| The Cookeville Breakfast Rotary
Club (CBRotary) was begun early in 1982 by leaders
of the Cookeville Rotary Club which met at noon on
Wednesdays. In 1981 the number of members
within the Cookeville Club had exceeded 100 and
professional or personal obligations made it
difficult for some members to attend faithfully at
the noon hour. A suggestion to the
Cookeville Rotary Club that it sponsor a new club
in Cookeville which would meet at the breakfast
hour received wide support and the process was
initiated that led to the chartering of the
Cookeville Breakfast Rotary Club on March 10,
1982.
Three months after receiving its charter from
Rotary International the CBRotary adopted its
official banner and an official design and title
for its club bulletin, "The Rotary
Rooster."
"Youth in Crisis" was the club's
first theme. A golf tournament held in the
fall of 1982 generated funds that were distributed
among several agencies addressing the needs of
youth. The annual golf tournament has
continued throughout the years as the primary
means of raising funds to support the numerous
youth-focused needs. In the first 23 years
of the CBRotary, in addition to the extensive
service provided by individual club members, the
club has contributed in excess of $250,000 to
worthy causes and projects both locally and
internationally.
The adopted vision of the CBRotary is, "To
be the example of service in our community and
beyond." The official mission is,
"To enrich each member's experience in
Rotary, to serve community and international needs
with emphasis on youth, and to support the Rotary
Foundation and activities of District 6780.
Numerous financial contributions are made
annually to such causes as Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, American Legion Boys' and Girls' States,
Project Graduation, Camp Horizon, Genesis House
and the Police Athletic League. In addition,
numerous other commitments are made annually by
CBRotary via club members' personal involvement in
many worthy community projects and agencies.
The CBRotary has one ongoing project which is
the adoption of Putnam County's alternative
school. This project is designed to provide
companionship, encouragement and career assistance
to the students at Dry Valley School. The
club sponsors an annual Christmas luncheon and
spring picnic for students and staff. Club
members also take students to lunch each month and
provide an annual Career Day for the
students. CBRotary is sensitive to facility
needs at the school and has provided resources for
classroom and recreational equipment. For
its centennial project the club built and equipped
the school's library. Most
members of CBRotary have become quite active and
have played key roles in the Rotary four avenues
of service. Some have expanded their
commitment by extra involvement in the District
6780 level. Many have completed the District
Leadership Academy. CBRotary member Jim
Andrews served as District 6780 Governor and Ann
Holland served as Assistant Governor. Forty
percent of current club members are Paul Harris
Fellows and most others are participating in the
Sustaining Paul Harris Fellow Program. Any
member may propose a new member. To propose
a member complete a membership proposal card and
give it to the secretary. The secretary will
process it through the Board of Directors.
CBRotary
Member Financial Obligations Members
of the Cookeville Breakfast Rotary Club are billed
quarterly for financial obligations. As of
August 2008 the typical quarterly bill was
$134.50, which consisted of:
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Note:
The Rotary Foundation is the component of
Rotary that provides for programs such as:
the global polio eradiation effort,
international exchanges, local community
grants, scholarships, and more. Check
the Rotary Foundation information here and
on the Rotary International web site for
more. |
Other
assessments are occasionally made at the direction
of the Board. For example, if each member is
expected to sell 5 tickets at $5 each for a pancake
breakfast fundraiser, the $25 cost of the tickets
may be assessed to the member on the next quarterly
billing. In the meantime, the member sells the
tickets and keeps the $25 proceeds from the ticket
sales. The
Sergeant-at-Arms may "charge," in good
humor, minor fines a times during club meetings for
such "offenses" as cell phones going off,
failure to wear a Rotary lapel pin, loss of a badge,
or being out of order. It is traditional for
these fines, usually a dollar, to be paid in good
grace.
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