MONDAY MEETINGS at Parkview Field via Zoom
11:30 AM – NETWORKING
12:00 - 1:00 PM MEETING
DON'T MISS THIS!
January 18 2021
John Frischie
District Governor, Rotary District 6540
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING UPCOMING MEETINGS:
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and for the safety of our members, visitors and the Parkview Field staff,
weekly Club meetings will be on Zoom until further notice.
That link is https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7145544439
INSPIRATION: Chuck Wolfe
ROTARY IS... John Hoffman
SPIN AUTHOR: Stasha Carrasquillo
AV: Lynne Gilmore
PROGRAM: District Governor John Frischie
Programs coming up…. Remember to invite guests to hear our great programs!
January 25: Mayor Tom Henry
February 1: Brad Little and Alison Geradot: Community Foundation’s Women’s Fund
February 8: Randy Harter: Fort Wayne Then & Now
February 15: Barbara Baakgaard: The Bradley Hotel
February 22: Iric Headley: United Front Initiative
ANNOUNCEMENTS...
- Club Meetings on Zoom: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7145544439
- Dues Statements are due. If you did not receive one or have questions, contact Mark Westerhausen. Please pay promptly…It’s easy to click on the link in the invoice and pay with your credit card.
- As we attend club meetings on Zoom, don’t forget the support for service fee! Send a check to Rotary, PO Box 11141, Fort Wayne IN 46856 ($3 per week) or pay using paypal: https://paypal.me/FWRotaryFoundation?locale.x=en_US
- The Zoom Room is available for committee meetings. Schedule with Jane.
- To get to the Fort Wayne Rotary Club home page, use https://portal.clubrunner.ca/4164
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE JANUARY 11, 2021 MEETING:
Spin Author - Stasha Carrasquillo
Attendance summary for January 11th: 48 plus 3 guests on Zoom
Moment of Inspiration - Dr. Faye Williams-Robbins
Dr. Williams-Robbins shared a statement from Martin Luther King Jr:
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
She emphasized this sentiment is applicable to all areas of our life including democracy and offered the suggestion
that we should be asking ourselves “What have I done, what am I doing, what can I do?”
As Rotarians, in light of recent events and in the words of MLK, we can always be assessing our actions and roles as a group and individually, particularly when we recite our 4-way test.
“Rotary Is...Retention" - Jonathan Busarow
We want to look at why people leave Rotary, and more importantly why do people stay.
But we should look at the big picture of Rotary, in four different categories:
- Expectations – Most who leave Rotary in their first year, globally, state that they were not clear on the expectations of joining. Being clear of engagement expectations is our responsibility and ensures that new members are invested and ready to engage.
- Fellowship – Let us continue to strive to welcome our fellow Rotarians and encourage involvement
- Frustration – We all can find ourselves feeling frustrated, so we have a choice: We can ignore the issue, change the issue or disengage.
- Interest in Meetings and Activities – Some lose interest, sometimes priorities conflict with rotary commitment, etc.
Jonathan’s challenge to the Club: We all need to share why we stay. What does it mean to us? Why does staying matter to others and to the community and to the world?
Let us all strive to hold each other up in difficult times; helping to retain our fellow members, building good will and bettering friendships.
PROGRAM:
Clifford Clarke
Board President, Fort Wayne Black Chamber of Commerce
“Any community is only as a good as the least of us”
The Fort Wayne Black Chamber of Commerce was established in 2021 and is a non-profit business organization providing members a strong voice, vision, and focused leadership to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life in our community. The Fort Wayne Black Chamber of Commerce has a reciprocal partnership with Greater Fort Wayne and actively collaborates with other area chambers of commerce to promote business and community interests. Other partners currently include: Club720, Fort Wayne Urban League, SEED, SCORE, and Start FW.Programs and resources offered by the Chamber typically include: networking opportunities, financial health topics, mental health information, access to capital, understanding local government, skilled labor training, Black contractors advocacy efforts, etc.
Currently, the organization is developing an updated Black Business Directory and Black Business Survey—both in the works thanks to local funding support from the Community Foundation of Greater FW.
Another current focus is the promotion of diversity and inclusion within our community. This has gained momentum after local chambers of commerce convened following the murder of George Floyd to discuss how important it was to be seen as a community that is progressive. Quality of life and diversity are critical reasons why many people will choose to come to and invest in a community. Clifford indicated that while we are a diverse community, we have work to do in the inclusion side of the coin. These constructive conversations helped to produce the United Front initiative through partnering with FW United and other community leaders, creating an initiative that may easily become a national model.
In closing, Clifford encouraged club members to embrace how the 4-way test and our actions should and could align with the following sentiment shared in an excerpt from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (1963) written by Martin Luther King Jr:
“My dear fellow clergyman, while confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my current activities unwise and untimely…..We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.”
The full letter can be read here: https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
This Date in History
On this date in 1908 - Theodore Roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monument. Though Native Americans had lived in the area as early as the 13th century, the first European sighting of the canyon wasn’t until 1540, by members of the Coronado expedition.Due to its remote and inaccessible location, several centuries passed before North American settlers really explored the canyon. By the end of the 19th century, the Grand Canyon was attracting thousands of tourists each year. Roosevelt made environmental conservation a major part of his presidency and thus established the national monument designation, with the Grand Canyon being among the first to earn the designation. Today, more than 5 million people visit the canyon each year.
On this date in 1935, Hawaiian commercial interests offered a $10,000 award to whoever accomplished this flight first. American aviatrix Amelia Earhart departed Honolulu, Hawaii, on a solo flight, traveling 2,400 miles in 18 hours, and landing safely in Oakland, California the following day.
January 9 1915: The Greatest Rotary Club on the Face of the Earth was founded in Fort Wayne, making us 106 years young.
This Date in Rock History
On this date in 1956, Elvis Presley recorded his first tracks for his new record company, RCA. Among them was the first song written especially for The King, “Heartbreak Hotel.”
On this date in 2016, English rocker David Bowie passed away of cancer at the age of 69
Top 100 Movie Quote (American Film Institute)
From the 1975 film, Jaws
“You’re going to need a bigger boat.”
Conklin Rings in the Holidays!
Below is additional information about our January 4 program speaker, Andrew Downs. 
for what it does to spread good in the world.
Why Rotary: I’ve always been interested in servant leadership and have served several non-profits while raising my children. Now that my youngest is 20 and at IU, I have time to get involved in wider civic organizations like Rotary.
International Service Committee
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