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Today's meeting, a general assembly, began with Al, as our oldest member, calling us to order, inviting us to say the pledge of allegiance followed by a prayer, and then officially welcoming our new President, Michael Burghardt. Michael began by announcing his desire to get our club back to what it was in its glorious past. Eric introduced our newest (and longtime past) member, Mark Snyder, transferring from Patchogue Rotary and formerly a member of Rocky Point Rotary, as well. He will be officially inducted into our club at an upcoming meeting. Sharon reminded us that the Past Presidents Dinner will take place on September 29th (honoring Rob Dooley), at Savino's, with festivities starting at 5 PM. Invitations should be arriving in your mailboxes soon. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience. Each dues-paying club member is entitled to attend with a guest for free, while Corporate Members will have to choose a member to represent them. Others pay $60 to attend this event. Nancy reminds us that DUES ARE DUE. Dennis noted that our club has been invited to attend the Annual Greenport/Southold Rotary Golf Tourney on Wednesday, August 31st, starting at 1 PM. If you wish to become part of a foursome and attend this event, let him know. Reminders: the Port Jeff Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce-sponsored "Summer Concert Wednesdays", FREE events from 6-8 PM, will be held at the newly refurbished Chamber Train Car Park. Bring a chair. July 13th: "Paint Night"- Paige Patterson. July 20th: "Luau Night"- Step Ahead July 27th: "Ice Cream Night"- BMX Stunt Show & School of Rock, Port Jefferson, NY Aug. 3rd: " Shakespeare in the Park": "The Taming of the Shrew" Visit PJSTChamber.com or call 631-821-1313 for more info. Will we see you at the Celebration of Larry Hohler's Life on Sunday, July 17th, from 4-8 PM ? It'll take place at the Port Jefferson Village Center (The Sail Loft, 3rd floor), 101-A East Broadway, by the harbor. This should be a joy-filled occasion, with live entertainment and opportunities to reminisce, and share "Larry stories" and a pot luck meal with non-alcoholic beverages. RSVP by July 12th- today- (or a.s.a.p.) to Yvette (631-473-1662 or hohlerlj@aol.com) or to Bonnie Thivierge (bont@optonline.net) and let them know what dish you will be bringing (appetisers/crudites; salads; cold entrees - like wraps/sandwiches; and desserts). Jenn assures us that she will be distributing our RAFFLE TICKETS as soon as she gets them. This year's tickets will include a QR code for electronic payments. Each member will receive 25 tickets to start with, unless you request more. Let's prepare to sell them all, as we did last year! Dennis reminded us of the great need for increased donations to The Open Cupboard this summer. Today was an Open Cupboard Collection Day. More of our members should be donating the goods requested (see the list on the attached page) or money or gift cards to be used by the recipients to help them get through the season. Dennis next pointed out our club's advertisement that appeared in last week's Graduations Supplement to The Port Times Record and other TBR newspapers. The ad notes that Port Jeff Rotary donates $1,000 scholarships each to top students at PJHS, Comsewogue HS, and Mt. Sinai H.S., plus a scholarship for a PJHS graduating member of Interact. Saranto was our well-prepared Sergeant today. His questions mostly centered on July 4th. (ie., Do you know the 3 U.S. Presidents born on July 4th?...Ans.: Adams, Jefferson, & Monroe; How many hotdogs are consumed each year during this holiday?...Ans.: 150 million; and What was the population of the U.S. in 1776?...Ans. 2.5 million.) Many dollars were collected by members who gave wrong answers. More happy dollars were also collected, especially welcoming Michael B's Presidency, Mark Snyder as our returning member, and Will Dzvonar, Jr., a BMX national champion extraordinaire. Al K. won today's $10 Raffle (and returned it to the kitty). President Michael opened the assembly by telling us about this year's RI President, the 1st female to hold the post. Her name is Jennifer Jones, and she's from Windsor, Ontario. She chose as her Presidential Theme: Imagine Rotary! She requests that we make the most of our membership in Rotary. Michael also pointed out this year's logo design, created by an aboriginal artist. He asked, "What do we imagine our club accomplishing over the next 2 years?" This question was answered by a number of our members. Mike S. suggested that we should grow our membership to grow our impact. Other member suggestions: We need to publicize what we do; All members should join at least 1 club committee and become more active; Better meeting attendance is needed (members are required to attend at least 2 meetings per month, with makeup possibilities of all sorts, like attendance at committee meetings, etc.); We need to get more current members involved; and We should return to once-a-month evening social gatherings. President Michael pointed out that we currently have 44 members, but only around 30% attendance at each meeting. Jenn, our Membership Chair, wants to both increase membership and activities in addition to participation in cleanups at Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck, golf tourneys, and the like. Mike S. feels that Rotary means sharing values, family, and business. He suggests that we inspire youth to be service-oriented and bring our children to Rotary activities. Meanwhile, we need a Publicity Chair. Other ideas: Perhaps we should combine projects with other clubs working together. We should return to joint meetings with other clubs. We were invited to think of a big project needing to be accomplished locally. Meanwhile, we're waiting to learn if we'll be receiving a District Grant to help with the upkeep of the Chandler Estate. Archana moved that we obtain a suitcase like the one we had in past years so that our President can more easily carry all the Rotary stuff needed at meetings ( ie., pins, attendance lists, visiting Rotarians' proof of attendance, etc.). It was good to see our bell being used once again and to hear Al relate a bit of its past history. |
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