~ Newberg Noon Rotary Club Newsletter ~
Rotary Club of Newberg, Zoom Meeting
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
~ Zoom Meeting Participants ~
Shannon B, Mike, Dan, Paula, Todd, Joe, Michelle, Christy, Ralph, Larry, Paul, Auggie, Brandy, Kathie, Laura, Lisa, Walter, Gene, Shannon K, Judy, Om, Jim, Kim, Doug, Amber, Amy
~ Call to Order ~
President Shannon Buckmaster welcomed Rotarians and Friends of Rotary to the Zoom meeting at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The Rotarians split out into breakout groups to start the meeting.
~ Flag Salute ~
Auggie lead participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.
~ 4 Way Test ~
Paul lead participants in the recital of the 4 Way Test:
Rotary’s Four Way Test of the things we think, say and do:
#1 – Is it the TRUTH?
#2 – Is it FAIR to all concerned?
#3 – Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
#4 – Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
~ Today’s Program: Newberg Rotary Club Housekeeping ~
Announced that Wendy McArthur has been accepted as a new member of our Club and will be inducted!
Shannon welcomed everyone to look into the following volunteer opportunities:
Vice Presidency opportunity: This is a 4 year commitment of volunteering as an officer. In the first year you are Vice President, which has a lighter role which includes helping with scheduling speakers at the meetings, filling in for the President as needed, beginning your education process, email monitoring, and project involvement. In the second year you transition to President Elect, for which you are in charge of programs for the club, as well as mandatory President Elect education, In the third year you transition to President, where you will be at the helm of the Club running the weekly meetings and monthly Board meetings. The fourth year you are asked to transition to the role of immediate past president, which is a lighter role whereby you are assisting the current president and ensuring continuity of leadership.
Public Relations Chair: We are looking for someone to serve in this position which will be managing Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, minimal work on the Website, management of the upcoming Google Suite system).
Auction Committee: Shannon Knight is the chair and is looking for assistance running and managing the auction through a committee. Your participation can be light or heavy, as willing, and can be strategically directed to meet your interests or skill sets by working on just one aspect of the auction.
Membership Committee: work with new members, answer questions about membership, get to know all of the members of the club, new and veteran. You can help designate mentors and mentees and help with outreach to members who have become less active to check in on members. Over the last 6 months we have taken on A LOT of fantastic new members in a time where most social Clubs are shrinking.
Joe – President Elect: Pointed out that all of these opportunities are fantastic ways to get more involved, which is a very valuable AND valued aspect of being a part of the Club. You get to know the Club functions and organization better, you get to know the members of the Club better, and you even can find opportunities to make connections outside of the Club, especially in the Presidency role. These connections are valuable for growing as a Rotarian, growing as a professional, and growing as a citizen. Joe invites everyone to seek any opportunities that they have interest in and can add value to. The most important quality you can have as a volunteer is just the burning desire to serve others.
Kim – Membership Chair: Is organizing the membership committee to support with new members and also with reengageing members that have seen a reduction in activity as of late as an attempt to reach out to stay connected and retain some of these very valuable and knowledgeable members to ensure they stick with the Club through this COVID period. She invited anyone with ideas or who are interested in serving in this committee to contact her. Lisa has offered to help so far and she is looking to designing a recurring monthly meeting to be scheduled after one of the Wednesday Meetings. This is an amazing opportunity to greatly get to know all fresh, new members as well as with the members serving in leadership roles. It is a lot of fun and can be very rewarding in many ways.
Shannon K- Secretary and Auction Chair: Reminded us all that we can, on a personal level, reach out to members who have not attended or say hello to members at meetings after a brief break from attendance to let them know you are excited to see them. She pointed out that you can join multiple of these teams/roles if you have multiple interests. You also should be aware that where ever you might choose to serve, you can find opportunities to reach out and get assistance from others in the club as needed. She has found so far that our club is full of members and leaders willing to answer questions and help out when needed. Don’t be afraid to volunteer outside of what feels naturally comfortable.
Shannon B – President: Pointed out that due in large part to various transitions, we are behind schedule on establishing the next year’s board. So if you are at all interested in serving, please hurry and contact Shannon or Joe. We are hoping to have a full ballot for the March 11 Board meeting in order to get Board approval for the ballots. Then we will have a hybrid voting system where everyone will be emailed and you can either print and send, print and scan back or reply by email with your votes. This is a new process since it has in the past been in person. At the end of the Month the results should be officially announced. The timing issue has been corrected for next year and next year’s election meeting has been scheduled for December 15, 2021.
Other notes:
Foundation Board Members: we have 2 vacancies on the Club Foundation Board, for which we have received 4 nominees to take those spots. This is another shift in leadership coming up.
Auction note: currently we are scheduled to do the auction live at the cultural center, but if it does happen live, we will certainly also do virtual components to be able to expand participation.
Virtual Meetings: Our Virtual Meetings have been a new challenge and a hurdle, but have also definitely proven beneficial: We had a large amount of auction participants that were out of state, including some of the biggest donors. We have had great attendance from many members. We have had a huge spike in Polio-Plus and duck donations. (Editors Note: Dan has seen a significant reduction in Caloric intake on Wednesdays). All of that considered, we hope to get back to in person events and meetings soon, but intend to keep some of the things we learned and benefited from during this virtual era.
Boy Scouts Partnership Update: For those that missed the announcement of the board decision, the Club Board voted to end its sponsorship of the Local Boy Scouts Troops due in large part to the Club’s Volunteering Capacity and inability to properly meet fiduciary responsibilities that come with the partnership. The delivery and explanation of this decision was not properly communicated to the 3 Scout groups which led to some bad press with some members of the community who believed that the decision was for religious purposes. She pointed out though, that we had determined, after discussions with the District, that we could approve the sponsorship and would not be in violation with the District, but ultimately realized that we were underserving in our responsibilities and could not in good faith continue based specifically on that issue. Shannon, Brandy, and Joe immediately scheduled a meeting with members/representatives of the Boy Scouts of America to ultimately successfully restore that relationship going forward. We will continue our interactions and support of those Clubs, but simply without the legal and fiduciary ties. Those Clubs have chartered new agreements with American Legion and will be able to continue on in their activities, which is great news.
EMS International Project Fundraising Update: This week, Newberg Early Birds granted $1,000, the Beaverton Club gave $1,500, and the Wilsonville Club gave $1,000. That means that we have now raised $21,161 and still need to raise $13,839 to meet our $35,000 commitment. Paula has more presentations to do to other clubs and the District.
~ Other Special Announcements ~
Wendy McArthur was inducted officially as a New Member! She was inducted at todays meeting. Congrats and Welcome Wendy! Her mentor will be Brandy. She is very excited to get to know everyone and get involved in some committees to help serve the club and the community.
The GFU Muralist Art Team has a question for the Club Members: “If you can give a message to the people of Newberg, or those visiting our town, what would you want to tell them?” Please email Geoff Gilmore with your answer at [email protected]. Deadline is March 4 at 5pm.
Fellow Earlybird Rotarian, Dennis Reilly, is offering to prune fellow Rotarian’s Fruit trees, agratis. If you are interested or have questions, please call him at 503-473-5708.
On Sunday, March 14th from 3-4pm, Paul and members of the United Methodist Church will be assembling/packing 40 food boxes to Students at Catalyst as part of a grant project funded 50-50 by our Club Foundation and the United Methodist Church. Paul needs 3 volunteers to help pack these boxes to be delivered to recipients for Spring Break. Please email Paul if interested.
~ Next Week’s Program: Classification Talk by Amy Kutzkey ~
Check your e-mails for Mike Caruso’s Zoom meeting access information.
~ Joke of the Day ~
When I was young, you could stop at a gas station and fill up the air in your car’s tires with just a few quarters. Now it costs more than twice that!
That’s Inflation for you…
~ Happy Quotes! ~
“The most important quality you can have as a volunteer is just the burning desire to serve others.“
– Dr. Joe Morelock (during this meeting)
~ Published 3/7/2021: Dan Keuler, Newsletter Editor ~
