Our President Elect, GAIL BRICKLER, talked about her time at the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, Georgia last week. 
Other Club members who attended were LETA and JACK KELLEY and BILL HATFIELD. TUNCAY YILMAZ also attended. More than 40,000 Rotarians were in attendance. The Flag Ceremony on the opening day was quite impressive. There were countries represented that GAIL had never even heard of! The Governor of Georgia spoke that day. On day two, the Mayor of Atlanta spoke about his city and the number of companies from all over the world that have located there. Another speaker was a polio survivor from India. She experienced many surgeries in her lifetime and is able now to walk with crutches. She is so thankful for vaccines and the fact that her own children need not fear getting this disease. Bill Gates was the keynote speaker. He emphasized the importance of the partnership between Rotary and the Gates Foundation to work together to eradicate polio. Other speakers were Ashton Kutcher and Senator Bob Corker talking about human trafficking and slavery. With pledges from countries represented at the convention and matching funds from the Gates Foundation, 1.2 billion was pledged to complete the task of eradicating polio. The hope is that this will be accomplished within the next three years. If that occurs, there will still need to be serious effort put forth during the subsequent three years to ensure that the disease does not recur. JENNIFER JONES interviewed golfer Jack Nicklaus. Many people do not know that he had been stricken with polio in his early teen years. On day four of the convention, a birthday party was held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the start of The Rotary Foundation. In all, the convention was informative and encouraging to GAIL and other attendees.
VISITING ROTARIANS:
TUNCAY YILMAZ is a Rotarian from Turkey who is spending the year at Purdue. He plans to be part of our Club during his stay.
GUESTS:
Eleanor Hannemann, wife of BOB HANNEMANN
CAMPERSHIPS AWARDED:
These amounts have been awarded to summer camps this year:
Girl Scouts of America $300
LUM $400
Salvation Army $150
Civic Theater $150
PALS $400
Thanks to all Lafayette Rotarians for contributing to “local projects” this past year. This is one example of where your money has gone. All of these camps provide a valuable experience for the children involved.