I spent this past Saturday at the Institute for the Culinary Arts on the Fort campus of Metro Community College. That’s where the Rotary president training was held this year. What a great facility and the food—awesome! It helped make the rainy day more enjoyable.
Getting together with Rotarians from other clubs is always enjoyable. There were folks from clubs smaller than ours all the way up to the large clubs with 150-200 members. No matter the size of the club, many have the same struggles—attracting new members, keeping members engaged, finding interesting speakers—to name a few. It was a great opportunity to discover new ideas for meeting those struggles and challenges.
Here’s hoping last Thursday was the last snowstorm of this winter. See everyone this week!
.Mike West is the CEO of Omaha Equestrian Foundation (OEF) and has been since 2015, During Mike's tenure, OEF has hosted two International Omaha equestrian events and the 2017 World Cup(tm) Finals. Mike started his career in sports serving as the Tournament Director for the COX Classic from 1997 to 2002. Under his guidance, the Cox Classic grew into one of Omaha's premier annual events and one of the top stops on the PGA tour sanctioned Web.com Tour. Following his time with the Cox Classic, Mike spent 11 years as the Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing at Creighton University. He drove the sales and marketing efforts for Creighton's seven major sports and enjoyed unprecedented revenue and ticket growth. By 2011, Creighton stood as the only Division I University to rank in the nation's top ten in attendance in three different sports.
Member Moment: Diane Johnson shared her story with us. She also told us the amazing story of her son’s recent health episode and how her grandkids become instant hero’s in saving his life.
Announcements/discussion:
Several members pledged to meet Gail’s $100 challenge with a gift to support our Foundation Community Project.
Tod reported that the EPS scholarship candidate’s information has now been disseminated to the volunteer screeners. The deadline is 3/31 to have these
The Rotary Scholarship Golf Outing is June 17th. Hole sponsors are a major part in the fundraising effort. It’s never too early to solicit.
The new breakfast option was “rolled” out. Thanks to Rita for the hot, fresh, and bountiful coffee, and to Mike for picking up the pastries!
Presentation:
I introduced Tyler Curnes who joined us again. Tyler is the owner of Main Street Studios and Gallery in Olde Town Elkhorn. Tyler shared a presentation about the recent Snow Fest Snow Sculpture Competition that he organized and hosted two weeks ago. An estimated 2,500 people came to town to enjoy the creativity of artists and to join the Winter-time fun.
Thanks Tyler, for your vison. We look forward to a bigger and better event next year and for years to come!
Drawing:
Mike O. had the winning ticket but was unsuccessful in snatching the orange ball.
Rotary Foundation Grant Project, we now have some seed money in the Grant bank account! With the challenge made by yours truly, we should have at least $600 of the needed $1500 to qualify for matching funds from our district foundation Grant Funds.
The only minor item left is to coordinate a polio plus donation from our club/members as we did last year. Some confusion still rests in my mind about a year, but I think we are asking for monies for the 2019/2020 rotary year, which starts July 1,2019.
Jim T. and I will be participating in the webinar, April/May to qualify our club for participation in the district grants program. thanks to all who have given their dollars to the project with COPE!
