August 11, 2020
Bret called the meeting to order at KwaTaqNuk with 13 members in attendance and 4 others attending by Zoom. Roger Grimes gave the invocation and Doug Wold led the song. Covid precautions were fair.
After lunch, the raffle was won by Roger Grimes, who donated it back to Loaves & Fishes. The Happy Bucket garnered $ 100 and Justice was administered in absentia for Rob Turner, who had a quiz about Babe Ruth’s 500th home run.
Bret reported on the Board meeting held before the regular meeting. The Board voted to use the Montana Coronavirus Relief Fund grant received of $ 10,000 to continue the Festival of Youth funding for projects. The Boys and Girls Club was awarded $ 8,000 toward the cost of basketball hoops, the Youth Soccer Association was awarded $ 1,000 toward the replacement of goals, and Mission Valley Christian Academy’s award was $ 1,000 for uniforms to complete their sports fundraising campaign. Rotary and an anonymous member had previously donated $ 1,000.
Another project in the works is to give the 250 teachers and staff of Polson Schools a $ 50 gift certificate to show appreciation for the difficulties that may face in the upcoming school. Bret is asking individual members to donate at least $ 100 each (in lieu of selling/buying raffle tickets) to raise $ 7,500. The Board voted to donate $ 5,000 from the Signature Project reserves. So far, response has been strong with over $ 1,000 committed by members.
The Dictionary project was approved for 2020. Two of the sponsors of the Signature Project will likely donate $ 500 towards the club cost of $ 1,200. The Board thought is was very important to continue this project in these difficult times.
Plans are in the works with KwaTaqNuk to improve the Zoom experience with better equipment. Members calling in (with video on) will be shown on the big screen. The acoustics will be improved and a volunteer will manage Zoom. Suggested call-in time will be 12:45 after lunch is finished. Program opportunities could be greatly enhanced through the use of Zoom reaching speakers not usually available.
Hu Beaver was awarded a Rotary Paul Harris award (his second) in tribute to his service as president in 2019-2020. Both Hu and Bret spoke about the importance of members making the commitment as an important part of Rotary and would like to see everyone at least starting the process of a “Paul Harris”.