Club Meeting – September 18th, 2014

Posted on Posted in Club News, Replay

Attendance Awards – Lowell Gobble & New Membership Informational Update – Tommy Barber

Today we had two program in one.   Presented by Attendance Committee Chair, Lowell Gobble, recognizing Club members for their consecutive years of perfect attendance and President-Elect Tommy Barber discussing the meaning of membership in Rotary.

Lowell GobbleLowell was first to address the Club.  He reported that Club attendance was at 74.6% for the last year.  Lowell paraphrased 1977-78 Club President Harley Erb thoughts on the value of attending meetings “its the best deal in town, where else can you meet in fellowship with over 130 of the finest people in the Roanoke Valley, enjoy a good program, eat a good meal, and be a part of the greatest service organization in the world.”

34 members had perfect attendance last year up from 33 the previous year.

Lowell shared a couple of points to follow on attendance…

At a minimum you must attend 50% percent of the meetings and at least stay for 60% of the meeting

Given how easy it is to do make-ups,  better than 50% indeed perfect attendance is within reach fro all members.  But make-ups must be done two weeks before or after your missed meeting.

Lowell offered the following ways members can do make-ups.

  • Attend another Rotary Club meeting
  • Attend a Rotary Club of Salem Board of Directors meeting
  • Attend an official Club Committee meeting
  • Participate in a Club fundraising event Olde Salem Days, ODAC tournament, or Star-B-Q
  • Go online to Rotary E-Club One and complete make-up requirements

Of note – Danny Hall, Herm Reavis, Mark Henrickson, Lou McClung, Bill Long and Earline Orndorff all have 20+ years of perfect attendance.  

A special  tip of a hat go to Bob McClanahan and to Jim Bowen with over 30 years of perfect attendance.

Tommy BarberTommy Barber had to shorten his presentation on Rotary Membership to stay within our time restraints.  Tommy said that he could divide his talk into two parts.  Today we heard about how Rotary is perceived and we’ll wait for another time to learn how best to invite individuals to join Rotary.

Tommy shared 10 points of how Rotary is generally perceived by the public.  Asked us to think about how our Club might stack up, a self-check.

  1. Rotary is a “good ol’e boys club”.
  2. Members just joined for business purposes.
  3. They are not really diverse.
  4. No fun being a Rotarian.
  5. These guys are usually invested (i.e. financially sound).
  6. They do care about the community.
  7. They are basically honest people.
  8. It’s a social thing to be a part of Rotary, nothing more nothing less.
  9. Just leaders are in it.
  10. People would consider joining IF invited.

Rotary International highlighted the following points, if we are to increase membership in Rotary and develop a new generation of Rotarians.

  • Diversity in all its aspects should be reflected in a club’s membership.  We are inclusive not exclusive.
  • Rotary is a place where leaders are developed.
  • Rotary must be an environment where people of all walks can give back to humanity.

What is our Club’s culture?

Part II will continue at another time.