Northwind December 18, 2014
Call to Order: President Rocky called the meeting to order and led us in the flag salute.
Invocation: Gary provided the word of the day which was “Renata” meaning “rebirth” and he tied this in nicely with the Holiday season.
Visiting Rotarians: Bob Moles, and Jim Johnson, both from B’ham Bay.
Guests: Gary’s wife, Renata, Pete’s wife, Lynn, Rick’s wife, Debbie and Laurie’s husband, Rick. Welcome all!
Returning Rotarians: Norm who says he was in London for a while.
Birthdays & Anniversaries: None this week.
Announcements. Laurie brought pictures of the Brigadoon Service Dog and as we were honored to give her a name, lots were thrown out. It was agreed that she would be named “Melanie”, but called Mel, after our very own, Mel Hollinger. (A wooden pen made by Rick Lloyd’s friend was awarded to Gary for coming up with the name.)
Happy Bucks: Laurie was $10 happy about the successes of Marcus Manto. Pete was $52 happy to be married for as many years. He was also $72 happy for living as many years. Rocky was happy that Tim brought the wine. Gary was $5 happy ($4 for Renata being there and $1 happy about his new tattoo, a Christmas gift to himself.) Rick was happy Deb was with him and also happy to have survived a cold. Tim was $5 happy for something I missed. Rollo was happy that his daughter is home from college and for 2 weeks at the cabin. Norm was $10 happy to say hi to everyone and $10 sad at the passing of his uncle, (a Monday club member and inspiration to Norm.) Marlene gave $50 in lieu of sending Christmas cards and just verbally wished everyone a happy holiday. Sharon was also happy that Tim brought the wine. Jim S. gave $20 sad bucks because that is all the money he had in his wallet. Pati was $5 happy for her 2nd official Rotary meeting.
Finemaster: Tim showed no mercy as the Finemaster. Rollo was not fined for no longer being the newest member. Pati was fined for not being fined last week for being the newest member. Julie was fined $2 for bringing Pati in the club and leaving Tim with no options but to fine his wife. A $1 “Mary Lou” was put in for Ken because he does not know how many times the letter “E” shows up in the word, Christmas. Jim B. was fined for impersonating Santa. If you did not go to the wine event, you were fined $1 and if you did not order wine, it was $2. Norm was fined for not knowing the waitresses’ name at Arliss. Dan was fined for having his own party at the wine tasting event and then fined some more for saying he wanted to be with the “cool people”. Anyone who has made a New Year resolution was fined $1 and if you have not made one, $2. Dale was fine for his self-doubt on how to pronounce, “Pati”. Anyone not at the Foundation Dinner was fined. If you have not donated at least 2 items to the food bank, there was a fine. (Dale and Bill Grace both gave $20.00 and were forgiven.) Rocky was fined $1 for not giving Happy Bucks for being ½ way through his presidency. Julie was fined for bringing Pati in the club and therefore doubling the Villhauer “donations.” Sharon donated $5 because Dan would not take her money for drinks. Rollo was fined for giving Jim S. some bad advice about his $20 “sad bucks”. Gary was fined for his “great program or two” about Renata and Rebirth. Norm was fined for his new “hobo look”, and he defended himself by stating that he did not look like Gary, who looks like an NBA player with all the tattoos.
Banners: Stan was absent today so no banners.
Program: Jim Johnson filled in at the last minute due to the Food Bank presenter’s illness. Jim is an Antislavery Activist and he gave a good presentation on Modern Slavery. We learned that there are an estimated 35.8 MILLION people who are forced to live in slavery, (worldwide) and that there are NO countries without slaves. The victims of slavery can be as young as 5 or 6 years old and that slave labor contributes to the production of at least 122 goods from 58 countries worldwide. Many of these products are what we commonly buy at places like Costco. To learn more, go to www.racsrag.org . As Rotarians, we need to take action and end this crime.
Drawing: Jim S won a battery charger and Lynn won some champagne. Marlene came oh, so close to winning the jackpot, but not close enough. The pot grows!