RCGC Meeting Recap: Friday, August 14, 2015
With 70 people in attendance, the room was buzzing with energy. Thanks to all who attended.
Friday’s meeting began with an Inspiration by Jim Swinyard. Thereafter we welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests. Mark Kalmar, our spunky membership chair, kicked off the afternoon with a table challenge to come up with a caption to a photograph of an enthusiastic male Oregon football fan wearing a wig and a theme-colored coconut……, er, bikini top. It was all in good fun and a great way to kick off membership month for the club.
Two Red Badge club members completed the requirements set forth to advance to Blue Badge status: Scott Elmshauer and Tiffany Bailey. Congratulations and a warm applause greeted both as they traded badges at the lectern. Tiffany also presented the club with a Rotary Club Flag that she received during her two-month trip to Europe, specifically a club in Bulgaria.
Helen Higgins informed club members that the Special Friends Picnic will be held on Thursday, August 20th, at the Rotary Picnic Shelter in Willamette Park. Brian Augustine has compiled a list of volunteer assignments. Members that have not been assigned a specific job were encouraged to show up at the part at 5pm to assist with this annual event…..wear your blue Rotary shirt!
Kathleen Hutchinson announced that the annual Rotary Holiday event has been scheduled for December. She will be busy (as she was last year) coordinating the event and inviting community non-profits to take part. Members that want to help and requested to touch base with Kathi. She will also let us know how we can help the Pastega Foundation set up their annual Christmas light show at the Benton County Fairgrounds.
Ken Pastega was recognized for hosting the annual Mario Pastega Memorial Golf Tournament, with proceeds dedicated to helping expand the Mario Pastega House and build the new Samaritan Pastega Regional Cancer Center. Former club member Steve Uerlings is a strong committed volunteer force behind all of the golf fundraisers at Trysting Tree.
Mark Kalmar reminded members of two events he is sponsoring to help club member Stephanie Douglas with her anticipated and expected birth this month. First, if you want to join with providing a meal or two for Stephanie and her daughter during the busy months of August and September, Mark is coordinating with the website “Meal Train” to schedule delivery of meals. The second activity is a “Guess the Birth Time and Birth Weight” of Stephanie’s baby, scheduled to be induced (if the baby does not arrive earlier!) on August 23th. If you have an interest in either activity, contact Mark: mark@cradiology.com
Next, club member Charlie Mitchell delivered a fascinating Vocational presentation complete with a multi-media slide show that featured his youth (on a motorcycle) to his adult years (on a motorcycle). Charlie told us that his life’s priorities are: family, faith, colleagues/community, hobbies/interests, service, and profession. Charlie was born and raised in Grant’s Pass and served in the United States Navy. With a BS from SOSC, a MS from SOU, Charlie is current the Community and Economic Development Director for the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments. With over 19 years of economic development experience, Charlie stated that he is one of only six certified professionals currently working in Oregon. In sum, Charlie wants us to know that he is “just a guy trying to do his best in a crazy world.”
We then followed up with a recap of our club’s Movie Night with an eight-minute video featuring photos from David Zajicek. If you missed it, the video is posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqj7aTngzC0
Lee Eckroth, our (awesome) inspirational past-president, provided snapshot of the good things that occurred for our family-oriented showing of ET in Avery Park. Lee stated that the energy that went into the event was evident throughout the evening. Approximately 1,000-1,200 people were in attendance and to a person they had a wonderful time. With over $9,000 in revenue (sales plus sponsorship) we had about $7,500 in expenses. Thus, as a fundraiser, it did not generate the type of revenue anticipated. However, what was gained regarding exposure for Rotary and our club was phenomenal. Our “dash for cash” collected approximately $500 in 10 minutes, thanks to the imaginative collection buckets provided to us by Amy Jauron.
Additional movie recap comments were made by Brian Augustine, telling us that he made five trips to Woodstocks to replenish Pizza sales for the evening. Brian summed up his experience by stating that movie night “made Rotary look cool.” Mike Sheets thanked Lee for his leadership of the event, stating that our Rotary booth had visitors, but more people learned about Rotary directly from members walking around in their “Rotarian at Work” t-shirt as well as our presentation before the movie. Tammy Todorovich reported that he Raffle Committee sold out of tickets. She stated that the $1/ticket price was “perfect and affordable.” Tammy added that she was “honored to be a part of such a great event.” [Aside – Tammy is getting married this week – we all wish her the best of good luck and our hearty congratulations!] Finally, Karen Emery said that the event generated positive feedback from others, especially her staff at Corvallis Parks and Recreation. Further, it provided great exposure of the park to the community, making Parks and Rec look good. Karen was thanked for her great assistance and cooperation.
This week: Thursday – Special Friends Picnic 5pm @ Rotary Shelter
Friday: Regular club meeting with District Governor John Bushnell
