Today's guests were 6440 District Governor, Julie Clark, Assistant Governor, Karen Hutchings and potential new member, Christine Betz, Village of Cary, Trustee.  Chris is also the Program Coordinator for Barrington Area Council on Aging (BACOA).

Today's 50/50 side-bets winner was Sandi, but she did not draw the black tee.  Sandi, thank you for donating back to the Paul Harris Foundation.

The Rotary Club of Cary-Grove was honored today by a visit from District 6440's Governor, Julie Clark.  Julie's first official act of the morning was to recognize Phil Stanko as a new Paul Harris Fellow. She also awarded Paul Harris level advancements to Dave Miller and Joe Trexler.

 

Following up on last night's visit with the board, Julie updated the membership on changes being worked on at the District level to streamline the the grant process. The District is also working on a better way to showcase all that is going on in the district through the publication of a District News Letter. Julie also talked about the "Flexibility" factor and how that relates to individual clubs. Having a program that addresses flexibility in membership status and how that relates to the dues structure, can have a positive effect on the club's ability to attract & maintain members. Programs that offer options for spouse membership, satellite clubs and corporate-shared memberships can also add to the diversity of a club and attract individuals who might be interested in doing service projects as opposed to those that enjoy a more traditional role in service clubs. 

 

Julie reflected on her turning point in getting really involved with Rotary. It all happened when someone asked if she would be interested in working on a committee. Getting involved at the committee level and working with others was a fun adventure for her, and being involved led to self-training and research as she sought out a better understanding of the types of programs offered by Rotary International. How fortunate for District 6440 that she took on the challenge of learning what Rotary has to offer.

   

The club has matched it's goal of $500 toward the "Shop With a Cop" program.  With the $535 member donations, we are in a position to write a check for $1,035.00 for their Christmas shopping program for the needy.  Anyone interested in adding to the donation should contact Steve Cherveny ASAP.  Thanks to everyone who helped us to meet our goal for this most worthy cause.

The following items were discussed and acted upon at Monday evening's Board Meeting:

The club will again be participating in Home of the Sparrow's Holiday Gift Card program. Club members wishing to help out with the worthwhile program should consider purchasing a $25 gift cards from department stores such as Target, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. Cards from local grocery stores are also encouraged. Please bring your cards to the meeting in the next couple of weeks, and Sue will see that they get delivered for you.

The Board has approved the promotion of a Paul Harris Match Program to members in good standing of the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove:

 

The program will run from 7/1/18 thru 11/08/18.  Checks should be made payable to “The Cary-Grove Rotary Charitable Fund” and delivered to Linda Trexler along with the printed name of the individual, address and relationship to the Rotarian requesting the match (e.g. Spouse, Son/Daughter, Grandchild, Friend, etc.).  Please contact Linda Trexler, Foundation Chair (847-462-1087) if you interested in taking advantage of this program.

Application materials now are available for the District Leadership Academy Class of 2019.   We invite all club members to enroll in this outstanding online educational program and commit to graduating with this next class. Click the link below to learn more about this program.

 

A reporter asks a rich old man how he made his money. The old man replies, "Well, son, it was 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel and I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents. The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated a fortune of $1.37. Then my wife's father died and left us two million dollars.."

Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out McHenry County Living's Upcoming Events. Might not be Rotary related, but attending sure will "build good will and better friendships."

Our guest speaker at last week's meeting was Brett Weiss of the Weiss scholarship Foundation. Brett is a member of the Rotary Club of Naperville.  Since 2009, Brett has traveled six times to Kenya in pursuit of following his dream for combating poverty in the village of Dago. Most of his efforts have been directed toward improving the education level of the children that live there. Dago is a tiny community of 3,000 people with an average family income of less than $2 per day. In Kenyan, the average education is only four years. Only 20% of the children actually go to High School.

 

To combat this, Brett established The Weiss Scholarship Foundation in 2011. The goal of this foundation is to have a positive impact on all of the youth members in Dago and the Kenya area. By providing a guaranteed source of income for students to continue their education through High School, Brett's hope is that the economic & health conditions of the area will improve. Since the Foundation was started, 42 full four year scholarships have be issued. Eleven students have graduated from High School and four have gone on to University.

 

A full sponsorship for four years of High School is approximately $3,500. To learn more about The Weiss Scholarship Foundation and how you can help support it, visit their site at https://weissscholarshipfoundation.org.

As mentioned at today's meeting by Sue, Tiffany Au has developed a website "The Greatest Wedding Ever Donated". Tiffany is a graduate of Cary-Grove High School and is a past recipient of the Decker Scholarship awarded by the Rotary Club of Cary-Grove. Her website highlights her upcoming wedding to Caleb Remington and talks about the work they are doing together to raise funds and awareness for the fight against Cystic Fibrosis. Visit her site http://www.thegwed.com to learn more about their efforts and to learn how you can contribute toward this wonderful cause.

 

Need a makeup but find it difficult to get to another club? If so, consider using Rotary's Web-based Rotary eClub One. Click on the link and go to the "Makeups" tab to get started. Doing makeups could be easier. Let us know how you like it.

Lots happening in the world of Rotary.  Read all about it in The Rotarian Magazine.

Rotarian Action Groups are autonomous groups 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.