Due to the Emporia Country Club hosting another event, our Rotary Club meeting on March 22 will be held at Nona's Restaurant, located in the Best Western at 3021 West Highway 50.
Our Rotary Club Membership Proposal can be downloaded from a link on the right side of this bulletin as well as from a link on our website at www.rotaryemporia.com.
Each membership proposal must be signed by a proposing Rotary Club member who is recommending that person for membership in our club. When you as a club member sign this form as a proposer, you are indicating that you know this person sufficiently to know that he or she would be a good Rotary Club member.
There are several pictures of our Salvation Army Project both in progress and after completion. View them by clicking on the right side of this bulletin where it says Salvation Army Project Photo Album.
Emporia State University baseball coach Bob Fornelli indicated to members of our Rotary Club that pitching is a strength of his ball club. ESU was picked to finish second overall in the MIAA this season after Missouri Southern. Fornelli stresses that his ball players finish their college degrees while at ESU since being successful playing professional baseball is so rare. In the college level, however, Fornelli's and ESU's teams are successful. In fact, after speaking at our club meeting, Fornelli won his 800th career win and 494th ESU win against Kansas Newman. This success occurs in spite of providing only 5.2 scholarships for the whole baseball team.
Emporia State University's April Huddleston is early in her first season as head softball coach after 11 seasons as a player and assistant coach. Coach Huddleston told our Rotary Club that team chemistry, a very important factor with successful teams, is developing very well. This young team has some great potential, and Huddleston is excited for the opportunity to lead her Hornets. With the new turf where they play their home games, this year would be a good time to go watch some good softball and baseball right here in Emporia.
It is with much excitement and anticipation that I announce that John Germ, Rotary International's President for 2016-2017, will be attending our Centennial Celebration at ESU on Wednesday May 31, 2017. Please mark your calendars. This is a big event. It has taken much collaboration for him and his wife to be with us. More information will follow.
Jane Blocher, who has represented the American Red Cross for the past 15 years, covers 19 counties in Kansas, including Lyon County. Jane, who is a Rotarian in Lawrence, told our club that the Red Cross is divesting themselves from owning real estate, and is still maintaining an active presence in Lyon County by mobilizing the power of volunteers with disaster preparedness, blood donations and other programs. Emporia is the location where they by far receive the largest volume of blood donations in Kansas.
Jane encouraged our club to enlist in their Home Fires Campaign, which involves getting more smoke detectors in homes in Emporia. The goal for this program is to reduce by 25% the number of fatalities from home fires by the year 2020. In the U.S., there is a home fire every eight minutes, and families have only two minutes to escape after a fire is discovered. The Rotary board will be discussing the possibility of volunteering to assist with this program at a future board meeting.
Rotarian Robin Clark, Executive Director of the Emporia Public Library, told our club that 15,000 people come to the library each month. It adds a lot of value to our community. From e-books to computer classes to book discussion groups to creating to works of art. Thanks, Robin for a very informative program.
As of this afternoon, the Salvation Army Project is finished! We (members of the Rotary Club and the Kiwanis Club) worked from Thursday to Thursday building a cabinet and priming/painting. Thank you for participating to better the Salvation Army building for their ministry there. It is a super improvement to the building.
[1] a 10 foot commercial stainless steel serving table
[2] a new double pane front window
[3] a large cabinet to hold groceries and other supplies, (lead by Ron Kloppenburg's Kiwanis crew)
[4] and prepping-priming-painting the 40x40 foot multipurpose room.
Barbara Wry, Marshall Miller, and I will take care of some details that remain, like some ceiling tiles and plug plates. Sue Klamm is going to do the four window treatments, and possibly vertical blinds.
Announcing a new Rotary Club membership drive running January 5 through June 7.
On June 7th, the winner will receive $100.00 in Chamber Bucks
Each time a new member is inducted into Rotary, the sponsoring Rotarian will have their name entered into a drawing. The more members you bring in, the more chances of winning the drawing. First Place will get $100, Second Place will get $50 and Third Place will get $25 We have a lot of great projects to accomplish and we need members. Applications with the breakdown of dues are available from every Board member. Remember, new members get reduced meal prices for a limited time.
Benefits of being a member…
Great Friendships, Awesome networking, Interesting programs, the feeling of accomplishment in our community, State and the World. Doing good, feels good. Think of it like this… Yes you pay for your meals even though you may not be able to attend every week, but that money goes to fund some amazing projects.
Emporia State University baseball coach Bob Fornelli indicated to members of our Rotary Club that pitching is a strength of his ball club. ESU was picked to finish second overall in the MIAA this season after Missouri Southern. Fornelli stresses that his ball players finish their college degrees while at ESU since being successful playing professional baseball is so rare. In the college level, however, Fornelli's and ESU's teams are successful. In fact, after speaking at our club meeting, Fornelli won his 800th career win and 494th ESU win against Kansas Newman. This success occurs in spite of providing only 5.2 scholarships for the whole baseball team.
Rotarian Robin Clark, Executive Director of the Emporia Public Library, told our club that 15,000 people come to the library each month. It adds a lot of value to our community. From e-books to computer classes to book discussion groups to creating to works of art. 
