Carmi Rotary Club meeting
Thursday, October 31, 2019
The Carmi Rotary club met on a cold blustery Thursday to discuss the upcoming chili supper, and to hear about another Carmi tradition that will be happening soon.
Carmi Lion’s Club member Don Winkleman was the day’s speaker, and he was on hand to discuss the upcoming bell ringing season for the Salvation Army. Don told the Rotarians that this will be the 20th year that the Rotary Club, the Lion’s Club, and the Kiwanis Club have been part of this amazing program.
Don told the club that in the past 19 years, Rotary’s lowest day ever was in 2005, when the day’s total was only $767, in comparison, the club’s biggest single day was in 2013 when their bell ringing brought in a staggering $4,443 for the Army. Don said on average, the Rotarians are somewhere around $2500, which means in the past nineteen years the Carmi club has raised an incredible fifty thousand dollars!
The Rotarians will man the bell on Black Friday, November 29th. They will be in front of Wal Mart from nine in the morning until nine at night.
Don went on to explain that all of the money raised will stay in White County. He also pointed out that our bell ringers are all volunteers, unlike some areas that, due to lack of volunteers, are forced to hire people to ring the bell. That spirit of giving applies to the local organization as well, since there are zero expenses paid out to Salvation Army personnel in Carmi, everyone is a volunteer.
In club business, the members discussed the upcoming chili supper, which will be held on Friday, November 15th at the Lion’s Den in Carmi. Chili and all the fixin’s will be served from 5:00pm until 7:00, and the price of the ticket is only seven dollars.
Dale Peters won the 50/50 raffle but he did not claim the day’s cash prize. Patrick Haskell was named the day’s phantom.
The Carmi Rotary club meets every Thursday at noon at the First United Methodist Church on Main Street in Carmi. Anyone wishing to learn more about this civic organization is welcome to attend a meeting or speak with any Carmi Rotarian.
Story courtesy of Randy Adams
