Copy of Copy of September 2, 2020 Newtarian (Sep 16, 2022)

NEWTON ROTARY CLUB

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

The meeting was called to order by President Todd Lattig at 12.14 PM, followed the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer offered by Laura Camp. All then joined in with a hardy rendition of “God Bless America,” led by Steve Wescott. The head table was full with President Todd, V.P. Carl (who was late in arriving), Alice and Secretary Marge. This week’s meeting attracted 15 members. The only visitor who joined us was Dody Welch. It turned out that TODAY was their 65^th wedding anniversary. After a rousing chorus of Happy Anniversary, Lou Ponce welcomed everyone present for joining us for lunch.

Alden Welch, with his wife Dody seated in front of him, stood before the club and announced that TODAY was their 65^th wedding anniversary. What a wonderful opportunity for the rest of us to have been able to share this very special day with them.

Todd announced that there was no special speaker joining us today, as they apparently skipped out on incoming president Carl.

Several members were HAPPY at today’s meeting and gladly parted with a few dollars…..

Jerry Hanifan kicked in a dollar since he had celebrated his birthday (although he chose not to reveal his age). We all sang happy birthday to him.
John Cuozzo, Todd Lattig, Laura Camp, Matt Hannum, Jerry Hanifan and Denise Current all pitched in a buck to help celebrate the Welch’s 65^th anniversary.
Matt Hannum also gave another dollar for having successfully gotten his kids all off on the school bus.

President Todd also reminded about the upcoming need to help staff our food booth at the county fairgrounds. The two events coming up include:

Military Swap Meet – on October 21, 22 and 23.
German Christmas Market – on December 2, 3 and 4.

There may be only one other food vendor at either of these events – which would obviously put us in a very good position to make a lot of money for the club. The events in Friday and Saturday will run 10 AM to 6 or 7 PM, while on Sunday it will run 10AM to 1 PM.

AND THEN THE BOMB GOT DROPPED

President Todd said that he had received a letter from Rotary International General Secretary and CEO that was dated September 1, 2022. The letter was sent to all club presidents and secretaries in District 7475.

The General Secretary, John Hewko, wrote the following:

“At its August 2022 meeting, the RI Board of Directors decided to place the clubs of District 7475 into non-districted status effective immediately. This change was made after careful consideration, taking into account the district’s significant and pervasive governance challenges. The full text of the decision is enclosed.

“The Board wants to reassure you that this decision does not threaten the existence of your club as it only impacts the operation of the district. This is intended to have minimal impact on clubs other than having a new leader called a Special Advisor.

“RI President Jones will shortly be appointing an experienced Rotarian to serve as your Special Advisor. This individual will get to know your club and seek your input, work to address existing governance challenges, and ensure all clubs in the former district can continue to be successful. When the Special Adviser is named, please direct your questions and requests for support to the Special Advisor, who will work with the RI President and Rotary staff to respond appropriately. Until a Special Adviser is named, please direct your questions and requests to CDS@rotary.org.

“I kindly ask you to inform your club members about this Board decision and its minimal impact to your club operations and activities during your club meeting.”

There was an attached page from RI that summarized the action taken by the RI Board of Directors:

Noting significant and pervasive governance challenges, places the Rotary Clubs in District 7475 into non-district status, effective immediately, until such time as these challenges are resolved.
Requests President Jones to name a special advisor to the non-district clubs in point 1 above.
Requests the general secretary to inform club and district leadership of former District 7475 of this decision.
Requests the Rotary Foundation Trustees to consider the non-districted clubs in point 1 above to continue participation in Rotary Foundation grant programs.

Todd noted that despite his efforts and those of some of our officers, all that could be discovered was that a single club in the district filed a complaint with the home office of Rotary International about something that happened at the district level. It was this complaint that ultimately led the RI Board of Directors to take the action they did.

Todd asked Marge to send out a copy of the letter and information she turned up about from the formal Rotary policy concerning “non-district” clubs.

President Todd read through a letter that he had received from the “home office” of Rotary International. That letter informed all 86 Rotary Clubs in District 7475 that the district governor and all of the volunteers who comprise the district officers and support staff were no longer holding those positions because R.I. effectively disbanded our district. This writer figured that we can now properly say that we are “districtless” and are on our own until such time that the folks operating R.I. can figure out their next move.

WRAP UP MATTERS

Jim Taylor won the 50/50 pot of $4 !! He drew the 8 of Spades and thus left $81 in the pot for next week.

Before we all left, Todd did remind us that next week we will not be meeting at the Hampton Diner, but rather will be gathering at the Newton Country Club as it is our Annual Golf Outing. Later on that day, at dinner, our own Denise Current will be honored for everything she has been able to accomplish over the years as a volunteer with numerous organizations.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:06 PM by President Todd.

Submitted by – Wayne T. McCabe, local scribe with lengthy column this week