. He is also on our ZAVIT committee.   

 

Our visiting Rotarian Phelps Anderson joined his Rotary club in New Mexico when attendance was mandatory. He stays in Rotary because of the 33,000 clubs around the world that have done so much good in the world, he said. 

 

Margaret Parson, who visited us from the Rotary Club of Missoula Sunrise, joined Rotary because Doug Klein encouraged her to join a service organization. She liked the mission of Rotary, especially how organized they were in running their meetings. What made her stay was the partnership her Rotary club has working with children.

  

Longtime member Lon Dale said that Tom Brown invited him to join Rotary in 1987.  He stayed because he "gets to annoy Mike Schauf", but also feels that Rotary does great things in the world.   

 

Fran Albrecht, club president in 2007-2008, was working at Watson Children's Shelter when Larry and Joyce invited her to Rotary because it was a diverse group of people. Her grandfather and uncle were involved in Rotary, as well. She said she stayed because she has been able to learn great leadership skills. 

 

Shari Rigg, one of our newest members, said she was invited to be a guest speaker at Rotary and she was delighted that everyone paid attention to what she shared. They then invited her to come back. Rotary made her feel welcome and she wanted to get more involved in the community.   

 

Bob Minto said that Gordon Spring invited him to join Rotary and he stayed for the great fellowship. 

 

Ray Round's circuitous path to Rotary membership began with an invitation from Bob Minto to join orientation. Bob admitted that he had already proposed Ray's name even prior to his first visit to the club. Ray said he stayed because of all the good that Rotary does around the world.   

 

Bill Schwanke, club president in 2005-2006, joined Rotary in 1991.Bill Moore invited him to join and when he arrived at the meeting, he discovered he already knew a lot of people. He stayed and, although he had to take a break for personal reasons, was welcomed back later as an Honorary member. Bill feels that Rotarians are the movers and shakers of Missoula.  

 

Dean then explained the calculation for membership dues for next year. He said that the board had approved at its June 1 meeting the 2021-2022 budget, which includes dues of $412 per member to cover the club's administrative costs, including dues to Rotary International and District 5390, and $208 per member for service projects we support, such as RYLA, Youth Exchange, Global Coalition water projects, Youth Leadership Awards, and local grants, for example. Total dues will thus be $620 for the year, which may be paid quarterly. With 61 members at present, administrative costs must be shared among the membership. Dean said that the value of membership expressed by members today show how we need to increase our membership so that we can do more for Missoula and the community we love. He thanked everyone for being a member and for staying because they believe in Rotary around the world. Getting people involved in service in our community is our goal, so invite people you know to join Rotary. There are so many reasons to be involved in Rotary International.  

 

 

Kathy and Patti Schulte sang a beautiful song "To Everything There is a Season" in memory of Patti's son. Please say extra prayers for Patti and her family as she mourns the loss of her son. Also, pray for Jim Hutcheson as he is in California where he is with his elderly mother who is gravely ill. 

 

Our club said goodbye to Peter Edwards, our volunteer pianist for five years. He and his wife are moving to Arkansas. Peter played a medley of songs that he arranged to honor our veterans. Thanks, Peter, for all the great music over the years!  

 

Chair of the District 5390 Global Coalition Roy Beekman explained how the Rotary Global Coalition Project is making changes in the lives of hundreds of people in Guatemala through bringing Tippy Taps for hand washing and building clean water access to communities. Roy is past governor of District 5390 and past president of the Rotary Club of Kalispell Daybreak. Our club has been a member of the Global Coalition for three years and the membership just voted to continue an additional three-year commitment.

 

 

This is what Rotary fellowship is all about. Fourteen Rotarians and family volunteered 66 total hours toward building two homes for our Missoula neighbors through the Habitat for Humanity project. They sawed wood, tidied up the work site, bent rebar, hammered and ate pizza Friday and Saturday. A good time was had by all. Many thanks to Levi Thane for organizing our latest service project building homes for Habitat for Humanity.   Thanks to Mike Peissig and Victoria Emmons for sending pictures of the work being done in East Missoula.