Seen and heard at College Rotary September 30, 2013
At the desk were Carol Callahan and Mike Dunton. Glenn Potts greeted, Mike Dunton sold 50/50 tickets, the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Cindy Wentworth, and Cheryl Keepers led us in song with the “Alaska Flag Song”.
Our guests were: Kathy Winfree, Patty Merritt’s co-worker at UAF’s Community and Technical College, and our Denmark exchange student, Maria Petersen. Maria traveled to Anchorage this past weekend to All State, a Young Life trip. The trip was long, but was very beautiful and lots of fun. This was Maria’s third weekend in a row in Anchorage! If you or your family are doing anything fun in the Fairbanks area, please consider inviting Maria to join you.
Welcome back to Eileen Kane, and Jaime Marunde who has a brand new job at Doyon.
Announcements:
New College Rotary brochures were distributed to all tables today. President, Patty Merritt, encourages all members to take some of these and use them to introduce their friends, family and co-workers to College Rotary and Rotary International. Patty also encourage all Club members to invite a guest to a future club meeting. The Club will sponsor guests who are prospective members, and cover the cost of their lunch.
DG Sue Foley will visiting College Rotary next Monday, October 7th. Patty would like everyone to make a $100 donation to Polio Plus. The Bill Gates Foundation will double or triple match your gift. Contribution forms were placed on all tables today, and club members are encouraged to fill them out and hand them in to Carol and the end of the meeting. Patty would also like everyone to bring a guest next week for the DG’s visit.
The Princess may be closing this winter and the Board has discussed options for a new meeting location. Raven Landing was the Board’s top choice, and College Rotary will conduct its weekly club meetings at Raven Landing on October 14, 21, and 28, to evaluate that facility as the Club’s new meeting location.
Paul Harris awards will be presented next week during DG Sue Foley’s visitation. However, Eileen Kane will not be able to attend next week, so she was recognized today with a Paul Harris Plus 2 award. The Paul Harris Foundation is where Rotary’s charitable works gets done internationally. Rotarians are recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow when their total contributions to Paul Harris reach $1,000. Congratulations Eileen!
Debbie Gross was recognized by President, Patty Merritt, as the College Rotarian of the Month. In her capacity as the Club’s Administrative Director, she coordinates College Rotary’s FY13/14 weekly team duties, serves as the Board’s recording secretary, and publishes a summary of weekly Club meetings in the Rotundra. Additionally, Debbie has assisted with the Club’s pull-tab tax issues.
Barb Hompesch, Mike Dunton, and Elaine Williamson shopped for and purchased $200 of healthy snacks for Hunter School students, and Barb and Cindy Wentworth dropped off the snacks today.
Recruitment has begun for next year’s Rotary exchange students. Cheryl Keepers asked all Club members to think of high school freshmen and sophomores who would be good ambassadors for our club, and invite them to attend an “Information Night” meeting at 7pm on October 9th, at the Noel Wien Library.
John Kelley announced a search for candidates for College Rotary’s Young Entrepreneurs Award. Candidates should be under age 40. Please forward any recommendations to John. The award recipient will be recognized with a financial award, a plague, and some local publicity. Last year’s recipient was Isaiah Mangrum.
Sergeant at Arms, Don Lynch, extended partner birthday reminders and greetings to Barb Hompesch and Julie Scott, and congratulated Debbie Gross on her Club anniversary. Gerd Wendler provided an update on Club member Gila Dolif, who is out of the hospital now, and is doing better. Don also reminded everyone to vote tomorrow.
Julie Scott is coordinating a meeting between Will Files, a Homer Rotarian who is involved with the Rotary International Grants Process, and College Rotarian Vicki Kennebec. Vicki will be working with Will to arrange meetings with local Rotary Clubs to encourage them to apply for Rotary grants.
Happy Bucks:
Patty is happy that Jaime Marunde is back today, and she is also happy Vicki will be helping to spread the word about Rotary grants.
Ron Inouye is happy about his return from Haines, despite passport challenges during his trip.
Our program today, Fairbanks Counseling & Adoption’s Street Outreach & Advocacy Program (SOAP), was presented by SOAP Counselor, Rebecca (Becca) Buckles, and her co-worker Gene. SOAP is a free program for youth ages 10 to 21 years old who are at high risk of becoming homeless, or who are currently homeless or have run away from home. Currently, there are approximately 600 homeless youth in Fairbanks. SOAP’s goal is to protect youth from abuse, sexual exploitation, assault, and to help prevent involvement in criminal activity due to their lack of money, support and resources. SOAP helps kids get their GED and State ID card so they can get jobs. SOAP also provides transportation, assistance with resumes, and addressing work clothing needs for the youth. On a typical day, SOAP serves 25 – 30 kids. Becca thanked College Rotarians for their support of the SOAP program; the food supplies donated by College Rotary are very appreciated. SOAP brochures were distributed on all tables at today’s Club meeting, and Becca indicated food, clothing, and financial contributions are always welcomed. Becca also invited Club members to contact her at 378-4392 for additional information about SOAP, or if you would like to schedule a tour of their facility.
The 50/50 pot was $69, and was won by Julie Scott.
Barb Hompesch closed out the meeting with a leave ‘em laughing joke. A man calls and asks a lawyer, “If I give you $100 can I ask you two questions?” The lawyer says, “sure, what is your second question?”
The meeting was adjourned by Patty.