Board Meeting News:  Last Friday night the rain stayed away from President Nancy's home as both incoming and outgoing Board Members and spouses were treated to a short but very important Board Meeting and fellowship and Mexican dinner.  Oh, there might have been a couple of adult beverages available as well.  Minutes were read and approved and then the all-important 2018-2019 Budget was presented by PEv/President-Elect Talee Crowe.  In an attempt to make Rotary more affordable for both retired Rotarians and new Rotarians we changed our dues structure to allow for an a la carte meal format--you only pay for the meals you eat, you don't prepay for your share of all the meals.  This policy change to encourage membership also created some predictable and negative changes to our club's income which effects what our club can do in the areas of service.  

 

In the past, our dues, which included meals, had enough income from meals which were purchased but not eaten, to cover our guest meals, which can be substantial from time to time.  Paying on an a la carte basis means that income stream no longer exists.  President-Elect Talee and Treasurer Susan Aubin struggled to make the budget balance.  It was clearly impossible to have a balanced or slightly unbalanced budget with the new meals structure. 

 

Talee referenced the 4 Way Test in deciding what parts of the budget to cut.  The areas of leadership development and Presidential awards were mostly deleted from the budget, as those areas serve the club and club leadership and were deemed much less important than serving others.  After these severe cuts, the budget was still over $10,000 in the red. 

 

Since we have heavily modified the meals' expense, and ethically not wanting to use fundraising monies for internal club expenses, the only other way to balance the budget was to increase the dues to all members to cover club expenses which could not be reduced.  After a motion, an amendment, and significant discussion, a unanimous decision was made to increase all club member's dues by $10 per month.  While significant, when balanced with the a la carte meal expense cuts, missing one meal every two months has the same effect on member's pocketbooks as the dues increase.  This increase in dues resulted in allowing the Board to approve a significantly more balanced budget.  The consensus was this was fairer than charging the entire club for meals which may not be eaten (old policy), while fairly charging each member for the expenses of membership (new policy), and not reducing any of our service to others (great policy)!  

 

Save the date:  Next Rotary Year's Board Meetings, beginning on July 26, will be routinely held on the Fourth Thursday of the month at Susan' Aubin's office.

 

Happy Hour Meeting:  Thanks to all who attended the Happy Hour Meeting.  It was a great opportunity for fellowship with our newer members and our spouses.  

 

Next Monday's Meeting will be a Club Assembly with special entertainment.  All Service Chairs should prepare a short summary of this year's accomplishments and provide your Board replacement with the data to smooth the transition into next year!

 

PP and PEN Hugh Radke gave a Rotary Foundation report.  District 5450 expects to contribute about $560,000 to TRF.  SHRC has done its share, giving beyond our $12,000 goal for the General Fund and well over the $1000 goal to fight Polio.  Congratulations to Hugh as chair and to the club as a whole for exceeding our big goals!

 

PP Dr. Jim Wingert gave the Golf Committee report.  Corporate donations are very close to our goal of $25,000 and are likely to exceed this mark.  Let Jim know if you have any contacts who would like to give to the Golf Tournament!  PP/Secretary Bev Edwards is serving as "Day of Event" Chair and passed around an assignment sheet for approval as well.  Looks like things are in good shape for a great fundraiser!

 

President Nancy shared a letter of thanks from Gateway Domestic Violence Services for our recent contribution.  Thanks to PP Dr. Bill Maclay for being a champion for Gateway since before the chartering of SHRC!

 

Installation Banquet:  An Evite is coming out for our June 30th Installation Banquet.  Don't forget to RSVP and your RSVP is a commitment to attend or be charged!  Thanks to PP Terry Remigio for the arrangements.

 

Sergeant @ Arms PPX2 Paul Urtz was a bit flustered today, having to practically break out a soldering gun to get our speaker's AV set up to work!  And then there was the auction, and announcements, and last week's guest sheet...well, someone in the back room, and I'm not naming names, but your Editarian is VERY close to this Rotarian yelled, "Hey, Paul are you in court this afternoon?"  Paul replied, "No!"  "Good!" shouted the heckler.