Join your fellow Rotarians at the July 8 midday meeting. For those who wish to gather in-person, members will meet at the Rochester Golf & Country Club beginning at 11:30 am. The program will begin at noon. Box lunches will be available at a cost of $20. For those who prefer to attend virtually, a link to the Zoom meeting will be sent to club members via email. For your awareness, this week's speaker will give her presentation virtually.
Hybrid Weekly Meeting: July 8, 2021
Time: 11:30 am (in-person); Zoom meeting begins at noon
Location: Rochester Golf & Country Club and via Zoom
It was the first time in a very long time that members of The Rotary Club of Rochester met in-person. Our club's last meeting of the 2020-21 Rotary year was held at the Rochester Golf and Country Club with 30 members gathering with several more joining via Zoom. President Chris Colby (2020-21) and President Audrey Betcher (2021-22) exchanged gavels and shared their thoughts on the past and upcoming year. Amber Benike was also introduced as the club's new part-time club office administrator. It was so good to shake hands and converse with one another!
Please join our TRCR’s White Oaks Park Clean-up crew as Rotarians and friends of Rotary every third Wednesday of each month from May-October! The small, but enthusiastically efficient team meets around 6:00 p.m. at White Oaks Park (4597 55th St. NW, Rochester). Enjoy fun and fellowship while making the Park cleaner to serve the many groups who come to stroll, play in the playground, baseball field, and visit local neighbors. Everyone who comes to help clean has different reasons for why they participate in this volunteer activity. Our sergeant-at-arms, John Woodruff, is often guiding us on how to ‘deep clean’ the rougher areas, too! For one devoted, 7-year old volunteer, Myles Carlson, son of Phet Saysomphou, friend of Rotary, he does it because, “I help others by cleaning the earth.” He is one child, serving one hour, collecting one grocery bag of garbage each month, feeling rewarded in his service and making a bigger impact than he may even realize. Whatever reasons you may find to participate, imagine the greater impact an added few more of us could make each month, together.
The new Rotary year began July 1 - have you paid your membership dues? If so, thank you! If not, please do so as soon as possible as the club has already paid the Rotary International (RI) and District portion of your membership dues as assessments due July 1. Since RI uses our Active Membership list, as of July 1, to determine the amount of assessments that the club owes, it is important to the health of our Club's financial position for members to pay their dues prior to July 1. As an active member of TRCR from the 2020-21 Rotary year, you received a dues statement in May for renewal of your membership. If you have not paid yet and are intending to renew your membership, please do one of the following:
Review and follow the links on the dues statement you received in last month
Go to your MYROTARY page and review your dues statement and follow the instructions
Mail a check to the following address: TRCR, PO Box 7566, Rochester Mn 55903-7566. NOTE: If you mail a check, please send an email to the following : romnrotary@gmail.com and indicate you have mailed a check and intend to renew.
If you have questions on your balance or dues generally, email romnrotary@gmail.com
The informal Rotary After Hours which meets the first Thursday of the month will resume on August 5. We will meet near the Rochester Public Library at the corner of 2nd Street and 1st Avenue SW at 5:30 p.m. and walk over to enjoy Thursdays Downtown. Free parking is available at the Civic Center ramp.
And the “Third Thursdays" small group meetings will continue as your individual groups have determined. Your “convener” will send you an invite. We continue to plan for a change to the small groups in September.
The Rotary Club of Rochester has a new opportunity to support a Rochester program that offers one of the nation’s most successful strategies for transforming families from poverty to prosperity. The Jeremiah Program's Mission is to "Disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children two generations at a time." Jeremiah’s proven, holistic approach begins with establishing a supportive community for single mothers to pursue a career-track, college education. Through a combination of quality early childhood education, a safe and affordable place to live, and empowerment and life skills training, families find stability and a path out of poverty.
Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta urges members to become more involved in service projects, saying that caring for and serving others is the best way to live because it changes not only other people’s lives, but also our own.
Mehta, a member of the Rotary Club of Calcutta-Mahanagar, West Bengal, India, revealed the 2021-22 presidential theme, Serve to Change Lives, to incoming district governors on February 1 during the Rotary International Assembly which was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mehta spoke about how participating in service projects through Rotary changed him as a person and made him empathize more with the needs of others. Soon after joining his club, he helped carry out projects that benefited rural communities in India. Some of the poor conditions he saw in those communities strengthened his commitment to service. “I truly understood the plight of my brethren,” he said. Mehta participated in initiatives that brought artificial limbs to children, clean water and sanitation to homes, and better health care facilities to communities.
“Rotary kindled the spark within me to look beyond myself and embrace humanity,” he said. “Service became a way of life for me and I, like many others, adopted the guiding philosophy that ‘Service is the rent I pay for the space I occupy on this earth, and I want to be a good tenant of this earth."
As a member of the Rotary Club of Rochester, there are three "To Do List" items to sign-up for the second and fourth Thursday meeting from now until the end of the year.
1. Sign-up to lead the four-way test
2. Sign-up to give a reflection
3. Sign-up to share your story by giving a vocation talk
Did you know that if you buy the majority of your gas at Kwik Trip, you could pre-pay for your gas AND help the club at the same time? A $100 Kwik Trip card immediately creates $5 for the club and any in-store purchases creates another 5% donation.If you would like to purchase Scrip cards, send an email to romnrotary@gmail.com with how many and what denomination you'd like. In additional to Kwik Trip, Scrip cards are also available to Apollo Liquor and Menards. The cards are purchased at face value, but the club receives 5% back from Apollo Liquor and Kwik Trip and 4% back from Menards. The club receives an additional 5% on purchases at Kwik Trip, other than gas, inside the store.
The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers to assist with a variety of community service opportunities. Days and shifts vary. Click on the "Read More" button for more information. You are encouraged to volunteer individually for any of the following:
Food Pantry
Resource Room
Reception Desk
Lunch Program
Please note that activities are subject to change based on COVID conditions.
he informal Rotary After Hours which meets the first Thursday of the month will resume on August 5. We will meet near the Rochester Public Library at the corner of 2nd Street and 1st Avenue SW at 5:30 p.m. and walk over to enjoy Thursdays Downtown. Free parking is available at the Civic Center ramp.
The Rotary Club of Rochester has a new opportunity to support a Rochester program that offers one of the nation’s most successful strategies for transforming families from poverty to prosperity. The Jeremiah Program's Mission is to "
