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President's Report – April 2014

I know, I know it seems like forever since you got a president’s report. I am honored that at least 14 of you noticed. Even though Herman started mumblings of a Lame Duck session for the remainder of the year, I can assure you we have a lot more planned for this year, and I will be asking the membership for even more engagement. Speaking of Herman Dixon, it is with much regret that we accepted his resignation from our club and wish him the best in his new endeavor down south. I must say Herman didn’t get me to join Rotary but he sure did motivate me to be a Rotarian (that is until I became president and I had answer to him). All kidding aside Herman was instrumental to our club and will be missed sorely. I am pleased to announce that our club won the Best Overall Public Image campaign at District Conference as well as 1st Place – Most Innovative Public Image Campaign, 2nd Place – Website, 2nd Place – Club Display at Conference, and 2nd Place – Best Club News Article. Out of 88 clubs that is pretty awesome, so I want to thank the chairs and the membership for all their hard work. (Kresha and I also won Most Original Costumes for International Night. Yes folks, I dressed up African-style, but I promise I didn’t tarnish the Martinsburg Club name too much.)

Looking Back

March was Literacy Month on the Rotary calendar, and if you drive by Martinsburg High school, you will notice our newly installed Little Free Library thanks to Pete Duforney and Steve Roach. On April 12th we hosted the 29th Annual Community Wellness Screening at Berkeley Medical Center. Thanks to Chris Knight and his volunteers, we boosted attendance and had a stellar event. Pam, Ross, Bill and Marilyn landed safely in Johannesburg with 6 full suitcases of your donated toddler clothes for the children of Diepsloot. April had more than 30 guests attend our meetings; now let’s see how many we can convert to members.

Looking Forward

Penny Porter’s daughter, Paige, is heading up a book drive for the Burke Street Promise Neighborhood, so for the month of May we are asking our members to donate children’s books for this worthy cause. Have you signed up to flip pancakes on Memorial Day yet? See Chris Johnson or Pam Wagoner for details. Have you heard we are having a “Pick your own charity LUAU” June 13th? Do you have your tickets? Did you get a raffle ticket to the all expenses paid trip to Maui? We have over 25 table sponsors already but are still looking for Event and Decoration Sponsors. Email [email protected] for details.

Club Snapshot 

Vocational Service

• No report.

Club Service

• We are in search of committee members to help Robin Zanotti on the membership committee.

Youth Service

• We are sending two students to RYLA this year and look forward to their report when they are done. May is Spring Mills month for our student guests.

International Service

• Pancakes for Polio is scheduled for Memorial Day. Starting at 8am we will be serving a FREE breakfast to the community at War Memorial park, the committee has expanded the menu and decided to designate all donations earned to Polio Plus. Please mark your calendars and try to attend. If you can’t attend please at least make a donation to the Rotary International Polio Fund. We are so close to eradicating this crippling disease so every dollar counts. (Plus your donation will also go towards your Paul Harris Fellowship)

Community Service

• We are having a “Pick your own charity LUAU” on June 13th at 6pm at the Purple Iris. A host of local charities are selling tickets to the event and Doug Frye is the man selling the tickets to the membership. PLEASE purchase your tickets early as we don’t want to SELL OUT and leave any members out. This event will feature an authentic hawaiian menu including pig roast, Welcome Cocktails, lei greeting, live entertainment with polynesian dancers and a fire show. We will also be raffling off an all expenses paid trip to Maui.

Yours in Service ,
President Mike

304-851-7461