Meeting notes from August 25, 2021
Club Forum – Dinner Meeting 8/25/2021
A great time as had by all at Foster’s at The Common Man Inn. Thanks to Denise for planning a wonderful evening meeting.
Attending: Denise, Mike, Paul, Ben, Susan, Gale, Omer, Glenda, Sharon, Nancy and Ken
Guests: two guests attended as well.
Denise started off with a quote from Leo Tolstoy: “One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken.”
Raffle update: 50/50 was won by Sharon, the Card Game raffle winner was Nancy’s guest Michael, and he did not draw the 6 diamonds. Jackpot is now at $277 and there is 44 cards left in the deck.
The Plymouth’s Got Talent (PGT) committee meets every Thursday morning at 7AM on Zoom. It’s the usual link for meetings and all are encouraged to attend, as all hands on deck for our largest fundraiser of the year is coming. Denise confirmed that the Prospect Academy woodshop will be building two Adirondack chairs as prizes during PGT. In addition, Mike mentioned the District is working on a new online platform to help clubs with online fundraising support. Not sure if this new platform will be ready for PGT but standby.
The Plymouth Rotary Board meets the 3rd Friday of every month, via zoom (same link) and would like input from the members on the areas of focus our club should concentrate on. In the past our Club has had 4 areas of focus, Youth, Community Development, Seniors and International focus. Since Rotary International has expanded their focus areas into 7 areas, what would you like our Club to focus on in the future? What are your passions and how can our Club help? Please submit your ideas and suggestions to Denise.
These areas of focus will also help determine the budget for this Rotary year. A request was made for a donation to Shelterbox Usa an organization that brings aid to catastrophe sites all over the world by bringing in tents, tools, water filters, etc. Our Club has supported Shelterbox in the past. The board decided to review our Club’s Foundation budget first, and then consider additional donations, including Shelterbox. For information on Shelterbox, go to www.shelterboxusa.org
The Club is also working on a new Blue Book, which is a membership directory pocket guide. Sharon has emailed everyone asking for them to confirm their contact information is up to date in Club Runner and subsequently in the Blue Book. Please check Club Runner and verify your information is up to date. Or check you inbox for an August 20th email from Sharon which includes a spreadsheet with all member contact information in it. Please let Sharon know of any updates ASAP. Thanks.
Ken did a brief explanation of the Rotary International Foundation, including the Paul Harris Fellowship Award. Member donations go towards a potential Paul Harris Fellowship award. Once you donation has reach $1,000, you become a Paul Harris Fellow. In addition, any donations the Club, or its members make to the RI Foundation, 50% comes back to our District (7850) in the form of grant opportunities that Clubs apply for. Most year’s the District has approximately $30,000 available for club grants, last year there was approximately $60,000. This can be used for service projects in our community, or can be combined with other clubs for broader projects. RI Foundation also supports programs worldwide, such as eradication of Polio off this earth, catastrophe support, as well as economic, environmental, education, sanitation and health efforts throughout the Rotary world and their communities. Rotary impact in the world is something to be proud of. You count.
Speaking of Rotary International Foundation…Coming soon as a speak is Marilyn and Ron Bedell , our District Foundation chairs and they will be speaking to our club on October 13th to explain in detail what Rotary International Foundation does, and how it helps globally as well as locally.
Denise reminded everyone who uses social media to like our Facebook page, including sharing posts, and check ins.
Denise also reminded us that Bill Clark reached out to see if a possible Rotaract Club can be supported at Plymouth State University. We have an Interact Club at the high school. Rotaract Clubs for meant for young adults, typically 18 to 30 years olds. Please contact Bill to let him know you how you can help.