2015 November Bulletin

What it means to be “Exchange Strong”

According to our Fall Exchange Today Magazine, it means “serving communities. It’s raising awareness about the sacrifices of American Troops and their loved ones. Exchange Strong is spreading child abuse prevention awareness and education to protect the most innocent ad vulnerable among us.”

Excel Club Update

The Butte High Excel Club is the Exchange Club sponsored youth service club for Butte High School. The club was founded in April of this year with the assistance of Butte High Councilor Mr. Eric Mankins and Exchange member Mr. James Stilwell. The original group of founding members numbered twenty some individuals and the roster has now grown to over forty. The current officers are; Gunther Clark-President, Talia Nicholls-President Elect, Joby Rosenleaf-Secretary, and Robby Hyatt-Treasurer.

                The Excel Club has done several small projects since the beginning of the school year such as sponsoring a Halloween event during the children’s fall festival. Mrs. Tami Kissell, Butte High mathematics teacher, also joined the club as a school liaison in September. The club currently has a standing committee to oversee Christmas and holiday related activates such as working with the Exchange club to shop for needy families.

                The club also has larger and continuing projects in mind for the future. The Tux Tech committee is continuing work to establish the Excel Club as the computer refurbishing and technology assistance leader for needy students in our community. The search for a home for Tux Tech operations is continuing, but the project recently received a boost from Northwestern Energy, who kindly donated a large supply of computer related items for the committee to utilize.

                In the future the club looks to take on even more projects, with a focus on high value added service projects and innovative problem solving approaches.

(Thank you to Gunther Clark and Lyza Schnabel for the update)

UPCOMING

Speakers

November 24 – Thanksgiving Message and Turkey Shoot.

December 2 – To be announced

Announcements

November 29^th – Spirit of Christmas

Please take a look at this special message from Spirit of Christmas Committee Chair, Joann Bracco. It’s a great event so give it a look!

It is that time of year again when we start planning for our Christmas shopping trip.

For our new members, the “Spirit of Christmas Committee” is a great way to get into the Christmas Spirit. The way this works is…we gather children’s names and “Wish Lists” from local Social Service Organizations such as The 4 C’s, Salvation Army and the Foster Program. We then schedule a shopping trip and attempt to make 20 – 25 of these children’s Christmas wishes come true. After our shopping trip, we take the gifts to the Marquis Vintage Suites and wrap them. The gifts are then delivered to the various organizations to give to the children.  We start at 8:00 and are usually done by 12:00. 

We are essentially playing Santa and making sure that these kids have the wonderful Christmas they deserve. This is an extremely rewarding experience for all.  New members, please consider joining us and for those of you who have helped in the past, THANK YOU!

 Events

The annual Spirit of Christmas shopping trip is scheduled for November 29^th.

Exchange Club members and helpers will meet at 8:00 a.m. in front of the Salon at Walmart. Wrapping will take place at the Marquis Vintage Suites Community Hall immediately following the shopping.

We have some wrapping paper and gift boxes left over from last year but we always seem to run short on these. Please feel free to bring any extra wrapping paper, boxes, tape and ribbon. I do have a few scissors but you may want to bring a pair just in case.

We had 3 additional donations this year to our budget so our total is $2620.00.  Thank you, Jeff Frances, Jim and Suzanne Stillwell and Roger Rawls for your generosity!

Special Thank You to Joann Bracco and all who will help shop and wrap.

 The annual fundraiser – An Evening of Wine and Roses – will be held on February 12^th at the Butte Country Club. If you have auction items to donate or would like to serve on the Fundraiser Committee contact Linda Corr-Mahugh (Lmcorr@hotmail.com). 

PAST EVENTS

 It’s My Flag

With Veterans Day 2015 as the backdrop, the Butte Exchange Club recently brought “It’s My Flag,” a program designed to bring a better understanding of the American flag to grade school students, to Hillcrest Elementary School and Margaret Leary Elementary School.

“It’s My Flag” visited Hillcrest on November 10, 2015 and Margaret Leary on November 11, 2015 (Veterans Day).  The entire student bodies of the two schools filled their respective gymnasiums for the programs.  Members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1448 and the United Veterans Council participated in both programs.  Exchange Club member Cindy Shaw led the students in singing our National Anthem both days, and fellow club member Doug Rotundi did a special presentation on the Pledge of Allegiance at Hillcrest.  “It’s My Flag” co-chair Brad Newman hosted the programs.

At the Hillcrest program, we honored two students, Lauren Miranda and Kiersten Roth.  Lauren and Kiersten are responsible for raising and lowering the flag at Hillcrest each day.

The American flag is the most recognized symbol of freedom in the world.  Butte Exchange developed “It’s My Flag” to share our national banner’s message of hope and opportunity and sacrifice with young students.  The program also features a question-and-answer session where the students learn about flag etiquette.

Several Butte Exchange members attended “It’s My Flag” for the first time at either Hillcrest or Margaret Leary.  If you have not yet done so, please consider taking advantage of the opportunity to attend a future school program.  The sight and sound of 200 or more grade school students pledging their allegiance to their national flag is well worth your time.

(Thank you Brad Newman for the update)

Turkey Shoot and Thanksgiving Message

 Reverand Brian Miller provided Club members with a beautiful, thoughtful Thanksgiving message. He reminded us how much we all have to be thankful for and that there are many with great needs during this time.

The club also provided checks to The Butte Rescue Mission, The Salvation Army and the Butte Food Bank from donations provided by the club.

Club members bought tickets for the turkey give away.  About 20  turkeys were handed out and none were spared.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and many thanks for the wonderful f work you all do on behalf of the Butte Exchange Club.

COMMUNICATIONS

Update and Reminder

The Communications Committee would like to remind you that we rely on committee chairmen and all club members to send us meeting announcements, stories and photos since we cannot be present at Club events. Please use your cell phones and capture some fun photos to send us.

Please send all details on upcoming events & speakers to:     info@butteexchangeclub.org

If you have taken photos at Club events that you want to share, please send them to:info@butteexchangeclub.org (cell phone shots are OK)

Need help? Call: Elyse Lewis –Public Relations Chairman – 565-0801

Bulletin Editor – Penny McElroy

Mobile: (406) 490-1946 Home: (406) 494-2731

E-mail: pamcelroy7@gmail.com