ANNOUNCEMENTS
SOCIAL:
First social of the new Rotary year - Wednesday August 27 5:00 Club Seats on Main Street. Members and Spouses invited. The Club will furnish appetizers and members are responsible for their own drinks. Fun & Fellowship!
ONLINE AUCTION:
Don't forget to get donations/sponsors for our online auction. The deadline is approaching and the auction will be held in October
MEMBERSHIP
August is membership month and a good one it is, we have two prospective new members who have submitted applications.
John Howe is a recent member of the lunch club and is sponsored by Nancy Riedel
George Liapis is a former Rotarian sponsored by Nick Mihelic.
John has already attended two meetings and George has been at three. If anyone has concerns about admitting either into membership, please voice your concern to membership chair Bruce Yeager.
DISTRICT 7770 NEWS
On August 20 PRIVP PDG Dr. Anne Matthews was presented the Order of the Palmetto, the highest honor given to a civilian in the state of South Carolina, by Governor Henry McMaster. The ceremony took place at the governor's office at the SC State House in Columbia. There were several Rotarians from the District on hand to congratulate Anne.
PAST CLUB MEETINGS
8/5/2025
Speaker was Brenda Dooley who presented information about Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity
They currently have three houses under construction in Ridgeland, six houses are planned for land in Spanish Wells. They also have land in Beaufort and acreage in Hardeeville. Habitat's goal is to be creative to serve more families. Ms. Dooley explained the process to help insure that their recipients will be successful home owners. One of the components is that the mortgage is not move than 30% of income. There are four components of Habitat's Homeownership program - Volunteers, donors, families and land. Their newest neighborhood is Harvey Place in Hardeeville which consists of ten units in two buildings
8/12/2025
Our own Kritin Keller was the speaker on 8/12, updating us on what is new at Palmetto Electric
We learned about Beat the Peak program which helps to reduce the peak demand when wholesale electricity prices spike. We learned that the 2021 Smart Thermostat program is more beneficial than the water heater program. Surge protection can be put on the meter for a small charge per month. Kristin knows everything electric and also talked about solar = community solar. She also recommended check out the savings that can be had by choosing EV.
8/19/2025
Hmm, I think we got lucky that the scheduled speaker did not show to tell us about the United Way programs because member Henry Criss stepped up and he gave us a FANTASTIC presentation about United Way programs
Henry used the United Way website for guidance and told us about Direct Service programs such as VITA - volunteer income tax preparation. Read indeed which puts books in public schools Operation backpack, summer book distribution, operation holiday. He talked about the Charity tracker software platform which helps discover patterns (person getting help from different sources). Portable shower trailer - showers of dignity. Henry said the real power of United Way is the convening of organizations that they can do. Fundraising is not their main goal - education is. Check out the United Way website for more details about this organization. Thanks Henry for an amazing presentation.