The Westward Ho! 9/26/2017 (Sep 24, 2017)

This Friday at Rotary

Dr. Tom Cardwell

Rotary District Governor, 2017-18

Psychologist, former Dean of Student Engagement at SCC

Dr. Thomas Cardwell will be sharing his vision for our Rotary district, including these observations: Rotary International wants every Rotarian in the world to plant a tree this year. As a district, we would like to do a tree planting on April 7th, 2018, prior to Arbor Day. Tom will also address the issue of human trafficking in Nebraska and Iowa, and how our district is getting involved to address this issue. Tom will share other initiatives and goals of the Rotary district in his role as the new Governor for 2017-18 for Rotary District 5650, covering a total of 43 Rotary Clubs.

Chair of the Day: Assistant Governor John Marburger

Invocator: Rana Scarlett-Johnson

Greeters: John Morey and Luke McNeese

Cashier: Bob Walker

Sgt. At Arms: Randy Kathol

Last week at Rotary

Last week, our President Nuzhat Mahmood presided the meeting. Michelle Kaufmann gave the Invocation. Greg Key and Bonnie Gill served as greeters while Tim Neal served as Cashier and Mark Ellsworth also served as Cashier on 9/15. Dwayne Brown was Sgt At Arms. Kim Kuhle introduced our speaker, successful businesswoman Pam Spaccarotella, owner of LGT Transport. Pam was the main highlight of the meeting by sharing with us her inspiring business story.

L to R: Kim, Nuzhat, Matt, and Pam

Another highlight of the meeting was the awarding of Paul Harris Fellow + 1 to Mike Jones given by RI Foundation Chair Bonnie Gill.

Mike receiving the prestigious Paul Harris pin from Bonnie

Vaughn Wiebusch gave a 2-minute vocational talk. Vaughn proudly spoke about his family, his career, and his love for Rotary.

Vaughn "hogging" the mic and actually went over his 2-minute time allocation per Matt's timer

Rotarians at Vaughn's table were fined

Secretary's Report

Visiting Rotarian Cella Quinn from Omaha Downtown joined us. Matt introduced Guests Bob Kully and Jay Roth, both invited by Nuzhat. Matt also introduced Guest Jessica Blake invited by Jill Slupe. Red Badge Members in attendance were recognized. Marsha Kubica, Brett Wawers, Bonnie Gill and Martie Cordero were fined. Carol Gendler got Matt fined again for yet another Bitcoin article about Bitcoin ATMs. Russ Iwan, Martie Cordero, Dan Ferris and Guest Bob Kully had good news to share. Matt told a joke about NIU knocking the living Eichorst out of us.

Next Friday at Rotary

Sophia Potter

Omaha Area Youth Orchestra

October 6, 2017

Friday Meeting Agenda including Vocational Talk

We welcome your initiative on anything you would like to be added in our Friday meeting, including giving a vocational talk. Kindly discuss any agenda you may want in our Friday meeting with the appropriate committee chairs for proper coordination and then let Yolanda know as she prepares the draft agenda for approval by President Nuzhat. The list of committees was previously shared with you; however, if you would like a copy emailed to you, send Yolanda an email at executivedirector@omahawestrotary.org or call, text or leave voicemail at (402) 937-8654. The list of committee chairs will also be available to you in hard copy directory very soon through the efforts of President-Elect Jill Slupe and Directory advertisers.

Committee Announcement - Community Service Committee

Brett Wawers, Community Service Committee Chair, is requesting for a meeting on Oct. 6, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM. If you have any questions or would like to add a meeting agenda, please email Bret at Brett.Wawers@LRA-INC.com.

Rotary Leadership Institute

We are looking for one more West Rotarian to attend the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) next session on October 21, 2017. The fee of $85.00 per person will be sponsored by West Rotary. Rotary Leadership Institute is an interactive, facilitated sessions on topics designed to provide Rotary knowledge and develop leadership skills for volunteer organizations. Please see Nuzhat if you are interested.

Speed up your check in- get a punch card!

We are now offering 10 punch lunch tickets ($160) and 10 punch meeting-only tickets ($70) for sale at the meetings. Get one and don't worry about having cash or getting out your credit card! For sale at check-in.

Supporting Your Passion for Service with a Local Project

The Rotary Foundation provides matching grants every year for a service project. For the 2017 - 2018 year, 26 projects were approved for funding. These include $554 to the Ashland Rotary club, to purchase and install seating / picnic table near the electric car charging station by the City Park. Also approved are $1,500 for the Beatrice Rotary club to provide materials and assist in building an outdoor classroom for the Beatrice Community Preschool, and $1,500 for the Bellevue Papillion Rotary to support the Magdalene House for women experiencing violence, prostitution and addiction, to maintain the house and purchase items for the residents. A full list of projects that received grants in our Rotary district (Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa) can be found here.

If you have idea for a project that the Omaha West Rotary club can support, please contact us! Project proposals need to be developed in the fall and early winter, then go through an approval process in the spring. Funding is finalized in late May for the upcoming year.

October Birthdays

October Birthdays

Steve Levinger-03, James Olafson-08, Mike Morey-13, Bob Ames-18

Ben Wallace-15, Steve Redler-24, Evan Olson-28