Fellow Rotarians,
 
It's hard to believe April is almost history and May is upon us.  The month of May brings many Rotary related activities and opportunities.  May 8 marks the District 5710 Annual Conference held here in Manhattan.  The kickoff event to the conference will be our club's annual Golf Tournament.  This is not only a great opportunity to golf with friends and fellow Rotarians, it also serves as an annual fundraiser for both The Rotary Foundation as well as a local charity selected by your board.  Please consider participating in this event if you haven't already registered.  The second day of the conference will be a day full of activities highlighted by Peace Forum II.   This will be held at the Four Points Sheraton from 1130am-130pm on Saturday May 9.  Our club has several members who are involved in the planning of both of these events.   Thanks to their time and efforts I'm certain this year's conference will be a great success.  If you have not had an opportunity to attend District Conference or are relatively new to Rotary, you should make every effort to attend this year's conference.  There will never be a more convenient location for Manhattan Rotarians to attend District Conference and learn about Rotary's impressive contributions worldwide.
 
May 14th we will hold our annual Awards Program when our club recognizes many of the club's accomplishments, scholarship & grant recipients, Rotaract accomplishments and our Rotarian of The Year.  May 19th the incoming board members for 2015-2016 will hold our annual Board Planning Retreat.  This meeting, under the direction of President Elect Betty Stevens, is a chance for your board to plan and set strategies and goals for the upcoming Rotary year beginning July 1.  If you have ideas or suggestions to enhance and improve our club please share them with any board member, Betty or myself.  
 
This year, May is also the month in which we all renew our membership in the Manhattan Rotary Club by paying our annual dues.  You should have received the dues notice last week.  If for some reason you did not, please let myself, Secretary George Ham or Treasurer Gil Sabatka know so we can resend your notice.  Many of you have already renewed by paying online, by credit/debit card or by check.  If you wish to pay online, click on the following link: https://mkt.com/Manhattan-Rotary   Your promptness is very much appreciated as this will save the board many hours of follow up.  We never want to lose members, but if you are certain you will not or cannot renew your membership, please let us know prior to June 1 so we can update our records accordingly.
 
This week's program will feature Matt Johnson of the Kansas Council on Economic Education.  I hope to see you at lunch this Thursday!
 
Scott Emley
 
 
Sponsors