WELCOME & TRADITIONS

Very briefly, and we know our beloved Gary Reinbolt is never brief, Gary talked about April Fools’ Day, aka his birthday, and it being a time for celebrating fools like him.

• President Mary asked attendees to please consider being a mentor. “You’d all be good at it!”  Heidi Goldstein proposed a new program to help new members by showing them the ropes, staying in touch, helping them feel included and welcomed, and answering questions about what our club does and how we do it.  If you are interested, contact Heidi at hjorganics@aol.com.
• The virtual Global Grants Seminar was Saturday, April 1^st.
• Registration is now open for the Spring Highway Cleanup for the Ithaca Rotary and Sunrise Rotary on April 22, 2023.  Celebrate Earth Day with us!  Meeting in the parking lot of Top’s Friendly Market at 8:45 AM and we’ll conclude at 11:00 AM.  Wear sturdy shoes and bring water.  Hard hats, colorful vests, gloves, and bags will be provided.  Register here.  Bring friends and family, too!

LAST WEEK’S PRESENTATION

• Linda:  went because Heidi made her go. We should encourage/ask others to go.  Enjoyed meeting and hanging with all the other amazing Rotarians.  Definitely going to the district conference in May!
• Richard:  went to learn more how to attract and better retain members.  All clubs struggle with membership.  Must attract younger members, more diverse members, maybe charge younger members less, maybe more social events in place of meetings, maybe set up a mentoring program (doing that!).  Maybe more networking, more community service opportunities, maybe a special new service project for new members.  Maybe meetings need some adjusting, more socializing time at meetings.  Have more Visitor Days.  Maybe set up Rotary information booths at local events.
• Sherrie:  After 7 years in the club, it felt like time to learn more about Rotary.  Talked to a lot of other Rotarians, mostly from smaller clubs.  And they are doing some great community events.  She likes stealing good ideas!  Other clubs have strong sponsors and partnerships.  Kutztown, PA Rotary Club has run “Taste of Kutztown” every summer for 13 years; had 24 sponsors last year and so many wineries and breweries—a very successful fundraising event.  Hobart Rotary (14 members) runs a Sausage and Brew Festival in August that has become a huge annual tourism event/fundraiser.  Johnson City Rotary runs Johnson City Carousel Day (since 2017)—another small club with a huge event.  It’s all about finding good local partners.  Ithaca Rotary needs new events!  “A Taste of Ithaca” or “Rotary Wine Fest” or “12 Square Miles surrounded by Wineries.”
• Heidi:  glad that she convinced Linda to join her.  She will continue to invite every one of us to attend.  “One small step for each Rotarian, one giant leap for the Ithaca Rotary Club.”

• January:  Harlin McEwen and Bez Thomas, for keeping us in business
• February:  Sherry Negrea, for all her successful Ukraine fundraising activity
• March:  Paul Martin and Linda Brisson, for their work with the Youth Exchange Program

• George Gull:  have Rotarians talk about what some did before we were retired.  And space is available on the next Costa Rica trip if anyone wants to get to know George better!
• Mary Kane:  everyone wants to know about access to ClubRunner and its capabilities.  Training may be in our future.  Jean McPheeters uses ClubRunner and is willing to help people with it.  Bez Thomas will be there to help with online ClubRunner training (“No kidding,” said everyone!).
• Jo-Ellen Hedlund online:  the Global Grants seminar is this Saturday online (4/1).   It’s a good learning opportunity.

• June Losurdo:  would like to see us keep track of everyone’s volunteer activities.
• Table 2:  our priority is for more fellowship.
• Jeremiah Craig:  make it easier for younger members to attend meetings.
• Shine Gonzalez:  wants us to get a younger presence and get away from the stigma of being a club that is just for old white men (not that there’s anything wrong with old white guys but we know what she means).  Maybe less emphasis on the amount of giving so sharing news or information doesn’t have to be costly.
• President Mary:  excited to see a new president soon (six for the price of one!).  And from all the energy in the crowd, she sees so many potential new board members.
• Linda Pasto:  concerned with finances and the cost of membership . . . might be hard for new members to afford the constant money focus.  Maybe tiered membership fees would help.
• Linda Brisson:  likes how Paul has broken down all the tasks for the Youth Exchange committee, and this has gotten many more people involved with Youth Exchange—so maybe making volunteering and participating simpler and easier would encourage more people to sign up for tasks.
• Bevery Baker online:  “Hey don’t forget about us over here on Zoom.”
• JoEllen Hedlund online:  annual fundraising event . . . need a big signature event.  Everyone on Zoom is now on the committee (Millie, Beverly, Loralyn, JoEllen, Angela, Joe, Eric)
• Millie Clarke-Maynard online:  make the meeting presentations less boring so more people want to attend.
• Bob Langhans:  get the colleges more involved; have more impressive programs that would be a draw for more people.

Happy Dollars were offered in support of our Community Grants program:

• Jack Roscoe: in honor of their 4th day of hosting exchange student Emma, and the Savage Club is having a concert Saturday night 7 PM
• Brian Wilbur: in honor of Angela Sullivan and the work she is doing, and he enjoyed the tour of the new Alcohol and Drug Council facility last week
• June Losurdo: a sad dollar because Lolly Treman Olmquist passed away
• Bob Langhans: is going back to his condo in Ft. Myers Beach for two months
• Linda Pasto: in honor of the Community Grants program
• Linda Brisson: attended district orientation for both inbound and outbound exchange students and enjoyed interacting with all the students.  Our exchange student Bernardo is captain of the tennis team at Lansing HS!  Linda hopes we can involve the exchange students more with club events.