After President Eric Bubb called the meeting to order and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, David King provided with an intriguing Invocation, Higher Power, dealing with our human inclination to believe that God is on our side and that God has expectations of us as to how we should treat one another. David finished up in grand fashion with a poem, “An Irish Friendship Wish”. We sang Happy Birthday for our January born members. Mandy Sheldon, Executive Director, introduced several guests including Nate Vriezelaar, a prospective new member, who has relocated from Iowa, where he had been a Rotary Club president.
Club Anniversaries were noted as follows: Jane Lee: 14 years – Jan 8th
Sick Bay – Al Tikwart has been in the hospital with an infection. Card/notes welcome. NO Calls.
Vocational Minute: Brendan Bollinger is the Housing Coordinator at Della Lamb. Brendan focuses on housing for local refugees with landlords etc. These displaced individuals have little to no money and no ID’s or SSN’s. There are 720,000 of such persons in the USA with 190 in Kansas City.
Paul Harris Foundation Fellowships Rotary International: Tom Davis, our next Club President, noted that through January with a matching $200 grant, the $1,000 contribution can be made with $800. The our Club also recognized the following members for repeating their contributions: Eric Bubb RF plus 1; Jerry Cooke RF plus 2; & Rick Beyer RF plus 3. (RF = Rotary Fellow) and there is a special pin as well.
President Eric thanked Terry Kilroy at Polsinelli and the Entertainment Committee for the Plaza Light Party which was a great success.
Geeks for Kids Announcement - President Eric noted that we need volunteers for Saturday Feb 4th Geeks for Kids project, wherein we help construct mobility units unique for individual kid’s challenges. We need 20 volunteers each for the morning shift (8:30 am to 1:30 pm) and the afternoon shift (11:30 am to 4:30 pm) in the caves near downtown off Southwest Trafficway. More details to follow.
Upcoming events – Save the Dates! 1/31/23: Fireside @ Matt Meyer’s home, 2/04/23: Geeks for Kids Build Day, 2/06/23: Fireside @ Tony Andresen’s home, 2/09/23: Fireside @ Marc McCarty’s home.
Our Club Committee Chairs provided their reports as our Program.
Brad Kleindl updated us on the activities of the International Service Committee. His committee deals with global grants (40% R.I. & 60% within District). There are also district grants which are typically smaller. One of our grant project is the Shoes for Orphan Souls. We raised $740 to buy shoes. On October 22nd, 2023 there will be out next Pickleball Tournament fundraiser.
Kara Bennett updated us on the Entertainment Committee activities. We have Firesides coming up. These are smaller groups to better know and interact with each other. On March 9th, since we are not meeting here (Big Twelve Basketball Tournament) we are working on a Box Lunch event elsewhere. We are working on an event with Black History month and an After Hours at the KC Museum. In April we are checking out Boulevard Brewing on the Patio. In May we are investigating an event at the Nelson Art Gallery. May 19th is the Monarch baseball team’s opening day. And we are looking into a June 1st Camp outing. The Entertainment Committee will coordinate with the other committees.
Lee Brumitt updated us on the Community Service Committee. In a sense everybody in the Club is a member of this committee by volunteering for projects and events. As noted earlier we have Geeks for Kids Build Day coming up on Saturday February 4th. We also have Sleep in Heavenly Peace build day (build a bed) coming up on April 1st, wherein we put hammer & nails to wood in Greenwood, MO. We will be working with several other local Rotary Clubs. This all fits in with the Service Above Self concept.
Scott Holsman spoke as the Social Media Committee Chair. Scott noted that we need to snap pictures of our activities and forward them to him. Scott manages our Downton Rotary Club Facebook page. Invite friends to our page. Once we reach 1,000 our exposure goes up. This can be very beneficial for our membership drive. We can show how Rotary affects us in our careers and otherwise.
Jared Campbell, a future Club President nominee elect, shared the Membership Development Committee report. The Committee meets on the second Thursday monthly. We are at 200 Club members and have added 8 new members this year. It is important to make new members feel welcome and engaged with committee involvement. We have Bring a Guest Day coming up on February 16th. We want personal invitations and word of mouth.
Tony Andresen shared the Greater Kansas City Day Committee information. We are working with the KC Monarchs with their opening day as our Greater KC Day. This year we will sell game tickets (buy 1 game ticket and get one free plus the Monarch’s baseball caps). We will not be doing the morning street side sales but rather partnering with Price Chopper stores for the whole month of May, similar to our Salvation Army belling ringing approach.
Steve Burger spoke as Chair of the Program Committee. This is the Committee that generates the great speakers and timely presentations of great interest. The Committee meets four times a year. Steve suggests emailing (steveburger@kc.rr.com) as suggestions. Think about whether the topic would fit for us and what kind of speaker he/she would be.
Pat Bolin spoke as the Chair of the Memorial Committee. Every member has a unique story to tell. If a member has told you a story about him/her, share it with the Committee so we get it out at the appropriate time. This will assist us to provide a better understanding of the person and a proper send off. Our departed members’ stories and life are presented annually on or near Memorial Day in May.
Jan Armstrong spoke as the Chair of the Ecology Committee with 14 members strong. Last year we were some what overwhelmed with the Monarch Butterfly Boxcar event. We are still working on the Pollinator Monarch Garden. We are planning an event at the Zoo around Earth Day weekend April 22nd & 23rd. We are also working on a Dunn Ranch event out on the Prairie and close to bison. We are also working on a Dinner at the Camp around June 8th or 12th with the Indian Center. We can be with the kids and see first hand the operations of the Camp in season and how it benefits the kids.
David King spoke on behalf the Scribe Committee. Including Dave we have four members sharing the responsibilities of sharing the meeting’s highlights and in effect chronicling or archiving the meeting’s activities. Additional hands would be greatly appreciated and provide you with an opportunity to share your talents and your spin of the day’s meeting.