The Board of Director’s Meeting was held on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at Absolute Title Company. The Club’s membership on September 30 was 279 Active members, plus six Honorary members and six Inactive Emeriti. Attendance for the month’s three meetings was 35%. Average attendance at each meeting was 97 members plus 11 others. Our Engagement Ratio for the month was 58%. Three members resigned this month, Ian Bund, Ed Hoffman and Gae Miller.
President Rosemarie welcomed our District 6380 District Governor Don “Sparky” Leonard to the board meeting. Sparky said a few words about how he was first introduced to Rotary and how honored he is to now be our District Governor. Rosemarie then announced that the donations to Dorian Relief have been wired to the Bahamas and that the balance from an anonymous donor will be forwarded to the Relief Team as soon as it is received.
Club Service reports that the Social Committee New Member Reception at the Session Room was another successful event with 30 plus Rotarians and their spouses in attendance. The annual Wine, Women and Song is now scheduled for January 23. Mark your calendars and plan on attending this really fun event.
Club Outreach reported that the Membership Committee inducted ten new members on October 16: Paula Brown, Karl Edelmann, Mark Froelich, Paul Izenberg, Ashok Natwa, Sarah Jasinski, Becky Pazkowski (former Saline Rotarian), Mike Rein, Monica Swartout-Bebow and Kathy Waugh. Also added to the club membership are reinstating members Peter Fayroian, Mike James and John Simpkins. Other new members since the last class in March are transfers Christina Ferris, Mark Makulinski and Rose Makulinski.
The International Humanitarian Projects reported that on October 2, 2019, Bill Feldt of behalf of Rotarian Malaria Partners provided an extensive report on an effort to eradicate malaria in certain regions of Africa, including the Copperbelt region of Zambia. This is an effort in which a large number of Rotary Clubs are involved as partners, and which is now receiving substantial financial support from outside individuals and groups as well as from Rotary. While not actively seeking financial support, Bill encouraged our Club to consider joining in this effort.
Eight club members participated in the rebuilding of the Eberwhite Elementary Playground as part of our DOGS program under the leadership of Rob Shiff.
The Veterans Initiative Hiring event will be held on Tuesday, November 5 at Washtenaw Community College, involving many Rotarians as guides. Wednesday, November 13 has been designated by RCAA as Veterans Day and a program highlighting our current members with military experience will be presented. Finally, a Christmas Kit project to provide personal hygiene supplies to about 120 Ann Arbor Veterans is planned for December. In addition, our group has received a District 6380 grant to sustain our different programs.
The Youth Achievement and Youth Development areas are back in full swing now that the school year has begun. Members interested in Rotary Readers and Tutors should contact Jim Egerdal at jim.egerdal@att.net to volunteer for this year’s program. Being a tutor does not take a lot of time or involve any outside work – it is an easy and fun way to be involved and help students struggling to keep up with their studies.
Rosemarie closed the meeting with thanks to DG Sparky for attending the meeting and sharing his Rotary experience.
