Rotary Begins New Year - Inducts Officers
July 12, 2009
By: Stephen Kent
Deb Lutz passes President Pin to Anne Trahan
Last Weeks Meeting - July 7, 2009
The first meeting of July starts a new year for Rotary Clubs. Bay City thanked outgoing President Deb Lutz who passed the gavel and the president's pin to 2009-10 president Anne Trahan. Anne then passed the president-elect pin to Eric Jylha. Ed Keating will follow Eric as the 2011-12 President. Anne also introduced the board of directors and committee chairs.
Having just returned from the International Convention in Birmingham England, Anne presented a slide show and talked about the trip and the goals of Rotary. This was the 100th international convention. 25 years ago the convention was also in Birmingham and Paul Harris attended. This very international event had 20,000 in attendance from 151 countries.
Incoming International President John Kenny was quoted as saying "Rotary is only as great as its clubs - and our clubs are only as great as the members within them". Besides his focus on members and clubs, Kenny set three broad goals for the Rotary Year: Clean Water, Health and Hunger, and Literacy. Rotary has been active in all these areas over the years and Kenny's objectives will strengthen the commitment.
After reviewing many of the Bay City Club's past projects, Anne listed a number of areas for continuing service and outlined goals for her year.
2009-10 International Theme Banner
Anne noted that Paul Harris was only 37 years old when he founded Rotary. Today's Rotarians are older on average. The average age of the Bay City club is 57 and the average years of service is 12. In the spirit of encouraging younger members, Anne asked the club to explore starting an Interact Club, which targets youth from 14 to 18. Anne noted that the Interact in Pinconning has proved to be a great success. Starting an Interact, is a way to build future leaders and the Rotarians of tomorrow.
CLUB NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tim Holsworth announced that the recent Golf Outing, although not as well attended as previous years, still raised over $6,000 for the club's projects.
Rob Clark said that the Food Pantry collections at the door each week is coming to its end. That project has raised over $3,000 in the past two years to support the Bay County Emergency Food Pantry Network. Thanks to Barb Englehardt for her $500 matching grand that kicked off the project. A new project will be announced in the future. Members are still encouraged to support the Food Pantry Network with their individual contributions.
The Birch Run club will be celebrating its 10th anniversary with a dinner on September 2. Tickets are $20.
There are still openings for the GSE team going to Portugal this fall.
Sergeant at Arms Cindy Chadwick is looking for assistants. If you'd like to join the team and be the Sergeant for a few weeks, see Cindy.
Breezes Reporters Wanted: If you'd like to help write the weekly Breezes please see Steve Kent. It's an easy job. No experience necessary. High Pay (well at least a lot of thanks).
DATES TO REMEMBER
International Night 2009 has been scheduled for October 15. The theme will be a Mediterranean Cruise.
Upcoming Programs
(See the official schedule at
RotaryBayCity.org )
July 14:
Ajay Badhwar from Dow returns to talk about the capture of power plant flue gas and how it can be done.
July 21:
10 Minute Rotarian Brenda Scramlin and Ron Bloomfield,
July 28:
Pinconning Rotoact members will tell about their club and its future plans.
August 11:
Changes to the Local Newspaper Industry
Matt Sharp, Publisher of Booth Mid-Michigan, will present a summary of the changes that have taken place with the local newspaper industry in Mid-Michigan.
August 18:
US Mail Fraud Josh McCallister, United States Postal Inspector, will share information about How to protect yourself & what to do if you have become a victim.
Visit
RotaryBayCity.org