JASPER ROTARY CLUB
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2003
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Fellow Rotarians:
I want to begin by thanking you all for being so helpful and supportive during
my first month as President. I’m really enjoying my role as your president.
Please let me know your ideas and suggestions.
We have three important projects coming up in the near future. We are in the
planning stages of the Annual Rotary Golf Scramble, set for October 10th. The
planning committee wants to make this year’s event a HUGE success and will let
you know more as they progress. The Centennial Committee has also begun making
plans for our Rotary Centennial Celebration Project. I am assisting the City of
Jasper with Downtown Revitalization as a member of the Town Creek Development
Committee. This fits in nicely with our Park/Playground plan. We will also
kickoff this year’s PolioPlus fundraising campaign in the Fall. We are still
obligated to raise $3,500 per year for two more years.
An update on the progress of the PolioPlus Campaign: As of June 30th, the polio
eradication fundraising campaign has exceeded its goal by more than $30 million.
A total of $111,499,351 in cash, commitments, District Designated Funds and
government matching funds has been raised to help make the world polio-free. The
deadline for submitting pledges is June 30, 2005.
We’re looking also at increasing our attendance percentages. For the month of
July, our attendance was at 48%. This, of course, is due to vacations and school
being out. Hopefully, we can get attendance up now. While it is true that Rotary
International specifies attendance should be at 60% or better, I would like to
see our club get up to 80% or higher. We have a great club and great members and
want our members to enjoy their weekly interactions with their fellow business
leaders. I want Rotary to be the highlight of your week!
Yours in Service
Pam Fikes
SPEAKERS
September 2 Evan Dillard, Administrator of Walker
Baptist Medical Center, will talk about current events involving the hospital.
Introduced by Tony Graham.
September 9 Dr. David Rowland and a local Army
reserve officer recently returned from Iraq and Kuwait, will report firsthand
conditions in Iraq as well as a report about how much the absence of these
soldiers affected the local business community. Introduced by Bob Forbus.
September 16 Nan Bishop introduced by Mary Johnsey.
September 23 Ann Florie, the executive director of Region
20/20, which promotes regional cooperation, citizen involvement and regional
goals in a 12 county central Alabama region. Introduced by Greg Williams.
September 30 New Member Induction. Update on Projects. Financial
report for July - Sept 2003.
BIRTHDAYS
ANNIVERSARIES
Tony Graham 14th
Charles and Freda Earnest 2nd
Skip Newman 16th
Phillip and Debra Windham 12th
Doug Pearson 18th
Bob and Pat Forbus 16th
Max Judy 19th
Bob and Kirby Reid 16th
Bob Reid 23rd
David and Barbara Patton 25th
David Patton 25th
Evan and Gigi Dillard 25th
Sabrina Keating 25th
John Odle 25th
GUESTS
Amy Freeman, Shadescrest Health Care
ANNOUNCEMENTS
September is “New Generations Month”. Focus on our youth during this month and
find new ways to inspire and motivate.
The monthly Rotary Board Meeting will be Monday, September 8th at noon.
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign.... All members - please begin now selling
and/or buying tee box signs for our Golf Tournament on October 10th. If all
members can be responsible for the sale of 2 signs, we can bring in a lot of the
funding we’re going to need this year. Tee box signs are advertising for a
business and are placed throughout the golf course. We’ll have the signs printed
with the business (or individual) sponsor’s name. The cost is $50 each and we
need to start selling these advertisements now! Until a person is assigned to
handle the sign sales, just email pfikes@dir.state.al.us with your orders and
I’ll start a list. We need to sell at least 150 signs this year. The money will
go toward the funding of our annual donations, our Centennial Project and our
International Project.
Directory Updates - Photos will be taken of our 14 newest members for addition
to this year’s directory of membership on September 9 and 16th. Don Fewell will
begin at 11am and will continue until about 12:30 on both dates. Any other
members wishing to have their photos updated may do so during these times as
well. Packages and prices will be available to anyone wishing to purchase
pictures. A new group picture will be taken on September 16th immediately
following our regular meeting, at about 12:50pm.
The 4-Way Test - From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were
concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One
of the world’s most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is
The 4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor when he
was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word
test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the
guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and
customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple
philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test has been translated into
more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways.
The First 100 Years, a new book to chronicle Rotary’s History entitled A Century
of Service: The Story of Rotary International will be officially launched at the
RI International Assembly in early 2004. The book will be published in six major
Rotary languages by July 1, 2004.
Rotarians responsible for speakers in October - Max Perdue- 7th; Pat Nelson -
14th; Gary Cowen 21st; Clyde McSpadden will introduce the District Governor on
the 28th.
Resignations: Cynthia Snow, Vince Lavanna.
ROTARY SPOTLIGHT
The Classification System as printed in the July Edition of Rotary World, by
Rajendra K. Saboo, past president of Rotary International.
“A glance at a new Rotarian’s name badge and classification provides a very
helpful route to conversation. You immediately realize how vital classification
is to Rotary networking. Rotary founder Paul Harris wrote in his autobiography,
‘Each Rotarian is a connecting link between the idealism of Rotary and his trade
or profession.’ Rotary’s phenomenal growth was due not to clubs’ membership of
businessmen, weekly meetings over meals, or interest in public affairs - other
organizations had already embraced these features. Rotary’s distinguishing
feature was its classification-based membership.
Today, some Rotarians question the continuing relevance of the classification
principle, but I feel it is more important than ever. If Rotary is to be an
instrument of service in a world dominated by experts, we need experts in our
Rotary clubs. Diverse classifications in a club strengthen Rotary service. In my
own club, when we took on a school-building project, we could call upon an
architect, a building contractor, a sanitary engineer, and a school principal to
develop the blueprint. Members with business and finance expertise collected the
funds, and the project became a reality in the most cost-effective manner.
Similarly, our club has used talented members for other projects: medical
professionals for a hospital rest house, lawyers for a legal aid clinic for the
poor, business and professional people for a vocational training center. At the
district level, classifications have helped identify knowledgeable people to
volunteer during disasters. Examples like these can be seen anywhere in the
world. The classification principle encourages respect for all useful
occupations and broadens our vision of Rotary ideals. Classification continues
to be the identification of the Rotarian and the hallmark of Rotary.”
Message from Linda Burns, Membership Officer
I attended a seminar last week conducted by Rotary 6860 regarding ideas for
membership and on the Rotary foundation. Rotary is the only service club that
has the idea of Classification by business or profession. Annually a goal is set
by the President of the club as to the number they expect to gain over their
year. We have added about one member per month during the last year, however, we
have also lost members to transfers, family and business obligations and death.
In the future months my committee will be determining a classification survey
within our club; develop a list of vacancies; and have the membership involved
with recruitment. We'll also provide some information so you aren't in the dark
and RI has some good publications. Thank you for allowing me to represent our
club.
Top 5 Reasons to the question Why Join Rotary?
1. Friendship.
2. Business development.
3. Personal growth and development.
4. Leadership development.
5. Citizenship in the community.