Spring Lake Rotary Scribes Report: August 23, 2019
Club Proposals and Notes
We had a number of items covered at our meeting on Friday, including:
- President John distributed Club Committee member lists to all members in attendance in order to confirm with members which committees they are a part of currently, and would like to be part of. If you have not yet had the opportunity to verify with John the committees you’d prefer to serve on, please email him at jnash@springlaketwp.org.
- I touched on the Bayou Battle game coming up on Friday, September 6th at Spring Lake’s Grabinski Field. We are once again teaming up with the SLHS Interact Club, and Fruitport High School to raise funds for the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation. Donations will be taken the week leading up to the game at the Spring Lake and Fruitport Orchard Markets stores. We will also be taking donations for that cause at the main gates of the football field the night of the game, and if any Rotarians wish to assist with that cause, they are encouraged to meet us at Grabinski Field at 6pm. Please make sure to wear your Rotary gear if possible.
- Tom B. wondered aloud about setting up some more offsite Rotary meetings at Rotarians’ workplaces, so that we can learn more about our club members’ businesses and about what our members do on a daily basis. He also asked about instituting a policy around follow-up with active members who have not attended a meeting in the recent past, and to encourage regular attendance and participation with our club. This could fall under the sunshine committee’s purview, but will remain under discussion for enactment in the future.
- The Board is attempting to put together a process to get fundraising grant requests that our club receives to be formalized and set to be reviewed each year on a certain date, eg. October 1st. John is also hopeful that we can get the Snow Jam funds raised in that Rotary year to be earmarked ahead of the actual event (by December perhaps), so that we can point to certain projects that we are raising funds for by the time that event rolls around.
- Jess G. pointed out that there is not enough turn over in active roles in our club, which has the effect of limiting any newer members from taking leadership roles like Membership Committee Chair, for example. His feeling is that many people that join our club may fall through the cracks if they are not asked to step up and take over a certain role. John pointed out that we are trying to line up new committee chairs ahead of time, and his example is that Gordon G. has joined the Membership Committee, and is in line to take over as the Chair for Cara G.
- Gordon G. pointed out that a great way to get new members involved right away is to make it a policy that the newest members should automatically be greeters at the meetings, so that they are immediately involved and getting to know our club members. All in attendance voted in favor.
- Jess G. reminded the group that our Club Services Committee, who puts together our programs for the Friday meetings, is always open to ideas for programs, and they are still filling in the second half of the Rotary year at this point. If you have a fun idea or someone who should come speak to our club, please pass that info along to him
50/50 Winner: Jess Garrison