Lauren Lilly Chelsea Marshall

December 20, 2011

Two more members of the corporate team nominated by Toyota took the Rotary membership pledges today during the weekly luncheon meeting at First State Bank. Barry Pearson is human resources manager for the Buffalo plant, and Bobby Rhyne is production manager.

The latest Rotary inductees joined Gary Ballard and Rich Zirbel who became corporate members for Toyota last week.

Putnam Rotarians today also heard reports from the club's two scholarship winners:

Chelsea Marshall, a freshman at Bethany College is studying international relations. She is public relations representative for her class student council. Chelsea is the daughter of Mike and Robin Marshall of Buffalo.

Scholarship winner Lauren Lilly is enrolled in a five-year program in elementary education at West Virginia University. She is vice-president of her dormitory and a representative in the residents hall association at WVU. She anticipates a 4.0 when grade reports come out next week. Lauren is the daughter of Bill and Laura Lilly of Hurricane.

In this final luncheon meeting for the calendar year, President-Elect Tina McComas reviewed Rotary service projects and led a discussion of plans for the future.

The club has assisted in a number of cooperative projects with community groups: The Yuletide-in-the-Park sponsored by Recreation and Parks, the Independence Day celebration held by the City of Hurricane, and the Putnam County Fair where Rotarians judged exhibits and collected admission tickets.

"It's better than 'mall watching,'" McComas said. "You meet a lot of people, and Sheriff's deputies are there to back you up."

The club has continued school support through the annual dictionary project, and participation in high portfolio fairs for high school juniors and seniors.

For the first time since 2000, Rotary has joined Habitat for Humanity. Two projects were undertaken this fall (August 27th and November 12th), and a call has gone out for assistance in more work next spring.

Annual fund-raising projects have included an annual golf tournament (for student scholarships) and a pancake breakfast (to eradicate polio). Fumds from the golf tournament, an annual raffle and a Christmas poinsetta sale support a variety of projects including a school in Uganda and orphans in Haiti

"As a Rotarian," said President Bob Keely, "you join 1.2 million other Rotarians in 32,000 clubs. Together, we can make a better world."