THE GALLIPOLIS ROTARY CLUB

Secretary Chuck Clark is off on a little R and R and in my absence, Shana Booher is reporting the goings-on at the meetings.  Thanks, Shana!

Attendance: Emily, Bonnie, Clyde, Kurt, Lee Saltzgaber, John Ellison, Jim, Gordon, Lou Ellen, Kevin, Dave Wiseman, Dave Nadler, Cleland, Matt, Resty,Shirley, Jeff, Paul, Sammy, Margret, Sean, Shana, Zach, Mel (wife and daughter-Malu, a Rotarian from Club #1 in Evanston), and our guest speaker, Brent Saunders.

Fellowship with Gordon: It was Lou Ellen’s Birthday and the whole club sang to her, which was far better than last weeks serenades. There were Happy Bucks from Lee Saltsgaber and Margret. It was also Mel’s daughter, Malu’s birthday. She opted for the mystery singer…Kurt! He sang an awesome birthday solo to Malu. The club was amazed!

Split-the-Pot: Was ran by Shana, $11 in the small pot and $100 in the large. Lou Ellen was the winner and donated her winnings to the Relay for Life. She lost out on the big pot by drawing the nine of clubs. She fined everyone with socks as part of Gordon’s Fellowship spiel-It was National Don’t Wear Socks Day.

Program: Dave Wiseman had the program and introduced Kid Dynamite…Brent Saunders! Brent gave an update on the newly merged entity Holzer Health System. He discussed history highlights, advantages of one Holzer along with system facts. Mel commented on how finally One Holzer makes him proud as Dr. Holzer wanted it this way.

Still in the works for the new system…A full standing ER in Meigs (Meigs is the only county in Ohio without an ER), Geriatric Psychiatric Unit, and a Wound Care Center at the Jackson Hospital.

Old Business: Reminder Ro-Ki-Li will be on May 24th at 6:00 p.m. at the hospital. It will not be held on May 15 as originally planned; therefore, there will be a meeting next week. There will NOT be a meeting on Tuesday morning, May 22nd. 

A Rotary ‘accidental quartet’ of Jodie McCalla, Jim Morrison, Lou Ellen Werry, and Gordon Amsbary debuted at the regular Gallipolis Rotary club meeting for member Paul Koch, on the occasion of a belated April birthday.  The not-quite-ready-for-primetime singers attempted to score big time for Paul with their rendition of Happy Birthday, but may still need to keep their day jobs!  Our club has a long tradition whereby the Fellowship Chair, Gordon Amsbary, seeks a small fine of a dollar or two and the member then gets to name his quartet or have the entire club sing for the occasion.  Today was just one of those special days!  Gordo also ‘fined’ Kevin Petrie for a bit of advertising on his Car Quest shirt.  He continued to wax eloquently announcing May as International Dental Awareness Month and that today is National Law Day.  Mixed in with all of the above, member Margaret Evans arrived a bit late and was asked to contribute a dollar to the club!

Welcome—Club President, Shirley Doss, welcomed members and guests to our meeting.  Our visiting Rotarians today included Frank Capehart from Pt. Pleasant and Joe Craig, from Lumberton, NC.  Joe is with Heartland Publishers and was a guest of Sammy Lopez.  We had a great turnout of regular members today and it was great to see Jeff Lanham and Dave Wiseman again!  Thanks, everyone, for making Rotary your starting point of the day today!

Split-The-Pot—Member, Lee Saltzgaber, jumped in early and ran our STP for the meeting.  Ticket sales were brisk today and our small pot grew to a respectable $10.00! Our lucky winner today was Kevin Dennis!  This makes two in a row for the lucky guy!  Kevin made a valiant effort in the drawing for the ‘Big One’ of $89.00, but came up a bit short with the eight of clubs.  Our pot continues to grow for another week!  Our Foundation Fine was assessed by Kevin against anyone NOT wearing white pants today.  He was careful to emphasize this was outerwear!

Program—Our featured speaker for the day was member Bob Hood, who presented a special talk updating the club regarding our Gallia Tourism Office.  Bob offered an interesting talk today featuring a PowerPoint presentation which will be used when the Ohio Director of Tourism comes to town this week.  Our local tourism office is funded by the 3% lodging tax paid at our local hotels and motels.  Not surprising the summer months tend to be the busiest for tourism locally and yet fall, winter, and spring athletic events often fill up available rooms.  Our speaker identified a number of important events that will be occurring in our area that our draws for tourism.  Ohio Chautauqua will be coming again this July 17-21 and will be under the tent in the City Park.  The new riverboat, Queen of The Mississippi, will call on Gallipolis October 2 and 9.  Bob also mentioned collaboration with Mason County Tourism Board as well as with the Jackson County Tourism Board in an effort to highlight the area’s local Amish businesses.  Members enjoyed the time of Q & A at the conclusion of Bob’s prepared remarks.  Excellent program, Bob!  Thanks for taking the time to update us on the fine events coming up this year.

Ro-Li-Ki—President Shirley announced there has been a change in the this year’s Ro-Li-Ki meeting.  Members need to be aware this year’s Ro-Li-Ki  meeting will occur on THURSDAY, May 24th at 6:00 pm instead of the previously schedule Tuesday date.  We will NOT have a morning meeting that week so we can attend the Thursday Ro-Li-Ki meeting.  Please make note of this change in your calendars.

Here are the program responsibilities for the balance of this Rotary year:

May 8        David Wiseman
May 15      T. B. A.
May 22       No Morning Meeting!
May 24       Thursday Ro-Li-Ki Mtg 6:00 PM
May 29       Matt Willis

Jun 5          Kevin Dennis
Jun 12        Lee Saltzgaber
Jun 19        Jodie McCalla
Jun 26        Installation of new officers

Have a great week!

The Gallipolis Rotary Club hosted Nancy Smith (above right) to learn about the progress of the Snack Pack program in the elementary schools in Gallia county.  Ms. Smith was introduced to the club by Rotarian Jeff Lanham.  Snack Pack is now in its fourth consecutive year of operation assisting some 750 children who cope with hunger and neglect.  The 501(c)3 non profit provides kid-friendly single serving packaged entrees such as macaroni or spaghetti, apple sauce, juice boxes, and a jar of peanut butter.  Volunteers package a weekend supply of snacks and seal them with a zip tie and deliver them to the schools.  School officials control the registration and distribution of the program.  School personnel discretely slip a snack pack bag into a student’s backpack to take home.  Students are prescreened by the school to avoid complications from food allergies such as peanuts.

The non-profit has encountered higher prices for many of their items, particularly peanut butter which has nearly doubled.  Nancy elaborated the organization hopes to attract a Vista volunteer to provide additional manpower to help take the program to the next level in 2013.  The community has been great in donating supplies.  The Gallia County Health Department accepts the food donations for the group.  Some Q&A followed the presentation.  Members enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about this important program.  Thank you, Nancy and Jeff!

President Shirley Doss welcomed assembled members to the meeting.  It was great to welcome back Dave Wiseman to our meeting today!  Great to see you again, and hope you will make Rotary a more regular part of your week!  Kevin Dennis provided our invocation today.  Our attendance was really down today, especially since we had a near full house last week.

Club Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary led our fellowship this morning with some dinosaur trivia and some famous birthdays.  He provided a bit more historical facts and closed with a few words of wisdom—‘Do your homework . . . you’re competitor is!

Happy Buck$—Member Kevin Dennis bought a Happy Buck in honor of the completion of the asbestos removal at the old North Gallia HS building.  His granddaughter had the opportunity to take the first basketball shot in the gym.  Chuck Clark bought a Happy Buck in honor of his daughter, Dr. Meredith Workman who is on her way to Mongolia as a part of a two week educational opportunity from Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Split-The-Pot—Kevin Dennis jumped in and ran our STP for the meeting today.  Ticket sales were a bit off due to attendance, but Kevin managed to move the small pot up to $5.00.  Kevin asked our speaker, Nancy Smith, to draw the winning ticket which was held by . . . Kevin Dennis!  Kevin graciously donated his winnings back to the club.  He asked President Shirley to manage the deck of remaining cards for the draw for the ‘big one’ of $79.00.  Unfortunately, Kevin came up a bit short by drawing the eight of diamonds.  Tough luck!  Our Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone who was NOT wearing purple today.

Big Thanks—A shout out and big thanks goes to VP/President-Elect Jodie McCalla for being our Treasurer today.  We could make change for STP!  Members may also check their dues balance with Shawn or Jodie as well as pay dues or contribute to the Foundation.

Program Responsibilities—Here are the program responsibilities for the balance of this Rotary year:

May 1         Bob Hood
May 8         David Wiseman
May 15       Annual Ro-Li-Ki Mtg
May 22       Katrinka Hart
May 29       Matt Willis
Jun 5          Jodie McCalla
Jun 12        Lee Saltzgaber
Jun 19        Kevin Dennis
Jun 26       Installation of new officers

Dr. John Ellison(left) introduced Holzer Health Systems Podiatrist, Dr. Nathan Clark, at the weekly meeting of the Gallipolis Rotary Club.  Dr. Clark’s practice covers a range of services from foot and ankle care, trauma, diabetic care, sports medicine, arthritis, and pediatrics.  Dr. Clark presented a short PowerPoint illustrating some of the more interesting aspects of Podiatry.  Rotarians enjoyed a lively Q&A time.  Thank you Drs. John and Nathan for the interesting program!

Club President Shirley Doss welcomed assembled Rotarians and guests to our morning meeting.  Member Kevin Dennis provided our invocation.  Jack Buxton was our visiting Rotarian today from the Pt. Pleasant Club.  We had an excellent turnout of members today.  Sammy Lopez turned in a makeup at Pt. Pleasant Rotary for a recently missed club meeting.  Reminder—participating in club projects, committees, and club planning meetings all count toward attendance, so be sure to indicate any activity on the weekly attendance sheet when you sign in at meetings!

Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary led off our fellowship this morning with a bit of movie trivia, a little didactics, some groupings, and a dimple on the bottom of a wine bottle!  Did you realize today is ‘National Blah, Blah, Blah Day’ and National Cow Chip Throwing Day?’  He concluded with a few words of wisdom.

Happy Buck$—Lou Ellen Werry offered a buck and an interesting short story behind it on how to get a car door unlocked!  Chuck Clark bought a Happy Buck to announce that his daughter, Dr. Meredith Workman, as accepted a position as Pediatric Plastic Surgeon at Cardon Children’s Hospital in Mesa, AZ in July.  Twelve years ago, Meredith attended an evening meeting of Gallipolis Rotary before launching her medical education.

District Assembly—One of the most IMPORTANT district meetings of the year is coming up this Saturday, April 21st. Our annual District Assembly will be held at Westerville High School on the 21st from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm.  This is a great meeting for new Rotarians and for officers and directors for the coming year to attend.  Jodie, Lee, and Chuck are going . . . anyone else?

Split-The-Pot—Jim Morrison fearlessly ran our STP today and pushed up our weekly small pot to the sum of $9.00!  Jim asked our speaker to draw for today’s winner which was . . . Resty Alonzo!  Resty likes to remind us how normally unlucky he is in this draw over the years, but he has managed to win it twice in the past three weeks!  In the draw for the ’Big One’ of $74.00, our winner came up short today, drawing the four of diamonds.  Resty donated his winnings back to the club and assessed the Foundation Fine against ‘anyone who was wearing white’ today.

Relay For Life Award—Project Co-Chair, Shana Booher, presented a framed certificate to the club which was presented at the recent Relay For Life Kickoff Luncheon from the National Cancer Society for our efforts last year.

Rotary Lip-Sync Contest Project—Shana also took a moment to remind club members about this year’s big project for Relay For Life—First Annual Rotary Lip Sync Competition, to be held Thursday, May 31st at the Ariel Theatre at 7:00 PM.  This community event has the opportunity to become a great fundraiser as well as a fun evening the community can get behind.  Shana has produced some excellent promotional materials for this event and club members need to start to talk it up in the community.  Every business, every organization is a potential entry, but they have to know about it and that is where we need to help!  The success of this is riding on our ability to talk it up and encourage employee groups, churches, etc. to get excited and enter a skit.  We have the opportunity to make this a fun evening and a repeat fundraiser for Relay.

Relay For Life Luminaries—Keep the forms in your office and hand these out to everyone you meet.  Everyone buys a luminary or two for relatives and friends who have had cancer.  Make sure they buy theirs from ROTARY!

Here are the program responsibilities for the balance of this Rotary year:

Apr 24       Jeff Lanham

May 1        Bob Hood
May 8        David Wiseman
May 15      Annual Ro-Li-Ki Mtg
May 22      Katrinka Hart
May 29      Matt Willis

Jun 5         Jodie McCalla
Jun 12       Lee Saltzgaber
Jun 19       Kevin Dennis
Jun 26      Installation of officers