Incoming President Herb Liberman holds his first virtual meeting!
Incoming DMSB Rotary President Herb Liberman held his first virtual meeting on Friday July 7, 2020, holding up a big new gavel and wearing a tee shirt that said Rotary Offers Opportunities. Herb’s daughter, son and son-in-law were on hand to celebrate his new position. He welcomed two Rotary guests: Savannah and Mami Takahari, an international student from Japan.
International member Ildiko Tesak called in from El Salvador to celebrate the event. Jon Fish gave the Rotary Minute and Bill Sutton promised to be Herb’s “caddy’ to keep him alert during the meetings.
Herb decided that the Rotary meetings would continue on Zoom for the present but every week instead of biweekly. It was also decided to have an evening Zoom meeting once a month, on the third Tuesday, to which prospective members could be invited. Herb’s motto this year would be: “Small Acts Change the World” – he wanted members to think about what they have done to make a difference to someone.
Committee Reports:
Paul Butler: volunteered to talk about Foundation activities via screen share.
Venky: had some Paul Harris awards that needed to be given out at an appropriate time.
Charles Foster: suggested an automatic contribution of $5 monthly from each member to the Polio Jar.
Susan Hennenfent: Membership Chair, suggested that members invite friends to attend the Zoom meetings, and share what’s special about our club.
Venky said the District Global Grant for anti-Human Trafficking is fully funded. Approximately $11,000 more is needed to completely fund the project and reach the 125K goal.
Steve Weitzen: the next District Governor, wanted to focus on the topic of anti-Human Trafficking this year. Teachers in forty-two schools are being trained to deal with this problem. Some monies will be allocated towards billboard ads etc. Clubs in Tijuana have also offered to help fund the grant for this project. It will be
an on-going project to save children’s’ lives. Beverley mentioned that training on Human Trafficking is being developed for the club
Ildiko: offered to initiate a partnership with the El Salvador Rotary for more funds.
Charles Foster: is working to get a commitment from past sponsors and others to donate money for charitable causes without having an actual BOCCE event this year. The event had to be cancelled because of the ongoing pandemic.
Patricia Case, Social Chair: tossed around some ideas for virtual social activities such as Game Night etc.
Charter President Kevin Cahill: Club bylaws need to be reviewed. He urged younger members to step up and act as historians for the club by preserving old pictures and articles of previous fundraising activities. Venky proposed Molly as possible historian.
Herb: talked about filling vacancies for Internet Guru/ Publicity/Youth Services. Also wanted club to think about what goals we wanted to accomplish this coming year. Charles suggested that the club should focus on being a “doing” club rather than just a “check writing” club – a good example would be setting up and conducting blood drives in the local community.
Vicky Mallett: President Elect, suggested the possibility of sending out a bulletin or newsletter once a month to recap the club's activities.
Susheela: Publicity Chair, announced that she would be stepping back from Rotary duties for a few months for personal reasons.
The meeting concluded with a humorous reminder from Ken Barrett that Herb’s goal for this year should be to retain his gavel and prevent it from being stolen!
The next evening Zoom meeting is scheduled for July 21, 2020.
Addendum: Please read the two documents sent out to all members by Herb: the first one lists the goals for this Rotary year and the meeting schedule through August 2021; the second one is the list of Officers and Chairpersons for 2020-2021.