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 great crowd of 32 people, including our speakers and some family members, today, Wednesday, July 29 at the beautiful Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art. The meeting was presided over by club President Bill McCammon.
Spanky and Buckwheat's catering provided a solid spread of a taco bar with choice of beef and chicken and all of the fixins. Today's meal appeared to be very well received. Even the editor of this bulletin enjoyed it.
Black Bowls donations for this quarter (7/1 through 9/30) go to the St. Joseph Safety and Health Council. This supports their educational programs such as Safety Acres and Safety Town. We have their director, Frank Till, coming to present to the club at our September 9 meeting. Members can contribute on our Square site online or bring the cash to meetings.
Meals on Wheels delivery assignments:
July 30 will be Dana Matt (solo) and Mary Beth Revels with LeeAnn Smiley.
August 6 will be Tim Curry with Shelly Hulet and Ron Auxier with Micah Carter (thanks, Micah, for subbing in)
Shoes for Orphan Souls Update (for 2026-2027 Campaign):
Please be sure to keep an eye out for good deals on shoes (anything under $7 is a good deal) as we work towards our goal for 2027. What is our goal? Maybe a lot of shoes. We'll figure one out.
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, August 5... immediately following the club meeting, Rotary Club of Saint Joseph board of directors meeting at the AKMA
Wednesday, August 12... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program speaker is David Sandy presenting about the Magic Museum (maybe some tricks up his sleeve?)
Wednesday, August 19... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... Don Gladhart will be presenting on our club's local foundation
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 and will begin collecting RSVPs soon
Shelly Hulet shared that there is a new Foundation Dinner business sponsorship for $250 that gets a 1/4 page recognition in the dinner program, at the dinner, and online. 100 % of this sponsorship will go towards the Annual Fund, and is geared towards growing our fundraising results for the dinner, especially from folks who may not (but not limited to) always attend the dinner or are involved with businesses that would like the promotional or sponsorship opportunity. Please see Shelly if you are interested.
There are 2 Golden Ticket raffles now live for this year, each with 150 tickets being sold for $100 each. One for sports and one for arts. Purchasers of tickets get 100 % Annual Fund credit for their purchase. NEED NOT ATTEND THE DINNER TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR TO WIN.
Link to purchase tickets is: https://casbid.com/ticketing/ticketing.php?page=tickets. Once at the site, simply select which ticket you'd like to purchase and how many tickets you'd like. No login is required to complete the purchase. The Golden Tickets are open to Rotarians, non-Rotarians, spouses, members of the community, anybody...
Golden Ticket Sports Package:
Golden Ticket Arts Package:
Also, District 6040 currently has a matching points campaign for the Annual Fund, for any member who contributes at least $250 up to $500, with 1:1 matching Paul Harris Fellow points for dollars. The Golden Ticket Raffles are a great way to get in on this match. Please let Faith know if you make a contribution or purchase tickets so that she can be sure to get you the points transfer.
Know a student who may want to apply for a Rotary district grant scholarship for international study in 2027 (undergraduate level, 2 $2,500 scholarships available district-wide)? Or who would like to apply to be a Rotary Gl0bal Grant scholar (graduate level, 1 $30,000 scholarship available district-wide)? To learn more, please visit https://rotary6040.org/sitepage/trf-scholarships/scholarships
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.
Sergeants at Arms Janice Keith and Matt Porter collected fines today for National $2 bill day.
There was no time for Happy Bucks as we had a lot of other club business and some guests to attend to.
Program Speakers:
Missouri RYLA Students Paige and Dmitri.
Saint Joseph Rotarian and Missouri RYLA Chair Ryan Dowell introduced Paige and Dmitri. They shared their experiences at this summer's academy, which was held at the University of Central Missouri. They both enjoyed their experiences and made several new friends. They would recommend attending RYLA to any future incoming sophomores, juniors, or seniors (in high school).
There are also opportunities for educator and Rotarian counselors to help facilitate RYLA.
Tom has a background of growing up on a farm near Hopkins, MO and was formerly on the radio. He came into writing as Hemingway would say, gradually, and then suddenly.
It began when he made a Facebook post about an experience from his childhood farming days, and then Kay Wilson from the Nodaway News Leader asked him to submit a column for the paper.
That then turned into a book, Welts On Your Butt a Calf Could Suck. This is a collection of stories from rural life in Northern Missouri, and life lessons gained.
His second book was a children's book, I've Never Heard of Johnny Fry: A Pony Express Adventure. This book takes the reader from the perspective of a kid learning about the Pony Express from his grandfather.
Tom's third book is You Have to Leave If You Want to Come Back. This book is a collection of stories, largely inspired by Tom's imagination.
