August 15, 2013 – Meeting Roundup
A club assembly, as defined by Rotary International, is a meeting of the officers, directors, and committee chairmen of a club to coordinate and develop the program of Rotary within the club. Our club expands it to include all of our members. We now have five avenues of service as Rotary International has added a new one this year. They are Club Service, Community Service, Vocational Service, International Service, and, the new avenue, New Generations. Each of the committee chairs will tell us what their committee will be doing this year. We will also hear from the chairs of the various sub-committees. Among those are the Memorial Day PolioPlus Pancake Breakfast, Buddy Ring Golf Tournament, Foundation, Membership and Retention, Programs, and Membership Roster. There are several other committees that we will also hear from. President Mike will possibly share his vision for the direction he would like to see the club take. He has already made subtle changes, such as encouraging use of DaCdb.
If you are not on the board of directors, this is probably your greatest chance of providing input. Perhaps you have an idea of how to improve the golf tournament. You might have some input to provide on the Taste of the Panhandle fundraiser. You might have an objection to the way something is being done. Maybe you would just like to be able to participate in the club more. This is your chance.
Nobody will EVER object to you volunteering to help the club. We have 147 members, but probably only a quarter of those do the actual work of the club. We should have 100% participation by all the members, not just a few of them. Please show you want to be part of the solution, not the problem, by showing up this week for this important meeting. It is important for all our members to try to attend. Now is the chance to have your voice heard, so speak up now or forever hold your peace.
City of Martinsburg
Mark Baldwin, City Manager, told us that Hagerstown and Winchester used to be our biggest rivals for economic development, but that is no longer true. Now it is Berkeley County, Jefferson County, Ranson, and Charles Town that we are competing with. The city has a budget of $29.9 million with a $14 million general fund. The city employs 180 people. The city recently finished the town square project, which really helps spruce up downtown. In the next two weeks the Raleigh Street extension project will be completed and will open a whole new corridor for economic development south of Edwin Miller Blvd. The next big project is an EPA mandated upgrade to the waste water treatment plant which will cost $51 million. It is scheduled to be on line by July, 2015.
Cogwheels
Answer to last week’s question:
District 7360 has 77 clubs with approximately 2800 members. This answer could have been found by going to DACdb or by going to the district web site. There is a link in DACdb that will take you to the district web site.
This week’s question:
When and where is the district conference being held?
Our two visiting Rotarians were Lisa Bivens, President of Martinsburg/Sunrise; and Ty Pruitt, a member of the Middletown-Odessa, DE club. Kyle Turner, a Nationwide Insurance agent, was a guest of Art Thomm. Tina Nipe brought Nancy Ferner who is retiring from SBDC and is interested in rejoining Rotary. Lillie Martirano, a second grader at Opequon, was a guest of her proud grandfather, Bill Stover.
A big thanks goes to all who helped work the concessions stand at the Youth Fair—Mike Hornby, Mike Hite, Pat Woodson, Pam Wagoner, Pete Dufourney, Chris Knight, Jodi Frankenberry, Maria Lorensen, Manuel Washington, Betty Miller, Berniece Collis, Craig Collis, Pete Mulford, Betty Mulford, Ryan Perks, Sara Koontz, and Phil Noll.
There is a new member orientation (required) at 10:45 at the Holiday Inn before our regular meeting on Thursday.
We still have spots for painters on the Day of Caring. Contact Kathy Mason to volunteer.
The Martinsburg/Sunrise is holding a Crab Fest September 5th from 5:00 PM to8:30 PM at 3829 Winchester Ave (Jim Whitacre’s farm next to the Air Guard entrance). Live music is provided by Drew Stevyn’s and all proceeds go to Clean Water for Ecuadorian Children.
Labor Day is fast approaching and there is no better way to celebrate than by starting the day with either a steak and egg, or county ham and egg breakfast at War Memorial Park. Tickets are only $25 in advance and can be purchased from a number of people and locations including Patterson’s Drug Store.
We’re about 200 pounds behind the Sunrise club in the United Way food drive. Most non-perishables are okay except canned corn or peas. Canned goods are preferred over glass jars. Bring heavy food this week.
Foster Sirbaugh had no luck finding the Ten of Diamonds and is responsible for selling tickets this week.