Today's guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove was Jeremy Lessaris, CEO of Payment Brokers. Jeremy is an entrepreneur that specializes in helping small to medium-sized businesses become more efficient. Finding new ways to manage credit card processing is at the heart of what Payment Brokers does. Their service includes shopping for the best credit rate available and monitoring the billing activity to insure the credit card company is maintaining its agreement. Sounds simple, but for the average small business, it's a function that normally doesn't get addressed, and one that could be the cause of unnecessary expense.
To learn more about the services provided by Payment Brokers, visit their website at http://paymentbrokers.com.
Those in attendance at this morning's meeting were fortunate enough to meet and hear author, Robert Beezat. Bob shared a presentation on his book "Knowing and Loving, The Keys to Real Happiness". His insightful book covers understanding who and what we are as human beings. He also demonstrated how the Rotary Four-Way Test ties nicely into achieving this goal. Bob also stayed after the meeting to sign copies of his book.
More information about Bob and his books is available at his website www.robertbeezat.com.
Gil is pulling together a committee to look at the possibility of making a change in the scholarship format. He would like to have both existing committee members and those that are not familiar with the process to be involved in this review. Please let Gil know of your interest in participation.
Steve Moore announced that this year's Century Raffle will be held at Galati's Hideaway on Wednesday, March 15th. There are still some tickets available, so it you can help with that effort, please let Steve know this week. Also, Steve would like to have the names of people you have sold tickets to as well as the checks for ticket sold as soon as possible. He is trying to eliminate getting all the tickets at once, which creates a lot data entry for him.
As in past years, there will be side raffles in addition to the main event, which will include "baskets of goodies" provided by the membership. If you are interested in putting together a basket, or would like to double with another Rotarian in doing so, please let Steve know. Each member is being asked to provide a six-pack of "Crafted" beer and a bottle of wine that will be used for the always popular, "Wine & Beer" raffle item.
Set up for the room will be 1:00PM on March 15th. Please bring your beer & wine at that time to avoid confusion of trying to get it arranged on the tables when our guests are present.
Bob walked into a sports bar around 9:58 p.m. He sat down next to a blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV. The 10 p.m. news was coming on. The news crew was covering the story of a man preparing to jump off the ledge of a large building. The blonde looked at Bob and said, “Do you think he’ll jump?”
Bob said, “You know, I bet he’ll jump.” The blonde replied, “Well, I bet he won’t.”
Bob placed a $20 bill on the bar and said, “You’re on!” Just as the blonde placed her money on the bar, the guy on the ledge did a swan dive off the building, falling to his death. The blonde was very upset, but willingly handed her $20 to Bob. “Fair’s fair. Here’s your money.”
Bob replied, “I can’t take your money. I saw this earlier on the 5 p.m. news, so I knew he would jump.” The blonde replied, “I did, too, but I didn’t think he’d do it again.”
This morning's members in attendance had the pleasure of listening to Carol Wells, District 6440 End Polio Now Chair. Carol presented a brief history and update on the End Polio Now Campaign. She reviewed the history of polio, highlighting Rotary International's partnering with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 1988. This newly formed partnership committed to eradicate Polio worldwide. There are still a few remote areas in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan experiencing outbreaks. Political unrest and conflict in these areas make it difficult to deliver the much needed vaccine.
Our club's support toward this effort has continued to be generous. Carol stressed that "Polio Eradication will be Rotary's Legacy to the World". Thanks to all who continue to support the campaign--no matter how small. We are very, very close to our goal.
To learn more about this topic and what you can do, visit Rotary International's website at http://www.rotary.com.
One of President Steve's goals this year is to have at least one member join a Rotary Action Group or Rotary Fellowship Group. As stated on RI's website, a Rotarian Action Group is an autonomous group of Rotarians, family members, program participants and alumni who are experts in a particular field, such as micro-credit or water and sanitation. More information about these groups and their purpose can be found on RI's website.
Rotary Fellowships are independent groups of Rotarians, family members, program participants and alumni who share a common passion. Being part of a fellowship is a fun way to make friends from around the world. Again, more detailed information is available at this link to RI's website.
If you haven't all ready done so, take the time to click on the two links above and see if there may be a group that fits with your interests. It's a great way to make new friends and to share common interests with Rotarians from around the world.
Looking for a good program? District 6440 has a list of speakers that are available to attend Rotary meetings to discuss a wide variety of topics. view the list on District 6440's website.
The Atlanta Host Organization Committee is offering some good old-fashioned Southern hospitality at the Rotary International Convention from 10 to 14 June. It has planned a wide range of activities featuring everything from good food and music to inspiring tours of local landmarks. If it’s your first convention, these events are chances to meet fellow Rotarians from around the world, and if you’re an experienced convention goer, you can catch up with old friends.
Hall of Fame baseball player Hank Aaron will host Rotarians for a “Strike Out Polio” night at the new SunTrust Park, where you’ll...
When Teguest Yilma helped found the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa Entoto in 2002, she thought polio had already been eradicated from most of the world. But while Ethiopia had been free of the disease, Yilma was shocked to learn that new cases had started cropping up in surrounding countries such as Somalia.
“I was thinking, it’s not possible, we can’t be free if the countries around us are not free,” she says. Yilma, the managing editor of Capital, Ethiopia’s largest English weekly newspaper, has brought a journalist’s skills to the fight against polio. She became vice chair of the Ethiopia...
Battling breast cancer in 2000, Kathryn Smith found comfort pursuing her lifelong interest in Franklin D. Roosevelt. The more she read, the more intrigued she became with the 32nd U.S. president’s private secretary, Marguerite Alice “Missy” LeHand. “I thought, what a fascinating life she had because she was by his side through the polio crisis, establishing the polio rehabilitation center in Warm Springs and then after his return to politics,” she says. Smith, a past president of the Rotary Club of Greater Anderson, S.C., and a longtime newspaper journalist, turned that curiosity into a book...
One of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s earliest memories is of fleeing with his family into the mountains during the Korean War, his village burning behind him. His father and grandfather had to forage for food in the woods; his mother gave birth to his siblings away from anything remotely resembling a health facility. “I have known hunger,” he says. “I have known war, and I have known what it means to be forced to flee conflict.”
The soldiers who came to their rescue were flying the blue flag of the United Nations. The UN provided them with food and their schools with books....
Like a lot of us, I spent much of my childhood riding bikes, but fell out of the habit for a while. Forty years. Then my wife and I moved to New York, where cyclists risk their necks in a daily Thunderdome of cabs, police cars, firetrucks, double-decker buses, messengers on motorbikes, and delivery trucks backing around corners at 20 miles an hour. Not for me! At least not until my 50th birthday, when my metabolic furnace flamed out. Calories started going directly from beer bottle to beer belly. It was time to start exercising. Either that or give up Samuel Adams, and I couldn’t do that to...
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