Verde Valley School Interact has officially cancelled Winter Wonderland due to a conflict with the Chinese New Year. After a 3 year hiatus, VVS has welcomed 26 students and 2 faculty from Shixi High School in Shanghai. These Junior International Baccalaureate students will spend the second semester learning the VVS way of life. Chinese New Year is officially Sunday, January 22nd. The students of Interact felt that the priority for the weekend should be to celebrate this important holiday with their new friends. Interact is planning to join us for our annual Plant & Seed sale and looks forward to raising money for United for Iran at that time.
Lots of love for John, whose son is in long term care in Colorado. And for Crys, who missed our first evening gathering due to a minor medical issue--she says her heart is with us, and she will try again next month!
Happy Bites--10 pounds of food donations were collected for Project: Fill the Need!
Our Veterans' Raffle efforts resulted in a $10,000 donation to the VA Domiciliary in Prescott. Tim Howe and Shana Shatzer received the check with deep gratitude. Tim talked about how our work on behalf of the veterans meets the Four Way Test. The money raised will provide basic clothing, hair cuts, and other supplies to help get veterans back on their feet. Thank you to all members who helped with our Veterans Raffle, especially the organizational team of Rob, Robert, and Ernie. Stay tuned for details on how we plan to improve the raffle for next year.
Will Trezise was inducted into the club, the third new member of the year! Will is a financial advisor with Edward Jones and a father of....NINE. He has already put his limitless energy into action by helping out with our work at Manzanita Outreach in December. Be sure to introduce yourself to Will at our next meeting!
Thank you to Mark, Tracey, Robin, Garey, Robert, Lynn, Rob, Winnie, Heather, Miki and Chuck for their participation in reviewing our Club By Laws! It was a wonderful collaboration of ideas with thoughtful input and consensus building. The "Gang of Twelve" will meet again on Monday, February 13 from 5-6 p.m. at Eye Boutique to review the draft wording of the proposed amendments. The goal is to bring the amendments to the club for a vote in March.
The first monthly ENDGAMES kicked off on Wednesday, January 11th from 4:30-6 p.m. at Decanter. (ENDGAMES: Efficiency, No Drama, Gathering Among Members Excited about Service) Thanks to Miki, Chuck, Robin, Kate, Garey, Tracey and Tracey's husband Gary (potential new member!) for making it a fun event! We reviewed the upcoming service projects (see the calendar at the end of this newsletter) and discussed two new project ideas: quarterly blood drives in coordination with the American Red Cross, and hosting a Verde Valley Care Givers neighbors' social during the Rotary Week of Service. We also decided on our next venue: Rotten Johnny's! Join us next month on the 2nd Wednesday, February 8th, from 4:30-6 p.m.
Reunite Cultures Fund arrives in the Verde Valley in February! Sixteen Armenian young-adults will be performing for the students of the Sedona Oak-Creek School District during the day and will end with a public performance at SPAC on Thursday, February 2nd at 7 p.m. Our club is working in conjunction with The Rotary Club of Sedona to welcome these performers. Please contact Winnie at sedonachamberballet@gmail.com to help provide food for the potluck on February 1st at 5:30 p.m. at the Methodist Church or if you or someone you know is willing to house 2-4 guests and provide breakfast.
Our club has been trying to bring this cultural exchange program to Sedona for over two years. Jennette and Winnie secured a $9000 grant from the City of Sedona to provide the seed funds for this important event. The Club's goal has been to make this a self-sustaining, annual international experience. To make this a reality, we need everyone to do their part. Please talk with Winnie to learn how you can help!
District Governor Larry Horton spoke about Rotary International, our District, and our role as a cogwheel in the system of service. Some key take-aways from his presentation:
RI President Jennifer Jones laid out her goals for the year. One is to reach 30% female membership. Another is member retention. Rotary has never had a recruitment problem, and Jennifer is asking that we focus on keeping our existing members excited about Rotary. The good works we do will do all the recruiting we need.
Larry shared the story of Dashrath Manjhi, an Indian man whose wife died while walking over a mountain to get to the nearest doctor 56 miles away. Dashrath spent the next 22 years cutting a path through that mountain by himself with only a hammer and a pick axe. How fortunate we are to have a team of Rotarians to move mountains for others!
Members were gifted with Rotary garden gloves in anticipation of the upcoming District Week of Service: April 15 - 22.
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