Kelly McKinney introduced President Shannon and said the two had many similarities like having girls names , four kids , beards and added some ribald humour , which you will have to ask fellow members who attended the meeting about . He then listed off Shannon's achievements for the pat year .
President Shannon thanked his fellow Rotarians, honoured guests and past Rotary International President Wilf Wilkinson. Despite his personal, family and career challenges, he believes Rotary Belleville had a successful year. He considers this organization a great place to be and is proud to refer to all of us as his Rotary family. He said our number one competitor is "Time ". Time away from families, businesses, hobbies and interests all with hopes of making our world, our country and our community a better place to live in now and the future. The past year's Rotary International theme was "Rotary Serving Humanity ". To do this we needed more bright minds and younger members and this was achieved with growth and success of the Satellite Club introduced by Past President Kelly . Shannon had training in Chicago and went to the Rotary International Convention in Seoul , South Korea. As president, Shannon mentioned some of the things he was most proud of -- the return of the Christmas Dinner, the return of the meetings to the Travelodge, the formation of the Capital Spending Committee and the reformatted Rotary Poker Walk. President Shannon pointed out that it was Fellowship Chair Paige Summers who deserves all the credit for organizing and planning of the successful Christmas dinner. The Capital Spending Committee was formed by the Board after the Club voted to give out 10% of the accumulated funds from the Club's past fund raising efforts. Community groups can apply to the Club for funding and so far we have given out $42,000 this year to a variety of community projects. The Rotary Aids Walk was changed from an outside walk to a virtual format and John Smale and his team raised $36,000 which is the highest amount yet for this fundraiser. Finally , Shannon thanked the 2016/17 Board for their hard work, efforts and dedication this year . He went on to say we are an active club , we are financially stable and your future board and executive are dedicated to making sure that the rich history of the club stays current , productive and viable for future generations to come .
President Elect Tracy Bray thanked Shannon for his year of leadership and presented him with his Past President pin.
