THE GALLIPOLIS ROTARY CLUB BLOG

Rotarians receive TB Tests For BEF Festival!

Gallipolis Rotary was very busy today and we had an excellent  attendance for our meeting.  Our guests included Melissa Kunkle from the Gallia County Health Department to administer TB tests, Andrea Gannaway, and our speaker, Jason Holdren.  President Bonnie McFarland welcomed everyone and called our meeting to order.  Kevin Petrie provided our invocation.

Member Makeup’s—Two members turned in attendance makeup’s.  Denise Shockley make up at the September 15th meeting of Jackson Rotary.  Melissa Kimmel worked the Jackson Rotary Club’s Apple Festival booth last weekend.  Remember, you can also make up missed absences on line at one of the many e-clubs such as rotaryeclubone.com.

Coin Box—Dave Smith turned in a heavy, stuffed coin box to the club today for his Foundation contribution.  Margaret Evans has more empty boxes available, so if you need a new box, be sure to see Margaret.  Actually, you probably should have TWO—one in your laundry room and one for your dresser.  Or as President Bonnie recommends, a third one for your car!

Club Board Meeting—President Bonnie reminded members that our monthly board meeting will be next week, October 6th, at 8 am right after our regular club meeting.  If you need a makeup or credit for your Red Badge program, plan on staying after the meeting to attend the meeting.

District Foundation/Membership Seminar—VP-President-Elect Lou Ellen Werry spoke briefly about last Saturday’s District Foundation and Membership Seminar.  Lou Ellen said this was an excellent meeting and really surpassed her expectations.  She attended the Foundation meeting and learned about the different programs from Rotary International and the matching grants.   Everyone should make the effort to attend these meetings to become more informed about Rotary.  Speaking about the same meeting, Paul Koch spoke about the membership recruitment and retention meeting.  These sessions were terrific and thought-provoking.    Paul indicated there will be some changes coming from RI over the next few years to include stay-at-home Moms and home office workers.  There is a new District web site that will be launched in a few weeks at http://district6690.org.

Thank you Melissa—Melissa Kunkle, Director of Nursing from the Gallia County Health Department was on hand today to assist members obtain their TB test for the upcoming BEF Festival.  President Bonnie asked Melissa to say a few words to our group about the flu awareness program by the health department.  Melissa announced the health department will be running their annual flu vaccination program this Saturday, October 3rd, at the Jackson Pike location.  She will also have flu vaccine with her at our meeting next week for any  interested members in addition to the TB test.   Melissa emphasized the annual shots are an excellent way to improve your immunity to the flu and that the department will have the swine flu vaccine later this fall.

REMEMBER—if you received your TB test on Tuesday morning, it will need to be read at the health department on THURSDAY!

Split-The-Pot—Jim Morrison ran STP for our meeting today and ran the small pot up to $7.  After trying to find an honest face in the crowd, Jim had our speaker, Jason Holdren, draw out the winning ticket which was held by . . . Paul Koch!   In the draw for the large pot of $177, Paul unfortunately pulled the two of spades.  The Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone who did NOT attend Saturday’s District meeting.

Club Literacy Project—Emily Dailey, announced our club will be starting our reading program in the county elementary schools NEXT WEEK!  A sign up sheet was distributed around for slots to read to the first graders.  This is a great program and the kids really enjoy having Rotarians visit their class.

Happy Buck$—Margaret Evans bought a Happy Buck reminding members we will be having 8-10 community service workers helping us at the Bob Evans Festival this  year.  President Bonnie also bought a Happy Buck to brag about the successful Prostrate Screening Clinic that was held on Saturday.

Fellowship—Our Fellowship Chair, Emily Dailey, announced we had two birthdays in our club this week.  Tammi Brabham and Jim Morrison both have birthdays, but  opted to for forego the Happy Birthday song with a strong donation to the Foundation.  What does this say about our club’s vocal ability?  The club learned some of the noteworthy events that occurred on this day in history and Emily concluded fellowship with some words of wisdom.

Program—Program Chair, Shirley Doss, introduced our speaker for the morning, Jason Holdren, who spoke to the club about the Mediation Services from the Gallipolis Municipal Court.  Jason is a native of Gallia county and is now an assistant prosecutor for Gallia county, as well as the Mediation Officer for the Municipal Court.  The Mediation Services are operating as a special project from the court fees under Ohio Revised Code.  The free services seek to arbitrate a workable solution between two parties before it accelerates into violence.

The program has a success rate greater than 70% and can resolve the differences of opinion that occur between parties, neighbors, and contractors.  Jason provided a number of interesting examples of how this program has worked.  Club members enjoyed a time of Q & A after his prepared remarks.  President Bonnie presented Jason with a certificate of appreciation and a donation of a book in his honor to one of the elementary schools in Gallia county.

Next week’s program will be a Club Assembly in preparation for the upcoming Bob Evans Festival!  Melissa Kimmel will provide the program for the following week.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 15:15 and is filed under Club Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.