Club President Bonnie McFarland welcomed assembled guests and Rotarians to the regular meeting of the Gallipolis Rotary Club. Visiting with us today was Curt Wiggins from the Jackson Rotary Club. Past President Deb Rhodes provided the invocation. Resty Alonzo gave the Rotary Foundation Minute to open our meeting. Resty covered a brief history of the early days of the Foundation.
Moment of Silence—The club observed a moment of silence to morn the passing of Rotarian Bob Eastman. Bonnie informed our club that Assistant Treasurer Shawn Siders was not with us today due to the death of his mother in Florida. The thoughts and prayers of our club go out to both families in this difficult time.
Membership Development—President Bonnie announced the District will be holding its annual Membership/Foundation Seminar on Saturday, September 26th at the Cherry Valley Lodge, near Newark. We’d like to see some of the newer Rotarians volunteer to attend this interesting meeting along with the regular attendees.
Program Listing—President Bonnie announced that Program Chair, Tammi Brabham, has the program listing completed for this Rotary year. Secretary Chuck will be emailing out a copy to each member this week. Each member is responsible for arranging a speaker for the designated date and reporting back to Tammi so the updated information about upcoming programs can be viewed from the web.
Presentation—ADG Matt Willis presented a certificate signed by RI Past President, DK Lee, to Past President Deb Rhodes for achieving 10% growth during the past Rotary year. Matt commended our club on its dynamic growth which demonstrates that Gallipolis Rotary is on the right track.
Split-The-Pot—Jim Morrison ran STP for the meeting today. Our small pot was $7 in spite of our small attendance! Our lucky winner today was James Wellington, proving once again that it pays to come to Rotary meetings! The large pot was determined to be ‘something greater than $7’ since our Treasurer Shawn was not with us. Checking back to last week and adding the new $7, our large pot has grown to $124.00! James drew carefully pulling the two of diamonds, making the pot safe yet again for another week. James assessed the Foundation Fine against ‘anyone who has not stepped into his new office’ in Gallipolis.
Fellowship—Emily Dailey led club fellowship for our meeting today. Emily called for a couple of fines for any latecomers or for missing pins and badges. Lou Ellen volunteered a buck for arriving late. Emily announced that on this day in history not much apparently happened! She did, however, have some excellent words of wisdom to conclude fellowship.
Program—President Bonnie introduced PDG Mel Simon as our speaker for the meeting, who spoke about the new French 500 Free Medical Clinic. Mel was recently interviewed by Marianne Campbell on the local radio station about the clinic. Mel related how he came to medicine through the personal experiences of living in WWII occupied Philippines and losing his sister because there was no medical care. As a result, he dedicated his life to attaining the necessary schooling and becoming a physician. Now, many years later, and after 25 years of conducting the Operation We Care Medical Mission to the Philippines, it is time to give back closer to home.
The French 500 Free Medical Clinic has become a reality and will 
operate two Thursday afternoons per month at his Hillcrest location. The rooms have been remodeled and will be staffed by like minded volunteer physicians and nurses. The clinic will operate with the goals of providing quality care, excellence, and teamwork of its personnel. The clinic will only provide routine examinations and procedures that can be handled out of the office. No pain medications will be prescribed. Eventually, the clinic hopes to be able to offer expanded services, hours, and even dental exams to our area.
President Bonnie asked the club to rise and give PDG Mel as standing ovation for his humanitarian work through Rotary over the years. Before adjourning, ADG Matt Willis reminded members the importance and necessity of visiting other Rotary clubs and making up missed attendance. This way you can personally experience the true fellowship and friendship in Rotary.
recently purchased a fair hog, and will provide the meat to Serenity House, our local shelter, which is managed by Rotarian Melissa Kimmel. In addition, Kurt asked PDG Mel Simon to come forward and receive a check from the company for $1,000 to go to the French 500 Medical Clinic. This Thursday, August 27th is the first official opening of the French 500 Free Medical Clinic. President Bonnie reminded Rotarians that opportunities for service will be available at the clinic in future months.
