At the March 24 meeting we introduced our three newest AM Rotarians:  Bree Neyland, Amanda McFadden, and Ryan Dye.  Casey Cook presented a long term plan for funding many of our grant and other charitable projects by endowing AM Rotary through contributions to the Johnson County Community Fund.  We also held a brief Club Assembly to gather information about the committees and activities that each member would like to participate in for the 2015/16 Rotary year.

 

Guests and Visiting Rotarians:

Pat Barron, Visiting Rotarian from West Chester, PA

Elenora (Italy), Sophia(Germany) RYE

Nicolle Shelton and Frank Zimmerman, guests of Vernette Knapp

World Rotary: Mauritius

Presented by: Peggy Doerge

Mauritius is an island 200 Miles SE of the African continent populated by 1.26 million people.

Most people in Mauritius speak two languages and English and French are most popular. However, there is also a native Creole-influenced language. The main exports are textiles and sugar and a main industry is tourism. The island was “discovered” in the 16th century by the Portuguese.  Many other countries have had a controlling interest through the years. The island has over 12 Rotary clubs including one Tuesday AM club!

Announcements:

Rick Dobyns announced he is running for a second term on city council.

Pete Wallace provided information about ticket sales for the Iowa MOST fundraising event this Sunday. Dinner is included. Herb and Janice Wilson will match all ticket sale proceeds.

Vernette Knapp mentioned an e-mail regarding the breakfast in Sao Palo for those attending international convention.

Nenu Piragine gave a reminder that all interested female Rotarians should be present for the Women in Rotary picture at Coralville Library tonight.

Raffle ticket sales for District Conference were announced. Sales will benefit the youth services fund. Go to the District website to sign up for any individual Conference event, or for the whole Conference.

Casey Cook has initiated a program to help build an endowment fund with the Iowa City Community Foundation. One has been started in the Iowa City AM clubs interest to replace diminishing funds from the Can Do Project. There is a particularly compelling tax incentive for this type of investment which can maximize a donation. The goal is to reach $200,000 in principal investment.

New Member Introductions:  Bree Neyland, Amanda McFadden and Ryan Dye were introduced as our most recent initiates.

Club Assembly:

Myrene Hoover led the session for her year as club president. To help in planning in advance for next year a survey was sent out to all members to indicate which committees they would like to participate in and what programs they would like to see presented in the next year. Further, it was indicated that the club would like to get all members to have an updated profile on ICAMRotary.org. It was indicated that having this information updated will allow the club to potentially qualify for a presidential citation.

Notes taken by John Schultz