President’s Pen

November has come and gone. If you’re like me, you ate enough for Thanksgiving to be able to skip Christmas altogether…but what fun would that be?

This is a wonderful time of year, a time full of hope and generosity as evidenced by the Bluffton Rotary Club members deciding to give the Bingo pot to the Christmas Angels fund. Because of your generosity, 40 children will have a Christmas this year!

Also in the spirit of giving, we continue working on Saturdays to “Ring the Bell” for the Salvation Army and all the good works they do. And in November, we had a tremendous turnout of almost 150 children from Red Cedar, MC Riley and Bluffton Elementary Schools. Happy Feet is a special project allowing children in need to pick out a new pair of shoes. Many of these children have never had that privilege before and it is fun to see their excitement and pride.

In November, we welcomed two new members: John Anderson and John Beiler! We bowled with other Area 4 clubs for some fun at Station 300. We gave to the American Red Cross and sent money to Rotary Clubs in the northeast to help with support for victims of Superstorm Sandy. And with November being “Foundation Month”, we heard from our Foundation Committee each week and we made the first half of our payment for our Annual Programs Funds (APF). The Annual Programs Fund helps fund Happy Feet each year.

Looking forward, December is “Family Month”. In honor of the support and hours of help from our family members, we invite them to partake of our delicious breakfast on December 12 as a guest of the club and enjoy the special Christmas melodies of the Singing Eagles from MC Riley.

In closing, let’s all stay in the wonderful spirit of the holidays that we experienced last week and enjoy the festivities of the season. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!