Membership Committee Reports

   - Our club currently has 42 members, 4 of whom are “Senior Exempt”

   - This means we report attendance for 38 members.

   - We have 2 Honorary Members (Mary Courtney and Mary Rutkowski)

The three types of membership are Active, Senior Exempt, and Honorary.  Active members are all those members paying dues, attending meetings, and participating in club events.  Senior Exempt status can be requested by any member whose age added to their number of years as an active member equals 85.  Senior Exempt members pay dues, but are not required to meet attendance requirements.  Honorary Members have been granted that status by the club’s board of directors.  They are exempt from paying dues and admissions fees, have no vote, and cannot hold any office in the club.  They do not hold a classification, but are entitled to attend all meetings and enjoy all other privileges of club membership.

She then went into some of the details about membership and the responsibilities of members:

Attendance – The bylaws of Rotary International require members to have an attendance percentage of 50%.  It has become custom that 100% is the desired level.  Regular attendance is important because each member represents his or her own profession, and the absence of any member diminishes the club’s diversity and lessens the opportunities for fellowship.

At Pal-Mac Rotary, we see it this way:  Our club meets weekly (52 weeks in a year), but we do not meet during the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years’, Hill Cumorah, and Wayne County Fair.  That’s 5 weeks with no meetings, bringing the total to 47.  The bylaws state 50% attendance is required, so we’re asking for a minimum of 24 meetings each year.  If you can not make it to our weekly meeting, you can make-up at another club's meeting, or even online.  Make-ups are also given for work on club commitees/assignments; attending a Board of Directors meeting; working shifts at the Hill, Fair Booth, Canaltown Days.  (You just need to keep Joan informed when you do something that qualifies for a make-up.  If you're not ure whether you've earned a make-up for some activity, ask!)  Fellowship events like the Bills game count too.  You can see it’s pretty easy to get 100% attendance when you participate in the club and its activities. 

Our monthly attendance percentage has fallen from around 95% to around 85% during this Rotary year.  This is based on a total membership of 42, minus the 4 senior exempt, leaving 38.  On average, we have 5 members absent (without make-ups) each month.  One way poor attendance affects the club is financially.  The club guarantees a certain number of attendees each week for lunch, and pays for that number of meals.  When members miss meetings, the club does not collect for those meals, resulting in a net loss.

The Rotary Club constitution spells out three conditions which could lead to termination of membership for non-attendance:

  - Failure to attend of make-up four consecutive club meetings,
  - Failure to attend or make-up 50% of club meetings in a six-month period,
  - Failure to attend at 30% of the meetings of one’s home club in a six-month period,
unless the Board of Directors has previously consented to excuse such failure for good and sufficient reason.

If a member of our club fails to comply with the attendance rules over a six-month period, the board of directors will send a letter to that member notifying them to that effect.  The member will then have six months in which to comply with the attendance rules and maintain membership in the club.  Special circumstances will be reviewed by the board so that no member is penalized for situations outside their control.

In summary,