Frank Perez welcomed everyone to the second hybrid meeting of the Centerville Rotary Club.
President Frank also welcomed those Rotarians joining the meeting via Zoom and our in-person guests, District Governor Greg Birkemeyer, and Assistant Governor, Mary Nenninger.
Frank Perez led the Pledge of Allegiance and Harvey Smith led us in a prayer.
Harvey Smith then asked Ray Merz to the front of the room where he presented him with a Paul Harris Fellow +6 pin. Thank you for your generous support of the Rotary Foundation, Ray!
President Frank Perez shared these updates:
- Trilogy will be held on zoom this Wednesday, September 23rd from 7PM to 8:30. Registration is free. If you use the District 6670 tab at the top of our website, you will see an ez-registration button for the meeting. The topics will include:
- The Foundation & giving
- Membership & engagement
- Branding & social media
- Our Board meeting will be this Monday at 5:30 PM. For Board members it will be a combination in person/zoom meeting. All other members are encouraged to attend via zoom. A link for the meeting will be sent out this weekend.
- Kitty update, I spoke with Kitty this week and she is doing ok. She greatly appreciates the cards and well wishes from the club.
Happy Bucks-
Our Happy Dollars for this quarter are going to Project Warm – please be generous with your Happy Dollars for this good cause. You can send your check to the club mailbox: Centerville Rotary Club, PO Box 41431, Centerville, OH 45458.
Boyd Preston served as Sergeant at arms again this week.
- Boyd Preston recognized John Callander, who celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday, and District Governor, Greg Birkemeyer, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday. Lee Hieronymus led the singing of Happy Birthday to the Rotary September birthdays.
- Elda Gotos Gay announced she baked six pound cakes to raffle off at today’s meeting, in support of Project Warm. Ron Hollenbeck confirmed it is a delicious recipe, as he’s had the opportunity to enjoy it before. The donation was set at $40 and the following Rotarians jumped at the opportunity for the sweet treat: Frank Perez, Ron Hollenbeck, Chuck King, Mark Febus,
- and Boyd Preston, who actually gave $42 and then asked all to remember the year 2004 (especially Peachy and Don Stewart), as that was the last time the Cleveland Browns won their season opener game. (Bengals and Browns play tonight)
- And the last cake went to Sofie, who also thanked everyone for their support of the Tour de Gem, where she raised $665.
- DG Greg Birkemeyer gave happy bucks after a nudge from Boyd.
- ADG Mary Nenninger gave $3 happy bucks as that is her lucky number and she hopes to visit our club at least 3 more times.
- Lee Hieronymus gave unhappy dollars because there was no bread due to the ovens being down at Yankee Trace today.
- Carol Kennard announced this year’s Centerville-Washington Foundation’s Founders Event will honor Martha Boice on October 1, and it will be a virtual event due to the coronavirus. More information and registration can be found at www.centervillewashingtonfoundation.org
- Elda Gotos Gay announced her son is now a full professor.
- Ron Hollenbeck is happy to see our District Governor and Assistant Governor at the meeting today.
- Brad Thorp gave in honor of John Callander’s birthday, heading into his 10th decade.
- Jeff Senney is happy he golfed on Sunday, golfed on Monday, had knee surgery on Tuesday, and is up walking again today.
- Mark Febus is happy to be back at Yankee Trace again.
- Harvey recognized John Callendar’s birthday and Ray Merz’s generosity to reach PHF+6.
- Katie Neubert encouraged all to support SICSA’s fundraiser - Poop Show on Sept. 19. For only a $50 donation, you have the chance to win $10,000 if a dog does his business in your square in the yard. Info can be found here: https://www.sicsa.org/the-poop-show/
- Jim Harris said Boyd should reserve judgement on the Cleveland Browns until next week!
Boyd reported a total of $240 was donated in Happy Bucks today.
Today’s speaker was our District Governor, Greg Birkemeyer
Greg gave an introduction of his Rotary history, including being a member of the Dayton Club, past president, past Assistant Governor, and then working his way up to District Governor. He recognized Past District Governors in our club - Sivaji Subramaniam and Harvey Smith.
Greg noted some Rotary clubs in our district are having hybrid meetings like ours, some just virtual, and some not meeting at all. COVID has made us all rethink how we operate our clubs. Some people who are not able to attend in-person have now been able to attend virtual meetings.
For Greg, Rotary has been most meaningful because of the friendships and fellowship he experiences. When he first joined Rotary, a speaker’s topic was the exact family issue he was experiencing. He was able to share his personal story with the club, and their support was overwhelming and continues to this day.
Greg talked about the important role Rotary plays in the world, and noted our Club is very involved in all of these:
- International understanding and understanding cultural differences
- Teaching youth through Interact and 4-Way Speech Contest
- Polio eradication: In 1952 there were 53,000 cases in the US alone; now only 100 cases worldwide. Nigeria was recently taken off the list, so now only Afghanistan and Pakistan remain.
- COVID-19 response: clubs have provided assistance in their local communities, especially with donations to the food bank
- Basic education: Distribution of dictionaries and thesauri
- Health and Safety: Raising funds for Operation Warm (children’s winter coats)
- Concern of others in the world: Water pump project led by Ron Hollenbeck
Our club is one of the top 5 clubs in the district, strong in many areas of Rotary. But there are always ways we can be better. Greg noted Rotary 6670 membership was 3,300 five years ago, and now we’re at 2,700 and we’ve lost 4 clubs. 217 individuals joined and then quit Rotary within the first year (in the last 10 years in our district.) It is so important to engage new members right away.
Are you greatly interested in Rotary? If so, then be sure to tell others. Many quit when they can’t afford the cost to be a Rotarian. Should we be looking for ways to change our dues structure to make it more attractive for younger members? If members value their Rotary membership, they will find a way to pay for it. We need to make sure we are giving them value for their money.
RI President, Holger Knaack sends these challenges to every club:
- Strategic Planning - spend a meeting to discuss the future of our club - the good, the bad, how to find/retain members, what COVID means in the future. Develop those thoughts into a strategic plan and then choose 1 or 2 things to work on as a club.
- Leadership development - identify leaders in our community and within our club and get them involved in opportunities within our club. Attend Trilogy to learn more about Rotary!
- Rotary Foundation - our club has a rich history of donations to the Rotary Foundation - 2018-19 Rotary year, we donated $13,297 and last year, $20,097. He reminded everyone that a portion of the Rotary Foundation donations come back to our district in 3 years.
- Polio Plus - each club donate $1,500 this year, which is needed to get the Gates match. In 2018-19, our club donated $3,000; last year only $800.
Greg mentioned the Dayton Rotary Club brings the newbies together during their first year, meeting as a small group every month, and then do a “takeover” of the club, with a President for the day, etc. It gets them involved immediately and lets them know all about the Rotary club dynamics.
Greg encouraged everyone to ask others to become a part of Rotary and then ask members to help where needed - most won’t say “no”.
There was a question about how to make sure your donation does to Polio Plus, and not just the Rotary Foundation. The Club fills out a form that goes to RI with your donation, so use the memo on your check or attach a note to the check to tell your club where you want the donation to go (and you can split it up.)
Frank led the group in reciting the 4-Way Test and closed the meeting noting for everyone to have a great week, stay safe and healthy!