Morrisville Rotary Club

Happy Dollars:

• Ted – is happy about everyone else being happy.
• Karen – Senior partner finished Chemo-Therapy in fine form. She got a bonus for new clothing.
• Jim – Happy Craftsbury was bought out by Dreissigacker and now a nonprofit.
• Gary – Stepdaughter had surgery and is doing just fine.
• Mary – Heard from one of her sons overseas.
• Marcia – Matches Ted comments.
• Susan – Financial situation not as bad as could be.
• Jason – Full-time internal auditor at Union Bank.
• Dr. Phil – Thankful for everything the last few days.

Fines:

None at this time.

Miscellaneous:

Tim’s motion to get blankets for Polar Plunge approved for roughly $700-$800.  The motion was proposed by Jim, seconded by Mark.  Motion carried.

Laraway gave thanks for our winter coat donation.

River Arts said their facility is available for renting for any upcoming events.

Questions/Comments for Committees:

Rich thanked for his budget review duties

Road Rally (Rotary plus) made over $300.00.  Money to be allocated for Rotary Plus.

Jason had concerns about an audit.  Audit will be done internally to save the cost of an outside firm.

Food shelf this week is in Hardwick.  Discussion as to whether to include the other food shelfs.

Committee Reports:

Membership -

Challenge at the Christmas Dinner. Try to bring a guest. Inductions will be done at the Christmas Diner. Gary said we need more donations for the event to be a success. Gary will also need a head count at the next meeting on Monday, December 8, 2008.

Vocational -

Pilot program emerging.  100 clubs needed for Future Visions program.  Ted proposed we join in the initiative and Peter seconded. The motion carried.

International -

$1,000.00 needed for Rotary international Polio Plus initiative.  Would net proceeds come from Christmas Dinner? International to decide where the money comes from.

Ted proposed that $400.00 be designate from Rotary internation to Polio Plus. Seconded by Marc. Motion carried.

Board Meeting Votes:

$300.00 budget approved for Lakota tribe (coats).

$50.00 food share approved – but we should give equally next time.

Minutes Christmas Dinner, Committee Meeting, Food Share, Lakota, Laraway, Newsletter, Pilot Program, Polar Plunge, Polio Plus, River Arts, Road Rally

Guests

• Michelle Thompson (James’s Spouse)
• Scott West (Out and About)
• Ernie Menard

Happy Dollars

• James was happy that a flat tire was the worst thing that’s happened so far today.
• Ted was happy to be identified as an ordinary Rotarian.
• Mark was happy James didn’t hurt himself changing his tires.
• Jim Mahoney was happy for an entertaining football game.
• Karen is happy to be providing the kissing balls for the Holiday Fund Raiser.
• Sharon was happy to go shopping in Conway.

Fines

Pete Jones suggested a fine against Mark Cattelona for forgetting to submit his dollar from his happy dollar. Mark did give a dollar and the fine was overturned.

Presenter: Scott West

Scott is the director of Out and About Adult Day Services. Out and About is a service for adults over the age of 60 or adults over 18 with a disability. They provide nutrition, education, re-orientation, nursing services, etc. They are only open five days a week. They are not a weekend or residential service. It is more of an outlet for older folks looking for entertainment or interaction.

Out and About is a non-profit organization. They are not specifically soliciting donations during this speech, but welcome donations. The organization is 78% Medicaid funded and they must make up the other 22% in donations.

Anyone is welcome to come any day at 12:30 and enjoy lunch with the group. A donation of $3.75 would cover the meal.

Business

The Rotary Foundation has embarked upon revamping the way Foundation Programs and Funding are to be managed in the future, specifically beginning in the Rotary year of 2013-14. To ensure that the new processes are thoroughly tested for a period of 3 years, The Foundation is planning to have 100 Rotary Districts around the world be PILOT DISTRICTS. The leadership of District 7850 has decided to apply to be one of the PILOT DISTRICTS, but to be accepted by The Foundation we need to have approval by at least 26 Clubs. So far, based on email discussion our club is in favor. There will be discussion at the committee meeting.

A motion was made to donate $100 to the Morrisville Festival of Lights (MACC). The motion was carried.

Dr. Phil has been working with Larry Jourdan to requisition his motorcycle trailer to store the coats from the coat drive during transit. The coats would be going to South Dakota.

Buck’s Furniture is soliciting donations for the American Cancer Society. Buck’s will match any donation. A motion was made for the donation to be made, because Sandy has a history of donating

Duck Race winnings back to the club. The motion was carried.

Marcia reviewed the official posting of donations from our club at Rotary International.

Tim Sargent gave an update on the Polar Plunge. The registration packet is all done. He’s been working with United Way to figure out where the raised money will go. They have earmarked the money for housing projects. The transitional housing fund is a pilot project to help folks move into homes and learn to manage their budgets, etc. A motion was made to make the proceeds from the Polar Plunge available to the transitional housing project. The motion carried.

Marcia thanked Susan Bartlett for running the meeting last week.

Minutes American Cancer Society, Duck Race, Festival of Lights, Lakota, MACC, Michelle Thompson, Out and About, Pilot, Polar Plunge, Scott West

Guests

• PJ Pfeifenberger
• Mary Collins (WLVB, Speaker)
• Alexa Arthur (Youth Speech Contestant) and Family

Happy Dollars

• PJ is happy to be visiting a new club.
• Jason is happy that basketball season has started at the local high schools.
• Linda was happy to have Thanksgiving dinner with the Morrisville Kindergarten class.  Mel was happy the happy dollars went much quicker than Stowe.
• Gary was happy to celebrate another birthday.
• Mary was happy that the speech contest contestant was here today.

Business

If people are interested, there are 7 openings for people to do a Friendship Exchange to the Northwestern US and Western Canada.  Please contact Bill Thompson, District Governor Nominee for 2010-2011 and Acting Friendship Exchange Chair for District 7850.  His email address is wibbit@aol.com.

Alexa Arthur, Speech Contestant

Alexa is going to Africa this summer for three months to work in an orphanage in Accra, Ghana.  The theme of the contest is “Make Dreams Real,” so here speech and her actions are very much aligned.  She is a junior at Lamoille Union High School.  Alexa was the only contestant from Morrisville, so she wins this round by default.  The next round of Speech Contests is to be determined, but will most likely be between Waterbury and Stowe.

Speaker Mary Collins, Lakota Indians

Mary spoke about the Lakota Indians.  She suggested that the extra coats we collected from the coat drive could be shipped out to them, but she can’t afford to ship them herself.  There is a cultural ride that occurs periodically, and we have possibility of shipping them with that group.  We could also donate the money to ship the coats.  Rotarians are also encouraged to donate outside of the club as well.  If you would like to contact Mary to help out, or get more information, you can contact her at: mcollins@radiovermont.com.  For more information on the Lakota Indians, please visit their entry on Wikipedia.

Minutes Lakota, Newsletter, Speech Contest