THE GALLIPOLIS ROTARY CLUB

Well, not quite Broadway, but a fun time at the first club meeting of the year!  Margaret Evans’ birthday was missed last month, so a special quartet +1 helped sing Happy Birthday at the meeting today.  Our ‘volunteers’ included PDG Mel Simon, Dave Nadler, Matt Willis, newest Rotarian, Amber Johnson, and Fellowship Chairperson, Gordon Amsbary.  Thank you all!

President Shirley Doss rang the bell to call the meeting to order promptly at 7:15 am on a very snowy morning.  Our attendance was a bit weak, but Rotarians slipped in as the meeting continued.

Monthly Board Meeting—President Shirley recommended we NOT have the regular monthly board meeting today and move all the business to the next month’s meeting which will be February 7th right after the morning meeting.

Coin Box—Emily Dailey turned in a Rotary coin box for her contribution to the Rotary Foundation.  This is a great way to make your loose change do some great Rotary work!

Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary led off our first club fellowship for the new year talking about large divorce settlements and some resolutions.  Jodie McCalla popped in a bit late as did Bonnie McFarland and Zac Fosler.  No fines were incurred due to the inclement weather.  The club enjoyed the special quartet +1 who sang to Margaret Evans for her birthday.

Rotary Reading on Wednesday—Project Chairman, Emily Dailey, brought books for Rotary Readers for this month.  We have two Scholastic Publishers picks—“Please Write Back” and “Noodles—I Love Snow.”  We don’t seem to have enough readers for this month, so some schools will slip to next Wednesday.  Please contact Emily if you would like to help out in this great project!

Program—We didn’t have a regular program today, but Chuck Clark volunteered to speak briefly about his experiences last month in Antigua, Guatemala.  Chuck presented a club banner from the Rotary Club of Antigua and spoke about the projects presently being undertaken by the local club there.

It was apparent from his talk that Chuck had a great experience in this Central American country, and he went on to add that there is an opportunity for Gallipolis Rotarians to get involved in Rotary’s work there.  RI operates a self-sustaining program called the Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP)  where our club can participate with a Guatemala Rotary Club to help school literacy in Guatemala.  There are ‘hands-on’ opportunities every February for Rotarians to help in this project! Chuck has a video from RI and we will be learning more about it in the near future.

Stay warm and safe this week and see everyone back at next Tuesday’s meeting!

Here is a listing for Program responsibilities for the next few weeks:

Jan 10          Shana Booher
Jan 17          Bob Hood
Jan 24          Lou Ellen Werry
Jan 31          Zac Fosler

Present:  Shirley Doss, Chuck Clark, Heather Crum, Deb Saunders, Gordon Amsbury, Mel Simon, Shawn Siders, Paul Koch, Shana Booher.

 President Shirley reminded Jodie that Pre-PETS will be Feb. 18th, since Jodie won’t be able to attend, she will arrange for the materials to be sent.  She also asked Shawn to send $300 to the Community Christmas Project and pay the rental fee for the Farm Festival tent to the GAHS Band Boosters.

Treasurer’s Report:  There is a large increase in the checking account due to the PMAAF deposit, which will be wired out in the next month.  Shawn also reported that he collected the Ro-Li-Ki money from the other clubs.  Overall, our checking account is down $1000.  Shawn mentioned that we will be able to name 5 Paul Harris Fellows this year.

Secretary’s Report:  Chuck reported that our attendance was 96% last month!

Scholarships:  The Board agreed to once again provide 4-$1000 scholarships for the 2012 graduates.

Other Business:  Shirley recommended that the Rotary Club pay $60 for the singer during the Christmas Party.  Paul moved, Debbie seconded, and all were in favor.

Shirley adjourned the meeting.

Gallia County Sheriff Joe Browning and Rotary President Shirley Doss.

Program Chair, Melissa Kimmel, invited Gallia County Sheriff Joe Browning to speak to our Rotary club today.  Sheriff Joe spoke to members about the changing operations of running the county jail, especially one that was built in the ‘50’s.  Joe explained it is challenging to cope with the average daily number of 46 inmates.  Local jails house more misdemeanor offenders than felons and there are specific rules regarding housing of prisoners.  Inmate medical cost is the largest single expense for the department. 

Our sheriff spoke briefly about the new Work Release Center. The Gallia County Work Release Center is an alternative to jail for individuals who have been convicted of minor criminal offenses.

All residents ‘pay-to-stay’ and are responsible for their own transportation to and from their employment, as well as, to any court dates and medical appointments. Residents are also responsible for their own medical expenses. Drug and Alcohol testing is completed for each resident. Sheriff’s Correctional Staff, as well as, Court probation officers will monitor the residents assigned to serve a sentence at this facility.

Thank you, Sheriff Joe and Melissa, for the interesting program today!

We had an excellent attendance today and President Shirley Doss welcomed everyone to the meeting.  It was great to see Marlin Rose today! 

Christmas Dinner—President Shirley reminded everyone that next week, Dec. 12^th, we will NOT HAVE A MORNING MEETING!!!  Members and guests will enjoy its annual Christmas Dinner and Ornament Exchange at the Quality Inn (former Holiday Inn) at 6 pm.  It will be a relaxed evening of fellowship and we will be ordering from the menu and members will be responsible for their charges.

Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary led fellowship for the meeting starting with a bit of Wal-Mart trivia, sports trivia, and historical trivia.  There were no birthdays today.

Happy Buck$—We did have a number of Happy Bucks today.  Melissa Kimmel stressed the needs that exist for our local cat and dog shelters.  She distributed a list of items that members can donate.  Jodie McCalla bought a buck on her new opportunity with BTS Software Solutions (unleashbts.com), which will be opening a facility in Gallipolis in January.  Jim Morrison bought a buck for spending Thanksgiving with his daughter and grandchildren in the Bahamas.  Finally, Kurt Dailey, bought a buck in honor of Emily, who is recovering from some recent surgery.  Get well soon, Emily!

‘Split-Da-Pot’—Shana Booher ran our STP this morning and sold a bunch of tickets to run our small pot up to $9.00 this morning!  Good job!  Shana asked Sheriff Joe to draw our winner today which was  . . . Kevin Dennis!  Kevin said this makes two in a row, as he won last week as well!  Kevin drew ultra-carefully for the Queen for the large pot of $127.00, only to pull the Four of Spades.  Our Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone who has not yet donated to the Gallia Animal Shelter.  Kevin also donated back the small pot to the club!  Thanks, Kevin!

Final Balloting—Jim Morrison distributed the final ballots to members today to vote for the slate of officers and our new VP/President-Elect for 2012-2013.  Members had to choose five of the remaining eligible members to serve.  Jim and Deb Rhodes tabulated the numbers.  Congratulations to Paul Koch, Debbie Saunders, Shana Booher, Kevin Dennis, and Lee Saltzgaber who will serve our club next Rotary year.

Here’s our schedule through the end of the year:

Dec 13  Christmas Dinner, 6 pm, Quality Inn
Dec 20  No meeting—Merry Christmas!
Dec 27  No meeting—Happy New Year!

History has show that some of the best and most stimulating programs often come from our own club members, and today’s program was a great example!  Former Ohio Representative Clyde Evans spoke from the heart today about the state of education in Ohio.  Clyde first spoke about how meaningful Rotary has made his life over the years.  He cited the decision to admit women into Rotary as an important and beneficial attribute for Rotary!

Describing the many problems that plague  education in Ohio, Clyde identified decisions that are often made from politically expedient solutions.  “We need a system that involves the parents more which can provide a profound impact on the system,” he said. 

Clyde cited the statistical fact that nationally our educational system has fallen to 25th among industrialized countries where we used to lead the world!  “You know there is a problem when a country such as Finland leads the world and our dropout rates are staggering,” continued Clyde.  It’s a system that needs to be fixed as soon as possible.  Members enjoyed the Q & A after our speaker’s remarks.  Thanks, Clyde for the interesting talk today.

Vice President/President-Elect Jodie McCalla led our meeting today for vacationing President Shirley Doss.  Shirley will be back with us next week.  Jodie welcomed Gallipolis Rotarians to our meeting today and we had no guests or visitors.  Our attendance was excellent for the first meeting after Thanksgiving.

Special Presentation—Deb Rhodes presented a check today from WesBanco Bank to Serenity House and Melissa Kimmel, Director.  Serenity House is the only available service of its type in Gallia county providing residential housing and shelter to women involved in domestic abuse.  The shelter especially needs your help at this time and should be included in your end of year giving plans.

Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary led club fellowship this morning and immediately moved to fine Sammy Lopez for missing his birthday in September.  Sammy organized a quartet to sing a belated Happy Birthday.  Gordo conducted a spelling bee with Kevin Dennis who show the club he could spell ‘Mississippi’ backwards!  Treasurer Shawn Siders also had a birthday today and had the entire club sing to him.

Coin Box—Nayyer Hassain brought in a full Rotary coin box this morning for his Rotary Foundation giving.  Margaret Evans delivered empties to several members to use.  It’s a great program!

Christmas Dinner—VP Jodie reminded the club our annual Christmas Dinner and ornament exchange will occur on Tuesday evening, December 13th.  Rotarians will gather this year at the Quality Inn (old Holiday Inn) at 6:00 pm for a relaxed evening of fun and fellowship.  Remember to bring a tree ornament to exchange.

Rotary Reads Project—Project Chair, Emily Dailey, announced that our next reading date for the first graders in the Gallia Local Schools, will be next Wednesday December 7th.  Emily has the books for readers and need help with reading at Addison Elementary for December.  Since we read to THREE first grades at this school, we really should have two Rotarian volunteers as readers each month.  Please carefully consider this opportunity to serve and see Emily for the books.  Reminder—new members, you need to work a club project to attain your blue badge, and this is a good one to work.

Medical Mission Update—PDG Mel Simon just returned from two weeks in the Philippines where he made contact with 10 sponsoring Rotary clubs in metro Manila.  This year is the 26th year Mel and Lydia have led this medical mission and Gallipolis Rotary is proud to be one of the sponsors!

Happy Buck$—Kevin Dennis offered up a buck to the club in celebration for wrapping up and sending a 75 page grant application for clean-up at the Field of Hope project.  The successful acceptance of this grant and award of $200,000 will allow this community project to move forward after many years of planning.  Congratulations, Kevin!

Split-The-Pot—New member, Heather Crum, jumped in this morning and helped run STP for the meeting.  Heather’s quick sales helped the small pot grow to $6.00 and our lucky winner was Kevin Dennis!  Kevin just missed the ‘Big One’ of $116.00 by drawing the Six of Spades.  He assessed the Foundation Fine against anyone who did NOT wear a blue shirt today.

Here is our schedule for December:

Dec 6   Sheriff Joe Browning
Dec 13  Christmas Dinner, 6 pm, Quality Inn
Dec 20  No meeting—Merry Christmas!
Dec 27  No meeting—Happy New Year!