Attendance:  14 Members; 2 Visitors: Leslie Phillips, Francesca Barbaro
Member Tidbits: ● Jim McIntee has received his new prosthesis and is now walking and driving again.
● Welcome back to Dennis – long time no see!
● Dave S. was back after missing the last 3 weeks for a family reunion, War College graduation, and a HVAC failure.

Harvey’s Useless Word of the Day: Infante (Infanta) – the younger son (or daughter) of a Spanish monach

 Speaker: Bryan Hall – Monroe County Economic Development

For two years Bryan Hall has been Monroe County’s Economic Development Director.

 Program: Hall gave us an update on great things happening in the county.  Monroe has added over 700 jobs this past year without offering major incentives.  The county 4.3% unemployment rate is the lowest ever.  He also stressed the need for vocational training to staff future area corporate expansions.

Bryan grew up in Monroe County and has been both involved with a family business as well as corporate America.  He is well qualified to be Monroe County’s Director of Economic Development.

Pack the Park 2016

Pack the Park for Polio at Smokies Stadium. For $12.00 your ticket gets you admission to the Smokies game at 7:05 p.m. and a meal with $5.50 going towards End Polio Now. With the 2 for 1 matching grant from the Gates Foundation, that turns into a $16.50 donation for each ticket sold. Contact John for tickets.

New Club Websites

Thanks to the dedicated hard work of President John, we now have brand new club and TdT websites up and running.  Check out all the tabs on the menu above and check out tourdetellico.com

Tour de Tellico Reminder

A reminder that all members have two important tasks to complete over the next few weeks:

1) Sponsorship solicitations – both renewals and some new ones

2) Article write-ups for the “Activity Guide” as assigned – both new articles and a review of last year’s copy

Heart 2 Heart Program Update (By Ron Appuhn)

The Heart 2 Heart program with Mexico has been successful in 2015-16, with more partner districts than ever, more grants started than ever, and more overall funds invested than ever.

District 6780 continues to be a leader in the program. Current year contributions came from clubs and/or individuals from 23 clubs, including Tellico Lake. This past year, the Heart 2 Heart partnership took on eight projects funded by The Rotary Foundation global grants.

For 2016-17, the Heart 2 Heart partners will work toward the following five Rotary Foundation global grant projects:

1. Kidney transplants for underprivileged and uninsured young women and men ages 15-49 (the Holtz-Beahon Kidney Transplant Program, one of our signature projects).
2. Dental equipment and supplies for service in rural areas.
3. Equipment and training for midwives in indigenous areas.
4. Pacemaker equipment and surgeries.
5. Educational equipment and materials for grade schools in Toluca.

“The only normal people are the ones that
you don’t know very well.” – Alfred Adler