Greetings fellow after-hours Rotarians and welcome to the new Rotary year.
I have assumed the role of club president and will be leading us through a year that will hopefully see a continued reopening from the lockdowns of the pandemic. We will offer the zoom option for our more distant members and for those still hesitant to meet in person.
Goals for the coming year are simple and interrelated: membership and service. We need to support all our regular attendees, try to bring some of the less visible members out of the shadows, and strive to attract new ones. I plan to contact everyone on our membership roster and hopefully meet with them, perhaps over a coffee, to learn how we can make the club best serve their needs and expectations. Our members, current and new, will help fill the ranks of our service projects, such as our ongoing commitment to the Lussier center, and interesting service projects will make us more attractive to prospective members. In looking toward a club-defining service project, several current members were inspired by Dave Warren's presentation on "Kids against Hunger". I suspect we will be able to restart selling Bucky Beads to help support our participation in the Rotary youth exchange program. I invite all members to bring forward other ideas that could help define our small but vigorous group.
I look forward to seeing you all at our regular meeting this Monday for fellowship, for club and district updates, and where we will hear from a representative of the Henry Vilas zoo about their mission. They have a couple of exciting new additions: a baby orangutan, born June 11, and a just-arrived red panda.
John Marszal