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Kentville Rotary Zoom meeting Chairperson: Wally Jarvis O'Canada sung by Kelly Wally welcomed everyone to the meeting including our two guests: Constance Van Den Burg (International Exchange Student) and Roger Sevigny (visiting Rotarian from St Pierre et Miquelon). Happy $$ Ellen is happy for the rain. Kelly is happy she was able to perform live outdoors on Friday with the 14 Wing Band - using COVID distancing of 4M separation between performers. Elva is happy it only took 2 minutes to cross into NS (from NB) this morning compared to the 2 ½ hour wait on Friday. Gerry is happy for the successful graduation ceremonies at NKEC and the volunteer help received from fellow Rotarians Rick R’s happy dollar was split: 50 cents for the service of Phil as Past-President and the 50 cents for the anticipated service of new President Bill. Phyllis is happy for her generous crop of Haskap berries that were picked, then frozen or made into jam. Phil is happy for his grandson Ethan’s birthday and the visit of his family. (The birthday gift, a couple giant water guns, came with one rule “Don’t shoot Grand Pa”). Phil’s second happy dollar is to announce Brigadoon’s fundraiser happening Wednesday July 8 at 7pm. For more details email Phil or follow this link to the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/586000858998335/ As a final word, Phil wished to express thanks to Dawn and Bill for hosting the Board last Monday. A special thanks to Dawn for all the preparations and delicious lunch. President's Vision for 2020-21:  Bill began by acknowledging the good year we just finished despite the unexpected challenges of COVID-19, also noting its impact will continue into 2020-21. With this in mind, Bill asked the question: How will we meet and deliver on our goals in the coming year? He believes the answer lies in getting everyone engaged and involved. Two primary reasons cited for joining Rotary are: 1) to make a positive difference in the community and world and 2) for the fellowship. Engagement is critical. Participation in club activities is vital to the health and sustainability of our club. Participation and engagement help us meet our current goals. Engagement helps member retention, and creates a welcoming atmosphere to attract new members. Bill recognized four challenges facing our club: - Ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
- Impedes fundraising
- Impacts member engagement
- Threatens membership numbers
- Fundraising to maintain project budget spending
- Anticipated revenue loss from Valley Faces fundraiser
- Project expenditures not expected to decline
- Requirement for a new major fundraiser to address the shortfall
- Club demographics
- Our largest demographic is 70+ years old with > 50% of club over 60 years
- Under 50 represents less than 20% club membership; threatens club sustainability
- Human Resources (member numbers and member engagement)
- Leadership team consists of 35% of club (8 directors and 11 committee chairs)
- About 50% of active members are past-presidents
 Despite the challenges, Bill is optimistic we will be able to deliver by recognizing our challenges, being proactive, innovating and engaging all members. As president, Bill’s first priority is the health and sustainability of our club. Not only will we survive, we will thrive by working together with open minds and new ideas. STEP ONE: Engagement and participation. Q&A following: Rick R noted membership is also impacted by what we do. We will want to think about this as we begin to embark on our next strategic plan. What we do can be a motivator (or not) to keeping and attracting new members. Elva mentioned the Coffee and Conversation session speaking to online Fundraising. It would be a good use of time for the board and members of the club to watch this. Roger mentioned declining membership in service organizations is an issue throughout North America, not only with our club or Rotary Clubs. Wally thanked Bill for his detailed report and for the great thought given to what will most certainly be a challenging year. Secretary’s Report: Rick G reported the Fundy InterChurch foodbank is looking for a chair of their board. Please reach out to Pierre H. for more information. Later today (Monday) Rick and Bill will be presenting a cheque to Valley Search and Rescue, for the purchase of a Mobile Incident Command Centre. Finally, a reminder to all 2019-20 Committee Chairs: Please send your year end reports to Rick while the information is fresh rather than waiting until the AGM in December. No illnesses to report Committee Reports: Sue (Special Events) Reminder of the upcoming July fund raiser for Polio. There will be a strict adherence to the 50 people max. The event will allow for proper social distancing and follow NS Health protocols. An email will be circulated to all those registered to inform them of the safety measures that will be in place. Constance will have copies of “Cooking with Constance” available for sale. The cookbook will sell for $15 a copy. If you are not going to the event on Friday, email Roger/Constance to make arrangements to purchase and receive your copy. Phil reported on the District 7810 and 7820 End Polio Tulip Fundraiser. In the month of July ONLY! we are selling Tulips for Polio, thanks to the tremendous support of Vessey seeds in support of Polio eradication. For $25 (inc tax and shipping) you will get 25 Rotary Tulip bulbs to plant for a beautiful spring display in 2021 and beyond. Bulbs will be shipped to our club, in September and distributed from there to people who have ordered them. $14 from each box will go to End Polio Now. Please encourage friends, neighbours, family etc to buy them too. Here’s how to place an order: Email Phil at philwarren52@gmail.com and tell him how many boxes you would like. Please make sure that your order and payment comes in before July 31. Thank you for supporting the push to end Polio forever. Elva (International Services) Committee will meet Wednesday at noon this week. Chase the Ace – Rick R. was the lucky ticket holder.... yet another Queen (this time of Hearts)  Is the deck of cards rigged? That’s three queens in a row!! It's a Roll over!!! Our meeting ended with the 4 Way Test led by Wally.... Please join us next Monday at noon for our weekly Zoom meeting!!! |
Congratulations to the 2020 Rotary scholarship recipients. On Tuesday June 30, the Rotary Clubs of Kentville and the New Minas Sunrise presented eight deserving graduates with scholarships. Graduates pictured from bottom left to top right: Sophie Keddy, Cindi-Lee Vidito, Jaeda Alders-Pearle, Michele Song, Caleb Dixon, William Watts and Grace Carty (missing from the photo Bethany Pearle.)
