• PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS MATCHING GIFTS (new gifts for Paul Harris Fellows will be matched as long as funds are available—you make a gift of $700; our club has some funds set aside ($2,000) and will match $100; the District will match $200 for a total of $1,000 credit for your new PH Fellowship).  The matches will go fast, please see Cecil Moore or Louie Van Drie ASAP if you have an interest in this opportunity for matching money.
  

• Dont' forget to purchase your tickets to the Stephens College presentation of "A Christmas Carol" which is one of our major fundraisers for the year. We have 330 tickets to sell. The event takes place on December 1, 2005 - reception at 6:30 p.m., with the performance starting at 7:30 p.m.  Contact David Clithero, Jim Ollar or David Atkins to purchase tickets.

Today's program focused on vocational service and featured a special Rotary award presentation to non-Rotarian Eliot Battle, widower of our late member Muriel Battle. Our club nominated Eliot for the "Rotary Centennial Service Award for Professional Excellence," and he was one of the few nominees who were selected to receive the award. We will also had several presentations from members of our Vocational Service Committee focuing on  new guidelines for the Tom Botts Four-Way Test Award and  the new Career Directory.

• ROTARY CENTENNIAL SERVICE AWARD: Dee Corn presented the Rotary Centennial Service Award for Professional Excellence to Eliot Battle who spoke briefly on his love of community and Muriel's great love of Rotary.  The Rotary Centennial Service Award for Professional Excellence has been designed so that districts may administer a competition among clubs in their districts to recognize one candidate each from 10 clubs per district. While the award is competitive within the district, it is intended to recognize exceptional community representatives, who may not have been exposed to the work and values of Rotary, yet their dignified ideals are similar to Rotary. 

• ROTARY FOUNDATION: Cecil Moore and Louie Van Drie spoke briefly about the Foundation and played a DVD which explained the many programs that your Rotary Foundation dollars help to support, including:

• VOCATIONAL SERVICE COMMITTEE: Charlie Gibbens distributed a handout from the Vocational Service Committee describing the new procedures for the Botts Award and the soon to be established Career Directory.  If you would like to be listed in the Career Directory as a member that would be available, on occasion, to give a presentation about your profession or trade, or to serve on panels for such events as Career Days in Columbia Public Schools, please e-mail Tony St Romaine with the following information:

• PLANNED GIVING: Rim Massey distributed and discussed a handout which listed funding requests/awards for our Club this past cycle, and showing the many projects and organizations that our club helps to support in the community.

• GROUP STUDY EXCHANGE (GSE): Margie Meyer gave us a brief heads-up about the incoming GSE Team from Germany, which our Club will host in Spring 2006.  
  

• PAW BRACELET PROJECT: Judy Elliott  described the success to date of the Paw Bracelet Project, and announced that the Board has voted to make this an on-going project, with more of the proceeds remaining locally.   If any member is interested in travelling ro Cuernavaca to present a check to our sister club who will be using the proceeds to build a school for children with special needs, please see Judy.  She will help to coordinate the trip for you.

SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN MILES for helping to arrange the program today.  He is in Springfield today because the Rockbridge Girl’s Tennis Team (of which his granddaughter is a member) qualified for the State Finals today!
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If interested, please e-mail Tony St Romaine, or see Kristen Smarr, Jane Phillips or Paige Scott for additional details.
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 Web Editor:  Tony St Romaine

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