Michelle Malone has arranged for her husband Dustin to update us on Emporia High School wrestling at this week's club meeting. Remember that we are meeting at Nona's Restaurant on December 22 and 29.
Our last two meetings of December will be held at Nona's Restaurant, located at 3021 West Highway 50. We are meeting in the meeting room at the back of the restaurant.
Rotarian Sam Purohit, a member of our own Rotary Club, talked about his own Rotary experiences in the United States. Sam was the 2000-2001 President of the Ahmedabad North Rotary Club in Gujarat, India. That club had 45 members at the time. Sam says that community service is one of the most valuable benefits of being a Rotarian, and he has demonstrated that community service.
In 2010 Sam joined the Emporia Rotary Club. He wears his Rotary pin whenever he is out on business, and he wears it well. He has provided programs at three other Rotary Clubs. He highly recommends that Rotarians visit other clubs to meet fellow Rotarians and to learn about how other clubs work. Participating in Rotary district events and in club projects is when one really becomes a Rotarian. One of the highlights that Sam mentioned was meeting Ron Burton at one of our district events, who was the Rotary International President at the time. Other Rotary experiences include the District Leadership Institute and getting to contribute toward several Rotary International projects worldwide. Keeping up perfect attendance includes make-ups for the few times he has missed. He has recommended Rotary eClub One online meetings as an easy and a valuable way of making up missed club meetings. As a separate note, we have more than one Rotarian who have received a make-up for missed meetings through this method.
Sam's contributions to the Rotary Foundation has been recognized with a Paul Harris Fellow to every member of his family for over the past four years. Sam made the effort to also recognize members of our club who have offered him special assistance since he joined our club: Gary Ace and past Rotarian Marc Childress. Sam also recognized John Atherton, who is a second generation Rotarian who has 60 years of membership in our Rotary Club.
Greg Seibel is leading our Rotary Club food drive during the month of December. Bring non-perishable food or a $5 or more donation to one of our December club meetings. The food and proceeds are going to the Salvation Army.
Shaun Vandiver is in his fifth season as coach of the Emporia State University men's basketball team, and told our Rotary Club that one of the keys to success for this team is to stay disciplined. Every night in the MIAA is a dog fight.
Coach Jory Collins is in his sixth season of coaching the Lady Hornet basketball team. With several returning players from their NCAA Division II Final Four tournament team last year, this team is ranked number one in the country. They recently returned from a tournament trip to Hawaii, and Coach Collins said his team is playing at 70% to 75% capacity. He has some good players who have been added to the roster for this year. This team will be fun to watch.
It's hard not to get into the Christmas Spirit when we get to see and hear great Christmas music from Emporia High School's Viva Voce. Sarah Bays does a great job leading this group.
While serving as greeter at our last meeting, Rotarian Sam Purohit ran an impromptu poll for the Rotarian who has recently best exemplified Rotary in our club, demonstrating the following characteristics:
Smiling, talking, and fellowship
Attendance and participation
Foundation and Rotary knowledge
Congratulations to Marshall Miller for being recognized as a great example for everyone in our club!
Nick and Angie Baker talked to our club about running a coffee shop (Java Cat Coffee) and roasting their own coffee (Gravel City Roasters). They purchased Java Cat in August 2011 when they wanted to become a bigger part of the Emporia community. Angie serves as the barista, and Nick (as the resident scientist) decided to try roasting their own coffee during his down time from his day job. Now EVCO and Gravel City Roasters are the only two coffee roasters in Emporia. Nick roasts 60-70 pounds of coffee a week and sells it by the pound.
Did you know that the coffee bean is actually a seed inside a fruit? The original characteristics of that fruit are kept in tact with light roasted coffee.
It was announced at the meeting that Java Cat Coffee will be changing its name to Gravel City Coffee.
It was announced at the Rotary Foundation Banquet that the Emporia Rotary Club is currently ranked sixth in our Rotary district for Rotary Foundation Giving. Congratulations to everyone in our club for such a strong showing!
The Emporia elementary school principals were on hand at our Rotary Club meeting on the day of and prior to our presentation of dictionaries to third graders in Emporia. Tim North talked about the dictionaries that will be distributed.
On Tuesday afternoon after our club meeting, several members of our club assisted in the distribution of the dictionaries to every third grader in Emporia and a special version to the Adult Basic Education students. Those members participating in distributing the dictionaries were Tim North, Teresa Maley, Marshall Miller, Gary Ace, Michelle Malone and Alex Mosakowski.