District 6040 Governor Amy Chinnery-Valmassei
Zones 30/31 Director Brian Hall
Rotary International President Olayinka Hakeem Babalola
The Rotary Club of Saint Joseph met with a good crowd of about 30 people this Wednesday, July 8 at the beautiful Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art. Our speaker, Matt from Northwest Health Services, was the only guest present. Club President Bill McCammon gaveled us in.
Spanky and Buckwheat's catering provided a choice of pasta entrees, lasagna and a penne alfredo with chicken, along with garden salad, mixed vegetables, and garlic bread. I noticed that South Side Rotary had a similar spread at their Thursday meeting this week, but had an additional pasta choice that was pretty good, a marinara and mozzarella pasta. Hmm.
Black Bowls donations for this quarter (7/1 through 9/30) go to the St. Joseph Safety and Health Council. The Safety Council puts on educational programs to promote safe driving and other initiatives to help create a safer community. Members can contribute on our Square site online or bring the cash to meetings.
Meals on Wheels delivery assignments:
July 16 will be Amy Spaeth with Heather Weddle and Alan Van Zandt (solo)... I think?
Shoes for Orphan Souls Update (for 2026-2027 Campaign):
Our club has through next May to gather shoes for the 26th year of Shoes for Orphan Souls. If we collect just a few pairs each week, we can have a great year again.
The club's website is https://stjosephrotary.org/... Public Image chair Susan Campbell has made some very nice updates to the page over the past week, to include refreshed graphics and more. Please check it out!
Susan is also working on some new club shirts for the members, and new club banners and other rebranding to accurately reflect the new club name.
Update from the club board:
The club will hold a vote of the membership at the 7/15 meeting to approve Ryan Jones as the new President Elect. Ryan has agreed to serve and the club board has approved this new role.
The club is also in need of a youth services director for the 2026-2027 year. This would include support to Interact, possibly starting a new Interact at Central, support to scholarship committee, and support to RYLA promotion.
President Bill also shared that the club is building out a few committees, if any members would like to be a part of them. These include the spaghetti fundraiser committee (see Heather Weddle), local foundation committee (see Don Gladhart), strategic planning (see Bill), and bylaws (see Bill).
Upcoming Key Rotary Dates:
Wednesday, July 15... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program presented by Louie DeLeon about his life as an amateur historian
Thursday, July 16: July Rotary club social at Il Lazzarone from about 4:30 to 6:30 p.m... a great time to bring a guest to learn more about Rotary... and/or bring your partner
Wednesday, July 22... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program speaker is Brett Esley from the St. Joseph Sports Commission
Wednesday, July 29... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program speaker is Tom Brand presenting on his life as an author and his books
Wednesday, August 5... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program speaker is Lisa Nyrose presenting on the new Robidoux House Hotel and Conference Center and the new Mid-Continent Exp Center
Wednesday, September 15... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program speaker is District 6040 Governor Amy Chinnery-Valmassei making her official visit to our club
Save the date... Friday, November 6: District 6040 Rotary Foundation Dinner at the Carriage Club in Kansas City... event chair is Saint Joseph Rotarian Shelly Hulet ... we will have a chance for any members and their partners to attend
We presented Josh Middendorf with his Paul Harris +3 pin this week.
Rotary Foundation Director for the club, Faith Parker, will have more information for the members about how to participate in Rotary Foundation giving. Remember that our club matches $144/Rotary year in member contributions.
The final results are in for the 2026 Purple Pinkie Polio Eradication Fundraiser, and I am thrilled to share that together we raised $1,200,788 for Rotary's End Polio Now campaign.
Every dollar will support the fight to eradicate polio worldwide. Thanks to the dedication of Rotary members, partners, and supporters, we are now down to just two endemic countries. The finish line is in sight.
Over a dozen Rotarians from Argentina arrived in Kansas City for the FIFA World Cup as part of a friendship exchange program through the international organization.
Rotary families from KC metro clubs are opening their homes as part of this program
The travelers were greeted by their host families at Kansas City International Airport, where the reunion was anything but a meeting of strangers, despite many coming face to face for the first time.
The Rotary Club of Saint Joseph's 2025-2026 District Grant project has been to install an accessible outdoor area for the new Day Program at Life Unlimited's St. Joseph location.
Sergeant at Arms Janice Keith didn't set out to collect any Happy Bucks this week, but there is no stopping a room full of Happy Rotarians!
Past President Ron Auxier was happy about Rotarians Tim Curry and Erik McGuire's birthdays being on 7/8 (day of the meeting).
Nick Gertsema is now pleased to report that he is now a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (along with Shelly Hulet).
Ralph Schank was happy to finally be back at Rotary.
Joan Hickman was happy to report her grandson is the sports director at a prominent Nebraska TV station.
Sergeant Janice also levied fines for anyone wearing red, white, or blue in honor of Independence Day and America 250.
Program Speaker: Northwest Health Services
Unfortunately, the bulletin editor had to leave early and missed the program about Northwest Health Services.
NW Health Services is a not-for-profit Federally Qualified Health Center serving 15 counties in NW MO. Services provided include medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, and more.
The South Side St. Joseph Club held a great meeting this week.
2026-2027 Club President Chuck Kempf gave his "Inaugural Address".
It's great to see the South Side Club planning several service projects and fundraisers. These include the Fly the Flag fundraiser, Chili Supper (February), looking into a new project promoting gun safety, planning for a possible Global Grant/international project in the future, holding a monthly service project, trying to get the new "Victor" trophy to St. Joseph for Shoes for Orphan Souls, and of course, having fun!
If anyone from the Rotary Club of Saint Joseph ever wants to visit, it's worth dropping by to show support and build solidarity. The meetings are at 11:30 a.m. at King Hill Christian Church on Thursdays (except for the last Thursday of each month, when the club holds an off-site service project).
