Kentville Rotary: Paddy’s and Zoom meeting

 

Once again, our meeting was available in three forms – in-person at Paddy’s, via Zoom and Facebook live. If you missed the meeting you can watch our Facebook live version or continue reading below for highlights.

 

 

O Canada led by Sue

 

Peter welcomed everyone to the meeting including guests: Mathew Connolly, Brian Hermiston and visiting Rotarians Rod McMahon (Calgary West) and Pete Smith (North Sydney) via Zoom.

 

 

Pierre: Happy to be out of a two-week isolation which followed a wonderful visit with his daughter and grand children. Impressed with airport COVID protocols.

 

Ellen: Happy for an eventful few weeks, welcoming second grandson and last week her first granddaughter (who arrived earlier than expected!)

 

Sue: Happy Joe is picking up his new Dutch E-Bike at Valley Stove and Cycle – the Gazelle

 

Kelly:  Happy to be back in-person for the meeting today.

 

Phyllis: Happy to receive her first COVID vaccine. The drive to Truro well worth the trip!

 

 

Bill welcomed our guests. He reminded us of

 

Secretary’s Report: Rick mentioned a thank-you card from Charlene recognizing Rotary’s contribution to their sponsorship team to bring their Serian refuges to Canada

 

Illnesses: none to report

 

Induction: President Bill and Shelley F presided over the induction ceremony to welcome Brian Hermiston to our club. He is a returning Rotarian and we are delighted to welcome him to our club.

 

 

 

Peter introduced Kelly, chair of the Public image team and Bulletin editor.

 

Kelly began by polling Rotarians on their use of the web … frequency of visiting Kentville Rotary’s site and Facebook page, the district site, and Rotary International “My Rotary”.  Most were familiar and had visited these site at varying time intervals.

 

Rotary Club of Kentville ClubRunner: The Home page is the most important page and is designed to provide easy access to the most recent or relevant information. Much of the navigation is as simple as one or two clicks – if you know what to look for and where to look. To get to our home page the quickest method is to type “Kentville Rotary” in most search engines and select the appropriate link or you can simply type “Kentvillerotary.org” in the address bar.

 

Once on the home page you will something like this (minus the red ink marks!):

 

 

Key areas – on a tablet or pc, you are likely to see the three columns: one starting with Club Information, the second is Our Stories, and the third starts with Downloads; however, on a phone, it is likely you will see the stories first and need to scroll below all the stories before reaching the first column, then the third column. We control the content and number of stories. As a rule, only the three or four most recent are displayed on the home page (this is for ease of navigation). Older stories can be found by using the News&Stories link (on the navigation bar at the top on tablets and PCs). Below our stories are stories from Rotary International. We do not have control of these – they are auto-generated from RSS.

 

The Club Information section, besides the obvious contact information, contains three key links: District Site, Bulletins, and Facebook (circled in red in the photo below). The Facebook link will take you to our Facebook page. We try to keep our Facebook page active. You need to be a member of Facebook to navigate our Facebook page. Once in Facebook there is a link to our Private Group where we stream our live meetings. Only current members of the Rotary Club of Kentville are permitted access to this area.

 

Each issue of the Spokesperson is saved on our website and can be accessed by pressing the Bulletin link. They are filed by year and stored by date. Never miss out on what happens at our exciting meetings... it’s recorded and saved for future reference.

 

The District link is useful to keep up to date with what’s happening in our district. If you are new to Rotary or new to your role in Rotary, the district site has a number of useful links to resources that can assist you. Using the menu bar at the top of their home page, click on “Member Resources”. There are many links from Public Relations to Rotary Fellowships to Membership and many, many more. Some of these links will direct you to the Rotary International Site or “My Rotary”. If you do not have a “My Rotary” account, you still have access to a lot of information, however to get the most of it, it’s easy to sign up for an account. Using your web search engine, type “My Rotary”. One of the first results should be “My Rotary”. If you do not have an account, click on “register for an account”. It will ask you for a first and last name, email address and confirmation you are 18 or older. An email will be sent to the address you provided and it will ask you to “activate my account”. Continue to follow the instructions from the link.

 

My Rotary Home page links to a number of on-line tools. One section that could be very useful if you want to know more about Rotary is the learning Center. You can view courses by topic, choose the topic of interest or course of interest and enroll. By enrolling in the course, you can stop at anytime and come back to where you left off. If you are looking for something, chances are you’ll find it here. If you haven’t already, sign up for an account. Take time to explore the many topics, tools and resources on this site.

 

 

Back to our ClubRunner homepage: The third column provides direct downloads for our Valley Faces of Business contracts, flyer or a link to the Valley Faces website (Circled in red in the second homepage photo). There is also a link to the 2021 scholarship application. Our ClubRunner site is public (except for the members area – but that area is best left for another time!), so it is easy to direct anyone to these downloads. Committees can be accessed using the navigation ribbon across the top (circled in red top homepage photo).  The Kings County Charitable Foundation can be accessed directly using the button (circled in red - top homepage photo). This page contains information about the foundation and a download disbursement application form. If you know a charity that could benefit from a grant, they can assess their eligibility and fill out an application to the Foundation. Note that the committee section is still a work in progress and some of the information may be dated!

 

There is no reason to be out of date on the activities of our club or Rotary International if you have access to the internet. It’s there somewhere. Hopefully this short overview provided a little insight on where to begin.

 

Question: Donations – It is easy to donate to Rotary Foundation online – however you will need a “My Rotary” account. First sign into the “My Rotary” home page. At the top of the page is a “Donate” button (circled in red above - top right portion of the screen - My Rotary homepage). Click that. Then you choose what project you would like to donate to (ie. polio, global grants etc..). If you are not sure, you can learn more about each by selecting the learn more option under each project. You can then select your country and currency and opt for a one-time or recurring donation. Check the auto-filled information is correct and enter your credit card details. Double check the information and submit! DONE … easy as that.

 

Question: Link to Official Swag site – Russel Hampton Company is the official site of Rotary Swag. A link (ad) is often found on our ClubRunner homepage (click on the Russel Hampton button as picture in the homepage photos) or it can be accessed directly by using this link: Club Supplies

 

Peter thanked Kelly for the tour and insights.

 

 

Program Committee (Ellen): There will be a meeting on Friday at 8 via Zoom. Hoping to meet with the Committee planning the Centenary of our club on Monday (11am at Paddy’s before our regular Rotary meeting).

 

Strategy Planning (Heather): Meeting on Sat. Huge thanks to the Club for returning the surveys. Next step is going out to community leaders to learn what they think. A club assembly is being planned for some time in May to discuss the results.

 

Special Events: (Sue) Save the date: Friday June 18^th for a Polio Plus event similar to last year’s event following COVID protocols (in lieu of Lobster dinner) – more details to follow.

 

Valley Face (Phil): Committee met on Friday. We are ahead of last year, but still have a way to go before reaching our goal. Please make good use of your personal relationships with businesses. Follow up on your contacts.

 

 

WHAT CAN YOUR $100 CONTRIBUTION TO THE ROTARY FOUNDATION DO?

Your $100 contribution to The Rotary Foundation can help provide textbooks for one elementary school in Zambia, provide a hearing aid for a deaf child in Pakistan, buy de-worming tablets for 112 children in the Philippines, pay for cataract operations for three blind people in India, or provide 230 blankets for the elderly in the winter months of Korea.

Will you commit today to donating $100 or more per year to The Rotary Foundation and start making a difference in people’s lives?

 

 

Chase the Ace – Lucky ticket belonged to Bill. He drew the 3 of hearts. With 10 cards left in the deck, the pot grows and it’s a roll over for another week.