Club Business
President Mary Thomas Gilbert brought the meeting to order. Jim Cartner led us in prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the US flag. Mary Thomas shared a funny story about her aunt’s “old family recipe” for a cake that tasted like moth balls. Mary Thomas announced that our club will participate in and support Feed the Hunger’s December 4 Packathon at the Mall. Everyone was encouraged to join this worthwhile project and bring family members.
The following were welcomed as our newest members:
- Corporate Membership for United Way of Alamance and Kellee Hawley
- Corporate Membership for Blackwell Funeral Home – Faiger Blackwell and Jwan Johnson
A second reading was made for Freebird McKinney, who was in attendance.
Prospective members who were present:
- Christy Farrell, from Burlington Animal Services. She was invited by Mary Thomas.
Next week Francois will have the program. Our speaker will be our long absent member, Ben Wooten. It will be great to see Ben again and catch up on what he is doing these days.
Click here to see all scheduled program dates and responsibilities.
November Birthdays and Anniversaries
2 | Frank Longest | 5 | Trip and Caroline Durham |
6 | Katie Dukeshire | 8 | Frank and Lee Longest |
10 | Bonnie Whitaker | 11 | Jim and Gayle Cartner |
18 | Mikie and Christine Morrison |
Happy Dollar Announcements
- Dick O’Donnell gave $2 to announce an event to support the Elon basketball teams later in the day.
Program: Quarterly Club Assembly
Mary Thomas recognized the board for its good work and the Burlington Beer Works for its help with our recent venue transition.
She called on Phil to give the Treasurer’s report. Phil reported that we take in roughly $9,000 annually for charitable projects – $4500 from the $25 per quarter charitable donation, $3500 we net for lunch “no-shows” and about $1000 from Happy $ and other fundraisers.
Micah reported that we gained three members (United Way, Blackwell Funeral Home, and Freebird McKinney) in the first month at our new location, a very positive trend and harbinger of things to come. Sadly, however, we also removed three people from the role, who have not been with us for a while now – Maribeth Delfs, Cathryn Hartwell, and Paul Mauney. But since we are seeing a very positive trend of more prospective members visiting, our club’s future is definitely looking great. Our very successful quarterly new member orientations will continue. All members are encouraged to issue invitations to likely member prospects.
Micah also gave an update about possible satellite clubs at the Village of Brookwood and similar locations.
Brooke Carpenter reported on the activities and accomplishments of our Youth Services committee, which he chairs. We sponsor an active Interact Club at Western High School, and one is being planned for Burlington Christian Academy. Rotary provides opportunities for local youth to compete in the Rotary 4 Way Test Speech Contest in February. Brooke thanked Ed Woodall for mentoring him and Ryan Risko for helping with the committee. Our committees are one of the great strengths of our club. Everyone is encouraged to participate at some level in our committee structure.
Jim Cartner discussed the opportunity for members to volunteer as readers at the local library. Mac and Freebird mentioned that there is a need for volunteer readers for ABSS students who are experiencing homelessness. There is also a need for books for these children.
Our guest Christy Farrell noted that the animal shelter is raising funds for a program to provide temporary shelter for pets belonging to victims of domestic violence. Susan Watson shared that she gets calls from women who need assistance, but hesitate out of fear of losing their precious pets.
Conclusion
The head table held the winning ticket this week, but failed to set a new all time record by drawing the winning card the first time a new deck was opened. Maybe next time! Only 51 cards remain in our quest to uncover the Ace of Spades. Mary Thomas led us in the recitation of Rotary’s four-way test as we adjourned. See you next week.