1 March Program
Business Meeting
Who you gonna call when you need food dished out to hundreds of people…on short notice? Oriental Rotary Club! President John and the ORC Food Commandos responded to a frantic request (placed one week ago) from Myra Blue to provide burgers and dogs for people attending the Falstaff fest at PCC on 28 February. President John reports “Great day, great teamwork and another gold star for Oriental Rotary.”
ORC not only dished out the food but dished out drama at the “Falstaff Festival and Comic Opera,” a lighthearted look at the Shakespearean world presented by the Cultural Enrichment Program of Pamlico Community College. By all accounts ORC member Per Erichsen played the role with a Falstaffian flourish – jovial, plump, and raffish. This contemporary Knudsen/Khouri- production would have elicited many hearty bravissimos from Signor Verdi. The multi-faceted event included food, music, and fun, with re-enactments of life in Shakespeare’s time.
Expect updates from your Board about forthcoming fund raising activities. Mid April will include the In-Water Oriental Boat Show. Sam Myers will update club members about ORC’s responsibilities in this event. The announcement and 2010 vendor form for the show are on the erotary.com website.
Interesting reading when the fledgling club of Troutman, NC makes news on RI’s website. This release is the latest in a series of profiles on new clubs.
Persistence has paid off for a handful of Rotarians determined to launch a new Rotary club in the tiny town of Troutman, North Carolina, USA. The fledgling club celebrated its charter, which the club received in October, during a special dinner 12 February with 28 members plus guests and district officers, and punctuated the evening by making a $1,000 donation to The Rotary Foundation for polio eradication.
“People here are very passionate about Rotary,” explains Deborah Bowen, a member of the Rotary Club of Top of the Lake-Mooresville, which sponsored the Troutman club. “Troutman’s an old town, and there’s not a lot of business. But people are very welcoming.”
The club held a fundraiser in December at one of the town’s four schools, bringing in more than $8,000 to buy gift cards for 70 needy children.
“The Rotary Club of Troutman was once just a vision that grew into a purpose: community service conducted by local folks who become Rotarians,” says Scott Mitcham, the club’s charter president. “We have already and will continue to make a difference.”
”We may be going through some tough times for our business,” Bowen says, “but we would never give up on Rotary.” (Rotary International website.)
ShelterBox Responds to Chilean Earthquake…International disaster relief charity ShelterBox is responding to the 8.8-magnitude Chilean earthquake. An initial ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) is currently preparing to mobilize with two SRT members from the UK and one from the US. “ShelterBox will respond quickly where needed, as the unfolding news becomes clearer and the scale of need is confirmed. A ShelterBox team is preparing to mobilize at the earliest opportunity. Our thoughts go out to the people who have been affected by this disaster,” said Lasse Petersen, ShelterBox General Manager. “ShelterBox has a critical and focused role in reacting quickly when disaster strikes, and to get the highest quality aid package to those who need it,” said Veronica Brandon Miller, Executive Director of ShelterBox USA.
An initiative of Rotarian Tom Henderson (Order of the British Empire), a former Royal Navy search and rescue diver, ShelterBox started in 2000 as a project of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, Cornwall. ShelterBox, now the largest Rotary Club project in the world, has responded to disasters including the Haiti Earthquake, Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma). (www.madduxpress.com)
The Shelter Box is a beautiful example of a simple concept designed to provide immediate shelter in chaotic circumstances. Each one contains a disaster relief tent for up to 10 people, a stove, blankets and other items essential for survival.
