Rotarians of the Gallipolis Rotary Club all pitched in today and labeled and packed for distribution to all Gallia County fifth graders at today’s club meeting. Members took time out from regular club business to ready these dictionaries which will be distributed free of charge to all fifth graders. “This is an important project of our club,” said President Jodie McCalla. “Our club provides these dictionaries each year because promoting Literacy in our schools is vital project for Rotary,” she added. President Jodie thanked project chair, Debbie Saunders, for all her help in organizing this important event.

Meeting referendum—All club members have been contact and the votes are in (except for one) and the results are tied! There is no clear preference to the morning 7:15 am and the 12:15 pm meeting time. President Jodie asked for member input and a short discussion was held regarding breaking the deadlock. It is the consensus of the club that the club’s board of directors should meet and make the decision next week.

Split-The-Pot—President Jodie ran our STP today for the meeting and raised the small pot to a respectable $7.00. Jodie asked new member, Charlene Smith, to draw the winning ticket which was held by Margaret Evans! Our winner donated her winnings back to the Foundation. In the draw for The Big One of $40.00, Margaret pulled out the five of spades, missing the mark a bit. The Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone NOT wearing a tie today, which caught nearly everyone today!

Fellowship—Our club fellowship was led by Gordon Amsbary who come prepared today with a number of interesting topics. A brief mention was made about politics (carefully), broccoli, and the October 30th snowfall. VP Chuck Clark ‘fact-checked’ Gordo about the closing of the NY stock exchange as there have been eight different times the markets have been closed since the Civil War. Gordon announced the club had an important birthday this week—PDG Mel Simon! Mel offered up a small donation for the club’s mystery singer (Margaret) who serenaded Mel with an excellent rendition of Happy Birthday! Great job, Margaret, and Happy Birthday, Mel!

Happy Buck$—We had a couple of happy bucks today at our meeting. Bonnie McFarland offered up a buck in Mel’s honor and all the great humanitarian projects our PDG has championed over the years. Charlene Smith offered up a buck for her excitement over Rotary and joining our club! We’re excited too, Charlene!

Program—Today’s program was a member vocational talk by new member, Charlene Smith. Members appreciated hearing about our new Rotarian in a concise and interesting PowerPoint. Charlene shared her roots in Texas and her background there. A graduate of UT-San Antonio in business as well as a degree in education from OU has helped launch her career in sales and marketing. Charlene has a variety of experience in the hospitality business, media sales, and now healthcare with Ohio Valley Home Health. Our new member has been busy in her community promoting health issues, working with the French 500 Free Clinic, wellness in the community, and now, Rotary. Welcome aboard, Charlene!

Members all pitched in on the dictionary project and then the meeting was adjourned. Have a great week!