March has been a wonderful month at our club.  With our 27th Anniversary and the induction of at least 5 new members this is an exciting time for all and an especially proud one for me.

Our 5 new members with another 3 potential are: 

• Dewey Harris (Glenn B)
  
• Marilyn McRee (Joyce S)
• Laura Parker (Dave P)
• Erica Davis (Dave P)
• Robert Hartsell (Michelle R)

Please join me in welcoming our new members and enouraging them to get involved.  Glenn should be holding a new member orientation session sometime in the Month of April for our new members.

 
New Members being inducted on March 19th, 2009

 
President Joshua presenting Robert with his new member packet and materials.

Our club membership committee has organized an annual membership rush starting on Febuary 26th.  Please be sure to coordinate with your team captains and inform them of who you plan to invite and confirmations of who is coming each week.

We look forward to having several new members to induct at the end of our 3 or 4 week membership rush.

Please notify Glenn or Joyce for more information.

On February 12th our normal meeting was busy as ever with 2 new members inducted as well as the kickoff of our annual Membership Rush event.

Member Inductions
New members, Antonio Logan and Mary Caputi were inducted each sponsored by Rev T. Anothony Spearman and Ronald McGee respectively.

Membership Rush
Our Membership committee kicked off our yearly membership rush event that will take place on Thurs, Feb 26th at our scheduled meeting.  We encourage existing members to bring in potential new members for this event and to consider who in the community will make a great addition to our club.  On the 26th a Club Assembly is planned to review the various aspects of Rotary and as a general information session for prospective new members.

October went out with a bang at our final meeting for this month.  There was just too much to even remember it all.  First we had a wonderful new member induction with our newest member Charles Reep sponsored by President Josh.  Charles is the branch manager of BB&T in Newton.

President Josh, "pinning" Charles Reep along with Membership Chair, Joyce Spencer

Joyce introducing Charles to the club.

And on to the Program

PDG Chuck Troutman finished off the meeting by doing our regularly scheduled program on the Rotary Foundation.   To say the least it was a memorable occasion and another great meeting for the Rotary Club of Catawba Valley.

I would like to thank Vicki Lovett, Hamp Shuford and Bill Shillito for joining me Saturday in Flat Rock for our District Membership and Leadership Seminar.  Overall attendance at the event was very good with nearly 150 of our district's geat Rotarians getting together for the seminar.

At the seminar and sessions I attended we discussed methods for attracting and retaining good members in our club.  As a Rotary Club we provide a variety of service opportunities for our members as well as great fellowship and friendship opportunities.  I also hope to encourage and inspire our members to continue being active in our projects, bringing new projects to our club and working collectively to meet the needs of our community and supporting the International Goals of Rotary.

Membership Drive In Progress!!! 

Please continue to support our ongoing Membership Drive.  Joyce Spencer is our Membership Champion so please see her if you have any questions about proposing a new member or have any quesitons about inviting guests to our club.  Also you can find more information under the Membership section of our website.  There are forms available for download under the Member section as well, for proposing a new member and other resources for potential members.

Remember that a potential member candidate needs to visit our club 3 times in order to be a candidate for membership.  When you bring someone we will add a star to the membership chart and make sure you gain credit for helping to grow the membership of our club.  Special thanks to Joyce and Todd already for bringing in our 2 newest members, Debbie and Judith!  What an exciting start to the 2008-09 Rotary Year!