Meeting Notes July 14, 2015

 

Mountain View Rotary Club

Meeting Notes by Bruce
July 14, 2015

President Twana Karney greeted and welcomed members and guests to the Rotary Club of Mountain View where, “We’re More Than A Club…We’re a Family!!!”

She reminded us that our International call to action for 2015-2016 is to “Be a Gift to the World” and our club’s call to action is “Fun Through Service.”  This year’s club focus is “Being the Best We Can Be.” 

 
Dick Lubman led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
 
Bruce Barsi shared some thoughts about Rotarian Frank Davila who is an amazing man and tremendous Rotarian.
 
Songmaster Phil Armi led us in several energetic verses of “For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow” in honor of President Twana’s first meeting,
 
President Elect Jerylann Mateo introduced two visiting Rotarian, Sundaram Madurai from the Rotary Club of Mumbai and Larry Lowry who is the current President of the Rotary Club of Richland, Washington.
           
General Club Announcements:
 
  • Thanks to Frank Davila for providing dessert today.
 
  • On Wednesday, July 22, at 7 pm, the next speaker program meeting will be at Twana’s house.
 
  • If you haven’t received it already, you should be getting your invoice for dues by email for the first time instead of by mail. Sheila is the contact for you on this. You may pay Sheila in person or also pay through the mail by printing out your invoice and mailing it.
 
  • There is a Board Meeting on Thursday, July 16, at 5:00 pm at CHAC.
 
  • The District Roast and Toast is tomorrow night, July 15th, for outgoing District Governor Ed Jellen and incoming District Governor Susan Valenta.
 
  • On Tuesday, July 28th, we will be dark and we will NOT have an evening social, due to heavy vacation schedules.
 
  • Our next evening social will be Tuesday, August 25th.
 
  • There is a District Membership Workshop on Saturday, August 22nd, from 9 to 11am in Milpitas. See Twana for details if interested.
 
  • There is a District Public Image Workshop to be held in September in the evening.  See Twana for details if interested.
 
  • Tuesday, September 1st, will be the meeting with our District Governor Susan Valenta. The board will meet with her before the meeting at 10:30.This is the week before Labor Day, so there shouldn’t be a conflict and President Twana looks forward to all attending. President Twana and DG Susan traveled together in Brazil and she will be a great DG.
 
  • We received a request from a Stanford Research Group seeking interested Rotarians to participate in and automated driving study.  See Twana for details if interested.
 
 
President’s Club
 
Thanks to our first three members to join the President’s Club, last week: Alan Goodman, Bert Raphael and Tom Myers. Thank you for getting the President’s Club off to a strong start. New members this week include Dave Cole, Monique Kane, and Frank Davila.  It’s also safe to say that the President is a member of the President’s club.
 
Personal Sharing: We will not be bringing back fines as long as the President’s Club and club finances are doing fine. However, we do encourage members to make a donation when sharing personal or business news, although it is not required. We have three club areas to which you may donate:
 
            Community Service Grants
            Scholarships
            Building the Endowment
 
President Twana started this revelry by talking about her recent trip to New Jersey for a family reunion where they celebrated the 90th birthday of her father who is still going strong. She donated $20 to Community Service Grants in honor of his birthday.
 
CLUB ASSEMBLY AGENDA:
 
This year we will continue with many of the good things that we have already started, with the idea that we will be the best that we can be.  We’ll continue the focus on membership where, under Past President Alan’s leadership, we shone last year. Joining the President’s Club continues to be of tantamount importance to the Club and we’d like to see everyone join. Your name, too, could be up at the podium!
 
Our focus this year will be on attracting members to the club through our family oriented community service programs, a welcoming atmosphere and excellent speaker programs.
 
President Elect Jerylann will be chairing our first formal Speaker Programs Committee to bring us dynamite speakers.
 
Community Service Chair Scott Johnson will be working not only to bring us a family oriented community service event every month but he will be scouting for a club wide community service project that we can take ownership of and be recognized in the community.
 
Our Flexible Club pilot with Rotary International will allow us to try innovative membership methods for 18 to 30 year olds and with other organizations.
 
President Twana asked, “How can you be a gift to your club?
            1)  Join the President’s Club
2)  Go out of your way to welcome every speaker and visitor who comes to Rotary. Each is a potential member. Get up, shake their hand, and introduce yourself.
            3)  Participate in our Community Service Events – we plan to have one each month, including the Crab Feed and Cops and Gobblers. That’s how we get the Rotary name into the community
            4)  Think of potential members and ask them if they have ever considered Rotary. If everyone here brought in one member, we would double the size of the club and it starts with asking. The benefits of this are many and we can still retain the family feel of the club.
            5)  Do you personally know someone who is a giant in their field or community and a dynamite speaker? We want to hear them speak here! Please contact Jerylann or Dick Lubman with their name and perhaps make the first contact for us. They will take care of all the details of confirming, etc.
6)  Personal sharing or “Happy Bucks” will be encouraged. We’ll be providing time for you to share your significant life events and encourage a donation to one of our local causes, Community Grants, Scholarships, or Building the Endowment.
7)  President Twana is going to bring back the opportunity for Vocational talks – all voluntary. She will be passing around a sign up sheet in the future.
 
It has been many years since we focused on our Club Directory, mainly, because everything has gone online to Club Runner. President Twana and Secretary Paul will be working, with your help, to update our directory and to provide those of you who do not use computers with an updated spreadsheet to use as a directory.
 
Service Areas
 
Membership: For the first time in many years, our District 5170 actually increased its membership by approximately 150 last year and it has done so by emphasizing that we are attracting members, not “hooking them.” Rotary is going back to its roots of emphasizing that we are a membership organization first and a service organization second. People join for the community service and stay for the friendships.
 
Community Service: Scott Johnson – There are several Community Service Projects in the works and we hope to have at least one project each month.  We will be doing some of the traditional service projects such as Cops and Gobblers and the Stevens Creek Trail, but we will also be looking at some new opportunities.  Members should feel free to make suggestions for different projects.
 
Our first service project of the year will take place this Sunday, July 19th, at Bruce and Suzanne’s house where we will be picking fruit and vegetables for CSA.  We will meet there at 11:00 am.  Bring boxes and/or paper shopping bags as well as all assorted picking instruments.  The work will be followed by fellowship with snacks and beverages.  We hope that many of you will be able to join us.
 
International Service:  Bert Raphael – The District Governor’s project this year is to supply wheelchairs to folks in need in Mexico.  Donation forms are available for members who wish to contribute.
 
Club Service: Bruce Barsi will speak next week
 
Speaker Program Committee: Dick Lubman will speak next week
 
Speaker next week: Sara Jorgensen from Mountain View’s own Harrell’s Remodeling, speaking on Trends in Remodeling.
 
Our 4fer is Jim Cunningham.
 
Be a gift to your club, be a gift to the world!