Happy Tuesday, Rotarians. Can you believe it is September already?

Need to Know:

1. Tonight (Sept 1) from 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM there is a Marshfield Interact Club meet & greet at Marshfield High School in Room 205. Please come by if you can to meet our current and potential Interactors.
2. Last night our club ran the concession stand at the Freshman/JV football games. Thank you to Scott Jones, Adam Blanch, Dale Keenan, Karen Stevens, Gary Griffin, Kristin Krebs, Leslie Thomas, Jenny Gardner and Chan Crooker for volunteering. I apologize if I have forgotten anyone. Several Rotarians also brought family members to help. Thanks to all who participated.
3. The next Rotary Park workday will be Saturday, September 12^th from 8:00 AM-Noon. Please sign up to work on our website.
4. Our next board meeting will be at noon on Wednesday, September 16th at DD Hamilton.
5. Upcoming speakers: There has been a change to the speaker schedule. Our District Governor will now be speaking on September 22^nd instead of next week. Our speaker next week will be Sammie Brakbill to discuss Small Business Saturday and a new Marshfield Bridal Expo beginning next year. On September 15^th, someone from the Sho-Me Institute will be doing a presentation to the club; on the 22^nd, our DG Steve Dulle will be our speaker. On October 6, Tayna Sloan will be speaking about identity theft.
6. News on our Don’t Meth with Us Project: Former addict turned motivational speaker, David Parnell, will be will speaking at a community event on Wednesday, September 16^th at 7:00 PM at Marshfield High School. The event is open to all and admission is free. Please get the word out to your churches, youth groups, co-workers, etc. Mr. Parnell gives a powerful presentation and I encourage everyone to attend. Our Don’t Meth with Us Committee is sponsoring his presentation.
7. Go ahead and put this on your calendar now: our 3^rd Annual Romance Raffle will be held on Saturday, February 13, 2016.
8. Go ahead and put this on your calendar now: the Marshfield Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, March 12, 2016, with a rain date of March 19^th.

Meeting Recap

We “serenaded” Danny O’Neal and Dale Keenan for their birthdays.

Danny O’Neal put in “happy dollars” for the birth of a new grandson this past weekend.

Several members have their Rotary anniversaries in September: Neva Schroder (member for 23 years), Cynthia Black (18); Barbara Carroll (18); Jim Mayes (17), Karen Stevens (3), Misty Troyer (1) and Michelle Cologna (1).

Today was our club assembly. We discussed the results of the recent club visioning project and committee goals for the upcoming year. The project resulted in a vision of a strong, active club “where local business leaders go to give back to the community” and where things get done. We are more focused on growing participation in the club instead of just growing numbers. It is better to have a smaller club with active participation than a larger club where only a few people do all of the work. We want the club to have personal meaning to each member so that every member finds purpose in being in Marshfield Rotary Club.

Karen Stevens spoke on behalf of the Membership Committee: Membership Committee is working on a new member form and interview, as well as emphasizing sponsorship/mentorship to improve the process of adding new members.

Since chairman Brian Drane was absent due to a work commitment, Scott Jones spoke on behalf of the Club Administration Committee. Club Administration’s responsibility is to maintain the club website, plan social events for the club and to foster quality weekly programs.

Amy Wilkerson spoke on behalf of the Public Relations Committee: The PR Committee will work on promoting the good works of the club through newspaper articles. There will also be a focus on updating our brand so that our club has a fresh and modern relevance.

Jason Hogan spoke on behalf of the Service Projects Committee: There will be a focus on local projects to benefit our community, with particular focus on youth. Examples of potential projects: increased anti-drug education, financial literacy projects for youth, interviewing skills workshop and mentoring of homeless teen population.

Leslie Thomas spoke on behalf of the New Generations Committee. Janet Silvus assisted. Our club sponsors two Interact clubs: Niangua and Marshfield. Niangua is a 19+ member strong, active club. The new faculty sponsor is Ken Williams. Because there are so many other clubs and activities available to Marshfield students, that club is smaller. The club may be expanded to include junior high students in future years. New Generations would like to sponsor 2 Interactors to RYLA, Rotary’s youth leadership academy.

Leslie also spoke to the club vision at large. This year’s Rotary International theme is “Be a gift to the world.” As Leslie stated, we can’t be a gift to the world, if we are not a gift to our own community. But it will take everyone’s participation. Everybody needs to do something so some people don’t have to do everything.

Stan Whitehurst spoke on behalf of the Foundation Committee. The Foundation committee will look for opportunities to tie the Foundation back to our new vision.

At the visioning project, a “past presidents club” was formed to provide mentorship. Currently on the club: Don Stockton, Danny O’Neal and Kristin Krebs. Don spoke about the need for fundraising to make our vision come to fruition. We need everyone to chip in on our Romance Raffle and other fundraising projects. It is not too early to think about sponsorships and ticket sales for our Romance Raffle. Even though we don’t have the tickets printed yet, we can still tell potential attendees about the event so they can keep their calendar clear. We can still round up potential sponsors, etc.

Based on our visioning project, Adam Blanch and Chan Crooker created a terrific new vision statement for the club:

“Raising the bar through leadership, giving and education.”

Pretty great, huh? It is up to all of us to make sure that our club lives up to it.

Thanks to all of our committee chairs and participants at the visioning project. Now let’s get to work!

Final Thoughts

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)

Clear a dance space in your office. Music for the month of September:

https://youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk
Yours in Rotary Service,

Kristin Grace Krebs