Pres. Bonnie McFarland Opens New Rotary Year!
It’s A New Rotary Year!
Our new club president, Bonnie McFarland, opened the July 7, 2009 meeting of the Gallipolis Rotary club. Congratulations! It’s going to be a great year!
District Governor Visit - Bonnie announced that the Rotary District 6690 Governor, Antaram “Ram” Gawande, will be visiting our club on Tuesday, July 21. She also passed out a committee list of names & alternates responsible for organizing the various functions of the Rotary club. The goal of this list is to involve more people in various Rotary functions and mentor the younger members of our club. More below the fold . . .
Sergeant in Arms - Bonnie also announced that Kurt Dailey will be our Sergeant in Arms for the club. He will also be asking someone to serve as an alternate.
Rotary Mile – Jim Morrison was absent from the meeting, but Bonnie reported that we had 21 runners in this year’s Rotary Mile, however, there were no RVHS runners. Chuck Clark mentioned that the finish line “magically appeared” thanks to Keith McGuire!
Board Meeting – Bonnie also reported that the monthly board meeting will take place in Doctor’s Room directly following the weekly meeting.
Other Announcements – Bonnie mentioned that we will be sending a card to James Wellington. His grandfather recently passed away. Jodie Anderson also reminded everyone that Generation Gallia’s 1st Annual Cornhole Tournament is July 18, 2:00 PM, at the Gallipolis City Park.
Split the Pot – Dan Whitely sold tickets for this meeting’s Split the Pot. 18 tickets were sold, $95 were in the large pot , and $6 were in the small pot. Past President Deb Rhodes won and the fine was anyone that was not President of the club last year!
Fellowship – Emily Dailey provided the fellowship this morning by informing us that it was the 188th day of the year. It is Deb Rhodes birthday next week and she chose to have a quartet of Jodie, Shawn, Melissa, & Margaret sing to her. (And yes, Jodie was fined for not wearing her membership badge!) Emily also informed the club that today, Ringo Starr turned 67 and it was also Leroy Robert “Satchel” Page’s birthday. Other events that occurred on this day were: Boulder (Hoover) Dams started & Hawaii was annexed in 1898. She left with a thought for the day: “Why is there flotation devices in an airplane instead of a parachute?”
Happy Bucks – Deb Rhodes thanked the club for all of the support shown to her while serving as Club President.
Coin Boxes – Margaret Evans and Kevin Petrie both turned in HEAVY coin boxes this week.
Program - Chuck Clark presented the club with a program detailing the Polio 
Eradication. He showed a variety of Public Service Announcements created by Rotary International describing the effects of Polio around the world. Chuck also told a story of two Polio victims he was acquainted with growing up. He informed us that Polio is transmitted most prominently due to unsanitary conditions and that there are 3 kinds of Polio: abortive, non-paralytic, & paralytic.
Bonnie mentioned an article in Rotarian magazine that survived on an Iron Lung for 6 decades and encouraged the club to revisit the article.
Chuck received the “End Polio Now” pin from Bonnie.
Chuck also showed a video of this year’s Rotary Mile highlights.
Dan Whitely announced to stop tomorrow at 12:34:56, as it will be 12:34:56 on 7-8-09.
On that note, Bonnie adjourned the meeting.