The Charleston Rotary Board is is following the CDC’s recommendation is to wear a mask for all indoor activities where cases are high. The Board recommends wearing a mask when not actively eating or drinking. As a reminder, virtual attendance is still available and you have received an invitation to register.
REMINDER: For the remainder of the year, we will move to our original meeting room (202-204) upstairs.
Please Pay Your Invoice in December as our Rotary District and International Dues are due January 1, 2022.
Invoices for the January 1. 2022 – June 30, 2022 period have been emailed. You may pay on our website at www.charlestonrotary.com. After logging in you will have an option to Renew, Update or Upgrade your membership. If you prefer you may bring a check to a meeting or send it to P.O. Box 111 Charleston, WV 25321. If you prefer to have a hard copy mailed to you, please let Mary Cook know.
December 6 , 2021
Mac Warner
West Virginia Secretary of State
Introduced by Mary Cook
WV Secretary of State Mac Warner is a graduate of George Washington High School.
He is also a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the West Virginia University College of Law. In addition, he holds two Masters Degrees – one in International Law from the University of Virginia and one in Military Law from The Army’s Judge Advocate General’s School.
During his 23-year career in the United States Army, Secretary Warner served on four continents, deploying to military hot spots around the world while also serving on the staff at the U.S. Army War College. He retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel.
Prior to being elected West Virginia’s 30th Secretary of State, Secretary Warner served five years with the U.S. State Department in Afghanistan.
Since taking his oath of office on January 16, 2017, Secretary Warner has been recognized throughout the country for his innovation in cybersecurity, secure online voting and election preparation. Under his leadership, West Virginia became the first state in the nation to offer voting by mobile device for overseas WV military personnel deployed to remote areas of the world during election time.
Immediately after taking office, Secretary Warner and the county clerks implemented an aggressive strategy to clean up voter registration lists in all 55 counties. In just four years, more than 364,301 deceased, duplicate, out of state, outdated and convicted felon voter files were taken off of West Virginia’s voter registration rolls.
During the same four-year period, Secretary Warner and his team of county clerks registered more than 255,000 new, eligible West Virginia voters, including 67,000 high school students.
In the 2020 election cycle, Secretary Warner oversaw the second highest voter turnout in the history of our state — and in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic. In the November 2020 General Election, more than 802,000 voters cast a ballot. And not one case of COVID-19 was attributed to voting in-person during that election.
Since 2017, Secretary Warner has also led the transformation of the state’s business registration and licensing system. Using leading edge technology to make processes easier, safe and more efficient, Secretary Warner opened the WV One Stop Business Center in February 2018. The WV One Stop is the nation’s only five-agency single-location business and licensing center. What used to take up to ten days to register and open a new business in West Virginia can now take less than two hours.
Secretary Warner and his wife, Debbie Law Warner, are the parents of four children – two sons and two daughters — All four of whom are or have been officers in the U.S. Army.
December 13 , 2021
Gayle Manchin
Appalachian Regional Commission
Introduced by Ted Armbrecht
Gayle Conelly Manchin was sworn in as the Appalachian Regional Commission’s thirteenth federal co-chair on May 6, 2021, becoming the first ARC federal co-chair from West Virginia. Nominated by President Biden, Manchin works directly with ARC’s 13 member governors, their state alternates and program managers, and a network of local development districts to continue to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth throughout
Appalachia.
An alumna of West Virginia University, Manchin worked as an educator in Marion County Schools, served on the faculty of Fairmont State University, and was the director of the university’s first Community Service Learning Program. She directed the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows in West Virginia between 2000-2004 and implemented a statewide initiative, WV. Partnerships to Assure Student Success. Manchin previously served as West Virginia’s First Lady between 2005-2010 and was appointed to serve as a member of the State Board of Education, serving her last two years as president. She was the chair of the Board for Reconnecting McDowell, Inc., an AFT initiative serving rural West Virginia, is a past president of the Vandalia Rotary Club of Charleston, and was an emeritus member of The Education Alliance. She also
served as cabinet secretary for the West Virginia Office of Education and the Arts. Manchin’s top priorities as ARC federal co-chair are to support the creation of economic opportunities in the Appalachian Region, improve broadband access and critical infrastructure in Appalachian communities, and address the Region’s opioid crisis.
December 20th – Holiday Program – Appalachian Children’s Choir
Appalachian Children’s Choir is a community-based children’s choral organization founded in 1990. The mission is to provide artistic excellence, a quality music education, and extraordinary opportunities while creating a positive effect on the lives of West Virginia’s youth. The program will include songs performed by the choir at its December 5, “Ornaments of Joy”, Christmas Concert. Selections will include both traditional Christmas songs like “Silver Bells”, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, and international Christmas tunes along with not-so-familiar Christmas songs. If you would like to learn more about ACC, the quality music education it offers, and the ways that it conducts outreach in the community, please visit www.wvacc.org or ACC’s Facebook page.
The Program Committee invites any and all members to join us every Monday at 1:00 in our meeting room. We only meet for 20-30 minutes and we plan our weekly speakers. We need new energy and encourage all members to join us!
Vaccines are encouraged! The Board of Directors is in full support of the Governor’s, as well as the Health Department’s, efforts to vaccinate the citizens of our great State and County. We encourage all members to support this effort and get vaccinated. If you are still in need of a vaccine, please go to www.vaccinefinder.org and locate a vaccine site near you. You can even make an appointment there. If you do not use the internet, you can also call the WV COVID Vaccine Hotline at 1-833-734-0965 and they will help you schedule an appointment.
LOCAL ROTARY CLUB MAKE-UP LOCATIONS
MONDAY
The Program Committee will resume weekly meetings at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center when in person meetings commence, directly after the regular scheduled meeting. Parking is free just let the parking attendant know you are with the Rotary Club of Charleston.
TUESDAY
Putnam Rotary Club Meeting begins at 12:00 noon at Area 34
7013, 971 WV-34 in Hurricane.
WEDNESDAY
Vandalia Club meets at Edgewood Country Club Wednesdays from 7:30am – 8:30am. The last Wednesday of month is a social or service project.
THURSDAY
St. Albans Rotary Club meets every Thursday at 12:00 noon in their new meeting location at City National Bank 560 4th Street, Saint Albans, WV 25177.
South Charleston Rotary Club meets on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 12:00 noon. Meetings are located at Little Creek Country Club, South Charleston, WV.
Other Ways to Make-up a Meeting:
1. The board unanimously approved another avenue to get additional credit for attendance. In addition to attending a committee meeting, doing an online make-up, or visiting another Rotary Club you can now get one meeting credit for every new member prospect/guest you bring to a regular Monday meeting. The credit will apply during the same quarter in which you bring the potential member/guest. This is a great way to both make up attendance and recruit new members into our club. Contact Paul White with questions.
2. To attend a make-up meeting on-line, click the link below: Rotary Club Online make-up location: http://www.rotaryeclubone.org/ The on-line system is set up to provide a written confirmation of the make-up to the person who actually did it. The member is then responsible for providing confirmation to their Rotary Club Administrator. Please forward a copy of your confirmation letter to rotarycwv@gmail.com to receive proper credit.