Attendance: 25 Rotarians; 2 guests Bob Wiener, brother of Elizabeth Candas, and Art Nelson, honorary member
Visiting Rotarians: Steve Albright, District Governor and wife Jill; Chuck Sauer, Assistant District Governor from the East Greenwich Rotary Club; Kris David, Past District Governor, from the Providence Rotary Club
When paying with a Credit Card, fees approach $1 per transaction, Cash is preferred.
Important Message!!!
Bahamas Disaster Relief
President Bob Cruz and Donna Vignali
Fellow Rotarians,
My daughter Alicia is working along side, with Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director of the Caribbean Foundation in Boston, in collecting urgent items needed for the people of the Bahamas. Andrew spoke with the Ambassador from the Bahamas today and he listed the following items as some of the most needed at this time.
Flashlights
Batteries
Insect repellent
Plastic tarps
Water purification kits
First aid kits
Portable lights
Andrew will collect the items from Alicia and he will drive all donations to the Embassy in New York. Everything is going to the Bahamas Disaster Relief Fund coordinated through the Embassy of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Please consider donating one or several of these items. Alicia and I will be at the picnic if you would like to bring them at that time or maybe to next weeks meeting where I will collect them. Your help is appreciated.
Yours in Rotary,
Donna Vignali
Club Business and Announcements
Announcements
Bob sends a big Thank You to everyone on the committee who planned and ran the picnic!
The date of the "Gansett Games" / "Beach Bumper Ball Challenge" has been changed to November 16. Please solicit companies and organizations to sponsor teams. Use the video to get people interested.
Donna is preparing a Power Point presentation about the work of the club to show at the beach event. If you have any photos of past service projects, please send them to her at dvignali@outlook.com.
Beth announced that the Rotaract group will have its first meeting of the academic year this week. Steve White will be helping with the group.
Sunshine
Jay is celebrating his club anniversary
Mary Roda is having surgery; Elizabeth will send a card from the club
Happy Bucks
Martha is proud that Channel 12 interviewed her son at the Wings of Freedom event
Betsy is happy that Bill gave her his fish
Pete is grateful that his wife could take over for him at the picnic
Dennis saw a bumper sticker in Jackson Hole that read: “Polio Gone; Thank You Rotary”
Elizabeth thanks everyone who helped with the picnic
Tom is celebrating his 50th class reunion from South Kingstown High School
Bob Wiener is celebrating the same anniversary
Donna is getting her renovations done
Spence ALMOST landed a huge tuna but it “self-released”
Club Picnic
What a glorious day for a picnic!
Approximately seventy Rotarians, family members, and guests descended on the Matunuck Community Association grounds on Sunday to enjoy our annual party. Bright sunshine illuminated the fall flowers that provided a stunning backdrop.
Children from age one up enjoyed whiffleball and beanbag games, while the more “mature” set favored bocce and “cornhole baseball.”
The highlight of the day was the food! Stuffies, chowder, clam cakes, and salads were followed by grilled Saugies, burgers, and zucchini, with sweet corn, baked potatoes, and many desserts. Many lobsters and steaks were seen to be devoured as well.
The big suspense of the day was, “Who would win the auction items?” Peter and Claudia won the Waterville Valley condo. Linda claimed by the mountain bike. Jim took home the lounge chair and B&B trip to Kingston. Fran will be deep sea fishing on Bills Yacht Then there was the 50-50 raffle, which Spence claimed $169 that he generously donated back to the club For a grand total of $1867raised. Many thanks to our resident Wakefield Rotary Auctioneer Harry!
Whoever has Harry’s plastic container with a blue cover (His name is on the bottom) in which he brought Harrys famous lentil/orzo salad to please return it to him.
Many thanks to the committee members who planned, cooked, served, and cleaned for the group! Elizabeth led the charge, joined by Bob, Bill, Chris, Gene, Harry, Pete, Of course, others pitched in, including Sezkin, who shucked a lot of corn.
Fun and fellowship in the fall. It doesn’t get better than this! If you couldn’t make you were missed!!
PROGRAM
District Governor Steve Albright, introduced by Russell Bertrand
First, District Governor Steve Albright recognized several club members for their contributions to the District, including Russell, Herb, and Steve. He mentioned that President Mark Maloney’s theme for this year is “Rotary Connects the World,” and he distributed pins emblazoned with that slogan.
Steve’s overriding goal this year is to stabilize and increase membership in our district. Although worldwide membership is flat, in the United States it is declining. Steve has asked each club to increase its membership by reaching out to people who share our ideal of making the world a better place. He suggested that there are several things we can do to increase membership, including appointing a membership chair, having a diverse membership committee, setting an achievable goal and plan, and making membership a priority for the club. (In response to a question, Bob said that our current membership is 47 and our goal is 53.)
To expand outreach to potential members, President Maloney is urging Rotary clubs to consider changing some of their routines to meet the needs of different groups. He suggests that younger people, including those with young families, may prefer different meeting schedules/formats, different types of service projects, and even separate clubs made up of their peers.
District Governor Albright also urged members to contribute to the Rotary Foundation (in addition to the club foundation). The expectation is “Every Rotarian Every Year” at the level of $2 a week or more. Half of the income to the Rotary International Foundation goes to goes back to the districts and half goes to support worldwide programs.