It was great to welcome President Melanie Harty back to the lead in the meeting, after she emerges from the "wilds" of another tax season.
This meeting took place on ZOOM, a new standard to vary the type of meetings that the club organizes. It was felt that no member would be excluded from a ZOOM meeting, as they are available to all. So we will try this for a few months, and see what the reaction is.
Before the Strategic Plan discussion, several Directors provided updates on their portfolio's.
Treasurer Gail Halderman gave a high level presentation of the current status of the clubs finances. Several questions were asked and the Board may need to provide context around a couple of items. Currently, Gail and PE Bruce are scheduled to give their budget presentation to the club on Monday June 19th, for the next Rotary year.
Membership Chair Mike Christie spoke first about the need to fill the duties of Adolf Seiler, with his recent resignation from the club. Items such as the Sgt-at-arms and the Salvation Army Kettles have always been within his group of duties. Mike also spoke about the importance of membership, in the new strategic plan.
Mike moved onto Community Service and spoke about the work that Dan Kammerer had been doing over the winter from a number of exotic locales. He has gotten primary consensus on the design of the signs, their placement and a reasonable pricing for the work. Now approvals will be needed, but we are close to achieving something by the end of this Rotary year. Great work Dan!!
Dave Panabaker took a few minutes and provided the club with the final results of the 2023 Rotary Club 1000 raffle. Less tickets were sold this year, and fewer Rotarians participated in selling tickets, both of which are concerning trends in the club, where fundraising is an important aspect of our success.
Rotary Club "What-z New":
A few more meeting helpers are required to run cameras and sound during our hybrid meetings. Anyone wishing to help should contact Mike Christie 403 878 3311.
Rotary Club Membership Update:
Please consider joining the membership team. Check out a meeting of this team and see how exciting it is! The committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 5:00 pm. Contact Mike Christie to join in.
Rotary Club Information:
Housekeeping:
If you have a Meeting Minute, please phone, text or email the President and it will be included in the next Newsletter.
Board minutes can be found on ClubRunner, under Club Documents.
Upcoming Club Program, Activities and Meetings:
May 7th and 8th - Next Rotary Club Casino
Tuesday May 16th - Rosebowl Performance, Recital Hall, Cultural Center 7:00 pm
Friday May 19th - Next Rotary Bingo (evening)
Friday June 16th - Rotary at the Ballpark, Athletic Park
Upcoming Rotary District and International Events
Rotary District Club Learning Webinar: Registration is open for the next Learning Webinar to be held on Wednesday May 16th at 7:00pm: "Reining in the June Membership Stampede"
Next District Conference: Lethbridge: May 5/6, 2023. Have you registered yet? The conference website is located at https://www.discon5360.ca Margie mentioned that some ride sharing and car pooling might let more folks attend. Anyone interested?
District 5360 Annual General Meeting: Monday May 8 at 5pm.
Rotary International Convention: 27 - 31 May 2023, in Melbourne, Australia.
Ideas for Future Programs
The Rotary Club's Program Committee members are Jillian Koch (jkoch@jmhca.com), Dave Panabaker (d.panabaker@hotmail.com) and Margie Booyens (margiebooyens@gmail.com).
If you have ideas for future programs, please contact them.
The Club does not normally publish a story about our regular business meetings, however the Rotary Club adopted unanimously a new Strategic Plan, which has been in the development stage for the past year.
President-elect Bruce Shepard spoke to the group, about the work that went on and how he followed a model he learned early in his career. Bruce mentioned the need for more publicity and advertising, as well as a membership brochure which would extoll the values of Rotary to newcomers. He also spoke about engaging local industries, both large and small to further our reach.
Club Vision
The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat will be a high profile, dynamic service club recognized both locally and abroad for its leadership and community service.
Club Mission
The purpose of the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat, in keeping with the Rotary Code of Conduct, the Four Way Test and the Objects of Rotary, is to ethically serve our local and global communities by providing opportunities for service, fellowship and personal growth for our members.
Club Actions to support the Mission
The following actions will be undertaken by our Club to reach our Objectives and fulfill our Mission:
The current Club Committee structure will be revised and animated by a renewed commitment to fun and fellowship;
A new Promotions and Marketing Committee will be created and tasked with raising the profile of our Club in the community;
Plan, develop and hold a single major Club event, with spouses, aimed at recruiting new members, or encouraging former members to return.
There is lots of work to do, and all members will need to be engaged to make it happen.
Thanks to Bruce, Melanie and the whole Rotary Board for getting us to this point.
But a pretty good crowd on the ZOOM meeting, with a total of 21 attendees.
Club Draw:
No draw this week
Please remember to contribute items for the weekly draw as the stock cupboard is running low.
Makeups:
None mentioned
Birthdays:
Anne Carrier May 5
Doug Fleming May 19
Ian McLaughlin May 20
Ted Cowtan May 25
Dawn Barr May 31
Rotary Anniversaries:
Ian McLaughlin May 01 1992 31 years
Dick Northcott May 1 2000 23 years
Dan Kammerer May 19 2004 19 years
Susan Withers May 14 2018 5 years
Wedding Anniversary Rose Runner for May 2023:
Gail Halderman
Reminders about important Minutes:
Bingo
Dave Panabaker advised that invitations are now out for sign up to the next Rotary Bingo on Friday May 19, an evening session. This happens to be the Friday of the first long weekend in the summer, so volunteers may be at a premium. If you are around, please consider signing up and helping.
Rosebowl Winners Concert
Dave Panabaker also advised that invitations are out for our Rosebowl Winners "command" performance. It will be held at the MH College Cultural Center, Recital Hall on Tuesday May 16th, at 7:00 pm. Everyone is invited and it's free! Please bring your partner along and show off the talent that the Festival supports.
Rotary Casino
Ken Zollner advised that a small change is required in the staffing of the casino, he straightened out the issue and will send out new schedules to the 4 General Managers. Please send out a reminder to your team a day or so ahead of the shift.
Dinner Club
Dick Bide would like to get the Dinner Club underway. He encouraged those put their names down, to send him a date for the dinner at their house.
E-bike Raffle Tickets
The e-bike raffle generates funds for the Sunrise Rotary Club to sponsor community and international causes, one of which is literacy, through the “Sunrise Rotary Ride the Road to Reading” program at the Medicine Hat Public Library, for grade 4 students in the city. Use this link to buy tickets with a credit card: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/18de336b-5b29-4ee9-8e0a-81ade75a8684
Sunrise Rotary Club anniversary: June 20: SAVE THE DATE!
Just a reminder of the 25th anniversary celebration of the chartering of the Sunrise Club which will take place in the evening of Tuesday June 20, 2023 at Paradise Valley. The draw for the two e-bikes will be done same evening. There will be an outside dinner starting at 5pm. Cost: $25 p/p for the meal. A cash bar will be available. All are welcome - BRING GUESTS!
The Medicine Hat Club chartered the Sunrise Club in June 1998. Past President of our Club, Mark Sorenson, was one of the charter members.
Team Freewheel Bike project: Terry Cooper encourages everyone to visit the project at 551 Spencer Street (Knowles Electric building). Thursday mornings are a good time to swing by for a cup of coffee and a chat with the team working on the bikes. Active involvement in the project would be warmly welcomed!
Meeting Room Setup
John John needs assistance setting up the meeting room on a go forward basis. The time commitment is about an hour before the meeting, starting at 11:00 am and about a half hour after the meeting, usually ending around 1:30 pm. If you are willing to help, please contact John or Dave Panabaker.
Family of Rotary
Rotarian Dawn Barr is stull healing from her broken leg this winter, and it's taking longer than expected to get back on both feet!!
Rotarian Glen Presley has contracted COVID, so we wish him a speedy recovery.
Former Rotarian Ray Kemp is in Lethbridge awaiting the resumption of his radiation treatments, and is hoping to finish everything before Mother's Day.
Funeral of former Rotarian Brian Webster is Saturday May 13th at 11:00 am in the Pattison's funeral chapel.
The Rotary Club sends along our prayers and best wishes to Pam Partis, spouse of Rotarian Terry Partis as she battles a new health challenge. Although they are far away at this time, we will keep them close in our hearts.
Please keep a Board Member informed about members health changes so that information can be provided to the club through the Weekly News.
The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat has returned to meeting in person, face-to-face meetings as of Monday March 21. A ZOOM link will still be available for those who are cautious, ill or are away on vacation.
