What a beautiful almost fall day for our gathering at the Redwood! It was cozy but sunny in the front room. 

Blanche greeted us with a smile as we welcomed 18 Naples Rotarians and 10 guests.

 

President Elect Jack presided today while Karen is away. The bell rang at 12:05pm, followed by the Pledge and Jack leading the Star Spangled Banner. Micah gave the invocation thankful for the beautiful day, a chance to learn about Rotary and enjoy our time together.

 

Guests today were our speaker District 7120 Governor Dave DeMers, his wife Ann DeMers, Area 3 Governor Nancy Latour, Exchange students Uryu Yoshino and Anna Yang, new member Kelli Becka, returning member Betsy Lewis, summer visitor Chip Weismiller and new friends Lisa and Nick Adams!

 

Announcements: Next Monday we will have an induction for new member Kelli Becka and returning member Betsy Lewis. Jan Bartleson will be inducted in October. * Sunday 9/22 will be a fundraising concert by the Finger Lakes Community Band at BVT, 2 pm, $20.

*Finley Webster has completed his Eagle Scout project creating 6 new benches at the Pickleball Court.

 

The morning's Rotary Board Meeting topics included:

Creating a Membership Fund to help financially support people interested in Rotary Membership. More info to come.* Eleven members of a Friendship Exchange from Sweden will be here in Naples on 9/28 and may participate in the Grape Festival. *There is a new Rotary E-Club based in Rochester focused on women and children. * The Foundation Brunch is 10/27 at RIT Conference Center. * Please let Liz know of any program ideas you have. *More info is on the District 7120 website.

 

Nancy Latour from Bath came to introduce this year's District 7120 Governor, Dave DeMers. He is a Past President of Spencerport Rotary Club. He is retired after 20 years in the Rochester Police Department followed by Monroe County Sheriffs Department. He then went on to technical training in law enforcement. Ann is a retired high school teacher and now a travel agent. She is also a Past President in Rotary.

 

Dave is visiting every club in the District, we are about 36th on his list. He is bringing us the goals for the coming year, set by Rotary International President, Stephanie Urchick. Her theme is "the Magic of Rotary."

Dave believes "we are all magicians in how we help people". His goal is to add 200 members to our District by June 2025. This past year we lost 100 by attrition and closed Clubs so 200 new members would overcome that loss and increase our numbers. The key to growing membership includes bringing in new members, retaining current ones and adding new clubs. Our District has good committees who are enthusiastic in adopting the Rotary Action Plan authored by Stephanie. Its facets are to increase our impact, expand our reach, enhance engagement and increase our ability to adapt to change. "One Summit" is a conference on November 9, 2024, 9 am to noon, in Avon covering Membership, Public Image and Rotary Foundation. Another initiative for RI is Peace: international, district and club levels. "Peace Poles" project will be supported by the District, bringing 4" x 4" poles to each club, with "Peace" written in many languages. This could be a great community opportunity, perhaps with Interact help.

Dave also announced the District conference for next May 2-4, 2025 in Corning. Dave finished his talk with a magic number trick, assisted by Jack, presenting us with the Magic of Rotary banner, saying that "Magic is in this room".

 

The Ace of Hearts was at $207 with 15 cards left! Sharon had the winning number and drew the Ace of.... Spades! Happy Bills thanked our guests and Jack for leading the meeting. Chip has enjoyed the summer here and will be returning to Florida soon. Kevin liked the Peace Pole idea and asked to be contacted at the school. Jack and Sharon have enjoyed the summer with their grandchildren. The Fall Fest for Hospeace House was great but less attended than hoped. Marty was happy that the RIT BAJA team placed 3rd at a competition in Michigan. The benches at the Pickleball court are great! Today was the last golf league day for John and Jack.

Our Rotary moment (courtesy of Frank who phoned it in) was the wonderful Rotary participation in the Fall Fest from Sue, Jo, Rose and Tim! And Queen Judy was chauffeured by King Skip! It was a great day.

 

Jack led the Four Way Test and rang the bell at 1:02pm.