Thursday, December 16, 2010

Get Your Paul Harris Fellow @ Half Price!

The Club has announced a great deal this Holiday Season with a 1/2 price offer to become a Paul Harris Fellow!  That's right, half-price.  Here's how the deal works.

Contribute a minimum of $100 up to a personal limit of $500, and our club will match your individual contribution, dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum of $500.  If you've ever wanted to become a Paul Harris Fellow and felt the one thousand dollar entry point was too much, here's your chance to have your dream come true!

Between now and December 31, you must provide President Joe with your check, payable to the Rotary Club.  If you need to know what remains in your paid account toward having a Paul Harris, contact John McCauley - jmccauley744@gmail.com .  John will let you know your account balance.

Don't let this opportunity slip by without taking advantage of adding to or achieving your first or additional Paul Harris.  And, your contribution is tax deductible for 2010 if payment is received in advance of the year ending.

Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Rotary Rings Bells for Salvation Army

President Joe is accompanied by his security detail this morning as he takes 3rd shift bell ringing on the downtown mall. Joining him is his son, Nate, Bell Ringing Czar (BRC) Tom McQueeney, and future president, John McCauley.

The morning was cool ... okay, cold for some ... and the donations began increasing as the hour advanced and more stores opened.

The BRC was on hand to make sure all showed who had signed to ring bells. At the time of the picture it was apparently, so-far so-good, as he's smiling.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Devil's Backbone Night and Quest for Polio Eradication


Jason Oliver- Head Brewer at Devil's Backbone in Afton gave an informative and picturesque presentation at the Omni at our October 26 meeting. We sampled 3 Award winning beers (to the right) including in order, the Gold Leaf Lager, Vienna Lager and Eight-point IPA. Also West Point Rotarian Colleen Bonadonna made us her 33rd club visited as part of her "200 clubs in 200 days" campaign to raise awareness of Rotary's quest for polio eradication. This evening's meeting was fun and educational. Thank you to all who attended.


President Joe Cantu and Colleen Bonadonna

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Rotaract Pinning Ceremony


I recently had the pleasure of being able to represent the Rotary Club of Charlottesville at the Blue Ridge Rotaract Club meeting where they inducted a new member. Laura Getz is the newest Rotaract member and is joining a vibrant and energetic club which is doing great things in our community.

Joe Cantu
President, Rotary Club of Charlottesville

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Virginia Film Festival Comes to Our Club on Tuesday!


Our Club is in for a real treat next Tuesday night with Jody Kielbasa, Director of the Virginia Film Festival, as our featured speaker.  Coming off a specatacular year in 2009, Jody saw record-breaking attendance and this year is expected to be even better!

In case you missed news about the Festival's lineup in November, click here to read from yesterday's Daily Progress.  The Club will have the best seat in the house and is guaranteed an us an up-close-and-personal perspective of the Festival, laced with the normal dose of high energy that Jody typically shares with all audiences he speaks before.  Jody brings to Charlottesville decades of film experience and will likely talk about The Deal, an independent film he produced staring Meg Ryan and William H. Macy, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Jody joined the University of Virginia in May 2009. 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Club Inducts Peter Freeman, Our Newest Member!



President Joe introduces Peter Freeman to the membership as the Club's newest member.  Peter first joined Rotary in 1983 in South Africa and eventually moved to the Washington, DC area where he worked for the World Bank and remained active in Rotary until 2009.  He and his family recently moved to the Palmyra area.  He is a two-time Paul Harris Fellow and has been actively committed to Rotary for many years.

Welcome, Peter! 

Learning About Energy Efficiency Is About Dollars & Sense!

Club members got quite a presentation at tonight's meeting, learning more than they probably imagined about home energy audits, federal energy tax credits and more as Cynthia Adams moved quickly and very succiently through a very well organized presenation that dealt with energy efficiency.  As Executive Director for LEAP, Cynthia takes every opportunity to get out to as many groups in Central Virginia to discuss energy efficiency for both homes and businesses.

She also spoke briefly about the Charlottesville Home Energy Makeover Contest winners who were announced in today's Daily Progress, and who will soon be getting an energy audit and home efficiency makeover valued at $10,000 each.

Good questions followed with a few who inquired after the meeting about home energy audits. 

Thanks, Cynthia!

Special Paul Harris Gifting Opportunity in October


The following message was sent from our District Polio Chair, Vance S. Zavela.  What follows his message is the attached memo he references:

I am sending you the attached memo from The Rotary Foundation General Manager John Osterlund about the upcoming World Polio Day on October 24.  The key piece of interest is the fact that Rotarians can receive double Paul Harris Fellow recognition points for making contributions of at least $100 online to PolioPlus during the week of October 17.  As your PolioPlus Chair, I encourage you to participate only if you have made your commitment to the Annual Programs Fund or you will do it in addition to this contribution. 

Our priority during the End Polio Now campaign has been for Rotarians to be absolutely certain to contribute to the Annual Programs Fund (APF) so we can provide District Designated Funds (DDF) for the programs in which your club participates, including District Simplified Grants and Matching Grants.  We have been asking clubs to budget the $2,000 contributions (from club foundations and other sources) to PolioPlus this year or to fundraise in your communities so that individual members can focus on the APF.

Please consider having a speaker come to your club during the next few months to make a presentation on PolioPlus.  Colleen Bonadonna, who recently participated in a National Immunization Day in India, will be embarking on an effort to visit 200 clubs in 200 days.  Please contact her at cblens@cox.net to arrange for her to visit.  I also encourage your club to have PDG George Atwell to speak as he has participated in 3 National Immunization Day efforts.  He can be reached at geofatw@aol.com.

Thank you for all you do to help eradicate polio worldwide.

Sharing Rotary,

Vance S. Zavela
D7610 PolioPlus Chair


ROTARY INTERNATIONAL

OFFICE COMMUNICATION

TO:             Rotary International Board of Directors
                   The Rotary Foundation Trustees
                   International PolioPlus Committee
                   Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge Committee
                   Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinators
                   Zone Challenge Coordinators
CC:             Ed Futa, General Secretary, RI
FROM:        John Osterlund, General Manager, The Rotary Foundation
DATE:         20 September 2010
SUBJECT:  2 for 1 recognition credit for online contributions to PolioPlus


Sunday, 24 October 2010 is World Polio Day as determined by the UN.  Rotarians around the world are planning events in celebration of this day. In San Francisco, approximately 2,000 people are expected to walk the Golden Gate Bridge along with President Ray.  A lighting of the Ferry Terminal with END POLIO NOW is planned for the evening. 

For the week leading up to this event, The Rotary Foundation will be offering 2 for 1 recognition credit for every contribution of US$100 or more made to polio on-line.  The strategy is to encourage Rotarians to experience our on-line giving application in the hopes that they will find it simple and easy and come back to it again and again.  On-line contribution processing is much less expensive than processing checks through the bank lockbox.  The opportunity would be open to all Rotarians worldwide for one week.

We have done an operational analysis to determine if our servers can accommodate the high volume of traffic anticipated. For such analysis, we assumed a total of US$1 million in contributions over the course of the week.  At the end of the week President Ray will communicate the results during the event in San Francisco. We will also announce the results on the Rotary web-page.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Tuesday Meeting Speaker: Energy Efficiency & You!

At our Tuesday meeting on September 28, Club members will be introduced to Cynthia Adams, Executive Director for LEAP (Local Energy Alliance Program), and hear what initiatives are planned for the greater Charlottesville area and throughout the Commonwealth to promote energy efficiency.

Cynthia will cover these areas in her 20-minute presentation:
  • Energy efficiency as a resource for future energy supply
  • Community benefits that accrue from large scale energy efficiency
  • What is LEAP and how does it facilitate energy efficiency in our homes and businesses
For those who may not know Cynthia, she previously worked with the City of Charlottesville as the Climate Protection Program Coordinator.  She brings years of experience and insight that should lend for a highly informative program.  And, as always, bring your questions!

See everyone Tuesday night!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Boys & Girls Club Bike Challenge


This past Sunday 9/19/10, six Rotarians from the Charlottesville Club, under the leadership of Eric Smith, the liaison, volunteered at the Annual Boys & Girls Club Bike Challenge at Old Trails. The Club manned a rest stop at the Cardinal Point Winery; hmmm, maybe that explains all the happy faces! Joe Cantu brought his wife Sue and two sons, and Michael Semanik brought his wife Trish.

Rotary volunteers included Eric Smith, Joe Cantu, Michael Semanik, John Griffin, Ken Karr, and Jim Perkins.

This is the fifth consecutive year that the Charlottesville club has participated in this fun event.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

French Theater Comes to Charlottesville in November


Alliance Francaise De Charlottesville members Anne Ferre and Jean Eberhard provided Club members with a wonderful overview of the upcoming Bacchus Tour to Charlottesville.  Click here for a short video clip to see a portion of Jean's presentation. (Sorry that the lighting wasn't better!)

Performances begin November 9 (Tuesday) at UVa's Old Cabell Hall Auditorium, 8:00 p.m., followed by two Saturday performances on November 13 at Live Arts - 8:00 p.m. & 11:00 p.m.  The troupe returns for their last performance on Tuesday, November 16, at Old Cabell Hall Auditorium.  For more information, contact Anne Ferre at anneferre74@gmail.com.

Thanks, Anne & Jean, for bringing the good news from France, to Charlottesville!

Paul Harris Visits Our Club (Again!)

Tonight President Joe recognized Mackey Tilman for his third Paul Harris!  
Congratulations, Mackey, and a heartfelt thanks from the entire Club!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

What is Compagnie Bacchus?


Charlottesville's French sister city is Besancon, home to Compagnie Bacchus, a theatre company created in 1985 that has performed extensively at many festivals internationally, primarily in Europe.  Local resident, Anne Ferre, who sits on the Board of Charlottesville Alliance Francaise, has been very active in our city's relationship with Besancon and has worked tirelessly to help bring Bacchus to Charlottesville.

Joining Ms. Ferre as our speaker next Tuesday night will be Jean Eberhard, who is visiting from France and advancing their fall tour to Charlottesville in November.  Performances have been booked at UVA and Live Arts.  You'll find their collective enthusiasm for Bacchus is electric!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

It's Now Official!

The Rotary Club of Charlottesville has jumped into the realm of social networking by launching this Blog!

What's to follow will be news about upcoming speakers, special events, district dinners, foundation outings and more. 

And, when you're on vacation or simply taking time to do a meeting makeup, send us some news and a photo to follow.

As a Rotary Club of Charlottesville member, you've been given access to this Blog and can contribute anytime.  Only Club members will be able to post entries.  Tell prospective members about our club through this Blog ... forward items of interest and ask them to join us at one of our regularly scheduled meetings!

We hope you enjoy this new outlet for sharing information!