This Week in

The Wagner Rotary Club was called to order on Wednesday, May 29th by another hefty ringing of the bell by President Jerry Weber. There were no guests present so Pastor Bill Heermann was asked to give a prayer. Pastor prayed for all those who are dealing with the difficulties of so much rain; asked for a special blessing on Rotarian Dana Woods whose Mother Joan Woods had passed away; prayed for blessings upon the young boys that the Rotary Club sent to Boys State.

A Membership Minute was given by Ken Cotton on No Personal Privileges. Frequently, the question has been asked whether Rotarians receive special business benefits from their Rotary membership. Should Rotarians expect a special discount or some preferential service just because they are dealing with a fellow Rotarian?

The answer is clearly “no”. The Rotary Manual of Procedure expressly states the Rotary position on this matter. The policy, originally approved by the RI Board of Directors in 1933, is that in business and professional relations “a Rotarian should not expect, and far less should he ask for, more consideration or advantages from a fellow Rotarian than the latter would give to any other business or professional associate with whom he has business relations.” Over 50 years ago the concept was expressed that “true friends demand nothing of one another, and any abuse of the confidence of friendship for profit is foreign to the spirit of Rotary.”

On the other hand, if new or increased business comes as the natural result of friendship created in Rotary, it is the same normal development which takes place outside of Rotary as well as inside, so it is not an infringement on the ethics of Rotary membership.

It is important to remember that the primary purpose of Rotary membership is to provide each member with a unique opportunity to serve others, and membership is not intended as a means for personal profit or special privileges.

Rotarian Laurie Kidd led the group in signing “The 4 Way Test” and the club gave it’s all, singing the verse twice and doing a pretty good job of it.

Rotarian Linda Soukup had the lucky number for drawing from the card deck but pulled a 3 of Clubs instead of the Queen of Hearts. $17.00 was collected raising the total of winnings to $641.00.

Secretary-Treasurer Patty Frei said the totals for attendance were narrowing again with four misses on the Henke Team for a total of 11 misses and three misses on the Frei Team for a total of 13 misses. Frei also read a Thank You note from Haley Drapeaux for the Rotary Scholarship she received at WCS graduation.

Rotarian Linda Soukup has the program for the next meeting on June 5th. Rachel Woods volunteered to take the minutes. A new membership was approved, and we will anticipate a new member induction in the following weeks.

Rotarian Laurie Kidd had the program for the day, and it was a cleverly planned Trivia game on the history of our Wagner Rotary Club. Laurie had all the trimmings with two bells and Rotarians went up one by one and faced off on questions starting with the early days of our club. If you got the wrong answer the next Rotarian at a table came up. Several members did well by answering several times in succession with the correct answer. Becky Brunsing, Kathe Henke, and Jerry Henke answered correctly the most times.

The best part of the game was at the end when Rotarian Laurie handed out little gag gifts to each member with a little quote from her. It was a welcome break from our usual more serious topics at programs. Everyone had fun and the club applauded Laurie’s efforts. Well Done Rotarian Laurie Kidd!!

We adjourned in our usual fashion by singing “America” with the spotlight on our beautiful American Flag.