President Mary took this opportunity to commandeer today’s Club Assembly. Here is a synopsis of the business conducted and announcements made:
 
Donations Approved – The board, just prior to today’s meeting, approved donations to (1) Habitat for Humanity in the amount of $250 in support of their annual Pasty Project (2) the Y.M.C.A. in the amount of $800 in support of their annual Eggs-stravaganza event coming up in April (3) the Adrian Public Library in the amount of $1,500 in support of their Summer Reading Program and (4) Community Mental Health in the amount of $750 in support of their May 17th fundraiser Erace-Stigma 5k Run.
 
Donations Being Considered – The board is still considering funding an as yet undetermined “Dream Project” (commonly known as the BHAD – Big Hairy Audacious Dream). A couple of groups have come forward requesting funding: LISD SEED House and Great Start’s Kindergarten Readiness Program. Since the board has been struggling somewhat with this decision, they decided that they wanted the general membership to be involved by way of a process termed “Club Visioning” which is actually nothing more than “strategic planning” for this club. Having spoken with other clubs in the district who have already conducted these types of sessions, Mary said, they were all extremely pleased with what they were able to accomplish.
 
We have identified Rotarians within District 6400 who would visit our club and facilitate the process for us perhaps one day in the late afternoon preceded by a dinner followed by a 2-hour visioning session. The session would focus on such questions as: What is this club actually all about? Where do we want to be? What should our focus be moving forward? Where do we really want to put our time and talents? This will require the involvement of as many Noon Rotarians as possible as their input will be extremely valuable. Stay tuned for specific information about the time and place of this important event!
 
Multi-Club Project Update – In the past, as you will recall, the Rotary Clubs from Lenawee County have come together to support a worthy cause as a group. Examples would be the Peace Pond and Gazebo at Hospice of Lenawee County. The project chosen this year is the Erace-Stigma 5k Run and the collective donations will go towards purchasing tee shirts with the Rotary logo on them for that run.
 
Membership – President Mary called on Nate Smith, Membership Chair, for an update. Nate reported that of late we have seen a number of quality new members join our club and thanked those who had a hand in that. Nate said that next month, in an effort to be more proactive, he will be compiling information on current members, new member additions, and where we might have gaps in terms of vocational categories (my term) that we have no representation for so that we can reach out and fill them. It is everyone’s responsibility to bring in new members, he said.
 
Adrian Rotary Foundation – Before his report, Mark Murray mentioned that a sheet was being passed around today listing ALL projects or “categories of interest” this club is involved in and asked that if any member noticed something missing, that they note that project on that sheet.
 
Mark then reminded members that the Treasurer of the foundation is Brent Mercer and that all members of the foundation were the MEMBERSHIP according to our By-laws! Brent told members that there were actually two funds that make up the foundation: General Fund of which 5% of the corpus ($332,845.23) is allocated to the club’s board to appropriate and use as they see fit. These monies, Brent reported were held at Old National and Gleaners. The other found is a Adrian Rotary Foundation Scholarship Fund held at Old National and totals $33,731.63.
 
Mark then said that the club raised $15,000 from the recent New Year’s Eve celebration last December. Traditionally, half of that goes into the foundation and half into the club’s budget and he asked those present to vote on whether or not they wanted the same distribution to apply this year as the board had recommended and the members agreed. 
 
For the benefit of the newer members, Mark mentioned that this foundation was established 50 years ago and has seen the holdings triple in size since he joined Rotary. Five percent of the corpus at the first of every Rotary year is transferred to a fund that is available for the club to spend. The Adrian Rotary Foundation board, Mark said, is charged with making wise decisions on how that money is invested in order to protect it for the future and that the membership is a really good steward of that money.