Here are the highlights from the September 13 board meeting.
 
Call to Order                                                                                               
President Dave Frost called the meeting to order with the following members present:  Jill Ackerman, Paul Crow, Anne Decker, Susan Hubbell, Tracie Sanchez and Jeff Tracy.  Also present were Treasurer Kevin Bill and Secretary Rita Brown
 
Attendance Report
Brown shared the attendance report for August 2016.  At the end August, the club has 173 active members with six new members being inducted during the month but also three resigning.  Attendance is showing a positive increase of around 5% per month with 47.81% in August.
 
     President’s Report - Dave Frost
     Recognition of Jonalee Schmidt for her years of service
Frost indicated Jonalee had been an active member for 19 years.  She was currently serving on the Lima Rotary Foundation Board was past Rotary Board Member and served on numerous Rotary Committees.  Jonalee was very active in the community and was a trainer for Good Luck, Feel Good at St. Rita’s Medical Center and was a Board Member of the American Cancer Society. Rotarian Steve Johnson will feature a tribute to Jonalee from Rotary in the 419 focusing on her accomplishments.  Drew Fields will continue to co-chair Rottery. 
 
     4-way Speech and Essay Contests.
Ackerman will be spearheading the events for the club and has met with the Superintendents to present the plan.  Ten schools are being recruited including the public schools, LLC and Temple Christian.  They will meet again on October 12 and each participating school will have someone from the School District selected to manage the contest for them. 
 
The 4-way Essays will be due by March 4, 2017 and Ackerman will host the Speech Contest on March 4 at 9 AM at Lima Senior.  The winners will present their essays at the Club Meeting on March 27.  The winner will then goes to the district level.
 
     Fall Blood Clinic – November 5, 2016
The Fall Blood Clinic will be held November 5, 2016. Memorial will do the contract with the Senior Citizens Center and provide all equipment, promote the event to past attendees and the media along with providing the testing and sending out the results to patient physicians.  Apollo will be recognized in the media advertisements and will also bring signage the day of the event.  Eighteen students and six instructors from Apollo will work the event as phlebotomists.  Swick will take the lead and chair the event. 
 
Jeff Tracy suggested the Rotary Club do the blood draw on the same day as the Sertoma Pancake Day – do the events together for a longer span of time.  Also reconsider including the hearing test. It would be a win-win for the community.  Frost will start the conversation.  The Board also agreed to recognize Apollo for their involvement on the postcard.
 
     American Red Cross Centennial Year Blood Drive – February 13, 2017
Next year will be the Red Cross Centennial Year and Derek Stemen has requested an opportunity to do a program.  Frost suggested a combination of Club Meeting and Blood Drive.  The date has been set for Feb 13, 2017.  Members will be able to sign up and give blood before or during the meeting. The Red Cross hopes to get 40 donors but Frost believes we can do 100 with just Rotarians and family members.  Carl Berger, Derek Stemen, and Dave Collins will promote it.  Also Peg Ehora and George Diller will look to the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Lima to secure additional blood donor sign-ups.  The VMCCC will donate space for it.  It should get a lot of media attention.  The plan is to keep it simple and see how it goes.
 
     Labor Day/Memorial Day Parade
The club did not participate in the parade due to a lack of volunteers.  The Board agreed it is probably wise to pick one parade instead of two and the interest seemed to lean toward Memorial Day vs. Labor Day.  The High Octane Drum Line did participate in the Labor Day Parade.  The Board agreed to have the Social Committee review it.  Hubbell suggested participating in the Fair Parade as another option as it is a community event that is highly attended.
 
     President Elect Report           - Tracie Sanchez
     Rotary Field of Dreams at UNOH
RD Jones is meeting with Bluffton Asphalt Co to set an exact timeline.  The process should take less than two weeks once started.  Members and media will be notified when ground breaking will be held.  Sanchez will have aerial photos taken of the field before and after construction.  The goal is to have spring, summer, and fall leagues use the field.
 
     Dictionary Distribution – October 26, 2016 
Dictionary Distribution day is set for Oct 26.  It will again be a Blitz Day covering all the schools.  Since 2006, 10,000 dictionaries have been distributed.  Dave Cockerell will be looking for volunteers.
 
     Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army – Saturday December 17, 2016
It will be held at the Lima Mall on December 17, 2016.  Drew Fields will chair it and will be looking for volunteers.
 
     Vice Presidents Report          - Paul Swartz given by Dave Frost
The Polio Plus drive will be held during January, February and March.  Spokesperson Harry Hooygendga will be speaking to the Club the second week of January.  Plans including looking outside our members for support.  Frost suggested speaking with the Met for a percentage of proceeds on a designated weekend
 
     Past Presidents Report - David Runk (presented by Dave Frost)
Membership & Retention Committee Update                     
  1. The Young Professionals will be invited to a couple of meetings with the goal of having them look toward Rotary
  2. Red Badge Meeting will be held in mid-October.  Currently seven new members were just inducted. The meeting will focus on areas such as steps to move to blue badge status and Paul Harris Fellowships and Polio Plus.
 
     Finance Report         - Kevin Bill
Bill reviewed the Aging Summary Report.  Last week Sanchez sent letters to past due members at 120 days.  The Committee will review the status in another week and if accounts have not been paid, calls will be made to those members.  The checking account has a current balance of $47,035 vs. $26,056 last month.  Bill indicated the club owes the Foundation $32,000 for the golf outing.  Payment will be made to the Foundation soon but we are still waiting for a few payments.   
 
     New Business                                                                                            
     Resignations
A resignation was received from member Robert Christian.  Ackerman made a motion to accept the resignation with regret and Decker seconded the motion.  Board approved. 
 
     Old Business 
     Little Free Libraries  -  Ackerman and Frost
The Board agreed to place 10 Little Free Libraries around the City in selected sites.  Sites suggested include Bradfield Community Center and the Cheryl Allen Center, Churches with Food Pantries, the Health Department and Health Partners offices.   Also McDonalds was suggested.  Sanchez will donate the lumber and Ackerman will have the Lima Senior Carpentry Class construct them.
 
     Lima Community Festival                                                                 
Dr. Susan Hubbell suggested the Club do a survey with other Rotary Clubs in the District to determine if they are involved in community festivals in their towns.  A lot of volunteers are required.  All the service clubs could participate. 
 
     Adjournment 
Crow made a motion to adjourn and Tracy second the motion.  Board approved.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
 
Respectfully submitted
Rita Brown, Secretary