Happy Birthday Rotary!!!!

One Hundred and Seven years ago, Rotary was born.  Last week we celebrated that milestone in thought and song.  We had visitors Jerry VanLue, Coleen Mathews and Shannon Shervin in attendance.    Shannon gave the club an update to what our donation to the Danville After Prom Committee was used for and she asked for continued support from the club for this year.


Click the Youtube video below for an update on how Rotary can keep younger members.  This video is from the Rotary Minute.  (The video is really only about a minute long.... worth your time.)

Up coming events:  Tomorrow, We will be Inducting our new members.  The Board Meeting is moved to March 8th and Farmers Day is also March 8th and will be at the Train Station at Ellis Park.  And lastly, the District Conference is March 23rd and 24th.

Stephanie gave her ten minutes of fame.  She introduced fellow Rotarian, Mark Smith.  Stephanie said that she went to school with Mark (5th Grade).  Mark filled us in on a program that is dear to him called, The Drug Court Program.  Drug Court is held in Superior 1 on Tuesdays at 4pm.  The program is designed to give people with addiction problems that option for the help that they need.  Mark takes pride in the face that the program is NOT funded with taxpayers dollars.  

Tomorrow we will have a speaker from Riley Children's Camp.  See you all tomorrow.

Out of our comfort zone.

This week Brad threw us a curve ball.  For today's meeting we had a new layout for seating.  I got to Rotary early to see Charlie wandering thru the isles looking for his seat. With Charlie in place, everyone else started to fill in.  Rotarians commented that they liked the new layout and that it was easier to see the program.

President Rex presented John Battershell with a Sponsor Pin.  This Pin is awarded to a Rotarian that Sponsors a new Rotarian.  To learn more about inviting a new member to our club follow this link.  Tracie Shearer gave her 10 minutes of fame.  She shared with us some of the fun things that are going on at the Royal Theater.  If you have not seen the new Royal Theater website you are missing something.  Tracie introduced Anthony Mullis (AKA Gus Moon) as her program.  Tracie and Anthony have been putting together a music program that will be at The Royal Theater (See the above link to their website for more information).  Here is a preview video.

You can also see more music at Gus Moon's Youtube Channel.

Finally, Brad was crowned the Top Dog again for the second year in a row as the Rotary Fantasy Football Champion.  However, Brad had to have his own brass plate made for the trophy and had to give Tracie the cash to present to him.  (Not sure if he was a winner or a loser on this one).  Brad, you have a large target on your back for next year.  Everyone is gunning for you.

Community Service.... Apple for Teacher

The annual Speech Contest is an opportunity for local high school students to show how they are able to articulate a topic and project that topic to an audience.  We had three students participate this year.  Congratulations to David Vornholt for winning this years speech contest.

Tom Swords put together another great Apple for Teacher event.  Many teachers and faculty enjoyed and appreciated the thought and thanks of Rotary.

 There are a few Rotarians who are going to participate in the celebration of the Indianapolis Rotary Club's 99th  Birthday.  Past Rotary President, Bill Boyd will be the guest speaker.  I will be taking pictures and reporting from the event.

This Close... Polio

We are this close to riding the world of Polio.  Did you know that the Gates Foundation provided an additional 50 Million dollars to fight polio.  There were no strings attached.  We did not need to provide matching funds.  Once polio has been eradicated, the world will reap substantial financial, as well as humanitarian, dividends due to foregone polio treatment and rehabilitation costs.  Depending on national decisions on the future use of polio vaccines, these savings could exceed 1 billion er year, savings that can be used to fund other public health priorities.

For more information, visit Polio Here

Danny O'Malia

Lyn Larison provided us with a quality run down of his 10 minutes of fame.  Lyn, introduced Danny O'Malia.  Danny's family not only started the O'Malia's grocery store chain, but also was a prime example of providing quality customer service.  Customer service was the hallmark of his father.  These values were instilled in Danny from a young age.  Today, Danny is Indy's Trusted Servant.  You can follow his blog here.  From Danny's blog, you can download the 11 ways to handle customer complaints.

This Thursday there will be alot of activity going on.  There is a board meeting in the morning at CHG at 7:30am.  We are also asking that all Rotarians be at Mayberry no later than 11:45 for lunch.  Please get your lunch right away, because we will be starting the Speech Contest promptly at Noon.  As soon as the speech contest is complete, we will be dispersing to the schools for Apple for Teacher.  Thanks again for your help with this schedule change.