Club Meetings

Below you will find recaps of our club meetings, including our special guest speakers!  We've had MANY great speakers in the past and we sincerely apologize to those who are not shown below.  As of September 2021, this is a new section to our website and, unfortunately, we don't have a lot of speaker information from the past.  If you would like to be recognized as a past speaker, please CLICK HERE to send us a message and we will get you added!  Thank you!
2022-02-22 Club Meeting
Tonight we officially inducted 3 new members into our club: Jaime Theisen and Misty Wright, both new Rotarians, and A.W. Pickel, a transferring Rotarian!  We're super excited to have them join the club!  Welcome, again, Jaime, Misty, and A.W.!  🙂
 
District 5710 will be hosting the annual Gathering for Good, a fundraising event to benefit the Rotary Foundation.  The night will include dinner, live entertainment, a silent auction, and more!  More information can be found on the District 5710 web page here:  Gathering for Good
 
We also briefly discussed a couple of upcoming events we'll be hosting in April – Virtual Music Bingo and our Learn to Curl event at the new Kansas City Curling Club in Blue Springs.  We'll have more information out very soon on both of these events!
 
Our guest speaker for the evening was Alyssa Perbeck, Resource Development Director for CASA of Johnson & Wyandotte Counties.  CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for Children provides volunteer advocates to youth in our city that are going through the court systems.  CASA advocates are appointed by a judge to advocate for the child's best interest in court.  CASA volunteers build consistent, trusting relationships with each child.  This ensures children are not going through the court system alone.  Alyssa shared that CASA has helped over 5,200 children since 1985 and, currently, they have over 200 advocates supporting over 400 children!  To learn more about how you can help this amazing organization, please visit casajwc.org
 
Interested in joining us at an upcoming meeting?  Please click HERE to contact us or text us at (913) 382-8970.  We would love to have you join us!
 
         
2022-02-08 Club Meeting
We had a GREAT club meeting last night!  Thank you to each visitor and member who joined us – it was a nice turnout!
 
First, we welcomed 2 new club members – Jaime Theisen, a new Rotarian, and A.W. Pickel, a transferring Rotarian from Wisconsin, former President of the Sunset Rotary Club, and charter member of the Shawnee Rotary Club.  Welcome, again, Jaime and A.W.!
 
Our District 5710 will be hosting the annual Gathering for Good, a fundraising event to benefit the Rotary Foundation.  The night will include dinner, live entertainment, a silent auction, and more!  More information can be found on the District 5710 web page here:  Gathering for Good
 
Kelly also talked about our club doing the virtual Music Bingo fundraiser again this year!  Last year, we raised over $1,300 for Sunflower House, a non-residential children's advocacy and abuse prevention center serving Johnson and Wyandotte counties.  Keep watching for more information on this year's event coming soon.
 
We also discussed that our club will be hosting a Learn to Curl event at the new Kansas City Curling Club in Blue Springs.  Watch for more information coming soon about this event too!
 
Lastly, our Curling event discussion connected nicely to our guest speaker for the evening, club member Dave Huston, who talked the rest of the meeting about the basics of Curling.  For example, did you know the circular rings the "rock" or "stone" lands on have nothing to do with the scoring?  Or that the sweeping motion warms up the ice just enough to melt the ice and create a thin layer of water for the rock or stone to ride on (which increases the speed due to less friction)?  Thank you, Dave, for a great presentation!
 
Interested in joining us at an upcoming meeting?  Please click HERE to contact us or text us at (913) 382-8970.  We would love to have you join us!
 
2022-01-11 Club Meeting
If you missed our club meeting earlier this week, we had a great discussion with Michele Orpin, Director of Development at Veterans Community Project - Kansas City!  Michele shared the awesome work their organization is doing for homeless Veterans here in the Kansas City area.  Michele also shared that VCP is currently expanding throughout the United States, with a goal of being in 8 cities by end of 2022!  
 
VCP started here in Kansas City in 2016.  They currently have 49 homes, located in Kansas City, MO.  Each home accommodates a Veteran, as well as a pet (4 of the 49 homes are designed for families).  Homes are completely furnished with new appliances and furniture, which Veterans get to take with them when they leave.  Each Veteran has access to a community center where they can socialize with other community Veterans. 
 
To learn more about the work VCP is doing, please visit vcp.org.     
 
     
 
2021-11-09 Club Meeting
Upcoming Events
  • Friday 11/12 - Peace Poles Auction at Lenexa City Center 6:00p
  • Tuesday 11/23 - Social get-together at Transport Brewery due to Thanksgiving week (instead of our normal club meeting)
  • Tuesday 12/14 - WJC Rotary Christmas Party at the Blue Moose
  • Member Birthdays - Kelly Vaille (11/27) and Terrie Johnson (11/30)
  • Spouse Birthdays - Cindy (Dave) Huston (11/7) and John (Michelle) Herman (11/29)
  • Wedding Anniversaries - Dave & Cindy Huston (47 years on 11/23)
  • Rotary Anniversaries - Paul Mayo (20 years on 11/30)
​​​​​​​Speaker  Siobhan McLaughlin Lesley, Executive Director of Gilda's Club in Kansas City, shared with us the great work their organization does for anyone affected by cancer, at any stage, from diagnosis through survivorship.  This is a no-cost program for anyone going through cancer or close family/friends impacted by cancer.  You can learn more about Gilda's Club by visiting their website at www.gildasclubkc.org
 
 
2021-09-14 Club Meeting
Gary provided an update on our District Grant.  It was submitted for the "Sleep in Heavenly Peace" project.  If approved, the grant money will be used to build beds for kids in the Kansas City area that currently don't have one.  You can learn more about this great organization by visiting www.shpbeds.org
 
Upcoming Events
  • Our annual fireside chat chili contest will be Tuesday 9/28 at Becky Metcalf's house.  Gary will be sending an email prior for club members to RSVP.
  • The Lenexa Chili Challenge is 10/8-10/9.  The winner of our 9/28 chili contest will represent our club at the Lenexa event! 
  • District 5710 Conference will be 10/22-10/23 at the Hilton Inn - Manhattan Conference Center in Manhattan, KS
  • Member Birthdays - Matt Wright (9/2) and Kristin Johnson (9/9)
  • Spouse Birthdays - Rebecca (Mark) Emly (9/26)
  • Wedding Anniversaries - Caroline & Steve Becher's (34 years on 9/19)
  • Rotary Anniversaries - Caroline Becher (9 years on 9/18), Becky Metcalf (5 years on 9/20), Matt Wright (5 years on 9/20), and Nick Wilson (6 years on 9/30)
​​​​​​​Speakers  Kay Reeves and Kim Clark joined us from the Community Blood Center.  They serve 11 territories in the Kansas City and over 70 hospitals!  They need over 600 pints/day to keep up with a normal days' need.  They coordinate 10-12 mobile blood drives each day, with roughly 30% of their blood supply coming from high schools and colleges.  They currently have 1.5 days of blood on-hand.  Holidays and Summer are the lowest donation times but usually the highest need.  Please consider donating blood the next opportunity you get!