Gallipolis Rotary Meeting--January 14,, 2014

 

Gallipolis Rotarians welcome Stan Evans to Rotary 


 
 
Gallipolis Rotarians kicked off 2014 with their first meeting of the year having been snowed out last week.  President Chuck Clark enthusiastically welcomed everyone back.  VP Kevin Dennis provided our invocation.  Rotarians welcomed Stan Evans, from Evans Wealth Management to the meeting today.  Since this is our first meeting of 2014, our meeting is a Club Assembly.

President's Announcements--Member Melissa Kimmel has asked everyone to assist in locating her lost dog, a two year old Terrier mix which goes by the name of Sarah.  The pooch was later found making Melissa very happy!  PDG Mel and Lydia Simon are heading to the Philippines today for Operation We Care Medical Mission.  Sorry to announce member, Sammy Lopez, has accepted a new position in Alton, IL.  We will miss Sammy in our club, but he plans to continue in Rotary there!

Clothing for the Philippines--We need several Rotarians to help with moving some clothing destined to the relief effort for the Philippines.  We will meet at Wing Haven tomorrow at 9 am to load the clothing into Lee's van and then transfer to a warehouse in Point Pleasant where donations for the Philippines are being collected.  Right now, Lee Bauman, Chuck Clark, Kevin Dennis, Bonnie McFarland, and Resty Alonzo all plan to help.

Rotary Yard Signs--President Chuck had the District supplied yard signs today for the 12 members who order them.  These signs are really good looking and should look nice in Rotarian's yard this spring!  Those who ordered include: Shawn Siders,
Shana Booher, Charlene Smith, John Ellison, Paul Koch, Matt Willis, Alvera Robinson, Kevin Dennis, Chuck Clark, Lee Bauman, Loralee Carmichael, and Deb Rhodes.  Some forgot to pick up their signs and they are safe in the closet until next week!

By-Law Revisions--President Chuck distributed club by-laws showing some revisions to include the position of President-Nominee, and changing the date of the election of officers.  Some discussion was held to clean up some of the language in the document and we were pleased with the amount of input.  These revisions will bring our club more in line with the recommendations from RI and District 6690.  Many thanks also go out to Shirley Doss and Deb Rhodes who helped with these revisions.  Shirley will take all the suggestions and draw up a final document on which the club can vote its approval.

Split-The-Pot--Thanks to the efforts of Charlene Smith, our STP ticket sales were brisk today taking our Small Pot up to  $6.00.  Charlene asked our guest, Stan Evans, to draw the winning ticket which was held by . . . President Chuck!  Chuck asked the winnings be donated to the RI Foundation.  In the draw for the Big Pot of $151.00, Chuck pulled out the Ace of Spades, missing the mark but keeping the pot alive for yet another week!  The Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone who wasn't at last week's snowed-out meeting!
 
 
Fellowship--Our club fellowship today was led by VP Kevin who gave the club an update about the Field of Hope project where we will be helping with the building of the new food pantry.  The building is about to get a new roof!  Kevin announced to the club an important townhall meeting will be taking place in our community on April 7th at 7 pm.   This community meeting will focus on the drug issues in our area.  Rotary needs to get involved in the set up and be involved in winning this battle. Lee Bauman also mentioned we need to get the word out on this event via social media.  

Go Red For Women--Bonnie McFarland announced details regarding the Go Red for Women concerning heart health and encouraged both women and men to attend this important event. She shared a brochure with more information.  

Program--President Chuck provided some pictures of Guatemala and update the club on the upcoming service project where our members can travel and take part in the project in this Central American country.  Using a matching District Grant of $1,000 combined with another $1,000 of club funds, our club will help provide clean, disease-free water to 50 families in the Panajachel area of Guatemala.  Members can leave Charleston, WV Saturday, March 1 and travel to Guatemala City where President Chuck will meet the group and transfer for two nights in Antigua.  On Monday, March 3 the group will drive to Panajachel for three nights, staying at the Hotel Dos Mundos to work with the non-profit organization, Mayan Families.  We will be meeting Rotarians from Panajachel and Upper Arlington Rotary Clubs.  We will have the opportunity to see Rotary projects in action and take part in the distribution of the water filters.  On Thursday we will transfer back to Antigua for more sighteeing and Friday go to Santa Maria de Jesus to help with serving the meal for the children at Campos de Suenos community center.  Friday evening we will have a farewell dinner and Saturday, we will depart for the US.  Anyone interested in taking part in this needs to contact Chuck immediately.  Rotarians will be responsible for arranging their air tickets and must have a valid US Passport.