Message from President Peter Waring

Dear Rotarians,

 

My apologies to all of you who were waiting to join our meeting via ZOOM on June 16. Unfortunately our ZOOM operator, was unable to join us for that meeting and we did not know until far too late. He had actually texted Chuck Mutz that morning to take over that responsibility and Chuck did not get the message until he was there at the meeting itself. Chuck has promised to take over Zoom duties so, despite the fact that we won't be meeting for a little bit (see below for details), when the time does come for us to meet again in-person, on those occasions when we will be broadcasting via ZOOM, Chuck has our back.

 

Our last meeting was a real circus, I tell you! Tara was out of town on a well-deserved vacation; Michael Frederick got tied up with a meeting and could not attend; Shelby was out of town so Denny handled Sgt. at arms duties along with the invocation, the four-way test, and the Pledge of Allegiance. The 50-50 raffle is still going strong and Michael and Tara will, I'm sure, be able to update us with all the new numbers at our next meeting.

 

Speaking of new numbers, I am pleased and proud to announce that the Sippin' for Scholarships fundraiser was a huge success this year. Not only was it an incredibly fun time but for those of us who worked so hard on it for so long, after having to cancel and reschedule three separate times due to COVID, it was a huge relief that we were able to meet our fundraising goals for the year and set the Club up for even more successful fundraiser next year. Extra special thanks go out to our incoming President-elect Heather Kirk Trosclair; the brilliant Chuck Mutz, auctioneer extraordinaire; incoming Pres. Penny Menge for keeping the energy going; Armando Leduc donated the invaluable services of the incomparable DAT Band! Feedback has been extremely positive and many have called it the most fun Sippin' event yet! The venue was beautiful; the food was amazing; refreshments flowed and the auctions and other games were a lot of fun and generated around $20,000. This is a record and one that we believe we will easily be able to break next year. It also should be noted that longtime Rotarian, Kee Lee, at my request, donated $10,000 to purchase a scholarship each year for the next five years and, inspired by his generosity, I decided to do the same. I encourage other Rotarians who have the means to consider a similar gift to advance the education of the children of our community!

 

I was also absolutely delighted that we were visited by Mr. Ed Michel, the Interim Inspector General of the City of New Orleans; he will be addressing our Club as a speaker on Wednesday, August 11. Mr. Michel has been spoken of extremely highly by one of the highest authorities I know and respect in that business; certainly his background is credentials are considerable and unimpeachable! With all of the other challenges our City has, this is a tiny ray of sunshine, a glimmer of hope for all of us.

 

Our own Angel Cutno gave a wonderful "88 Second Vocational Talk"

 

I was delighted to announce a series of District Level Achievements that our Club attained during this extremely difficult year as follows:

 

Another important announcement: Cliff Rhodes of the Metairie Rotary Club announced a joint blood drive being conducted by a number of New Orleans clubs:

The Blood Center is conducting a Joint Rotary Club Blood Drive from 10 AM to 2 PM on Thursday, June 24, 2021.  The blood drive is being sponsored by the Carrollton and Metairie Rotary Clubs. Blood donations are to be made in the Maple Room at the Metairie Country Club.  The Metairie Country Club is located at 580 Woodvine Avenue, Metairie, 70005.

 

That same day, Thursday, June 24 is also the scheduled date of Our Installation Ceremony and reception, where we will be swearing-in President Penny Menge along with her slate of Executive Officers and Directors. The ceremony will be held at NOCHI. From 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, alcoholic and nonalcoholic refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will be served and the ceremony itself will begin at 6:30 PM. Please don't forget to RSVP to TaraKnowles@virtualsolutions.com. The ceremony will be held in the rooftop garden bar at NOCHI.

 

On a very sad note. I'm sorry to announce the untimely passing of our fellow Rotarian, Vanessa Surena Clincy's mother, who passed away from COVID approximately a week ago. The club extends its deepest condolences to the Surena family including Vanessa's dad, Claude Surena, a two-time past Pres. of the Rotary Club of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Please include them all in your thoughts and/or prayers. This sad reality so close to home reiterates the deadliness of this disease and the importance of getting as many people in the world as possible vaccinated against it as soon as possible!

 

I hope to see you all there!

 

In closing, I would like to thank you all for everything you've all done this year to help our Club and me as we work our way through an historic 110^th year of challenges. Never in our entire history of existence have we ever been forced to go so long without actually meeting in person; not in World War I; not during World War II; not during the Spanish Influenza Pandemic; never; not once; not ever. I am so very proud and grateful to all of you who have worked so hard to fulfill our mission of service to our community and to maintain the mission, the importance, and the relevance of our Club to our community.

 

Our officers, Directors, Committee Chairs, and rank-and-file Rotarians were all. We fulfilled a number of critical service functions to our Community. We fed hundreds of COVID first responders during the darkest days; made a wonderful Christmas happen for a local needy family; supported a number of local groups who were working toward the public good; and we sent life-saving aid and assistance to children in India, children in the Philippines, and children in Port-au-Prince Haiti.

 

We found a new venue for our Rotary Club; we were able to trim the budget aggressively for the first time in many years bringing our Club back "into the black" fiscally speaking; and we eliminated more than $40,000 of long outstanding accounts receivables.

 

Hats off also to our own New Orleans Rotary Fund, Incorporated. Through the amazing and dedicated service of Pres. Mary Bonfanti and her Board of Directors, that allied organization has reorganized itself and provided amazing supporting service to our Club and to the Community.

 

Thank you all so much for allowing me to be of service to this organization this year.

 

Your friend,

 

 

President

Rotary Club of New Orleans

 

Rotary unites through relationships!