HOULTON, Maine — The featured guest at the Houlton Rotary Club’s weekly meeting Oct. 24, was District Governor Virginia Joles of Presque Isle. Houlton is a member of Rotary District 7810 that Joles represents.
During the “happy dollar” part of the luncheon Joles reported that she had met with the board members before the luncheon and her response to what the club is doing was to label Houlton’s Rotary a “five-star club”. The club is doing so much and doing it well.
Joles’ only recommendation would be to share Houlton’s ideas with other clubs. Her husband Jerry handed out the new theme pin to everyone and mentioned his reunion with member Darrell Malone. Joles and Malone had worked together on a case 45 years ago.
Another special event of the day was the occasion of World Polio Day. Rotary International with help from all clubs and members has worked steadily to end polio in the world. Members were encouraged by Matt Nightingale to go online and donate for a two for one benefit to the event. Signs around town referred to World Polio Day to spread the word. The Houlton Outreach Center sponsored a purple pinkie day for a donation of one dollar.
Nancy Ketch updated the members on the progress of the Rotary Auction and encouraged everyone to bring added items to build up the donations. Also the November 15th Fireside Chat was announced and everyone is encouraged to attend. There will be food provided. The sign- up sheet for the Rotary Auction was being circulated by Steve Nelson and he welcomes any questions from volunteers.
Joles was introduced by President Matt Nightingale. Joles is retired from 30 years of working at Maine Public Service and has been more active in Rotary for the past 10 years bringing her to the post of District Governor. She acknowledged that Houlton has had two District Governors, Mike Clark and Leigh Cummings, in the past.
The Houlton Club is 96 years old as of this past March 1. Joles mentioned that leadership reaches beyond the club as in her “Adopt a Club” program. Nightingale has already responded to this request by adopting the new Hanwell Rotary Club near Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Hanwell can look to Houlton to see how to build membership and programs.
Joles shared a map demonstrating her club adoption connections. She also spoke about Rotary International’s new leader John Germ of Tennessee who initiated the theme “Rotary Serving Humanity.” Germ and his wife Judy have provided jackets made in Tennessee for all district governors. The Rotary Foundation began 100 years ago with a gift of $26.50 by Arch Klumph. This began what is known as Easter Seals, aiding crippled children. If it seems that Rotary only wants money from members Joles explained that Rotary wants members whose hearts are in the right place for giving. The author David Forward has a new book published titled “Doing Good in the World” and it is highly recommended.
The Presque Isle Club is hosting a 100-year celebration of the Rotary Foundation with an event named “Harvest Bounty.” Joles wants everyone to wear plaid shirts.
The Rotary International Council on Legislative Changes has some new requirements under flexibility in meeting times and locations. This has opened up to just two meetings per month to change the venue a bit and have Rotarians out in the public doing their work. Rotoract Clubs are available for college students and young employees from the ages of eighteen to thirty. Joles hopes to see more of these clubs being sponsored since grants are available for this effort. Reaching out to youth through youth services and Interact has helped to involve new members.
Joles spoke to the avenues of service available to committees such as vocational service being recognized in the weekly programs followed by certificates of appreciation. A recent major event for Joles was to attend the Rotary International Conference in Seoul, Korea. This was attended by 44,000 members from around the world. Guest speakers at the convention included Yanghee Lee, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, who addressed the issues surrounding human rights in Myanmar with his speech “Touching the Lives of Children”. She highly recommended the upcoming convention in Atlanta, Georgia titled “Together” that will take place June 10 through June 14, 2017.
