This Week's Rotary Scuttlebutt: 11-11-2020 (Nov 10, 2020)

This Week's Program: Foundation Day

This Wednesday, we will celebrate the Rotary Foundation and honor individuals with a Paul Harris Fellow.

To find out more about the Rotary Foundation please check out this link..... https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/rotary-foundation

Our club wants you to support the Rotary Foundation by donating at least $100 per year. In fact if you do this, our club will honor you with a Paul Harris Fellow. So who was Paul Harris and what is a Paul Harris Fellow?

To become a Paul Harris Fellow one needs to make a $1000 donation to the Rotary Foundation OR have $1000 donated in your honor. This is where it gets fun at Harbortown. We ask that you make the first $100 donation. The club kicks in the next $200 towards your Paul Harris Fellow and your fellow members will pledge the next $700 to make you a Paul Harris Fellow. This all happens in about a minute or two in a frenzied auction like environment. It can be chaotic, but it is fun. We will make around 12 people Paul Harris Fellows tomorrow and raise over $15,000 for the Rotary Foundation in about 15 Minutes.

Do you have questions? Give Keith Kylmala a call 218-348-7236 or email his at kkylmala@kylmalatruss.com.

Read More Here About Paul Harris

Happy Veteran's Day

Harbortown Rotary would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the men and women who have served in our military and recognize all that you have given of yourself in sacrifice for our country.

Take some time this week to honor a veteran and offer our collective sentiment of appreciation for all they have done for our nation.

Bentleyville Service Project: Nov. 4, 2020

A small group of Harbortown Rotarians and their family members spent last Wednesday evening, braving the unprecedented 60 degree temperatures to string hundreds of lights and move and adjust barriers. While it was tough work, we laughed merrily all the way. We even did a little test walk through a portion of the park to get a bird's eye view of what guests will experience from their vehicles this holiday season. We were told that between 175 and 200 vehicles can be accommodated in the park at one time.

There will be a merge lane for those parents and children who wish to still visit Santa and receive their free Bentleyville hat. (Only children 10 and under please.)

Opening day is Saturday, November 21st and they are requesting a $10 per vehicle charge this year.

Thanks to all Rotarians who helped with the set-up projects over the last month. We are happy and proud to support this event in our community and applaud their perseverance and creativity that will allow this event to still provide so much joy and happiness to so many this holiday season.

Photo credit: Charity Johnson

November Rotary Issue Available Now

Read about the 2021 International Rotary convention scheduled in Taipei; a touching story of a young man's efforts to balance the scales of racial injustice, how the pandemic is impacting hunger across the nation and so much more!

Leave of Absence Procedure

There have been a number of questions during this time regarding leave of absence and the procedure for submitting a leave. If you would like to submit a leave of absence, please visit the Harbortown Rotary home page under the Home Page Download Files section or contact admin@harbortownrotary.com to obtain the LOA form.

Below are guidelines regarding the Leave Of Absence process:

Leaves are not granted automatically
A leave of absence is granted by a majority vote of the Board
A leave can be granted only to a member who has no outstanding debts to the club
Career transition leaves are handled differently so please contact the club president or Jan for further details
A leave is granted for a specific period of time not to exceed three months
A member is still responsible for rotary dues and fundraising but not meals during the leave

Progress Report on the Laguni Sulti Bolivia Water Well Project

We received all the funding and matching grant from the District and all the Rotarians for completion of the Laguna Salti water well project. I heard back from Mano a Mano this week and they have successfully completed one of the two water wells! They will continue work advancing the second well in one month. Thank you, all Rotarians who provided support for this project!

Karl Everett

Harbortown Rotary International Committee

Colchani Bolivia Medical Clinic News

Good news on the Colchani Bolivia Medical Clinic. Although we did not receive a matching WCS grant from the Rotary District, I received enough commitments to provide half the financial support from a dozen clubs and individuals to finance the project, plus we have a very generous Rotarian to match our dozen club contributions! Thanks to all Rotarians contributions we can move forward to construct the project. Thank you everyone for your commitments to fund this worthy project! Mano a Mano Bolivia is ready to begin construction in November into complete the project in five months, before the winter season in the southern hemisphere. Thank you sincerely for your commitments to help out the needy Colchani, Bolivia community.

Karl Everett

Harbortown Rotary International Committee

Harbortown News

For news, announcements, event promotion social media, media releases and more, please contact Charity Johnson (csjohnson@starbasemn.org or 218-788-7288).

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 1.5.2021

Chloe Strand joined the Marketing/PR committee last fall and is taking on many duties related to Facebook posts, Member Spotlights and more. When communicating PR details, please copy both Charity (csjohnson@starbasemn.org) and Chloe (Chloe.Strand@hdchrc.org) on relevant information.

For Scuttlebutt: If you are hosting the program speaker, please copy Charity on the speaker's name, organization and email. If you are the chair of a Harbortown Committee, please update Charity and Chloe on relevant information regarding grants and awards, meetings or news. Charity will use this information to create more dynamic and engaging content to share with potential club members and on social media.

It is our goal to continue to share the good work that Harbortown Rotary is doing in our community, so your help and support is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Harbortown Rotary 2020