October November 2017 Bulletin

We celebrate Thanksgiving but did you know…

The Pilgrims started the Thanksgiving tradition because they were so happy to have survived their first brutal winter and to have made a successful harvest with the help of the Native Americans in the area. After the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621, they celebrated with other feasts from time to time but not on an annual basis. Throughout colonial times, the holiday continued to be celebrated sporadically, without any coordination between the different colonies. During the Revolutionary period, the governing bodies of the new United States began to call for days of giving thanks, and in 1789 President George Washington proclaimed the first national day of “thanksgiving and prayer.” The holiday did not become an annual tradition at that point, but different states and individuals continued to celebrate it. Finally, with Lincoln’s proclamation, the holiday became an annual tradition at the national level. The holiday has undergone only one major change since then: in 1939. President Franklin Roosevelt changed its date from the final Thursday in November to the next-to-last Thursday in November. He made this change in hopes that a longer Christmas shopping season would boost retailers’ profits.  Sources –  history1900s.about.com loc.gov

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Butte Exchange Club meets every Tuesday at noon.

• November 28, 2017                             SnoFlinga – Fitness Foundation                Jenny Heglund
• December 5, 2017                                 Sherpa Training Presentation                   Steve Mock
• December 12, 2017                               Youth of the Month Presentations
• December 19, 2017                               Christmas Turkey Shoot
• December 26, 2017                               No Meeting

PAST EVENTS

 Spirit of Christmas

The annual Spirit of Christmas shopping event was held on Sunday, November 26th.  Volunteers met at 8:30 a.m. at the Butte Walmart. Joann Bracco has been the chairperson of this event for many years. This year we had about $3,000 to spend on 25 needy children from the Butte area. Children’s names and wish lists were gathered from local social service organizations such as the 4 C’s, Salvation Army and the Foster Program.  Volunteers also wrapped the gifts at the Springs courtesy of Lauren Kippen.  We will have more information on the final results of this event in our next bulletin.

A very special thank you to all of the club members and Excel members who volunteered, to all of the other family and friends who helped,  and to Joann and Lauren for their continued generous support of one of the Butte Exchange Club’s major events.

Turkey Shoot

Annual Turkey Shoot was held on Tuesday, November 21st, at our weekly Club meeting.  Money was raised for Big Brothers and Big Sisters.  About 20 fresh turkeys were raffled off and a wonderful, fun time was had by all.

Fresh turkeys were provided by Stokes.  Thank you to Chad Booth for all you do for our club and for our community.

Club Social and New Member Orientation

The Exchange Club hosted a club social event, membership drive and new member orientation on Tuesday November 14th, at the Grand Ballroom above the Quarry. Food and drinks were provided.  Members were encouraged to bring potential new members to the event.  Leif Welhaven from the Yellowstone District was in attendance.  Exchange club members who chair committees were encouraged to talk to new members about club activities and chairman roles and responsibilities.  Club President Doug Rotondi also went over an orientation for the new members. Thank you to Lyza Schnabel and the Quarry for hosting this event.

National Day of Service

This year’s Day of Service was scheduled October 7th at the Museum of Mining. Members planned to paint one of the museums historic buildings. Due to bad weather, this project had to be cancelled. In place of the Museum project the Butte Exchange Club submitted our work on the new Butte Carousel project. According to Jim Stilwell, “Butte Exchange Club members have spent hundreds of hours helping complete the new Butte Carousel project.  Originally, a group of members spent many hours sheet rocking the interior walls of the building.   This fall we resumed work painting walls and equipment.  We now anticipate working on the project to its completion this spring or summer. (Photo and article submitted by Jim Stilwell)

YELLOWSTONE DISTRICT NEWS

from your Division Director, Cindi Farrar

New Club Building:  There are 4 new Excel Clubs in the making.  One each at Great Falls Central, Billings Senior, Yellowstone Boys and Girls Club and possibly Idaho Falls High School.

Traditional clubs in the works are:  Dillon, Sheridan, WY, Billings West End and Bozeman.

Growth:  The Yellowstone District is one of the fastest growing districts in the country, when other districts are struggling to maintain membership (not limited to Exchange Clubs, but service clubs all over the country.) We have a total of 685 regular members, plus over 60 Excel Club members in the district to date and we’re still growing.

The Northwest Regional Conference will be held in Las Vegas at the Tuscany Hotel on Flamingo Dr., February 16 and 17.  It’s always a good time for sharing ideas and experiences with other clubs in the West, attend excellent workshops and meet some of our National officers and staff.  The hotel is very reasonable and all the rooms have kitchenettes to save a bit more.

The Yellowstone District Convention will be held April 20 and 21, 2018 at the Historic Northern Hotel in Billings. It’s looking like a great weekend. Further details will follow as they are confirmed.

Dave Weller will be taking over the job of chairing the District ACE and Student of the Year Awards from our own John McBride. Our thanks to John for his dedication and hard work, making this project a success for so many years. 

Some exciting news is that one of our own, Past Yellowstone District President Quentin Eggart is running for NATIONAL EXCHANGE CLUB PRESIDENT ELECT.  I’m sure some of you remember Quentin from the many visits he’s made to our club and especially his help in getting our Field of Honor up and running by providing the flags from his Billings Club.  The National Convention (where the election will be held) will be in Reno, Nevada this year.  It will be nice to have the convention so close to home. (At least in the Western part of the country.) So let’s see how many we can get to the convention to support our fellow Exchangite, Quentin Eggart.  Congratulations!!!

I also have to congratulate Leif Welhaven for his enthusiasm and great leadership as our current District President.  He has made it his mission to visit all the clubs in the district at least once and his passion for Exchange is contagious.

Thanks especially to all of you for making Exchange Club the premier community service club in the country.

Cindi

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congratulations to three of our Butte Exchange Club members  Andy Durkin, Michele Steele, and Leo Prigge.  These members were recently honored by the Montana Standard as Community Leaders under 40.  We are all very proud of you and we are so honored to have you as members of the Butte Exchange Club.

The Garbage Guys weekly pick up is postponed until spring. 

All Club Members have access to all the past issues of the Club Bulletin.  Just go to the Club website butteexchangeclub.org.  Click the Member Resources Tab.  Enter Exchange59701 as the password.  You will see a listing of all the past issues of the Club Bulletin.

Speakers Wanted – If you have an idea for an interesting luncheon speaker, please contact Noah Thatcher (nthatcher@marcomllc.net)or Corey Dennehy (Cdennehy@marcomllc.net). 

Please welcome our newest member Scott Blando. 

The Butte Exchange Club will match contributions to the National Exchange Club Burke Fund of up to $500.00. Please consider a donation. 

A new Club Roster is available. This Roster contains contact information for our current club members.   If any of your information is incorrect you will need to correct it by going to the National Exchange Club website.  See Brad Cederberg’s email from November 20, 2017.

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 all 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 at  565-0801

Bulletin Editor –  Penny McElroy

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

E-mail: pamcelroy7@gmail.com