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Rototeller 04.05

I received some bad news and good news this past week. The good news is that Darlene Taylor’s talents have led her to a new job with Columbia Bank. The bad news is that her job is in Wilsonville. As a result, she has regretfully decided that she will not be able to be our president next year. The good news is that Sparky Vaubel has graciously agreed to move up a year and be our president for 2016-2017. The bad news is that we will be needing someone to take over his duties with the youth exchange program. More good news is that Steve Poland also is moving up a year, following Sparky as president. And really good news is that Catherine Carlson has accepted being president following Steve.

 

I am so sorry to know that Darlene will not be a member of East Salem Rotary. She has provided the club with enthusiasm and leadership and will be greatly missed. I hope that she will be able to attend our socials so we can keep up our friendship with her.

 

If you will be attending the District Training Assembly on ​Saturday, April 23, please consider attending the grant management workshops. If we are to apply for district grants, we must have someone attend this year. Sessions are only in the morning. Please let me know if you will attend for ESR.

 

Rotary at Work is scheduled for Saturday, April 30. Maureen Casey has a sign up list to help install new fencing. I’m sure there will be an impromptu “celebration” afterwards for ESR volunteers.

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March 29 Rototeller

We had another successful food drive at the Hayesville Roth’s this past Saturday. Thank you to Steve Poland, Joe Burns, Ted Mack, Karin & David Holton, Ken Morin and especially to Ron Hanna (who did a double shift). I heard from Abby of Marion Polk Food Share that we met both our participation and financial goals for this year! Congratulations to us and thank you for your generosity!
We have a guest book available at the check-in desk for Friday luncheons. If you bring a guest, please encourage them to leave us their email address to receive our weekly newsletter. That way, they will be able to mark their calendars for upcoming guest speakers.
At our club assembly a couple weeks ago, the following fund raising ideas were discussed and will be researched by the following member:
* Selling pies from Willamette Fruit Company (Sparky Vaubel);
* Selling garden/flower seeds or flower baskets (Steve Poland & Emil Graziani);
* Joining with the other Salem club to sponsor an event at the Elsinore Theater (Karin Holton):
Another option that was raised is that we participate in projects that don’t require an expenditure of funds on our part. This would mean that we would be volunteering for an existing non-profit on one of their projects.
Membership ideas:
* Being more deliberate about talking about Rotary and our club with visitors who might not know anything about Rotary;
* Having better follow-up with guests and speakers;
* Improving our mentorships of red badge members;
* Announcing our luncheon speakers in the newspaper, if possible.
We also discussed the possibility of moving our luncheons to another site:
* Roth’s Center Street hospitality center (Sparky Vaubel);
* East Salem Community Center (Maureen Casey).
As you can see, there are many ideas to look into. If you are interested in one of them, please contact the person in charge of the idea.
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March 22 Rototeller

A big shout out to all the East Salem Rotarians for their help at the Palm Sunday Brunch! And an even bigger thank you to the spouses, children and friends who helped fill in for absent members! Although we were short handed, we had fun because of our friendships with each other. Nothing to report on how much was brought in, but attendance seemed to be a bit down from last year. The good news is that next year the brunch will NOT be held during spring break!

Our next event is the food drive at the Hayesville Roth’s on this Saturday, March 26 between 9:00 and 2:00. We have at least one person signed up for each 1-hour shift — however, if you can come help out, please do so! We need an additional person on the following shifts:
10:00 – 11:00
1:00 – 2:00
2:00 – 3:00

Don’t forget that this Friday is the last day to turn in your donation to Marion Polk Food Share! Fill out the donation card that was mailed to you earlier (or use one of the cards at our club lunch) to donate cash or to record food donations made. If you volunteer at our food drive, that counts also!
Thank you to those members who attended our club assembly last week and to those who completed the survey. We had great discussions about fund raising ideas, membership challenges, and meeting location. Some of the ideas are easy to address (more transparency from board, a guest book to gather email information from guests and speakers) and some have been assigned to specific members to research (fund raising ideas). Overall, people are attracted to our club because of the friendships we develop and the projects we do. However, the big three “dislikes” are apathy, the size of our club/loss of members and fund raising concerns. I don’t have the notes from the meeting yet, but will write more in a future newsletter. I’m glad that we have more information for Darlene Taylor to reflect upon for her upcoming presidency.

The International Service Committee is working on gathering medical and fire fighting equipment to send down to Nogales, Mexico, through the Rotary Club there. If you have a contact at a fire department or medical clinic, contact Erik Larson for more information.

For our Rotarians at Work Day this year (April 30), the Community Service Committee has scheduled time to start prepping the garden area at La Placita. Materials to build the raised gardens will be ready in mid-May from CTEC.

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March 15 Rototeller

I got one of my wishes last Friday — I got to tour the Home Depot Distribution Center with my fellow ESR members! Thanks to Steve Poland, we got a chance to see how the 300 employees of the center move hundreds of boxes from the intake side of the building, separate the items to fill store requests, and pack the trailers on the opposite side of the building. Thanks also to Todd McKinney and Roth’s for filling our boxed lunch requests.

We also got a chance to catch up with an inbound student from 20 years ago, Carolina. She brought her husband and daughter to visit Patsy and Ed Davis and brought her handmade cookies to share. She is hoping to find a connection in the US to sell her wonderful cookies so they can move up here.

Our food drive is being held at the Hayesville Roth’s on Saturday, March 26 between 9:00 and 2:00. Unfortunately, only two people have signed up to help. If we can’t get more people to sign up, we will have to cancel the event. Please contact me or John King if you can help.

If you haven’t already done so, please complete the survey about our club. Our Club Service/Membership committees will be reviewing the responses on Wednesday, March 16. We’ll have our quarterly club assembly this coming Friday to talk about the results as a group.

March is food drive month. Please participate so we can reach our goals! If you are already a sustaining member, or participated in the February food drive with the state, you must still fill out a form stating that you have so it can also be counted for our food drive. Maps Community Foundation will match your first three donations when you join the monthly sustainer circle or increase your monthly gift. There are also two different volunteer opportunities: one is a repack shift at the food share on Wednesday, March 23 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and the other one is on Saturday, March 26 from 9:00 – noon at various community gardens around town.
Good news — Iven Findley is feeling much better and responding well to his treatments. I’m sure he would like a call or card from fellow Rotarians.

The District Training Assembly is April 23 and registration is now open. There are over 60 sessions to choose from! These sessions are not just for club officers. You can check out the sessions and register online from DACdb.

Sunset Rotary is holding their 11th Annual Community Baby Shower on Saturday, April 30 between 2:00 and 5:30 p.m. They are looking for new or handmade items for babies in low-income families in Marion and Polk Counties.  They are also accepting monetary donations on that day.

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March 1 Rototeller

Happy first day of March! With Darlene Taylor just back from PETS, I realized that I have only 4 months left of my own term. These next few months will be exciting as we begin our community service project at La Placita, have our Palm Sunday Brunch, participate in the Marion Polk Food Share drive, and continue our first Thursday drop-in socials. It’s a good time to reflect on where we are as a club. To that end, you will be receiving an email survey that asks for your opinion on a variety of topics. Answers are strictly anonymous, so please be honest with your answers. Members of the Club Service and Membership committees will be reviewing the answers and presenting the information to the board. At our club assembly on March 18, we’ll discuss the results at a club assembly. Are there things about our club you want to change? Things you want to keep? Suggestions you have on how to make our club stronger and more vibrant? Here is your chance to do so. Please participate!
Congratulations to Phil Sperl for receiving recognition for his ability to sponsor members to our club. He was presented with a pin at last Friday’s luncheon. Thank you, Phil, for your hard work!
A big thank you to Dave Leonard for his fabulous speakers in February! Our last speaker was Roger Stevenson, who spoke about how to prepare an emergency kit and what to expect when the Big One hits Oregon.
This coming Friday’s luncheon will feature two programs: Kevin Mannix has arranged for Dan Clem, the Salem Chamber of Commerce CEO, to address us about what the chamber is up to; and we will have Rick Gaupo from Marion Polk Food Share come to kick off the March food drive. We’ll be starting the business portion of our luncheon at a little early so we can fit both programs in, so please be prompt.
Have you been talking to your family and friends about our upcoming Palm Sunday brunch?  This is one of our major fund raisers and helps to raise money for our community and international service projects. This is an easy sell because we all have to eat! And what an amazing array of food there is to choose from at the brunch. Please get the word out!
To read more about what is going on at East Salem Rotary, click here.
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February 23 Rototeller

Did you learn something about the Cascadia subduction plate at last Friday’s luncheon? What a great speaker! Dr. Rizzo of Oregon Emergency Management Agency provided us with information about what might happen when the next major earthquake hits Oregon. Dave Leonard is following that talk up with a guest speaker who will fill us in on what we should have for an emergency kit this coming Friday. Bring a guest!

I got a call from Iven Findley last week. He is in the hospital with pancreatic cancer and is on dialysis. We signed a get well card at last Friday’s meeting, but I know he would love to have visitors. Please keep him and Helen in your thoughts.

Our Palm Sunday Brunch fund raiser is only 4 1/2 weeks away. Please be sure to invite your family and friends to attend. For only $12, they will get a marvelous brunch — well worth the cost! Also be sure to check the roster for your assignment time. If you are unable to attend, you MUST find a replacement. If you are on the second shift, remember that you will be helping to clean up the dining room so it is ready for the residents’ next meal.

The Membership Committee is putting together a survey to determine member satisfaction. This survey will be sent out electronically on March 1 to all current members. A similar survey will be sent out to members who left the club within the last five years. We want to see how you are feeling about our club and what we could do to make it an even stronger club. The results are anonymous, so please be frank. Results will be discussed at a club assembly, tentatively set in March.

Committee news:
  • Our International Committee continues to explore how to send emergency supplies to Nogales, Mexico.
  • The Vocational Committee is looking into a site visit, perhaps to the Home Depot Distribution Center. Steve Poland is also looking for members to volunteer for the ASPIRE mentoring program at McKay High School.
  • The Rotary Food Drive kicks off on March 4. Our club goal is to raise $1,100, have 75% of our club participate, and increase our sustaining donors from 3 to 4. Volunteer opportunities during the month are: March 23 between 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Marion Polk Food Share, re-packaging food; and March 26 from 9:00 – noon at the Houck Middle School’s Mission of Hope food pantry. We will have a food drive at the Hayesville Roth’s on March 26 between 9:00 – 2:00. Sign-up sheets will be available in March.
  • Club Service has scheduled another social drop-in, this time at Gilgamesh on March 3 between 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Phil Sperl continues to look for ways to sell our wine. He has contacted the district fundraiser chair, offering other Rotary clubs the chance to serve our wine at their events. Their club would get 10% of the proceeds and East Salem Rotary would take care of the details. Please keep our wine in mind when your business, family, or friends are having an event and wish to serve wine.

Good luck to Darlene Taylor and Karin Holton as they head off to PETS this week!
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