The holiday season is upon us, and the Rotary Club of Portola is making a difference. At the end of last month we purchased prepared and distributed Thanksgiving Dinner in a Box (or bag!) to about 100 families in need in the Portola area. Joleen Cline headed up this fantastic project, and did a great job of organizing it. The dinner included a turkey, (or a chicken) with all the fixin's and even a pumpkin pie! Thanks to all who helped package and hand out the dinners last November 25th.
On December 3rd we held our annual meeting to elect club officers and directors. Three directors were elected to serve on the board next year, along with the three currently serving the first of a two year term. Nora Shelton, Kirk Lambert, and Klytia Dutton were all elected to a two year term beginning July 1, 2020. Nora is also transitioning into the Membership Chair, Kirk is continuing as the Public Image Chair, and Klytia is moving into the Chair of Youth Services.
The big news was the election of Kim Wilbanks as President Elect Nominee! Kim will begin her term as President Elect on July 1st, and become Club President for the Rotary Year 2021-2022. To round out the plan of leadership succession, Elizabeth Cruise has volunteered to be the President Elect Nominee Designate. Elizabeth will be formally elected next December to serve as Club President in Rotary year 2022-2023. This was a huge accomplishment for our club. It gives our incoming presidents more time to learn and prepare to lead the club. This in turn makes the job easier, more fun and satisfying since incoming presidents will have two and a half years to get ready.
Dave Nelson gave a great summary of our Clubs Rotary Endowment. The fund belongs to us, is used for scholarships, and is currently over $200,000. Recently it has been providing funding for about eight scholarships each year! Half of all marble game proceeds go into the endowment, so buy those tickets, and help build our ability to assist folks here in our community.
President Matt got attached to the apron a little early!
The Christmas party was on December 5th at the Grizzly Grill. As usual, the White Elephant gift exchange was fabulously fun. One of the highlight gifts was a Santa apron that President Matt gleefully stole from Kim Wilbanks, the original opener. However, much to his disappointment, it ended up being stolen permanently by Dave Shelton. The President was shell shocked! The happy ending is that President Matt complained so much, and whined so loudly that a Secret Santa re-gifted him the apron at the meeting on the 17th, just in time for the Christmas Community Dinner.
Kristen and Travis enjoyed the party. Can you pick out the real travis??
Speaking of the community dinner, it went off well again this year. Van had plenty of help as most members were there to serve, and we had a seven person cooking crew the day before. Even with all the help he still managed to run himself ragged! Seven turkeys, three pans of mashed potatoes, two pans of yams, three pans of stuffing, four of green beans with plenty of delicious gravy (thanks, Matt!) did the trick! Teri Cooper, a prospective member came and helped out for the entire night, and Mr. and Mrs. Santa made an appearance to get Christmas wish lists from the kids. They were a huge hit as usual, and plenty of photos were taken documenting this. Thanks Matt and Elizabeth!
Dave and Van work their magic on mashed potatoes for the Christmas Community Dinner
We did not have any committee meetings to report on this month, however next month there are several scheduled so check the calendar of coming events!