This Week at Rotary
By Al Makynen
Thursday Meetings Suspended
The Thursday noon meetings of the Club remain suspended. We hope all of you are safe.
Committee Meetings are at the direction of the Committee Chair with the recommendation to utilize electronic meeting formats.
By Board Action, no member is to be charged for a meal for a suspended meeting. For those who have prepaid their meal charge for suspended March meetings they will receive a credit on their next billing – no action is required of the member.
Rotary Office Closed
Felicia is working from home the week of March 23. The Holliday Center Rotary Office will be closed. Felicia has a laptop and the ability to do all of her work on-line. (This work includes Email, ClubRunner, Gimlet, phone.) Elaine Hanson will check incoming mail and continue posting financial activity.
Board and Committee Meetings
The Board of Directors met last week (electronically) and President Michelle Buria has called for another Board Meeting on Thursday March 26th (again electronically) to assess the needs of the Club and our response to the Corona Virus. Committees will meet (electronically recommended) as needed to complete the work of the club and to adjust planned and future activities in response to the virus.
Club Survey
President Elect Dean Casperson as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee on behalf of the Board has sent to Duluth Rotary Club Members a survey. If you have not already completed our Club Survey, please go to your email for March 18th (date time of around 10:30 a.m.) and open the link. A number of members have already responded but the Strategic Planning Committee and Board wish to hear from as many of our members as possible. The Survey is just 10 questions (Survey Monkey) and will be open until March 26th.
Thank you for your participation.
Open Board Position – Effective July 1
There is an open position on the Board of Directors effective July 1, 2020. As provided in the Bylaws (Article 1, Section 3) the vacancy is filled by Board Action. Any member in good standing who as of July 1 has served as a Committee Chair for a total of at least two years (anytime in their time with Club #25) is eligible and encouraged to submit their name for consideration to Secretary Jeff Bradt.
Rotary Dinner and Auction - Cancelled
Chair of the Dinner and Auction Committee, Ryan Johnson announced that consistent with the CDC Guidelines the event scheduled for May has been cancelled. Due to planning timeline constraints and the desire to avoid conflicts with other Club activities later in the year the Committee decided to make the Rotary Club Dinner and Auction of 2021 a restart of this long standing fun event.
Life House Spring Dinner - Cancelled
The event at Life House of March 26th has been cancelled. Dan Dock and the Community Service Committee are working to reschedule. The Committee and the Membership will be informed.
Rotary 5580 District Conference – Cancelled
The health of District 5580 Rotarians is of utmost importance. In light of the recent COVID-19 (Coronavirus) developments, District Governor Rick Bricker has announced that the 2020 Rotary District Conference has been cancelled. Madden's resort will begin issuing refunds. If your reservation was made by credit card, the refund will appear as a credit to the card. Those who paid by check will have a check issued to them from Madden's. Notice of cancellation will be sent with the refunds. You don't have to take any steps individually to cancel your reservations or request refunds from Madden's.
Rotary Club Caring Committee – Important Message
During difficult times, we all know what Rotary Club of Duluth members do - we lean in and ask "What can we do to help?" As members of the Caring Committee, we are doing just that by checking in and making sure everyone is doing okay. We know that during this challenging and unparalleled time, a few of our members may need assistance, perhaps with a grocery delivery, a pharmacy pickup, or just an extra check-in. If you are feeling at all compromised, or know of another club member who might need some help, please let us know by sending a quick email to Felicia at
felicia@duluthrotary.org or by calling 722.0451 - the Caring Committee will take it from there.
Caring Committee Chair, Elizabeth Simonson, states - don't be surprised if you hear from someone from our committee as we will be making check in calls to all of our members in an effort to keep our Rotary Club of Duluth family close. With a little help from each other we can all get through this together.
Motivational Moment
A good friend is like a four leaf clover - Hard to find and lucky to have.