Frank greeted us today with multiple ID badges and his mother's Rosary, making up for his lack of ID earlier this month! There were 23 Rotarians gathered plus our Exchange Student Anna Yang from Taiwan.

 

Karen started the meeting with the Pledge and Jack inspired us with God Bless America. Kelli gave the invocation about old men planting a tree that they will never sit under, good people do good things for others.

 

Rose reported on Light Up Naples preparations. The last committee meeting at Rose's house is Tuesday, 11/19 at 6 pm. Cindy and Liz Bailey will chair after that as Rose is moving to Victor early in December. We have found a Santa and Mrs. - John and Bonnie Steff. We will check today at Town Hall for lights, cords and timers. 

Decorating the Town Hall will be Saturday 12/7 at 10am. Interact will help. Many hands make quick work of it - all are welcome to help. Bring a step ladder if you can. We will also need help setting up for LUN day, Saturday, 12/14 at 3:30pm and clean up at 8pm. Please join in!

Rotary Youth Exchange interviews are happening this weekend. Two Naples students are applying.

Laundry Love, our program from last Monday, starts on Wednesday evening. John played the video that didn't run last week. We have added a Red Solo Cup to the sign-in table to collect quarters (or quiet money) for the project.

John also mentioned that Polio has been on the increase

this year as Rotary International works to eradicate it worldwide. Cases in Pakistan and Afghanistan are at 14 so far in 2024.

 

Our scheduled speaker for today did not arrive. Instead, Cindy gave a quick review of the Rotary Board meeting from the morning:

There will be a regular meeting next Monday at 6pm although there was nothing yet in the calendar. Kristin Smith will give a Member Spotlight. * The Literacy committee of Patrice and Laurie have ordered books for the elementary students as we always do this time of year. Books, 289 of them, come from Budding Readers, Amazon and Book Depot and will be given to students before the winter vacation. * Micah is stepping down from chairing the Trout Derby in 2025 due to travel for work. Nancy has volunteered to chair with Laurie assisting. Sue will be home soon and may continue as co-chair. * Jack is coordinating the oratorical and vocal contests for Naples. One or two vocalists are interested and the AP English teacher is recruiting for speakers. * We are looking into bringing a Peace Pole to Naples. This project was announced in the RI magazine as well as our district newsletter recently. The cost is about $100 for a tall 4x4 with words of peace on four sides. We would need to find a place for it. * Operation Santa is coming up on December 14th for morning deliveries to 36 families. Jack will coordinate volunteers.

* Liz Y. will be posting Facebook posts on mental health themes as part of our District 7120 initiative. * Five Memorial benches will be ordered when we determine if metal or plastic works better. * We are looking for 2 people interested in attending a grant writing course for future fund raising. Past President Liz will attend. * A suggestion was made to donate to Sutton's building campaign. Rotary rules limit our donations to non-profit organizations only. We will instead have a voluntary "pass the hat" for the next two meetings for any individuals who wishes to contribute. 

 

 

Jack gave further details on Operation Santa. It is run through the nurse's office and has been a tradition for decades at NCS. Kevin said that there were 42 students helping the faculty do the shopping this year. Sherry, Judy and Brenda commented on their experiences and how much it meant to them to give a warm feeling to the recipients in years past. 

 

The Ace of Hearts was $31. Kevin was the lucky holder of ticket #6088 but he picked the Queen of Clubs.

Happy Bills went to Laundry Love and Open Cupboard, our Naples Rotary Club, Rose's many contributions to it, and thoughts of those among us who are facing medical challenges. Kevin thanked the club for dictionaries and books donated at school. David was happy about the article on Artizanns in Life in the Finger Lakes magazine. Brenda was thankful for a beautiful day and the Bills win on Sunday! Many agreed!

 

JoAnne's Rotary Moment was when she and Albie helped deliver Operation Santa gifts when Stacey was in high school and Jo learned that Stacey knew too much about all the backroads of Naples!

 

Karen led the Four Way Test and adjourned the meeting.