E-News for Week of June 1, 2020 (Jun 01, 2020)

"The Ramblings of the Mad Hatter"

Greeting Trenton Rotarians!

I hope all of you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend. I would like to say it was nice having an extra day to relax, but I've been "relaxing" since about March 17th! It was a nice day, though. I cooked burgers and dogs on the grill for my socially distant family members. The weather cooperated. All in all, a good day.

Before that, we had a really good meeting on May 18th. Hank Wolfe from Forgotten Harvest spoke to us about how they have been working to continue their efforts to collect and deliver left-over food during this pandemic. Hank said that it's a little bit of a challenge due to some of the restrictions in place, but it is even more important since more people find themselves in need of a good meal. Since collecting food has been more difficult, and money helps them buy needed food, Dennis Levko challenged all of us to make a donation to Forgotten Harvest to help them with their efforts. The money can be sent to Forgotten Harvest, 21800 Greenfield Rd, Oak Park, MI 48237. If you put "Trenton Rotary" on the memo line, it will help them know that it is due to Hank's visit to our club.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of that week, Rotary District 6400 held its annual District Assembly, a series of seminars to help Rotarians learn about different areas of Rotary. The topics ranged from how to perform the duties of certain offices, to how the Rotary Foundation and grant processes work, to learning new ways to promote our clubs to other people. I saw several of you at the seminars I attended. I hope you found them as informative as I did.

All of you continue to be generous to The Salvation Army, Downriver for Veterans, ChristNet and the St. Philip Food Pantry. Thank you for making the effort to help others during these tough times.

As we begin the last month of my Rotary year, I want to thank you for putting your faith in me to lead this club. Reflecting on the year, I realized we accomplished a lot of different things and maintained our status as one of the best clubs, if not THE best club, in the District. And being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic barely slowed us down. We may have had to adjust how we helped others, but we continue to lead the way in making a difference locally, nationally and around the world. I applaud you for your efforts.

Please continue to connect the world through your actions by doing the right thing. You are living examples of the Rotary motto "Service Above Self."

Yours In Rotary,

Matt Hatty
President, The Rotary Club of Trenton, Michigan

President Elect's Corner

May 19, 2020 Member Survey Summary For Discussion:

Issues

· Meetings-When/Where ? Westfield not open until Oct.

· Lunches-How/Changes?

· Dues-Cut expenses?/Use District subsidy?

· Ideas? 50/50

FYI Quorum is 51% or 39 and we had 39 survey’s returned. By the results, I think it’s clear we should not increase dues, members seem to be willing to pay for own meals at least for this year and I think we should vote if there should be a reduction of dues or use for club expenses until Dec. I did also speak with Noel and he said it is up to each club to make that decision where it helps the club most.

1, Due to the COVID issue, when we are allowed to meet again are you willing to bring your own lunch? Y or N

Results: 28-Y, 11-N

2. Would you still attend meetings if you had to bring your own lunch? Y or N

Results 33- Y, 1-?, 5-N

3, Due to the COVID issue if we are able to arrange a lunch delivery service, Would you be able to order and pay for your own lunch by 10am every Monday. Y or N

Results: 31-Y, 3-?, 5-N

4. Are you in favor of not having lunches offered for the next six months? Y or N

Results- 25-Y, 2-? 12-N

5. Would you be willing to pay $2/additional per week to subsidize club bad debt expenses? Y or N

Results- 19-Y, 7-?, 13-N

6. Would you continue membership if the club increased dues at all? Y or N

Results-31-Y, 5-?, 3-N

7. In the past, Christmas party, installation dinner member meals, board meals and past presidents meals have been paid for. Would you still come if each member have to pay their own for meals? Y or N

Results- 36-Y, 1-N

8. District 6400 has offered us a $22 reduction in dues for June- Dec. 2020. Would you take the reduction or donate it to the club? Reduction/Donation

Results-30-Donate, 2-?, 7-Reduction (of 2 that said yes- wants in foundation not club, 1 said it should be a board decision for all)

It was decided at the May board meeting that this will be an option on the June 30, 2020 quarterly bill. The bill will be for the total amount and each member is able to either donate or deduct the $22.

Following this meeting the board discussed these items on 5/27:

When should we consider meeting again? We are shooting for July with 10 people to start and will continue Zoom availability and maybe Facebook live indefinitely

Where should it be until Westfield is open? Hat Trick- if only 10 people due to 6ft apart rule and if they can do a 35 lunch guarantee not 50. Labadies Warehouse- Maybe temporary when allowed to meet maybe July/Aug. until we can serve food again. TV's Grand- checking with Victor if they would open for us on Mondays at noon and if 35 guaranteed would work. Terri's Catering- old K of C- Checking if 35 guarantee would would work as this has plenty of space for up to 200.

Time- Should it change? No, keeping to noon without lunch to start, then adding lunch as rules allow.

When should we start lunches again? Most felt comfortable bringing it back in Sept. or Oct.

FYI This group and any other interested will be meeting weekly until June 17 to keep on top of these issues.

What should we do with Installation dinner? Waiting on final call from Chateau June 1, as soon as we know their decision we can start planning but it is likely it will be a limited amount of people (10) at a location, if not Chateau perhaps someones house and it could also be Zoomed for those wanting to attend. We are working on having a meal delivered to each member and whomever else in their household if needed for the event if it can't be held in person.

Also this is the board line up that I have for 2020-21, please advise if I have anything incorrect, as some names are different in some other areas online, thanks!

President - Kathy Kane
President Elect - Val Dzagulones
President Nominee - Bill Jasman

Treasurer - Ray Yee

Secretary - Mike Concessi
Community Service - Paulette Dillingham
Vocational Services - Dennis Levko
Club Service - Jean Wloszek
International Service - Mike McCullough
Rotary Foundation - Wes Mator
Public Relations - Joe Hoshaw
Interact Chair - Bruce Jocks

Youth Services - Chris Sorensen
Peace Chair - Matt Hatty
Peace Chair - Christopher Sorensen
Immediate Past President - Matt Hatty
Membership/Past President at Large - Rose Angela Gronda
Sergeant-at-Arms - John Allen

Secretary's Corner

26/74 Rotarians received their masks on Saturday. A few more were delivered Sunday. If you haven't received your masks, you can pick them up after 2 pm on Monday at 2655 Longmeadow Dr, Trenton, MI 48183 or Grosse Ile residents can pick them up from Ed Nykiel's House , 7869 Oak River Drive, Grosse Ile. This gift is a token of our board in appreciation of your service, donations and participation in our club. It is also an effort to protect others as well as yourself. They are reusable, washing directions have been emailed to all club members. 2nd note - If you have never been to a Rotary Conference, this year is your chance, for free. Experience the camaraderie, the excitement, the excellent speakers and the excellent work locally and internationally as they are shown. Directions to connect to the District Conference in a second email. Also Check your attendance on Club Runner under trentonrotary.net. Once you login to the system, you can go to My Clubrunner, My attendance is one of the links and you can check for accuracy. If you believe there has been an error, please contact me.

P.E.T.S. District 6400, May 16, 2020. Peace Chain initiative, please click for more information and to nominate Peace Chain Link https://d6400.wufoo.com/forms/m19bftgj1lospxk

Our condolences to the family of Past RI President Frank Devlyn , who passed away on May 27, 2020..

To access the online version of the magazine and keep up to date on the articles, use this link: http://therotarianmagazine.com/