Gallipolitan
Presiden
t-Elect Bonnie McFarland ran our meeting today for vacationing President Deb Rhodes who was rumored to be in Myrtle Beach. We had an excellent crowd at the meeting and we were honored to have Evans Smalley as our guest today. Secretary Chuck Clark was back in town after missing last week. PE Bonnie welcomed everyone assembled.
Foundation/Membership Seminar–Bonnie announced a sign-up sheet has been created for the upcoming District 6690 2008 Rotary Foundation and Membership Seminar to be held at the Cherry Valley Lodge in Newark, on Saturday,October 18th from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm. We’ll be taking a carload that day and all interested Rotarians are welcome to ride along.
Foundation Coin Boxes–Two weeks ago we had a couple of Rotary coin boxes turned into the club and Katrinka was able to announce the totals. Dave Smith turned in a box with $23 and change for his initial contribution toward the Foundation and Kevin Petrie’s box contained $76.88 — more than 3/4’s of the way to his annual gift. Congratulations, guys, for the great work for the Foundation. This little box is designed to sit on the counter, or dresser, or near the washing machine and to pick up the loose pocket change at the end of the day. This is a very painless way to contribute to our Rotary Foundation. Ask for a coin box next week!
Fellowship–Lou Ellen was back today and ran club fellowship for our meeting. She is looking forward to an upcoming trip to the Big Apple. Lou thanked John Ellison for helping the club ‘up-tempo’ of our opening song this morning. Lou Ellen pointed out that Bob Eastman celebrated a birthday a while back and coaxed out a small donation so the club could all sing Happy Birthday, Bob!” Our fellowship concluded with some interesting history that occurred on this day.
Split-The-Pot–Dan Whiteley ran STP for the meeting today and our small pot grew to an amazing $9 to the lucky winner. Dan asked Rep. Clyde Evans to draw the winning ticket which was held by Rotarian David Smith! Dave carefully drew a card for the big pot of $40, but narrowly missed it by drawing the five of clubs. Dave assessed the Foundation Fine against anyone who did NOT watch the entire OSU game last Saturday.
Remember, TB Tests For Farm Festival–Paul Koch reminded everyone that starting next week, we will be having someone from the Gallia County Health Department at our meetings to administer TB tests to members. Be sure to get your TB Test before the BEF Festival and more importantly, be sure to get it read at the health department!
Program–PE Bonnie asked Past President Jim Morrison to introduce our program speaker for the meeting. Jim, in turn, introduced Rotarian Paul Koch who spoke to the club about the growing problem of Identity Theft. Paul is a 25 year veteran of law enforcement and serves the State of Ohio as a Parole officer, so he is quite familiar with the serious nature of the growing crime.
Deter-Detect-Defend– Paul distributed some interesting information from the Federal Trade Commission to educate members in the best ways to fight back against identity theft. First of all we should all SHRED our old documents and statements before discarding them. Next, we need to PROTECT our Social Security number at all times. Next, we need to avoid releasing personal information over the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet. Next, we should NEVER CLICK on links in unsolicited emails and we need to be sure our virus protection and anti-spyware defenses are all current and updated. Next, we need to GUARD OUR PASSWORDS and make sure not to use obvious data such as Social Security numbers or mother’s maiden name, or birthdays. Finally, we need to make sure our personal information is SECURE.
Paul urged Rotarians to be alert to some signs that may require immediate attention. We need to be aware of bills that do not arrive on time! We should watch out for unexpected credit cards or account statements which could mean some outsider may be attempting to intercept your mail. Any denials of credit for no apparent reason is a big red flag to watch for! Finally, if you receive calls about purchases you did not make, someone may have made these purchases and fraudulently obtained your identity.
Paul recounted some of the ways that identity theft often occurs. People will rummage through the trash, or ‘dumpster diving.’ Credit card numbers can be ’skimmed’ with small devices at restaurants. Criminals can create web sites that appear to be financial institutions and will attempt to scam your account information. This is referred to as ‘phishing.’ Finally, thefts of wallets or purses can yield criminals a great deal of valuable information in the form of credit cards, personal ID’s, drivers’ licenses, checks, and account statements. Paul recommended that we photocopy everything in a wallet or purse and keep the copies in a safe place. If you should every need to report a lost wallet or purse, it is much easier to issue the alerts to banks and credit card companies.
Thank you for the interesting program, Paul!