Membership Front and Center

John Howard

Each week it is a struggle to come up with the words to start our blog.  This week I only came up with one word: Bravo!  John Howard allowed his program week to be hijacked by the membership committee.  Neal Pearcy asked Charles Green to lead us in a membership discussion.  Charles called on other Rotarians as well and the hit it out of the park.

Capt. Morgan (Ha Ha!)

Mark Morgan got up and spoke about being a new member some of the struggle to find a what rotary means to each of us.

Dave Simmon spoke about getting involved and the membership process. Dave reminded us to ask people who would make good Rotarians to join us, but you have to ask.

Dave Simmon

Finally,  Terry Kessinger got up and spoke. If you know Terry, when I say he spoke many words but said nothing, you know what I mean.  No really, Terry spoke about the years of service that he has dedicated to the Danville Rotary Club.  For years Terry has worked with our club and Rotarians to add fun into our social events and fundraisers. 

Terry Kessinger

Each of the Rotarians had their own topic that motivated us to reach out to members of our community and drive membership.  This is not just at our local level. Our district and Rotary International are making sure that the good deeds that Rotary does are noticed. Drawing attention to these good deeds will help to attract other like minded individuals.

Charles "Smooth Jazz" Green

This week we are pleases to announce that Susan Rempert has put in her application for membership.  She has been the guest of Bill Barfield and Jerry Weed. Jerry is the proposing Rotarian.  Jade Gruner also had a guest with him, Scott Hill owner of Diesel's Sports Grille. 

Another speaker today was Shannon Shervin. Shannon came to speak to the Rotary Club about Post Prom for the Danville High school.  She has fill out a request for a donation from the Danville Rotary Club Foundation. 

Thanks again for the Membership Committee for putting on a great program. 

 

Reminder: There will not be a meeting the Thursday of Spring Break.   If you would like to attend the Brownsburg Rotary Club meeting on Thursday at noon, please send an email to David Heffner.   This means we will also bump the Board meeting to April 11th.

Suzie's Place

This week we had a representative from Suzie's Place attend our weekly meeting.  Heath Allen was the speaker host.  Heath introduced Maria Larrison and she explained what Susie's place does and for how long they been helping children.  Susie's place had gotten so big that they had to move from one location to new location next to Ivy Tech in Avon. They also have recently opened a second location in Bloomington, In.   As a child advocacy center they work closely with the prosecutors and law enforcement to help victims and families.  Susie's place has been able to reduce the number of interviews with a child from up to 8 down to 1. Most of the cases are domestic violence and sexual abuse.  Suzie's Place is in need of some snacks, juice boxes and other refreshments.  

RYLA... Denise announced that are club will be sending two high school students to camp Tecumseh in the coming month. They will participate in Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. This is a 2 day event. Word is that the students are very excited to attend.  

Announcements
There is a rotary board meeting on Thursday morning it will start at 7:30 a.m. The board meeting will be held at Courthouse Grounds.

Is it the Truth? If not, Mike will catch you.

Flory Phillips was our speaker host for this week.  Flory and her husband Jim are very active in many different clubs.  Church clubs to investment club and everything in between.  I think they just like to socialize and I am glad they do.

Flory's speaker and guest was Mike McCarty and his wife Trish.  Mike started a business in Danville that does detailed background checks. Mike said that he started the business in Danville because of the quality of life and the things that Danville has to offer.  Mike praised his employees at being good at what they do and how they treat Safe Hiring Solutions clients.  Mike said that he might be the only business on the square no one has heard of, because most of his business comes from outside of Indiana.  Most of Mike's family is in Law Enforcement.  Mike said that this is just a natural fit for him.  He had the idea a few years ago after seeing that backgound checks were just coming back with limited information.  Safe Hiring Solutions digs deeper to help their clients know who they are hiring.  Last month Safe Hiring Solutions did 11,000 background checks.

This weekend was Fair on the Square. There were a number of roaming Rotarians around the square. It is always great to get to see and speak to fellow Rotarians. 

September 27 is the date for one of our clubs biggest FUNraisors for scholarships.  Our Bake sale will be held at Suzanne Whickers home and will start at 6pm. Brad is supplying the BBQ. Please bring a side to share, a baked good to have auctioned off, your spouse and your checkbook.  Actually you can leave the checkbook at home if you would like us to bill you using Paypal.

We will be staffing a water station for the Hendricks County Half Marathon on Saturday, September 22. We need 4-5 volunteers to assist with this. We will be responsible for set-up, clean-up, handing out water and gatorade to participants, and promoting good energy and excitement.
All materials will be supplied by the Parks Department. We will need to arrive by 7:15 a.m. to set up. I would expect it to be complete in approximately two hours.  You can e-mail Heath Allen if you would like to help out.

Amy had mentioned that our water project in Mexico got some traction on Rotary.com.  Here is a like to the story.  LINK

I am all EARS

There is more or less corn in Indiana.  Jon MeDugle was Thursday's program chair and introduced Doug Whicker.  Doug is one of the Whicker boys.  And his family is well known in the county and the Ag business.  Doug talked to us about the challenges of the farmers during this drought.  It is not just about lower yields, but also what corn there is has been infected with viruses that can get a whole truckload of corn rejected at the elevator.  The red in the corn in the picture on the left is an example of this virus in the corn.  Doug went on to answer questions from Rotarians about the drought, farm insurance, and yield.

Saturday night, Rotarians fulled the streets of Downtown Danville to enjoy the sound of Hoosier Beetles.  Headliners Timm Grimm and Jenny DeVoe rocked the show.  Frozen bananas were wonderful treats for the show goers. Rotary is always well represented at these events.

You can go online to register for the fall District Conference in West Lafayette.  Go to www.rotary6560.org

Aug. 23rd, Gary Frey, District Membership Chair, will be our guest speaker.  Gary will give us update about the District and what other clubs are doing to attract quality Rotarians.

Trip to Brazil

Amy Elliott introduced Clayton Sagar.  Clayton was an exchange student that went to Brazil to study for a year.  Clayton mentioned that one of the biggest challenges was that upon arrival in Brazil, that his host family did not speak English and he did not speak any Portuguese.  We were all impressed when Clayton said he was speaking in Portuguese in just a few short months.  Clayton feels that the experience has helped him be a better leader and feel that he can accomplish much more having had this experience.  He will be headded back to classes here in Danville today. 
Announcements: 
Seth is looking for participates for Fantasy Football.  Let us know if you are in.  This is a good time.
You can now sign up for the fall District Conference at Purdue.  Visit WWW.rotary6560.org  for details.

Happy Year End Party

The meat has been rubbed.
Last night several Rotarians joined forces to season some pork steak with Doc Crowley's seasoning.  Some of us also tried out the beer and wine selection for Thursday to make sure that it was up to the high standards of fellow Rotarians. 
Remember: If you are a Paul Harris fellow, please wear you pins and badges to indicate you are a Paul Harris fellow.
We are going to have some fun. Can't wait.

Good year for Interactors

The meeting was held at the Danville High School Gym with our meal provided by

DCHS cafe. The meeting was called to order by Savannah Mitchell and Justin "Smiley"

Stanley. Savannah and Justin thanked Rotary for making them better people, providing the

club with opportunities to service the community and for the lunches.  The Interactors provided entertainment by having the Group divide into two teams and

name captains. One side was Team Wicker and the other side was Team Gill. We

played Jeopordy with some of the categories consisting of Danville Rotary Trivia, Town

of Danville Trivia, international rotary, etc. it was amazing how many knew the answers

to these questions. It was an entertaining event and in the end, Team Gill claimed the

victory!

Dave Coleman made an announcement that Saturday was a work day and members

who could help would be meeting at 9:00 am at Senior Center.

Michael Williams also announced that he needed more players and volunteers for the

golf outing, which is Thursday, May 17th.

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.

Hope Farm

JR Hackleman briefly updated his 10 minutes of Fame.  He introduced the owner of Hope Farms.  They work to help people with special needs learn how to walk, communicate, and interact with horses.  Hope Farms was one of the largest events during the special Olympics this year.   They work with people from age 7 thru 70.  Working with therapists since 2000, they have also done Make-a-wish programs.  Funded with private dollars and United Way funds.

Announcements:  We have many thing happening on Feb. 9th.  1) Our regular scheduled board meeting with be on the 9th.  This has been changed from the 2nd.  Please make a note of it and we will see on at Courthouse Grounds at 7:30am on the 9th.  2)  On the 9th, we need you to please be at Mayberry at 11:45 to start to eat.  We will have the District Speech Contest start right at Noon.  3) Following the Speech Contest, we will depart for Apple for Teacher.  Those of you that signed up to help with this will proceed to your designated school to pass out apples.

Lyn Larison has the program next week.  He is bringing in a local motivational speaker.  You will not want to miss next week.