Gallipolitan
President Deborah Rhodes welcomed assembled Rotarians to the regular meeting in spite of the record cold weather for early March. We had an excellent attendance today including a number of folks we haven’t seen in a while! Matt Willis provided the invocation to the meeting.
District Assembly—As was mentioned last week, President Deb reminded everyone the District Assembly will be held on Saturday, April 4th at Ohio University-Lancaster. President Deb, Bonnie, and Chuck are planning on attending and would like to have a few more Rotarians make the trip this year. This is an excellent opportunity for new members to experience the workings of Rotary at the District level and to meet Rotarians from around our District. They usually have a special meeting for new Rotarians.
Rotary Relays—Our Spring project—Rotary Relays will be held Saturday, April 25th at the University of Rio Grande track facility. This year our club is opening the event to 7th and 8th grade students who are interested in track and field. Our club feels it is important to have a track event that will attract and stimulate this age group and their families. Jeff Lanham is handling the planning and we are expecting an excellent turnout. Be sure to mark your calendars as we need everyone to help at this important event.
Rotary Reading—Emily Dailey toted in two heavy boxes of books this morning and that of course means it reading time again! Emily reported that every school is taken this month and we still have some openings for next month, which is the last reading opportunity for this year! Be sure to contact Emily if you haven’t had an opportunity to help with this project. Reading to the first graders is a real treat!
Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary led club fellowship for the meeting and collected a couple of fines for arriving late from Greg Sojka and Paul Koch. Gordo announced today is “I Want You To Be Happy Day” as well as “Free Bulgaria Day” and “National Hug A GI Day.” Gordon concluded with a few words of wisdom.
Split-The-Pot—Jim Morrison ran STP for the meeting selling tickets and raising the small pot to $11. Our lucky ticket holder for today was Cleeland Willis! Cleeland missed the ‘Big One’ of $243 by drawing the two of diamonds. We’re starting to get into that ‘serious money’ from now on until someone draws the Queen! Cleeland assessed the Foundation Fine against anyone who did not get a hug today.
Happy Bucks—Kevin Petrie bought a happy buck to announce that he is a proud Grandfather once again! President Deb bought a buck to announce that she will be leaving the Galila County cold for a few days in Jamaica! Jim Morrison bought a happy buck in honor of his 20th year on the Bossard Library board.
Program—Our program speaker for today was new member, Jodie McCalla 
Anderson, who presented her vocation talk. Jodie is originally a Gallia native and was Miss Gallia County ten years ago. After graduating from Gallia Academy she pursued an aeronautical engineering degree in Florida and worked in the aviation/space industry on a number of interesting projects. Along the way she moved to California, back to Florida, and then to Arizona. After completing a Master’s Degree, Jodie felt it was time to leave the fast track and return back home. She currently works as a research and technology officer for Ohio Valley Bank. Jodie is serious about getting involved in our community and is working on developing a Young Professionals group with the Gallia Chamber for networking opportunities. She is thrilled to be a member of Gallipolis Rotary and looks forward to being an active member.
Thanks for coming back to our community and working with Rotary to make Gallipolis a better place!