Club Assembly
Posted by Chuck Chase
Today was the very first Club Assembly meeting for the new year. Members from the six club committees met individually for 15 minutes to discuss their plans for the coming year utilizing ideas from the Hedke Award requirements and the suggestions made during the Visioning meeting last March. Following the individual table discussions, spokespersons from each group spoke briefly recapping the highlights of their discussion. Here are the folks who reported out:
Vera Alvarez – Chair of International Service: The group focused on what new club project could be created or identify another Rotary club we might want to done in cooperation. One such project would involve the St. Clair Girls School in Kenya where Purity came to us from. The school is in need of fabric, shoes, and solar light panels. They also need help developing fish farms there.
Kevin Keller – Chair of Youth Services: The committee is currently looking for liaisons from our club to connect with a representative at both Adrian College and Siena Heights University to assist our members Megan V. and Barry R. in the establishment of Rotaract Clubs at both institutions. Also, Fluency Friends will be a project we will be involved in again this year and Mary Murray has agreed to head this up this year! The Junior Rotarian program will again start up as the new school year begins at Adrian High. Also, it is the committee’s intention to continue to select and award deserving high school students with scholarships again this year. Kevin concluded his presentation by announcing that he and Lisa Wilkie have agreed to be host families for 2 separate exchange students this year. This year’s Exchange Club program is being spearheaded by the Adrian Am Club.
Mary Murray (Sitting in for Chair Dan Buron) – Chair of Vocational Service: The month for Vocational Lunches has been moved from October to January. The date selected was January 14, 2016. Thus far Gleaner’s and ServiceMaster have agreed to be host sites. We are in need of four more. Another suggestion made was to possibly select a local organization our club could recognize for their involvement in community activities which exhibits high ethical standards and adheres to our 4-Way Test principles. Recipients chosen would send representatives to a regular club meeting to accept an award they thought it appropriate to present them.
Mark Murray – Chair of Community Development/Club Activities: Looking forward to the River Raisin Cleanup; Tree/Wreath Sales will happen again this year; planning for this year’s New Year’s Eve Gala Event will soon be underway. Last year the club raised close to $18,000. To insure yet another successful event, we’ll need everyone’s help to get sponsors and sell tickets.
Kathy Williams – Co-Chair of Membership (Standing in for Nate Smith – Chair): This committee will coordinate with the PR Committee to grow membership in this club by making sure the relevant social sites as well as our own website are current and up-to-date and being used to their fullest extents so that we will be able to attract prospective members. New members would also be directed to those sites to educate themselves about the club and the different projects. The committee will also be focusing on satisfying as many line items per the Hedke Award as possible so that we can submit a formal application this year and qualify for the award. The committee will also be developing a post card that can be handed to prospects you might want to invite to lunch with details on when and where we meet, our purpose and objectives, mission and vision, etc. The committee will also strive to market the club through print and radio advertising to increase membership.
Rob Young – Chair of Public Relations: Another representative from the Telegram, Rob said, will be joining Rotary to be a conduit between the club and newspaper to help Rob who has a very busy schedule. The club needs to be relevant on Google and Bing. There is a digital agency at the Telegram that can help our cub with that. A trade agreement will be drawn up between the Telegram and the club so that it is done legally.
President Rod wrapped things up by reminding members that these meetings will occur every month. He encouraged committees to meet on a regular basis. Thanks to all who participated today so we can take our club to the next level.