President Craig outlines his plans for the coming year.
President Craig welcomed us to the new Rotary year at Monday's meeting and thanked the many committee chairs for volunteering to do the heavy lifting for the club. He is still looking for a chair for the 4-Way Test Speech Contest, International/MESA, and Polio Plus committees. If anyone is interested, please contact Craig or Anne. Craig's goals for this year are: increase membership, maintain our high level of service participation, maintain our high level of annual fund contributions, maintain our high level of Polio Plus Fund contributions, increase our social activities, and continue our strong Interact Club. To go along with his vision to support the youth of Allen County, our Rottery funds for the first quarter are going to Aaron McLaurine's Soldiers of Honor Children's Boxing Program. Craig will also work to attract young local professionals to our club in order to remain vibrant and relevant as a service club. "Young professionals place a higher value on a work/life balance, which includes their family life. Professionals work in positions that often take them away from their families, and being a member of a service club like Rotary also takes time away from the family. We need to find ways to allow our members to serve along with their children to not only give them back that family time, but help our members teach the importance of Service Above Self, and the importance of giving back to the community that has given them more than they may ever realize." Craig has asked the Social Committee to plan more activities that are family friendly, that a member would not only want to take their family to enjoy, but also bring a prospective member's family as well. When we do bell ringing for the holidays, he is encouraging us to bring our children to help, or when we have our family home tours, that school choirs may want to sing carols outside the home to welcome the guests as they arrive.
Craig closed by saying that he would be sharing important American historical events each week that happened on that day to close each meeting. He shared the following for July 6:
1775: The Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, outlining why the colonies were escalating to war against Britain.
1785: The Continental Congress established the dollar as the official monetary unit of the United States.
1854: The first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Michigan.
1887: King Kalākaua of the Kingdom of Hawaii was forced by armed American and European elites to sign the "Bayonet Constitution," stripping the monarchy of most of its authority.
1892: Striking steelworkers and Pinkerton agents engaged in a bloody battle during the Homestead Strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania, resulting in 10 deaths.
1933: Major League Baseball hosted its inaugural All-Star Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago, with the American League defeating the National League.
1965: The U.S. Senate voted 68 to 5 to approve the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which established clear protocols for presidential succession and disability.
1785: The Continental Congress established the dollar as the official monetary unit of the United States.
1854: The first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Michigan.
1887: King Kalākaua of the Kingdom of Hawaii was forced by armed American and European elites to sign the "Bayonet Constitution," stripping the monarchy of most of its authority.
1892: Striking steelworkers and Pinkerton agents engaged in a bloody battle during the Homestead Strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania, resulting in 10 deaths.
1933: Major League Baseball hosted its inaugural All-Star Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago, with the American League defeating the National League.
1965: The U.S. Senate voted 68 to 5 to approve the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which established clear protocols for presidential succession and disability.
He closed by telling us to go out and make our community, state, and nation a better and more perfect place.