Each morning I choose to start my day with morning exercises and gratitudes. For me gratitudes include rolling over and hugging my wife, prayer, focusing on good and positive things, sending notes, birthday cards and more. Those things that make you smile.
In Rotary we start our meeting with an inspiration/invocation/special words. Without falter, this is a way of introducing a positive spirit into the “Start” of what we do. In reviewing our club brochure recently I came across a line attributed to our own honorary member John Dennis. Here is what it said:
“When everything is said and done all of us are very fortunate to be members of the Rotary Club of Greater Corvallis, which in truth is as much an extended family as it is a club” This is how I feel.
Let me start this week’s recap by saying a very, very good morning to you J. After this week’s meeting I a received a note from one of our awesome members and it said, “Simply superb meeting today. Always uplifting to see engaged youth and this group takes ones breath away.”
For those of you who could not attend, our program was from the CHS Interact Club sharing about who they are, what they do and most importantly WHY they do it. I watched Gerry get choked up while presenting each of these youth with 4-way test coins. It really was just that type of day……and a great day it was. We truly hope to have more interaction with this club as these youth have amazing hearts – Rotary hearts – and are focused on doing the right things.
On top of this we had a young lady by the name of Avery Allen who presented to us her winning 4-way test speech in which the topic was “does a dress code comply with the 4-way test”. Her speech was impressive and she not only owned the podium but got a standing ovation – which she deserved. Avery did such a special job that at the end of our meeting she got the gavel to officially end the meeting. She is a very special youth and we wish here the best as she takes her speech to the next level. As part of winning the local contest our club presented her with $100. THANKS to our friend and club member Larry Symonds for orchestrating this event and making this magic happen for Avery.
Thanks a bunch to our greeters, those who helped set-up/tear down, and Brian Augustine for his special invocation on the power of hugging. We had a lot of power announcements this week. I am sorry if I miss any. Here we go:
For more information on anything above, contact those club members. For additional opportunities and upcoming events, see below. One thing that would be helpful for me to know very soon is how many of you will be attending the upcoming District Conference in Eugene. If you do not know what it is – let me know. If you know that you are going – also please let me know. It would be great to have a good sized group there.
Finally, we ended the meeting with a group of 7 us us meeting for an hour and revieiwng 29 applicant, 200 word essays on Ethics in Business. The applicants were 29 college students who were applying for to win one of five $2000 scholarships by writing a 200-word essay on why Ethics are important in business. We did it and it felt great to be part of the process. This is our second year being involved in this program and we hope to have the winner come to our club at a future date for the Rotary moment to present the winning essay.
Friday’s at noon truly are a power hour of positive energy. Our attendance continues to rise, our membership is growing and the spirit of Rotary is strong. Here is my suggestion for you – “Make Rotary “Your Rotary”. Come on Friday’s, be inspired, have fun and change the world. It really is that easy.
Make it a great week my friends and I will see you on Friday for a program called “Seeds for the Sol”. If you need anything between now and then, have feedback, would like to make special announcements or anything else – I am here for you.
Yours in a very positive Rotary spirit,.
Lee Eckroth
——-
Upcoming District Conference
I am writing today to share with you an amazing Rotary opportunity that is just around the corner and is easy to make happen. The Rotary District 5110 District Conference. Once a year the leaders of our incredible district, who are Rotarians like you and me come together to host a great weekend of Inspired Rotary. Whether you can attend just for one day or the whole weekend – I truly believe it would be worth your time. As we all know, Rotary is an amazing organization and way of life. The more I learn, the more I appreciate what we do, why we do it and each and every one of you for being involved.
Here is a link for you to learn more. http://district5110.org/district-conference/
It would be a pleasure to attend with you and to have you represent our club. The good news is that it is just down the road in Eugene. I plan on driving down and back on Friday and Saturday. Again, whether you can attend some or all – I do believe you would greatly benefit.
Please let me know if you plan to attend. It would be fun to get a good group of us together. We have had a great year as a club and this would be a great way to keep the momentum moving forward into Gerry’s year
Thanks everyone and make it a great week.
Sincerely,
Lee Eckroth
—-
Changing of the Guard
See the attached invitation.
Let’s Make History Together
Dear Fellow Rotarians;
Our club is embarking on a quest to develop an important and valuable historical profile of our club. Other Benton County clubs are also doing this, and of course we expect our effort will not be outdone! In order to accomplish our goal, we need everyone to contribute. Here is what we need.
Send me everything you can gather, including photographs (very important as we intend do develop a visual product) and written concise descriptions, of past and present events, programs, projects, and anything else our club has been involved in during your years in Rotary. No event is too big or small to be important. Photos hard copies can be given to me, President Lee, Judy Corwin, or Al Hutchinson.
I will mark you off the list as you reply. If you don’t reply, you will be contacted again (and again, and again, and again…) until I hear from you. You might as well save both of us some aggravation and “get ‘er done!”.
Our deadline for information gathering is May 1.
Some folks will be putting much effort into this project, so please do your small part to make their job easier. Thanks!
In Rotary,
Mike Sheets
mwsheets1@gmail.com
—-
Friendship Exchange
Friends – Tom Nelson has been working diligently on the program below. What a great gift to us, the community and those who are visiting. Some may recall Megan Schneider announced it on Friday. These great people need our help. If you are available and would like to host – please contact Tom Nelson at Tom.Nelson@corvallisoregon.gov or 503-867-5544. Please let him no ASAP.
—-
Rotary Friendship Exchange is Rotary’s exchange program for single Rotarians or Rotarians and their spouses. Friendship Exchanges allow Rotarians the op¬portunity to experience another culture or geographic area first hand in the homes of Rotarians in another country or district. The exchanges are reciprocal and usually last about two to three weeks. The goal of the program is to advance international understanding, goodwill, and peace through person-to-person contact across national boundaries. District 5110 focuses solely on team exchanges and preference will be given to those helping organize and host an incoming exchange. Visits usually include three to four different hosts and hosts are located in different parts of the district. Rotarians would spend two to three nights with each host. The number of participants in an exchange varies from four to six couples, singles, or a combination (for a total of 12).
An incoming Swedish team will be visiting our area June 2nd – 5th. We are looking for hosts for 3 couples and 2 singles. Hosts will transport the guests to scheduled activities. Hosts will also suggest local events, places, and activities that match the guests interests. Hosts will provide housing and some meals. There is no reimburse¬ment for hosting. However, hosts may be considered for future out-going teams. Future out-going team destinations being considered are India, Wales, Peru, Philippines and Turkey.
