Club President Ron Auxier
"Don't wait to be happy. The perfect moment will never come. Make the most of the one you're in"
District 6040 Governor Jodi Sundaram
Zones 30/31 Director Brian Hall
Rotary International President Francesco Arezzo
The Rotary Club of Saint Joseph today at the beautiful Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art.
We had an awesome crowd of around 37 in attendance this week. Guests included Matt Porter's favorite daughter, Riley, and Micah Carter's dad, Andy Carter, who happens to be the Athletic Director at Missouri Western (Ron was outraged that his polo shirt didn't have crimson and blue coloring).
It was great to see Rotarian Julie Cobb back at Rotary.
The lunch this week was the Spanky's Rotary barbecue special, with wet beef, baked beans, rolls, potato salad, and garden salad.
Club Vice President/President Nominee Oakley Coleman asked the membership to let him know if anyone has ideas for a possible District Grant project for our club to sponsor in 2026-2027. Our final application is due by July 15 for the project. The likely budget available would be up to $5,000.
Black Bowls donations for this quarter (4/1 to 6/30) go to Camp Geiger Scout camperships. These support Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA Scouts to attend summer camp, with campership awards reviewed by a committee based on financial need. Members can contribute on our Square site online or bring the cash to meetings.
Thank you to the members who purchased Purple Pinkie donuts and made contributions to PolioPlus. The donuts will be delivered on 4/29. As of today, we have raised $725 for the World Immunization Week PolioPlus fundraiser. This puts our current Rotary year total for PolioPlus as a club at about $4,700.
Do you know any high school students (current Freshman through current Junior) who would be interested in attending Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA)? The club has budgeted for 2 youth to attend (all expenses paid). The last official date to register is April 30.
There are 2 available sessions: June 28 - July 1 and July 12 - July 15. To learn more about RYLA, please visit https://www.missouriryla.com/ or contact Ryan Dowell.
Brad Campbell from the St. Joseph Host Lions Club was at the meeting today to invite the club and our members to attend the Lions Pancake Days. This year's Pancake Days will be Friday, April 24, Saturday, April 25, and Sunday, April 26. In addition to eating the pancakes, the Lions asked if any Rotarians would be available to volunteer for some of the time to help with the event. The most help is needed on Sunday, April 26 with clearing tables and taking out trash. To learn more or sign up to volunteer, please contact Lion Brad Campbell at (816) 262-9998 or Lion Karen Harden at (816) 248-3837.
Meals on Wheels delivery assignments:
April 16 will be Don Gladhart with Kirby Brooner and Oakley Coleman with Nick Gertsema.
April 23 will be Barb Burns with Patricia Williams and Sarah Meierhoffer (solo).
Our club's website is stjosephrotary.org ... https://stjosephrotary.org/.
We have made and are working on continued content updates.
April 22: Regular club meeting at the AKMA... speaker is Rotarian Ryan Jones, who is a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones, about money matters
April TBA (Bill McCammon will send out a message): District grant work project dates to assemble gazebo and install the garden at Life Unlimited
Thursday, April 23: Shoes for Orphan Souls Caravan stops in St. Joseph at the East Hills branch library... 3 - 5 p.m. and our club is making this our April "fun" event... pizza provided...please mark your calendars and stop by if you can even for a few minutes as we will be visited by our Rotary International President Nominee Larry Lunsford at this event... which will be followed by further fun at the Hi-Ho after 5 p.m.
Friday, 4/24 and Saturday, 4/25: District Conference at the Rotary Youth Camp (Shoes for Orphan Souls Roll Call on 4/25)
Wednesday, 5/6: Rotary scholarship luncheon for our 5 high school scholarship recipients at Noon at the AKMA... you won't want to miss this special meeting... District Governor Jodi Sundaram will also be on hand for a special presentation
Wednesday, 5/13: Offsite club meeting at Life Unlimited to see the District Grant project
Thursday, June 18: Rotary Club of Saint Joseph Anniversary Party (details TBA)
Rotary Club of Saint Joseph Membership Director Shelly Hulet let the induction of 4 new Saint Joseph Rotarians at today's meeting.
Micah Carter was sponsored by Matt Porter. Micah works for Don Tolly American Family (and also moonlights at the Country Club).
Tyler Compton was sponsored by Shelly Hulet. Tyler is transferring from the great Rotary Club of New Braunfels, TX. Tyler works at Tilton, Thomas, and Morgan.
Skye Pournazari was sponsored by Erik McGuire. Skye is transferring from the Rotary Club of Maryville, MO, where she is Past President. Skye is the managing editor of the St. Joseph News Press.
Dr. Joan Brewer was sponsored by Heather Weddle. Joan had previously been a member of the Rotary Club of Emporia, KS.Joan is the Dean of the College of Science and Health at Missouri Western State University. ____________________
This week's program featured a presentation by Dr. Andy Otto, the Missouri Western State University Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing.
Andy was presenting on behalf of MoWest President Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, who was unable to attend today.
He shared some information about how MoWest, as an open access institution, is the #1 institution in Missouri for social mobility, and also #1 in the state for nursing.
The university has requested an additional supplement of $4 million for the next budget year from the legislature and the governor, so that they can continue to focus on growing.
There have been some recent budgetary developments that are still being sorted out in the state senate about the appropriations, and if you are passionate about this topic, Andy encouraged anyone to reach out to their local or state officials to share their perspectives.
Dr. Otto also shared that there are plans to open a branch of the UMKC Dental School at MoWest soon, as well as to create easier pathways from community colleges to Missouri Western for students.
Shoes Cheerleader Amy Spaeth reported that our official, boxed up count for shoes as of this afternoon was 1,778 pairs. This incudes Tim Curry's stash.
There are some additional shoes that were turned in today that are not in this count yet.
Our goal is to exceed 2,000 pairs this year.
We are challenging all club members to each bring in a few more pairs at next week's meeting (4/22) and to bring a few more pairs to the caravan stop on 4/23 (next Thursday).
The remaining Rotary Blend Candles, for those of you still waiting, will be ready by next week. I visited with the vendor today and she will have them ready by Monday.
Thank you to everyone who purchased the candles as well as everyone who donated to help us get the funds to strive towards our goal. WE ARE CLOSE TO THE FINISH LINE!
