President Deb Rhodes welcomed an excellent attendance of Gallipolis Rotarians for the first meeting of the year at 7:15 AM in the Holzer Clinic Doctors’ Dining Room.  Our special guest this morning was Chris Badran, from Mason County.  Welcome, Chris!

Deb announced two members had turned in Rotary Coin Boxes to benefit the Rotary Foundation.  Margaret Evans and John Ellison turned in ’stuffed’ boxes this morning.  While both these boxes were quite heavy, Bonnie McFarland’s $129 record still stands until Treasurer Katrinka Hart gives the final total.  Be sure you have a Rotary coin box for your dresser or near the washing machine to pick up any spare change.

Black and White Benefit–Event Chair, Jenny Evans, announced the arrangements for this weekend’s Black and White Ball benefiting Gallia County Relay For Life, to be held at the Gallipolis Elks Lodge, at 7 pm.  Entertainment provided by the Blues Band, Strange Candy, and the GAHS Jazz Band.  Jenny asked for some 10-12 Rotarians to help with decorations and clean up.  Jenny emphasized this is an important high profile community project that can attract new members.  Let’s all get behind this important event!

2008-2009 Literacy Project–Debbie Saunders announced our club will be holding a reception January 22nd at 4 pm for school librarians in Gallia County.  Our club will be presenting the books donated through the year purchased from proceeds from Rotary District 6690 Simplified Grant. These are the books which are donated in the names of our speakers throughout the 2008-2009 Rotary Year.  In addition, our club will be presenting research materials to the high school libraries for the new high schools currently under construction in Gallia County.  This is another high profile community service project for our club and every Rotarian needs to be on hand for this reception.

Jim Phillippe Receives Blue Badge–President Deb asked Jim Phillippe to come forward and receive his Blue Badge of membership.  Jim completed all the necessary steps to  get rid of the old Red Badge.  Congratulations, Jim!

Rotary Board Meeting–President Deb reminded members the club board meeting is set for Wednesday, January 7th, at the OVB Main Office at 1 pm.  Attendance at one of these club board meetings is required for Red Badge members!.

Rotary Reads in Elementary Schools–Project Chair, Emily Dailey, requested some help from the membership to volunteer to read in February and March in the county elementary schools.  We’re only talking a total of an hour or so, once a month.  Now that the holidays are behind us, let’s clear our schedules and volunteer for duty.  Rotarians that have read earlier in the year reported having a lot of fun with the kids and these kids really benefit from having their Rotarian buddies read to them.

Split-The-Pot–Jim Morrison ran STP for the morning and our small pot grew to $10.  The winning ticket was held by Marlin Rose!  Our large pot of $167 is safe as Marlin missed drawing the Queen.  The Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone who did NOT stay up and watch the entire OSU/Texas game last night!

Fellowship–Lou Ellen Werry ran club fellowship for the meeting and opened with a little ‘Conjunction Junction’.  Lou Ellen wove a little economic trivia and historical trivia and mentioned the recent demise of Western Union and the singing telegram.  Margaret Evans bought a Happy Buck to talk about her trip to Hawaii and that our club is off to a great start for the new year!

The members of the Gallipolis Rotary Club enjoyed an evening dinner meeting to celebrate the season and participate in an ornament exchange.  Here are a few photos of the event provided by President Deb and Jeff!

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President Deb reminded us of the evening meeting next week.  We’ll eat at 6:30 with social time prior. Remember to bring an ornament for the exchange. President Deb reminded us of the evening meeting next week.  We’ll eat at 6:30 with social time prior. Remember to bring an ornament for the exchange.

We will not meet the following two Tuesdays but be ready to come back strong at the beginning of the year.

Bonnie’s coin box contained $129!  That is a record which will be hard to beat.  Bonnie’s total contribution through coin boxes for the year 2008 is $295.05.  Bonnie decided to split her contributions between RIF and our local foundation.  Congratulations to Bonnie for providing so much help to others through her contributions.

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Ornament Exchange–President Deb reminded everyone of our annual Christmas Dinner and Ornament Exchange which is scheduled for December 16th, at 6:00 PM at the Holiday Inn.  This is one of the premier events of our calendar for members and their guests and I hope all of you are planning on attending.  Remember to bring a tree ornament to exchange.

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Annual Christmas Ornament Exchange–In the first order of business President Deb announced our annual Christmas dinner/ornament exchange will be held December 16th,  6:30 pm, at the Holiday Inn.  This tradition started a few years back has become a seasonal favorite of members and is a chance to enjoy a relaxed evening with your invited spouse or guest.  There will be a sign-up sheet circulating and we hope to everyone there.  Be sure to mark your calendars! (more…)

Our club gave several contributions to community and outreach organizations last week. President Deb Rhodes is show here presenting a recently received check to PDG Mel Simon for Operation We Care Medical Mission to the Philippines.  Mel and his group of volunteers will be marking their 26th annual mission this year, which conducts surgical procedures, nutritional programs, and fresh water well projects.

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President Deb Rhodes opened the regular meeting of the Gallipolis Rotary Club at 7:15 am with a good crowd on hand.   Bob Hood gave the invocation.  Our special guest and speaker for the morning was Dr. Stephen K. Rerych, MD who gave a very interesting talk to the club about his experiences as a gold medalist in the 1968 Olympics.  Here is a photo of Dr. Rerych with President Deb and he is holding the display case showing the Olympic wreath and his gold medal for the 100 meter relay event.

Club Board Meeting–President Deb reminded club members that this Wednesday, November 6th is our monthly club board meeting to be held at the OVB Main Office at 1:00 pm.  This is an excellent time to make up a club absence and attendance is REQUIRED for at least one board meeting for all red badge members.  Any member is welcome to attend to learn more about the workings of your club.

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Nancy Smith local organizer for the Gallia County Snack Pack Program addressed the regular meeting of the Gallipolis Rotary Club.  President Deb Rhodes presided and Matt Willis gave the invocation.

Rotary Reads–Next Tuesday is our regular time to read in the elementary schools so Emily Dailey had a big box of books on hand at the meeting for Rotarians to choose their books to read.  Our November readers include Shirley Doss at Southwestern Elementary, Jenny Evans at Addaville, Tammi Brabham at Vinton, and President Deb Rhodes at Hannan Trace.  This is actually a fun time for both Rotarians and the kids.  A big Rotary THANKS goes out to these readers for volunteering for November!  Be sure to get some good pictures.

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Dictionary Distribution–Our annual dictionary distribution to 5th graders was held last Thursday and Gallipolis Rotarians were in all the elementary schools in the county.  Greg Sojka visited Rio Grande Elementary, Jim Morrison and Debbie Saunders visited Washington, Chuck Clark visited Southwestern, Dan and Edna Whitely visited Vinton, Cleeland Willis visited Green, Bonnie McFarland and President Deb visited Hannan Trace, Denise Shockley and Emily Dailey visited Addaville, and Bob Hood visited Ohio Valley Christian.  Matt Willis mentioned how Rotarians need to be ‘on your game’ as these kids are really sharp!

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