During the week of 10/26, we will be distributing dictionaries to school kids. If you can help, please contact David Frost - several people are needed to visit schools in the area...
Our speaker was Mary Cusick, new director of Tourism Ohio. She gave us an update on the vibrant tourism sector of Ohio's economy - a $40 billion dollar segment. Over 400,000 jobs in Ohio are related to the tourism industry, which has been growing steadily over the past years.
In addition to our great lake and scenic rivers - Ohio has been attracting visitors in large numbers to our "experience attractions" - like the recent Bacon Fest, Country concerts, and ComicCon. Overnight visits are coveted - as the average traveler spends 3 times as much money when they stay overnight.
Did you know leprechauns used to roam Auglaize County?
Dick Warren provided fellowship by hosting football trivia. Some of the questions were very tough but fair - like our judge...
David Frost asked everyone to check their books to make sure that Rotary dues are paid up. There is still several delinquent accounts we need to clean up...
November 7th is the Rotary blood clinic. This is a rare event in that it helps people get testing as a reduced price, AND raises money for the club. Be sure and tell your friends about it.
Our speaker was Jim Bowsher, historian extraordinaire and well known to our club. Jim shared several stories of early Cincinnati Reds history, Leprechaun feeding, and the spooky tale of William Runkle and the copper coffin. If these seem a bit wacky - then you know you are at a Jim Bowsher lecture, because his stories are fascinating to hear. Often, you can see Rotarians checking their cell phones or looking at the clock during a meeting, but Jim had everyone's complete attention right up to 1pm...
Over the next several weeks, some big things will be happening within the Lima Rotary Club.
First, our District Governor, Gary Newton, will be visiting our club on October 12th. Governor Gary is a wonderful guy. I hope that as many of you as possible will attend our regular Monday meeting on that day. I encourage you to take the opportunity to not only meet Gary, but to hear his inspiring message. Governor Gary will be meeting with members from both the Foundation and Club boards prior to the regular lunch meeting.
Next, on October 17th, the first One Rotary Summit will be held at Terra Community College in Fremont. This will be a great event for any District 6600 Rotarian who is interested in furthering the ideals and message of Rotary. Please see the attached flyer for more information. Registration is limited to the first 80 people who register for the event.
Polio eradication is the one common service project among Rotary clubs everywhere. The World Health Organization celebrates World Polio Day on October 23rd with the goal of educating the world about the devastating effects of this disease.
YOU CAN HELP! To show our support, Rotarians all over District 6600 have an opportunity to support End Polio Now through fellowship and food. On Thursday October 22rd, Bob Evans restaurants around our district will be donating 15% of your bill to End Polio Now. It’s that simple. Eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner (or all three!) at your favorite Bob Evans restaurants, show the staff your flyer and you will have made a difference.
Don’t forget about the Lake Erie Watershed Conference being held in Toledo October 23-24. Complete information and registration information can be found by following this link: www.rotarylakeerieconference.org. Our club will be covering the cost of the first five members of the club to register for the event. After you have registered and paid for your attendance, simply turn your invoices into Kevin Bill for reimbursement.
Finally, we still need around 30 volunteers to help with the Dictionary Distribution the week of October 26th. As you will recall, our plan is to pass out dictionaries to all of the third graders in Allen County on the same day. We want to make a very big splash with this event. To participate, please see me, Dave Cockerall or Tracie Sanchez. It’s going to be a lot of fun and will make an impact on a lot of people.
It is with gratitude that I write this brief article for the bi-weekly eSpoke. I’m happy to report that progress continues to be made on reducing the long-term debt that has been owed by some of our membership. In the last two weeks, approximately $7,000.00 has been received towards bringing dues in arrears to a more tolerable level. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we still have over $21,000.00 that still needs to be collected that is over 120 days past due. Therefore, I must continue to urge each member to not only pay your most recently received dues statement as soon as possible, but to also check your balance due from previous quarters. Additionally, it is important that if there are issues with your account, you contact our Treasurer, Kevin Bill, President-Elect Dave Frost or me to discuss plans to bring your account current.
Please remember that an important part of being a Rotarian is to practice good business principles by setting the example for others. We ask our customers to pay their bills on time; let’s make sure we do the same thing.
Thank you for your service to our club, our community and the world.
Rotary promotes handwashing as a simple and effective way to stop the spread of disease.
The last ten years of travel in Central America have provided some insight for me as to what works when working with different cultures. Fighting disease and creating infrastructure to improve health is usually a case of changing habits. The single greatest impact of anything we have accomplished with Rotary Projects with Lima Rotary was to bring the science of handwashing to the mothers of the communities we work in every day. Sounds simple doesn't it! Below is a message from the experts.
