Gallipolitan
Club President, Bonnie McFarland, called the meeting of the Gallipolis Rotary Club to order promptly at 7:15 am. We had an excellent attendance today and Rotarian Bob Hood offered the invocation.
Treasurer’s Report—Club Treasurer, Shawn Siders, presented the financial report from last week’s board meeting concerning the expenditures for December for the club.
Two Blue Badges—President 
Bonnie called Dave Smith and James Wellington forward to present them their new permanent Rotary blue badge. Both had fulfilled the requirements to shed the old red badge. Bonnie asked ADG Matt Willis to assist in the presentations. Congratulations to Dave and James!
Valentine’s Dinner—President Bonnie asked everyone to mark February 9th as our club’s Valentine’s Dinner. There will be NO MORNING MEETING that day as members will be escorting their Valentine to an evening meeting at Dave’s American Grill starting a 6:00 pm.
Upcoming District Events—Springtime is traditionally a busy time for Rotarians with a number of district meetings:
- Pre-PETS (President-Elects) Training, February 20 at Ohio Christian University, Circleville, OH
- All Ohio PETS Training, March 12-13, Columbus, OH
- District Assembly, April 17, Ohio Christian University, Circleville, OH
- District Conference, May 13-16, OU Inn, Athens, OH
New Rotarians should think seriously about attending the District Assembly in April as they conduct a New Member session to familiarize participants with Rotary and the District functions. The club will pay for any costs and this is a great way to learn more about Rotary. Please note that I have included hyperlinks to the above meetings so you can be directed to the specific website for each meeting. This is one of the valuable tools we have by using the ‘blog’ format for our newsletter.
Check your info—Secretary Chuck Clark urged members to check their personal information on the District Website using your email address as your login and your Rotary ID number as your password.
Split-Der-Pot—Rotarian Paul Koch ran STP for the meeting today and asked Dave Smith to draw the winning ticket which was held by President Bonnie! Bonnie pocketed the $8 small pot and carefully drew for the large pot of $74, but came up short pulling the two of clubs. Bonnie assessed the Foundation Fine against anyone who DID NOT have to scrape their windshield this morning!
Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary ran club fellowship for the meeting announcing that Bob Hood recently celebrated a birthday! Bob ‘anted’ up two bucks and the entire club sang Happy Birthday. Answering the call for Happy Bucks, Jodie McCalla happily announced that the painting is at an end and her house is nearly ready to move in. Also, Margaret Evans bought a Happy Buck in honor of all her siblings being home during the holidays. Gordon played a little acronym trivia with club members and closed with his thought for the day.
Program—President Bonnie introduced club member Kevin Petrie who
provided our program today speaking on the ministry he provides on weekends and evenings to churches and individuals. Kevin is a certified instructor through the Dave Ramsey’s Lampro Group and Crown Financial. This Bible based instruction helps couples and individuals create a financial plan to get out of debt, build an emergency fund, and work to financial freedom. Kevin provided some personal examples of how his instruction has benefited participants. He also cited some amazing statistics, such as 78% of adults die without a will.
Every adult needs a solid understanding on financial matters and how to get out of debt. He emphasized the importance of charitable giving and that giving from our excess is Biblical and fundamental to providing for the less fortunate in our society. A number of lucky members received a copy of Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover courtesy of our speaker. Thanks, Kevin, for your program today!