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 decent crowd of about 30 people this Wednesday at the beautiful Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art. A visitor named John was also present. This was the first meeting of the new Rotary year, and we saw the passing of the gavel from Ron Auxier to Bill McCammon.
Please keep Rotarians Patricia Williams, Tyler Compton, and Julie Cobb in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to deal with some health challenges.
Oakley Coleman shared that our next District Grant we are applying for will be to purchase books and create an educational room at the Pony Express National Museum.
Spanky and Buckwheat's catering provided an interesting spread of surprisingly dry but still oiled chicken, salad, rolls, and some type of potato-ish dish.
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 intitiatives 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 9 will be Bill McCammon with Jean Warren and Mike Schumacher (need someone to deliver with Mike).
Shoes for Orphan Souls Update (for 2026-2027 Campaign):
We have approximately 145 pairs of shoes so far, unofficially. We have through next May to gather shoes for the 26th year of Shoes for Orphan Souls.
Our budget for the current year has now been approved. We also voted to send a $500 contribution to the 2028 Rotary International Convention House Organizing Committee, to support their hosting for the Minneapolis event.
Upcoming Key Rotary Dates:
Wednesday, July 8... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program about NW Health Services
Wednesday, July 15... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program TBA
Thursday, July 16: July Rotary club social at Il Lazzarone from about 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 22... Rotary Club of Saint Joseph meeting at the AKMA... program speaker is Brett Esley from the St. Joseph Sports Commission
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 ...
As we enter the new Rotary year, we have a new Rotary Foundation Chair, Faith Parker. Faith 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 did not collect happy bucks this week, but did levy a fine of $1 from everyone for last year's club officers, and $1 from everyone for this year's club officers.
2026-2027 Club Officer Installation
We had a number of components of this year's officer installation. We began with Susan Campbell presenting a couple of the club awards of folks who missed the Annual Dinner, which were Bill McCammon for a Key Award and Don Gladhart for co-Rotarian of the Year.
We also presented Tammy Killin with her Paul Harris Fellow +2 recognition, and also recognized her as the Past President of the downtown Club (one of our 4 past presidents that our club had in the past Rotary year).
Erik and Bill then recognized immediate Past Club President Ron Auxier and presented him with a pin and gavel. Ron took a moment to thank the officers from last year.
Erik then installed Bill McCammon as our 2026-2027 President, and Bill then installed this year's board.
A few highlights were shared, including from Assistant Governor Doug Schmitz about how our club continues to thrive.
