Rotary Log for January 31, 2019
President Cleo hit the bell to ring in the meeting on one of the coldest days of the new year. The room was warmed a bit by a pleasantly sung “God Bless America” selected by songmeister Al Lantinen. The day’s Greeter, Kathy Berger, started out the Four-Way Test. John Rice offered another sincere invocation, serving as a humble reminder of what brings us together in our incredible Club.
It is always a pleasure to welcome a new member to our ranks. Ann Bliss became acquainted with us when her choral group Voices from the Heart won a William M. Cash grant. She was introduced by sponsor Yvonne Legg, who had submitted the Cash application. Ann’s personal introductory doubled as an extended thank you to the club. We learned how Voices used our contribution to benefit many children all along the path of their visit to South Africa.
Happy Dollars, Fines., Etc.
New Members’ catastrophic attempts with Rotary International trivia were remedied by Dave Underhill. International Chairs Dave and Mort seemed to know more about Rotary than the rest of our Club combined.
Yvonne offered a Happy Dollar for Tom Decker who is retiring from the wealth management business after an illustrious 51 years. Tom is a very generous supporter of all things Rotary. And proud Papa Bob Smith threw dollars in the kitty for his puppy who has lost all his baby teeth.
A Happy Dollar was offered for a deserving President Cleo. The buck recognizes a job well done this Rotary year-in-progress. In turn, she handed off 44 big ones to the week’s 50/50 winner, John Rice. No bonus; $75 next week.
A call for help was made on behalf of Tiffany McKenna. She needs two cooks and two servers to assist for dinner at Crossroads House on February 16.
The Program: Compound Goodness
It was the Frank and Ernest Show with the roles played quickly and interchangeably by Bob Herold and Dave Underhill. The always droll and self-deprecating International Chair Bob opened the presentation by commenting on the turnout. He equated support of the Rotary Foundation to an investment. Compound Goodnessis our Rotary Foundation helping us do good things, here in the Seacoast and all around the world.
Past-District Governor Dave followed up by illustrating how half of our donations make their way to the Foundation. The monies are spent on worldwide projects such as Rotary Peace centers, health, literacy and education initiatives. The other half comes back to the District and local clubs. Today we can take pride in ten active District grants. Among other things, the funds support an exchange to Romania, beach wheelchairs in Saco Bay and playground equipment in Boothbay Harbor and Dover.
Local clubs use returning monies to fund a myriad of programs of their members’ interest such as Portland’s opioid recovery efforts.
“Portsmouth is involved in funding a Uganda Cancer Center,” noted Dave. “As well as medical equipment in Tanzania, digital classrooms in India and Healthy Kids Brighter Futures in Zambia.”
Of course, none of these sterling efforts are free, according to Dave. They happen because of gifts to the Rotary Foundation, a charity with a Four-Star Charity Navigator rating. Navigator notes that “90% of the Foundations’ funds go directly to programs with a 100% rating for accountability and financial transparency”.
Back to Bob, who offered a much-understated personal account of his Rotary journey. That voyage began as a rather pedestrian member who transitioned to an engaged champion of Rotary Foundation efforts abroad. The inspiration was National Immunization Day, expanding to numerous not-so-glamorous hands-on trips to Africa with his wife Cathy. They have focused particularly on self-sufficiency initiatives such as the successful Uganda bee micro-enterprise. As a restrained suggestion to the audience, Bob mentioned that he “stunned my kids when I set up a bequest to the Rotary Foundation in my will”.
Shifting again to Dave, we got the anticipated ask.
“Our simple goal is to get every member of our club to give something to the Rotary Foundation,” Dave said. “Any amount counts!”
Every Rotarian, YearEvery has been an aspiration of each of our Rotary Presidents for many years. Donations can be made by mail to our club, by credit card at a meeting, or on-line to Rotary Direct (www.rotary.org/en/donate.) Members who donate $500 in a year will see their donations matched by the club. That $1000 qualifies a member to be a Paul Harris Fellow. Given the subsequent Q&A, that important honor remains a subject of some confusion to many members. Dave and Bob indicated that they are happy to respond to any questions about that or any other Rotary Foundation question.
Fittingly, the program ended with our presenters honoring four multiple Paul Harris Donors. The quartet--Dennis Moulton, Butch Ricci, Cleo Villaflores, and Bob Herold—is a marvelous example of Compound Goodness.
Respectfully submitted, Neal Ouellett
Photos by Craig Taylor
