Happy New Year everyone! I hope your holidays were full of family, friends and fond memories! I want to thank Past Presidents Ramirez and Plummer for organizing an outstanding and memorable joint club Christmas Around the World celebration. It made me proud of our club and our traditions. I also want to thank Jamie Keith for her outstanding organization of the team of Salvation Army volunteers who raised funds for that good cause in our community.
I am excited about 2017 and all that it holds for our club and community. With our local economy doing better I think we can grow our club and raise lots of money to help those in need around us. Service starts and ends with us, and I believe we have a strong member base to make this a memorable year. Here are a few of the things I am looking forward to:
We will start off with our 24th annual Crab Feed fund raiser dinner at the Fair Grounds on February 4th. The next Crab Feed Committee meeting is Wednesday, January 4, at 5:30 at the Refuge. To purchase tables and tickets please contact Mary Gabel or Gail Carter. This year’s theme is “Crabby Cowboys,” so saddle up and let’s make this the best crab feed ever. Yee Ha!
The annual Sierra ski trip will take place just prior to or after the Crab feed — more details to follow. Past President Selland and Mr. Bevaqua will provide more details at the regular January 4th meeting.
Furthering my passion for improving literacy in our community, in the early Spring we will be doing a project for the Sutter County Library (more info to follow), and Past President Tony Galyean we will be spearheading the distribution of hundreds of dictionaries to local students.
We are planning to hold an Old Fashioned Style Spring Picnic and fund raiser in late April to celebrate the 100th year of the RI Foundation (more info. to follow).
I will see you all on January 4th at the Hillcrest Plaza where Rich Dettmer will honor our most recent Paul Harris Fellow awardees, and we will hear a presentation from the Western Farm Worker’s Association.
Hopefully Jamie Keith and Past President Adams will have lots to reveal from recent social media posts and historical literature.
Voted "Best Service Club" in Yuba-Sutter area 6 years running!
WELCOME to YUBA CITY ROTARY CLUB
What's coming up as far as programs, what happened last week and near future programs and events . . . . a brief overview!
Editor, Rich Dettmer, Webguy
December 14th Luncheon meeting: It was the last meeting of the year and it was party time . . . well sort of. The event of the day was a White Elephant gift exchange. Who got what, only the elephant knows! But all had fun. Who was there? Photo op for all!
Fun was had by all.
Reminder- Dale Eyeler announced the second meeting for the Crab Feed Committee. It will be on January 4th, 5:30pm at the Refuge Restaurant. Also here is a "Need to Know" item. Once again our club members are asked to either contribute $100 for the silent action items to be purchased or donate an item of at least worth that amount, for the auction. Rotarian Pam Sweeney is the Silent Auction Chair Person so please advise her at your earliest convenience about how you want to handle it. Click PSWEENET@SCCU4U.COM for her email contact or call her at 300-2154. Or you may contact the Co-chair, Kristine Cassidy, KCASSIDY@FRHG.ORG.
January 4th Luncheon Meeting Program: Ingrid with Western Farm Workers Organization. Also we will be awarding more Paul Harris honorees. We will also honor our most recent Paul Harris Fellow recipients at this meeting.
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A Yuba City Rotary Bell Ringer is a Rotarian who has contributed $100 or more towards the RI Foundation, Yuba City Rotary's Education Foundation, other YC Rotary sponsored worthy cause or has just paid his annual fine or more early.
Those who have stepped forward are to be commended for their altruistic gift and deserve to be recognized openly as true Rotarians dedicated to the purposes of our fine international organization. The following members have so honored us Fiscal Year 2016-2017.
SALVATION ARMY – ROTARY INTERNATIONAL MATCHING GRANT
for IMPROVEMENT of the DEPOT
Family Crises Center
Our Rotary District has been successful in getting a matching Rotary International grant. Rotarian Laura Nicholson put a lot of work into this effort and has sent email in to District 5180 club Presidents and others in hopes they will join in forming a new group committed to developing and executing this joint Rotary Foundation project. We have just received $4,400. Matched with $5,500 in funds from the South Yuba County and Yuba City clubs, we have committed to assisting the Salvation Army in retrofitting its men’s restroom and installing cement slabs and picnic benches on the lawn outside. Laura prefers to think of her role as merely the contact for “The Village,” so to speak, that make all things Rotary possible. She is being very humble in that analysis considering the work she has put into making this a reality. Her work is ongoing and laudable.
It is her suggestion that this can be a working group that puts together a work day for this project. From there, she is hoping we can develop a 3-club strategy for leveraging club resources to partner on projects in the community. This might also include a joint club event related to Foundation giving.
Laura will be having a formation/brainstorming meeting with this new group soon when a mutually convenient date can be arranged. She has asked that the project be shared with each District club so that we can be as inclusive as possible.
What follows is the background, description of the project, objectives and benefits as described:
Describe the project, its location, and its objectives.
The Salvation Army Depot is an intensive 6-month residential treatment program for families with alcohol and chemical abuse addictions. Families are referred to the program through a variety of agencies, including the courts, which offer them entry into the program for treatment and in an effort to keep families with children together and/or to help parents reunite with their children. It currently serves a total of 65 men, women and children. The Depot was built in 1880 and the name reflects its previous use as a train depot. It is located at 408 J Street in Marysville adjacent to the railroad tracks.
The Depot opened in in 1991, and is recognizing its 25th anniversary this year. The Depot relies heavily on community and volunteer support of the program, especially as the building is in need of repairs as it ages and is utilized by a large number of people.
The Rotary Club of Yuba City recently held its weekly meeting at The Depot and was given an overview of the needs there. It was determined that replacing the men’s bathroom and installing a picnic table area were two of the most important projects needed.
The Rotary Clubs of Yuba City and South Sutter County are planning a 3-tiered project that will replace the men’s bathroom, create a drought-tolerant garden at the entrance to the Depot and perform deep cleaning on the building. We have formed a committee to develop the plans for the project moving forward. We will seek to get as much of the materials donated as possible in hopes it will allow us to do more work at the facility.
Any monies saved from the bathroom project will go toward buying cleaning and hygiene supplies for use in the bathrooms.
One year ago, Soroptimist International of Yuba-Sutter donated $20,000 toward the renovation of the women’s restroom, which was met with great fanfare and publicity in the community. It is referred to as the Soroptimist bathroom.
Now, the men’s room is in disrepair. All of the fixtures and floor need to be replaced and the bathroom needs to be made ADA compliant. Club Rotarians who work in construction related businesses are helping determine what work needs to be done. If necessary, we will approach Craftsmen for Christ or Habitat for Humanity, which both work with The Depot on their projects.
The entrance to the building is dirt, and we want to install a lawn and picnic table area for future enjoyment of the residents. We will start with the main entrance then extend the project beyond the entrance based on what materials are available.
A third tier of the project would involve general cleaning and organizing of the building by volunteers. This will have no cost associated with it.
This project is honestly in the planning stages, but we are confident of having a full working plan in place by August should we receive the grant. If necessary, we will develop a fundraiser and approach other clubs and groups to raise any additional funds needed.
Define who the project will benefit and how they will benefit.
The Salvation Army Depot is home to 65 men, women and children who participate in an intensive 6-month program that gives them critical life skills, and the ability to move forward to obtain housing and jobs and to become productive members of the community. This project will benefit not just the residents who are there today, but all of the people who will continue to come into the program foreseeably for at least the next decade or more.
While the projects have a very specific purpose in assisting The Depot, particularly the bathroom, there is a lesser seen value to this project in that the residents benefit from knowing that someone is concerned about their wellbeing. As the residents go through the program, their exposure to groups such as Rotary and the volunteers gives them and important sense of worth.
Today, we look ahead toward a Rotary year that may one day be known as the greatest in our history: the year that sees the world's last case of polio. Wild poliovirus caused only 74 cases of polio in 2015, all of them in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As we continue to work tirelessly toward our goal of eradication, we must also look beyond it: preparing to leverage our success into even greater successes to come.
It is tremendously important to Rotary's future that our role in the eradication of polio be recognized. The more we are known for what we've achieved, the more we'll be able to attract the partners, the funding, and, most important, the members to achieve even more. We're working hard at RI headquarters to be sure that Rotary gets that recognition. But it can't all happen in Evanston. We need you to get the word out through your clubs and in your communities about what Rotary is and what we do. We need to be sure that our clubs are ready for the moment when polio is finally eradicated – so that when people who want to do good see that Rotary is a place where they can change the world, every Rotary club is ready to give them that opportunity.
We know that if we want to see Rotary Serving Humanity even better in the years ahead, we'll need more willing hands, more caring hearts, and more bright minds to move our work forward. We'll need clubs that are flexible, so that Rotary service will be attractive to younger members, recent retirees, and working people. We'll need to seek out new partnerships, opening ourselves more to collaborative relationships with other organizations.
Looking ahead, we also see a clear need to prioritize continuity in our leadership. We in Rotary are all playing on the same team, working toward the same goals. If we want to reach those goals together, we all have to move in the same direction – together.
Every day that you serve in Rotary, you have the opportunity to change lives. Everything you do matters; every good work makes the world better for us all. In this new Rotary year, we all have a new chance to change the world for the better, through Rotary Serving Humanity.
Council grants clubs greater flexibility in meeting, membership
Council member Dominque Dubois holds up a green card to indicate support of a motion while Sandeep Nurang ponders his response during the 2016 Council on Legislation.
The 2016 Council on Legislation may well be remembered as one of the most progressive in Rotary history.
Not only did this Council grant clubs more freedom in determining their meeting schedule and membership, it also approved an increase in per capita dues of $4 a year for three years. The increase will be used to enhance Rotary’s website, improve online tools, and add programs and services to help clubs increase membership.
The Council is an essential element of Rotary’s governance. Every three years, members from around the world gather in Chicago to consider proposed changes to the policies that govern the organization and its member clubs. Measures that are adopted take effect 1 July.
The tone for this year was set early, when the RI Board put forth two proposals that increase flexibility. The first measure allows clubs to decide to vary their meeting times, whether to meet online or in person, and when to cancel a meeting, as long as they meet at least twice a month. The second allows clubs flexibility in choosing their membership rules and requirements. Both passed.
Representatives also approved removing six membership criteria from the RI Constitution and replacing them with a simple requirement that a member be a person of good character who has a good reputation in their business or community and is willing to serve the community.
The $4 per year dues increase was based on a five-year financial forecast that predicted that if Rotary didn’t either raise dues or make drastic cuts, its reserves would dip below mandated levels by 2020. The yearly per capita dues that clubs pay to RI will be $60 in 2017-18, $64 in 2018-19, and $68 in 2019-20. The next council will establish the rate after that.
“We are at a moment in time when we must think beyond the status quo,” said RI Vice President Greg E. Podd. “We must think about our future.”
Podd said the dues increase will allow RI to improve My Rotary, develop resources so clubs can offer a better membership experience, simplify club and district reporting, improve website access for Rotaractors, and update systems to keep Rotary in compliance with changing global regulations.
Also because of this Council’s decisions:
A Council on Resolutions will meet annually online to consider resolutions — recommendations to the RI Board. Council members will be selected for three-year terms. They’ll participate in the Council on Resolutions for three years and the Council on Legislation in their final year only. The Council on Resolutions will free the Council on Legislation to concentrate on enactments — changes to Rotary’s governing documents. Proponents predict that the Council on Legislation can then be shortened by a day, saving $300,000.
Rotaractors will be allowed to become members of Rotary clubs while they are still in Rotaract. Proponents argued that too few Rotaractors join Rotary. Sometimes it’s because they don’t want to leave their Rotaract clubs before they have to, upon reaching age 30. It’s hoped that giving them more options will boost the numbers of qualified young leaders in Rotary.
The distinction between e-clubs and traditional clubs will be eliminated. The Council recognized that clubs have been meeting in a number of ways, and given this flexibility, the distinction was no longer meaningful. Clubs that have “e-club” in their names can keep it, however.
The reference to admission fees will be removed from the bylaws. Proponents argued that the mention of admission fees does not advance a modern image of Rotary.
A standing committee on membership was established, in recognition that membership is a top priority of the organization, and polio eradication was also reaffirmed to be a goal of the highest order.