Our second meeting of 2022 was also our club assembly. We met via zoom and had about 20 attendees. It was especially nice to see Claire and Rich McAdams (I still reflexively call him “Your Honor”).
Keeping with the theme of the assembly Detective Karen crafted a series of questions about Rotary and its history. One of the highlights was Rotary’s long reluctance to admit women and our club’s role in breaking that barrier
The District mailed Paul Harris awards to Bill Gray, Jimmy Kutch, Sam Knight and Pres. Ken. Since we don’t know when we will be able to present them in person let’s give a virtual thank you.
Because of the Club Assembly we did not have a guest speaker. Several members gave presentations.
Pam and Al spoke of some of the highlights of our club’s history. It might be disputed, but we may have been the first club to admit women and not have our charter revoked. Dr. Art spoke about the development and success of Polio Plus as probably the most important factor in the near-eradication of polio worldwide in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Witmer talked about the Rotary Foundation’s good works and our club’s outstanding record as near 100% contributions. (Those few holdouts may be subjected to East-Coast style collection methods). Co-President Elect Laura extolled the virtues of RotaCare and its provision of health care services in the County. Dagmar advised of our adoption of Rio Del Mar Beach and Dr. Art’s role in getting a nice banner there- we may have 4 beach cleanups this year. Lowry and Doug continue to navigate the logistics of the speech contest in covid times and with requirements by the district. We are tentatively set for Feb. 17 and the options are in-person (unlikely?) all zoom (not preferred) or hybrid (seems to be the most probable). Thanks for all your work on this gents.
There was a discussion about fund raising projects during covid, which keeps thwarting our efforts for in-person events. Dagmar also raised the same concerns for increasing members and increasing the participation of our existing members. Eric pointed out that when he joined the club there were 80 members, we are now down to 50 though the population of the county has increased. Members are encouraged to make suggestions for both. Mardi was able to obtain a $900 award from the district for her plans for membership recruitment. Well done Mardi!
CoPE Laura suggested a Pickle ball tournament.
When covid allows Ken will be visiting local businesses in person and welcomes suggestions as to businesses members have connections with.
Dr. Art has suggested that members contact a few professionals or business owners they know and let them know about who we are and what we do.
Doug suggested the formation of a “Visioning Committee” to discuss and ultimately implement a plan for the club’s short and long term goals for membership, fundraising and service projects. Anyone interested in working on and/opr being a member of the committee should contact Doug.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday- same regular zoom link.