On the Porch with Jim Williams
Capturing the stories of the folks of Marion, McDowell County, and Western North Carolina. Told by those with first-hand experience.
On the Porch with Jim Williams
Rotary Club of Marion
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Members of the Rotary Club of Marion join me to discuss the upcoming auction on October 15.
Hello, this is Jim Williams, and you're on the porch. Today I have the entire Rotary Club of Marion sitting here in the back room. There's got to be more than a hundred people in here. So why would all these people get together? Well, it's that time of year again. It's auction time in Marion, and the Marion Rotary Club is gonna do it one more time. Our chief person this year is Janet Spake. She's the auction person committee member, I guess. You're the auction chairman. Chairperson. I don't want to say chairman. And I'll introduce everybody as I get to them. Janet, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_01I'm doing great, Jim. Thank you so much for having us here.
SPEAKER_08So this is really your show, Janet. So uh what do you want to talk about?
SPEAKER_01Oh my goodness, we want everybody to come out in Support Rotary Club. Uh the auction is scheduled for October the 15th. Uh preview in the afternoon at 5 o'clock. The actual auction starts at 6. Uh, we'll have lots of items, and this is our 42nd annual auction.
SPEAKER_08Here with us today also is Dave Watson. Dave's our current president, and we'll be the new president again uh beginning in July. It's sad for me to say this, but Dave had to step in when we lost our president, Steve Hunter, from cancer. We didn't expect it. Steve didn't expect it. So wherever Steve is, he's complaining, I'm sure. Dave, uh welcome aboard. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_06Happy to be here.
SPEAKER_08Dave, um, you and I'm gonna introduce one more person while I'm here. Carol Wolfenbarger is here. Hey, Carol.
SPEAKER_04Hey, how are you, Jim?
SPEAKER_08Well, I'm doing pretty good for you know, an old person. I want the two of you to talk about what Rotary has done in the past and in particular uh what Rotary did during this last couple of years during the Helene crisis. Dave, I know well, I know both of you did a lot of work and did a lot of good things uh for Marion. I'm not gonna do ladies first. Dave, you start out and tell us uh what the Rotary Club did.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, well Steve Bush was the president when Helene hit, and it was a no-brainer to look for opportunities how we could help out. And so at the end of the day, the club directed over $168,000 uh throughout the community. Um, and it really started with supporting families that were connected to the school district to see what we could do to help the families in McDowell County. Um, so that's sort of the overall thinking. Um, I think the first project, Carol, was doing a culvert, and there was a family of uh nine, I believe, that couldn't safely get back to their home. So I think that was our first endeavor. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_04That's correct. Actually, the the vision of former President Richard Burlick actually established that emergency response fund, which gave Rotary access immediately to funds to get that out there because there's always a lag in getting things moving after uh an emergency like that.
SPEAKER_06And then there was uh, yeah, after the emergency fund, we really partnered with EMS to do a lot of great things with that. And we also created a they I think they donated uh distribution center. So there was an old building without any heat or light, and uh we cleaned it up and we opened up a store, and so we got all sorts of donations of clothing, household items, um and opened it up, and there were over uh 50 families, 100 organizations that came through and got free shopping. So it was clothing blankets, uh cleaning materials, hygiene type stuff. So between us and AMS, uh there was a lot of good stuff that we handed out uh free to a lot of people in need. So that really kicked it off. Then we got involved supporting 28 families in the school district and all their and all their families, and we gave away from furniture to uh washer, dryers, stoves, all the appliances type things, and kitchenware, and and and the big item was cleaning, you know, mops and and Lysol and disinfectant type stuff. So we spent a focus on uh 28 families throughout the school district.
SPEAKER_08Was that material that you gave away, was that donated in kind or was money donated or and you bought stuff or how'd that work?
SPEAKER_06Yep, good question. So uh a lot of the So there were donations, and then we also had contributions from we got grants, uh personal donations, um and the most important one I forgot, the auction. So between the auction, personal donations, and grants, uh that was how we were able to fund that over 168,000 to do all this good stuff.
SPEAKER_08$168,000. And that was, I'm gonna say red tape free, correct, bureaucrat free, right back here into the community.
SPEAKER_06Designated specifically to helping these families in McDowell through uh through the schools. So it was you got anything, Carol?
SPEAKER_04Well, I I would say this uh as part of the foundation, the Rotary Club of Marion Foundation, our ability to give funds to McDowell County Emergency Management empowered them. So I had the opportunity to be embedded in their emergency operations center and personally being able to equip them to actually go out and give somebody clothes or find them a heater or a fix their well immediately were was truly boots on the ground when we needed it before all of the other resources kicked in. And so Rotary pretty much helped bridge that component of and that gap in response and to me infused hope in the people that were looking every day at what had happened within our our community.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, because that was a bad time in our history. Yes, it was. So you guys stepped up, and of course, Rotary as a whole stepped up, but I happen to know that you two in particular did a pretty good job.
SPEAKER_04Well it it's the club.
SPEAKER_08Yes, it was and I'd like to think that the auction played a little bit of that.
SPEAKER_06Absolutely. And that's critical. So the funding that we get from the auction, not only the hope's a big piece of the scholarship, but it was also a big contributor to uh that 168,000. So uh without that, I guess some of the big tickets after those are the I'll call them the easier ones, then we got into things where we helped infrastructure, so wells and septics of families who got moved out of the house. Nice. And when you have that, they had to move out. So we were able to help. There's actually a family listed in the paper recently, and we were able to contribute uh uh well and septic to that family to get them back into the home. Yep. Uh and then there was the landslides we did for another home where their whole backyard slid off, they lost their septic tanks. So septic tanks and landslide and grating were some really big ticket items, and we were able to contribute that. But I think one of the things that I was very impressed with was the collaboration with the community. So Carol was part of that whole group, and there was a VoAD. So between EMS, which was a great partner, the VoAD, you know, Baptist on Mission United Way, the Gateway Wellness Foundation, um, and the VoAD crew is just an amazing organization where they got everybody into a room, identified areas of opportunity, and they just figured out how to do it and got things done. Very impressive group, and we were able to partner uh with them and participate, and they were very helpful in some of those big tight ticket items at the end.
SPEAKER_08Well, it sounds like we not only were partners as the Rotary Club, but we were substantial partners. Correct. So we did some pretty good stuff. Absolutely. Which brings it back to Janet, and now you're gonna try to get more money out of the community this year, right?
SPEAKER_01That is correct.
SPEAKER_08Can we talk about the goal? Why do you want to raise this year?
SPEAKER_01We want to raise $70,000.
SPEAKER_08$70,000. Have we have we set a limit for our individual Rotarians to give in order to get this fabulous t-shirt they're going to get?
SPEAKER_01Yes, we have.
SPEAKER_06And that amount is well, there's a theme, so talk about the theme first, right?
SPEAKER_01Well, our theme is of course the 250 America. Right. So we're celebrating along with the the whole country. And so we're also thinking of 1776 to 2026. So our goal is $776.
SPEAKER_08$776 per Rotarian will get you, other than the feeling of contributing to your community, will get you one of the nicest t-shirts that I think I've seen. I've got two t-shirt experts here. Walt Bagwell is here and David Wooten is here. These are these are my uh foxhole buddies here, as I refer to them sometimes. They're the kind of guys you want in the foxhole with you if the enemy's coming over the hill. Walt or David, what do you think of those t-shirts this year? Go ahead, Walt.
SPEAKER_05Okay, great. I think it's really nice. It's got a lot of colors to it. It's appropriate for the year we're in, and I think it's gonna draw a lot of eyes. If you want to be the center of attention in the room, then you wear that t-shirt and you're gonna get it all day long.
SPEAKER_08Not foreign ground for either one of us.
SPEAKER_05I am afraid of people.
SPEAKER_08Well, I I know you are, but you seem to overcome it very well.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I have, thanks to you.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, well, I I try to help wherever I can. David, what do you think of the t-shirts?
SPEAKER_07They're bound to be collector's items. The one the ones we came out last year, everybody wanted one immediately, so we're doing that again with the t-shirts. So when you see them, you say, How do I get one? So it's going to be a motivational tool for the Rotarians for the club.
SPEAKER_08Here with us, uh, also that we haven't mentioned yet is uh Nancy Spencer. Nancy contributes every year, and Nancy also is one of my idea people. Nancy's actually one of the people that caused this podcast to come into existence because we met so many times. Nancy and Walt and David and I met on the porch and had coffee, and uh it kind of evolved into this back porch thing. So how are you doing, Nancy?
SPEAKER_03I'm okay. I can't believe I'm here. I've listened to every one of your podcasts, and I love everyone. So I can't believe I'm sitting here right now.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, stick with me, I'll make you star. You will. Okay. What do you got in your hand?
SPEAKER_03Well, I wanted to I thought I'd tell you a little history about the club or a little history about the auction.
SPEAKER_00Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03So I don't know if everybody remembers, and our listeners are probably don't know that we were chartered in February of 1939. Now, how they raised money from 1939 to 1984, when the this was the first the first auction. And how that came about, there was a man that there was a Rotarian called Don Warren. Don came up with the idea. He said, why don't we try to raise money to fund the Marshall Dark and all these things? We didn't have a foundation at the time. So the club liked it. So they formed a committee. And here's some names y'all know. Don was on it, David DeBose, and of course, Danny Davis.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Danny was a president at the time. I just found that out. I didn't know he was president during the first auction. So that was in 1984. And the first year, the very first year of the auction, they raised 8,000. I found that figure. The third year they raised 13,000. And then from things I've read, trying to find out every you know, every year, they ra they raised from 8,000 to 20 something thousand. David was the president at the time, David Wooten, when that was the highest um goal that was ever reached. What was it, David?
SPEAKER_07The theme that year, we wanted to break the twenty thousand dollar barrier. So the goal was twenty thousand and one in two thousand and one. So that's how we reached that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that was the first year I was in the club. What was that? 20?
SPEAKER_07That was 21.
SPEAKER_0320 something years ago. 2001. Yeah. So that in that's when I started loving Rotary when I learned, you know, how we raise money and it was fun to raise money and all the money that went out. That's when I really got hooked on Rotary.
SPEAKER_08We were talking about raising money, and I was privy to the auction meeting, which just took place out on the front porch. Wall was talking about gift cards. That's one of the things that we have every year at the auction. We like it if the Rotarians will go out and secure a gift card from wherever, from an eatery or a hardware store or any kind of place that might give us a gift card. We like that because we don't have to take time to auction those off. We put them on the gift card table that we have and we sell those. We start out selling them at 90% of the face value. So immediately, if you come in, if if you go to McDonald's every day, why pay full price if you can pay 90%? You're buying money. Buying money at a discounted price. The gift cards are a great item. Walt, tell other Rotarians who might be listening how we go about gathering those gift cards.
SPEAKER_05Well, I would say that if you're eating at a restaurant, that's a pretty good shot right there to ask for one because you're patronizing that business. And if I'm an owner of a restaurant, if I'm looking at it through that lens, why not? Why not give a $20 gift card to draw some new customers? To me, it's a no-brainer, it's an easy sell. And it's a it's not comfortable for everybody. I get that. But maybe while you're dining, you can mention it, say, look, I I I love your food. We'd like to share this with other people in the community. Do you have a $20 gift card that you could provide for an auction? And doing so, you'll help raise funds to help community efforts and so forth. So it's to me, it's an easy slam dunk, and it's great for the auction because it doesn't prolong the auction. I've been in there for three hours and four hours before, and I get pretty tired. I go to bed at nine o'clock and we're in there at 10 o'clock auctioning off a t-shirt or something. This helps because we can sell this while you're doing your job in the background.
SPEAKER_08Correct. And you had some strategies on if you're a little bit shy, and maybe you don't want to wander into any kind of business to make a cold call. Uh we talked about what if you just partner up with somebody, maybe that'll give you a little bit of extra courage. Uh and I think that people will find, and you can correct me on this if you think I'm wrong, Walt, but what are the chances of that? When you cold call a business and there's two of you that go in.
SPEAKER_05Okay, I'm gonna go ahead. No, no, no, go ahead. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_08Well, you feel a little more comfortable.
SPEAKER_05Right, no.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Were you gonna correct me?
SPEAKER_05I was trying to, but you were so right, Jim.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Well, uh it it happens, you know. Nature is what it is, it's an immutable fact.
SPEAKER_05Well, you know, back to your point, we've done this, the two of us. Yes, we have. And maybe it's it's more fun because we can create a competitive atmosphere between the two of us. Right. And we've done that, and we've gone in together. And it's it's just a couple hours in an afternoon, maybe.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Drive around to some restaurants, grab you a a shake or something, or hamburger, and make a quick ask. It's not that difficult, and it benefits the club, it benefits the auction, and ultimately benefits the community.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, and this year, I don't think we should use the masks and the gun. Uh let's just go straight in.
SPEAKER_05If you want a strong arm, you can threaten to withhold any tip that you might give if they don't. And you know, they work for tips. That's right. So you could motivate your your waiter or waitress to obtain the gift card with the threat of no tip over that.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_05So that's just another tactic if you choose to use that.
SPEAKER_08I I agree with you. I I think you are right. Janet, what are some of the major items that we have got coming in this year?
SPEAKER_01Well, of course, uh we have donations from uh people that have vacation spots. We have several of those, and these are good items, and you get a chance to uh get a good vacation for a really reasonable price. Um we have four-bedroom, four-bath uh houses. We have two-bed, two-bath condos, um, they're anywhere from Hilton Head, Avon, North Carolina. We have had one from the Bahamas, Myrtle Beach. There's just lots of places. Oak Island's another one. Then we have Abbottings, um, uh cruises on Lake James, Sailboat in Charleston. We have um the YMCA gives us a membership for a year.
SPEAKER_08That's a good membership too.
SPEAKER_01Uh last year we had an A B Tech meal, which was uh fine dining and was really a good experience. Um we have uh antiques, memorabilia, tires, food and drinks. We have some great homemade cakes, um, we have some adult beverages that we auction off. Then we have um we have plywood. Last year we had like seven types of plywood, um, seven different um types of wood, and they're fine cabinet making wood too. Um we have sporting good equipment. Um, of course, you mentioned the gift cards, uh, tires. We have sets of tires that get donated from our fabulous tire companies here in the county. Tools, we've had great a great option with tools, and one of the biggest ones was we had uh gift baskets.
SPEAKER_08Last year we had gift baskets uh donated primarily by those were the teachers at A B Tech, is that McDowell County McDowell County Schools. Oh, McDowell County Schools, okay. Well, teacher's a teacher. Um and though the teachers uh donated the gift baskets last year. They were quite nice, brought us a fair amount of money.
SPEAKER_01Yes, sir, they did, and they were all themed. Each school did a theme, and we had other businesses that also did some gift baskets and helped us out too.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, and that'd be great. We're looking for that kind of donation on the part of our Rotarians again this year. Dave, you got anything you want to say to the Rotarians? Because I'm expecting you to go to the meeting and tell all the Rotarians in the club how to get onto this podcast, and we can they can listen to your strategy. So what do you want them to do next week? We gotta start this right away, right? Correct. So what's the next step?
SPEAKER_06Next step, other than listening to the podcast, listen to Janet at the next uh meeting and start gathering items for the donation to donate to the club for the auction, or open up your pocketbook and contribute that way. So any way you can contribute, whether it's items or cash, uh, we'll take either one, right, Janet?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_08We'd accept a check for $776. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_06And you got a wonderful t-shirt.
SPEAKER_01Or if you want to give us a bonus, we'll take a thousand. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_08Round it up. Round it up to a thousand. That'll be good.
SPEAKER_01And if you want to be real patriotic, let's go for $1776.
SPEAKER_08Uh $1776. David, do you think we ought to have some kind of category for the $1776 club?
SPEAKER_07That sounds like a very patriotic idea, Jim, and uh probably should consider it. But the t-shirts are great. They will be a motivator.
SPEAKER_08They are they are really shirts, and you can wear them uh anytime. They're not just for uh when you come to the rotor meeting. I mean, they're nice shirts. I'd be proud to have one of those.
SPEAKER_06We have to have some surprise on what that other level is. So we'll work on that.
SPEAKER_08Okay, all right. I I appreciate that. Janet, what else you want to talk about? You want to talk about some more strategies? What do you got to say to the club?
SPEAKER_01Well, um I'm a firm believer in teamwork, and it takes everybody in the team, uh, everybody in the club to make this profitable, to make this happen, and to make it what we need it to be.
SPEAKER_08Rachel Ray wanted me to, she was in the meeting but couldn't stay for the podcast, and she wanted me to impart to our listeners that we have a lot of social media available to us. Is that right? I'm not a social media guy. What do we got?
SPEAKER_05You're looking at me.
SPEAKER_08I'm looking at you because you were looking at me.
SPEAKER_05Well, I was just kind of bored. Oh, but we use Facebook to get a lot of our messaging out. So most people have a Facebook account. They can find out all the details on the auction, the specifics, some of the items, uh, and so forth that we have if you're on Facebook. Be aware of that. If you find the page, like it, and you'll be right in touch because we're going to keep that active.
SPEAKER_06We've got McDowell News, so don't forget.
SPEAKER_05Right. We that's not social media, but that's good too. We'll do a some advertising there. There'll be some posters around and uh signage. So when the time comes, you'll you'll know about it.
SPEAKER_08David, we're going to get the posters out again this year, is that right? Plan to. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Uh posters used to be one of our better ways to promote it, but now social media has kind of taken over that and get the word out and cause to have a successful auction, you need a lot of people there the night of the auction. So that's one of the keys.
SPEAKER_08What's our target market numbers-wise? Our target market? Yeah. How many people you think we can Oh I did we mention where it's going to be?
SPEAKER_01We did not, but it is going to be at the box factory?
SPEAKER_08At the box factory on the 16th. Yep. Right? 15th. 15th. Okay. So we're going to be over at the box factory. How many people can we cram in there, you think?
SPEAKER_07Not sure, but we probably had a couple hundred there last year, I would think.
SPEAKER_08You know, if we could get 300 people in there, active bidders, we could probably raise the 70,000.
SPEAKER_07We need at least two people there who want the same item. Yes. So we could have wash and they can be against each other.
SPEAKER_08Yes. We know we're going to have some silver there to sell, right? We typically have coins. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And silver has gone up a lot, hasn't it?
SPEAKER_08It's it was uh spot today was 65, I think.
SPEAKER_05Okay. So we'll we'll have some silver, I'm sure. We have some coin dealers that like to contribute, and I've got one I'm gonna call on. Yeah. And I'm sure he'll supply some.
SPEAKER_08So that's the kind of thing. Carol, you got anything you want to add to this conversation?
SPEAKER_04Well, you know, using our technology, I just wanted to clarify the box factory. Actually, we want everybody out there. Fifteen hundred people, five hundred seated. So come on down.
SPEAKER_08Five hundred can be seated. Well, that's a goal for us. I think if we can we might try to do the radio show again on WBRM if they'll talk to us.
SPEAKER_05And we need to do this podcast closer to somebody. You said the fifteenth. I want to remember it's October 15th.
SPEAKER_08October the fifteenth.
SPEAKER_05Four and a half months away, but still it'll be here before you know it. You know, we certainly have food there, so it's it's a nice night out. It's comfortable, and we keep it entertaining. We have drinks and food. There's a bar, even if you want to do that. Usually by drinking, you'll bid more. So we encourage drinking at the auction.
SPEAKER_08I think that's a great idea. Maybe right before the auction, like we always do, we'll try to get our spot on WBRM. It it might not go so well. Last time uh there was that incident, but you were acquitted of that, right?
SPEAKER_05I absolve any uh recognition of that event, and you'll be hearing from my lawyer.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I think that's a good way, because that's why they have the Fifth Amendment. I I think that's a good idea. Nancy, this is Nancy Spencer of Spencer's Hardware, for those of you that don't recognize the name. If you don't recognize the name, you're listening to my podcast in Alaska, and we do have people in Alaska that listen to this podcast. I would not expect you to come to the auction. However, if you're in town, stop by, we'll sell you something. But she's with Spencer's Hardware, the multimillionaire uh yacht owner who owns hardware stores not only in Marion, but in the big town of Old Fort. Have you decided what you're going to give this year?
SPEAKER_03What are you talking about? Yacht owner? I wish. I've not even been on a yacht. I know you're kidding me. I would like to tell you something. That's right, I forgot.
SPEAKER_08Taxes. That's another Nancy Spencer. Yeah, we have the tax men. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that.
SPEAKER_03I I wondered if you would like some of the listeners would like to know some of the projects that we have funded in the past. Would you like to hear that?
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_03Please. And then maybe after that, Carol could tell you more about the foundation because this is everything that we had to raise our own money because we when we didn't have a foundation. Oh, okay. Yeah. So we uh helped and contribute and built the Lake James picnic shelter. Uh these are just highlights, these are just things I are the the bigger things. We bought 14 acres of land and we donated it to Habitat Humanity to build seven homes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow.
SPEAKER_03We donated $25,000 to the YMCA building when they were when it was getting started. We gave $15,000 total uh in the beginning to McDowell Trails, and that they credit us for their seed money. We were the first contributors to McDowell Trails Association. Everybody knows about the depot clock. And we, you know, we were actually the one that did the ramp, the marquee, and made improvements to the community, uh, to the uh playground at the community building. That was that was Rotary. Um we funded Oh, we you know, we we take care of the New Year's Eve celebration. We fund that whole thing.
SPEAKER_08That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_03Um we have a children's Christmas party every year for 56 children, underprivileged children every year. We've been doing that longer than the auction. I don't know how it was funded before. 5,000. We started, we gave a 5,000 to the when the farmers market was getting settled, was getting started. $25,000 to hospice. When when hospice first came, they needed that seed money. That was hospice. We did that. The Marshall Dart is up to $10,000. A scholar the scholarship is up to $10, that's pretty good. That's that's really grown. Uh we actually placed the a large American flag at the Greenway. I believe that was a Jim Williams.
SPEAKER_08Let's see.
SPEAKER_03Who was that again? That was your signature project when you were president. Would that be uh what was that year 2016?
SPEAKER_082016 and 17, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Ten years ago.
SPEAKER_03That's exactly right. And then um we we actually donated the um the van. I saw it today. I parked beside it when I was at the schools. The McKinney Vento group for homeless uh students.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, they didn't have a way to get around. Teachers were taking them everywhere in their own cars, so we bought a van and donated it to them. And we gave five thousand recently in Steve Hunter's name to the food hub. Oh, nice. So there's lots of other things here. Do you want me to just read them? No, just the one. Oh, what we've done to wheelchairs. I've got to mention that because we've done a lot of wheelchair uh contributions. What is that? Oh gosh, how could I remember forget that? The defibulators that we the ADs that we did in Steve Pierce's year. Steve Pierce. Now we put those uh defibulators how many places? Was that like 10?
SPEAKER_08I think you put in about 10, yeah. All over town.
SPEAKER_03We bought those and had them installed uh all over town. These are just these are just a few things I've been able to pull out of some of the minutes and things like that. We've done so many things since 1939.
SPEAKER_08And Carol, you are gonna talk to us a little bit about the difference in giving to Rotary now that we have a foundation. Right.
SPEAKER_04We're a 501c The Rotary Club of Marion's a 501c3.
SPEAKER_08C3.
SPEAKER_04Yes, and so that was the vision of the Rotary Club of Marion Board and leadership in 2024, right? Is when we were established. And the 501 designation actually gives the ability to increase donations because it has a tax benefit potentially for people. It also allowed us, Dear and Helene, to write grants to the United Way and receive a $10,000 grant that we could get dispersed for construction. So it allows us opportunities to ask for funding from other uh foundations and granting entities to further the mission of service above self for Rotary. And so some of the things we've done beyond those wonderful projects Nancy just talked about really were I look at you, Dave, as the arm of donation for Helene. I was out there saying we need to fix this, and he was over there going, Here's the money. But the being able to uh rally people around donating money to the road uh to the foundation gives them a tax benefit and helps us increase the funding available.
SPEAKER_08We would take some big items like cars and boats and and whatever, and that would be tax deductible to the giver, is that right?
SPEAKER_06I'm not a tax accountant. You have to talk to that, but yes, it's eligible to be tax uh a tax donation. Right. And also for businesses. It also helps the businesses contribute, right?
SPEAKER_04And definitely as a Rotarian, if I just want to write you a check for 776 or 1776, that's totally a donation to a 501c3. So that's a little different than a tangible I set, but those still do allow the individual to, according to their accountant, claim that as a tax deduction.
SPEAKER_08Okay, so that's a nice move forward for the club, I would say.
SPEAKER_06Correct.
SPEAKER_08And that would be something that would uh those of you that are not Rotarians, or if you are a Rotarian, you got an old boat laying around that still floats, give that some thought, right? Bring it in and uh we'll take a look at it, and maybe we can take it as a donation.
SPEAKER_06Well, those folks who are have a RMD from their, you know, past 73 and they're looking for a tax break, they give their money from the RMD. It's a doesn't count as income, so it goes straight to the foundation. And instead of withdrawing that and taxing being a taxable income for you, it will can go straight as a as a gift to the foundation.
SPEAKER_04So just because what's an RMD?
SPEAKER_06Required minimum distribution from your retirement account. So Carol wouldn't know she's not old enough.
SPEAKER_02She's not retired.
SPEAKER_06So instead of claiming that as income, you can donate it and take a tax break.
SPEAKER_08Great. All right. Nancy mentioned uh wheelchairs. We give money to wheelchairs every once in a while. So that is my opportunity to give a shout out. I think we all would be in agreement that, and Frank does listen to this podcast, so uh we want to send our best to Frank Dean. He's a little under the weather, and uh wish him the best and uh hope he recovers because we'd like to see him back in the club. Uh not because he's pretty, just because we like to have him there. Anything else you want to talk about, Janet? You're the one putting this together.
SPEAKER_01No, we just want everybody to go ahead and mark their calendar and show up.
SPEAKER_08And work their tail off, right?
SPEAKER_01And work your tail off.
SPEAKER_08So here's the thing about this auction, and this is for the Rotarians who would listen. We get a free ride, and I think Walt and David would agree with me especially, from the end of October until really the first of July, it's a free ride as Rotarians. All we got to do is just sit around. There's a couple things we do. We do the the New Year's thing and the and the thing with those little kid things, but really we don't have to do anything. So there's no reason between July the 1st and October the 15th that we can't work right for our club and bring some money in and provide something for the city of Marion, the county of McDowell. Don't you agree with that?
SPEAKER_05Definitely. When I started uh my presidency when I was 13 to 14, I think, 2013. Yeah. We used to have two fundraisers. We would have the auction, and then we would have a raffle of some sort where we're selling raffle tickets in the spring. And we would just hear this, ugh. They didn't want to sell it. Nobody wants to sell raffle tickets. There's a lot of work. And I felt at that time there was a lot of potential in the auction. And if we just focused on this one thing and we put our best effort into this and make it great, instead of having two good fundraisers, we would be better off. And then you could relax the rest of the year, kind of coast in and spend the money, which is the fun part. We collect it early and we spend it late. Right. And it seemed to motivated, I think everybody agreed that was the best way. I think you just put in a little work at the beginning and then the rest of the time you can have fun giving it out.
SPEAKER_08Yep, yeah. And David, you're the banker on average. What is the dues that a Rotarian pays quarterly? Do you know? Who knows that?
SPEAKER_03I know it.
SPEAKER_08Okay. What do you what is it, Nancy?
SPEAKER_03Quarterly we pay the the lowest is sixty-nine dollars a quarter. So that's what, twenty-three dollars a month.
SPEAKER_08Okay, so there's two hundred and eighty dollars a year, uh minus four dollars, two hundred and seventy-six dollars a year at the low point, and then uh we also, if you buy your lunch over there, which is a great deal. What do we pay for lunches now?
SPEAKER_02Uh 11 or 12. Eleven.
SPEAKER_08Okay, so we pay twelve dollars for a lunch provided by countryside, well worth the 12 bucks, right? It's a good deal. What club can you join for let me just let me just bump it up a little bit? What decent social club can you join for $400 a year? There aren't any. What if we said, well, what decent social club could you join for $1,176 a year? Not many. And it's worth $1,176 a year. So if you pay your $400 in your dues, lunches are a push, why not kick in the extra $776? Did I are you following me? Okay. It's an easy gift. It's an easy gift. $776 a year. And if we got that from every Rotarian, we wouldn't have to have the auction. That hit your mark, wouldn't it? Wouldn't we say that'd be pretty close? What do you think, David?
SPEAKER_07I tell you, my heart is in the auction. I mean, I've been in this club nearly 30 years, and we talk about all these good things that rotary does, and it just gives back to the community. So the old saying, no money no fun, that's where the auction cut comes into play. Uh one of the things we've done here in recent years is a small small grants to nonprofits in the community. So we're going to go back to the community through those small grants. Dave, you want to elaborate on the small grants?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I've been uh involved in that since I've been here, and it's a wonderful thing that we started before. And uh we give out, well, this year we gave out $23,000. $23,000? Yep. To small uh to organizations, nonprofits, and we've done it twice a year, so we split that up and normally it's um ten and ten. This year we bumped it up a little bit because there are quite a folk quite a few organizations that were in need. So we were able to bump it up based on the wonderful auction we had last year.
SPEAKER_08If a guy had recently started a podcast and had bought a lot of equipment, I'm asking for a friend and had recently bought a lot of equipment, could he get one of those small grants?
SPEAKER_04No you need to be a not-for-profit non-profit 501c3.
SPEAKER_08Carol, I haven't made a profit in the last 40 years.
SPEAKER_04As determined by the IRS.
SPEAKER_08Well, all right, let's not get let's not get in the weeds over this. You spread this money out with a lot of small grants and you spread it out to the community. Let's go down that rabbit hole for a second. Really and truly now, being honest. Say uh I'm someone who feels in need of a small grant. How would I come to Rotary to get it?
SPEAKER_06They can feel free to come to a meeting. That would be one. Okay, two, we communicate it through social media on the website, and there's a form. They fill out the form and submit it. Uh there's a committee that goes through and it's focused on uh several different criteria, right? So it's the community service or what you're gonna use it for, right? And the breadth. So if you're using it for one or two people versus hey, we can serve 20, 30, 50 people, those are the key criteria for the grant. So they fill out the application, send it to us, the committee looks at it, and we go through a process to vote on it on the highest impact. Um and then we're able to give anything from $500 to $1,500. That's our okay.
SPEAKER_08I'm gonna put you and Carol on the spot. In the last couple years, let's say, tell me a couple of recipients of the grant who have done something worthwhile, in your opinion.
SPEAKER_04So McDowell County EMS has been one recipient, and one of the things they did with their care paramedics and social workers was really work on uh the response to the drug overdose component. And so that was some the needleboxes uh was something that they used money to purchase uh to put those into homes. Yep. Um and they did a fall program. Does that resonate with you? Uh I'm pretty sure those were two of the programs that we funded uh over the years.
SPEAKER_08Did you have a favorite, Dave? There's a lot of them.
SPEAKER_06So um well you I don't want to put you out on the spot because for the animal loves, we we've donated uh money to the animal shelter where they've done uh spading and neutering to folks who weren't able to afford that for their pets. Oh nice. Uh that's one.
SPEAKER_02Um tell them about the quilts. Oh yeah, comfort quilts. That makes us all cry.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, they they make these beautiful hand quilted uh quilts and they give them to uh the DSS, the shelters and uh and to children who are pulled from their homes, and so um they do some wonderful work and they try to comfort kids at uh at a time of need.
SPEAKER_08So that is uh particularly interesting because we all know I'm not uh overly fond of children, but this comfort quilt thing, these are these quilts go out to children who are in distress for one reason or another. Uh I I want to tell you this, you wouldn't remember this, Dave, because you weren't there, but when the comfort quilt group came to us the first time, there was a lady who came and gave a presentation. She stood up in front of the club, gave a nice presentation, and talked about the comfort quilts, they were starting them and and the value. Now, what no one in the club but me knew because I was the president elect at the time and I had talked to her was that the next day that lady gave the presentation, the next day she was having a double lung transplant. Now, if I was having a double lung transplant, I'd be over in a corner in the fetal position in the dark somewhere sucking my thumb. But she did that because she believed in that project so much. She had the transplant, by the way, and she's deceased now, but I think she lived another uh five years after the transplant. And it was a fairly comfortable five years. She wasn't in any way immobile or anything like that. So that's how much those folks were dedicated to the project. And that just shows you what the Rotary Club is doing for the community. And I'm saying this because I want the Rotarians who listen to this, and I'm hoping most of you will, because and I'm hoping most of you just have this plan on your phone or on your radio as you're driving from point A to point B. I want you to be proud of what you do as a Rotarian, and I want you to work this year for our president Dave and bring about this seventy thousand dollars and be proud of where it goes and what we do with it, so that at the end of the year, when the auction's over, and again, Walt and David can back me up on this because we look at the numbers all the time. David, especially. David's a cruel person, actually. Uh and he looks at these numbers and uh just has things to say. But wouldn't you agree that at the end of the auction, the people that give the the real the amount that we ask, 776 for example, or more, you can sit back and you can be proud of what you've done. And if you're if you're down on the zero column, you actually uh you you have no reason to to be proud of what you've accomplished.
SPEAKER_07Well the whole auction process, to quote uh Lee Greenwood, it makes you proud to be a Rotarian.
SPEAKER_08I knew you were gonna work that right.
SPEAKER_07But it does when you hear the things about giving back to the community. Again, no money, no fun. People get when they come to the auction, they get a quality item. Uh get a quality item at a great price. Uh, everybody leaves happy. We've raised a potload of money. For Rotary and for the community that we live in.
SPEAKER_08So it's it's all good. It's all good. I agree. Dave, you're the president. I'll let you say whatever you want and we'll go around the table.
SPEAKER_06I just uh appreciate the opportunity and I've listened to all your podcasts, and it's wonderful. I've learned a lot from all the wonderful guests you had and didn't know you're a historian. So I appreciate the time and uh looking for the support from Rotarians or the community to support the auction so that we can help give back to the community and uh do what we do what we do. So we appreciate the opportunity.
SPEAKER_08I appreciate that. Uh especially about the podcast. Uh really that sums it up. I don't know if we need to go to any well, let's continue around the table. David, what do you got?
SPEAKER_07Looking forward to another successful auction, everybody pulling together to reach the goals to go back and serve the community. Great.
SPEAKER_05Well Well, you know, I've been kind of co-chair on this committee for several years, and every year I lose sleep, I lose hair, I lose a piece of my life worrying about this auction. We've got a big number every year, it seems like I thought 20,000, 25,000, 30,000 was a big number. There's no way we're gonna get this. I'm pretty cynical. I don't see people wanting to get out and do the job. And you know what happens every single year. Everybody pitches in. Yeah. And we make the number, and that's a lot of pressure on the group this year. But when that happens, and I'll reflect on the previous few months, it m it puts a happiness in my stomach, in my body, that brings back the hair and lets me sleep better again, knowing that we've got a great group of people, and we're all pulling in the same direction. And that's a rare thing to say today. And maybe I'm a little bit less cynical every year. That's what the auction does for me.
SPEAKER_08Well, you know, one thing I have found out over the course of life is that as cynical decreases, so does hair.
SPEAKER_05Well, you've got plenty of hair, so you must not be very cynical.
SPEAKER_08I'm not a cynical person. I'm I'm actually uh very much in tune with nature and life.
SPEAKER_05You are strong in the sarcasm field, though.
SPEAKER_08Well, I like to think that, and I appreciate the compliment.
SPEAKER_05I think uh people that don't get sarcasm are great.
SPEAKER_08Sarcasm, where does that come from? Well, that's a whole other story. Nancy, what do you want to say?
SPEAKER_03Well, I think I'm gonna tell you a story.
SPEAKER_08All right.
SPEAKER_03I think it was about 26 years ago. I'm running the store. I knew a about Rotary from the paper and all the good they did, but Marshall Dark walked in and I knew him in the community, but he walked in and started asking me for a donation. Now I'm speaking to Rotarians. Sometimes that's hard to do uh to walk into a business and ask for something. But Marshall, this is Marsh Dark, not Big Marshall, but Marshdart came in and asked me for a donation, told me a little bit about you know what what Rhode was doing Rotary was doing that year. And I remember the feeling, I can remember it 26 years ago, the feeling of honor. I was honored to be asked. I even remember I went over and got a um Carhartt coat jacket, and he was he looked surprised and thankful and took it on. I've never forgotten that donation.
SPEAKER_08Wow, that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_03So be proud to go in and ask because you're asking not for yourself, but you're asking for an organization that's raising money for a lot of good.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, that is nice. I I got a story. There was once a boy from Nantucket. Well, all right. Carol.
SPEAKER_04I wish I knew the rest of that. So from a foundation standpoint, we want the problem. And you know what the problem is? We have to do the IRS 990 long form.
SPEAKER_00Oh.
SPEAKER_04We experienced that this year because of the success with the uh Helene fundraising, along with the success of the auction, because those are income for the foundation. So we want that problem to continue. And we I I'm very honored to be sitting around the table with I know these people that have contributed years to uh Rotary and years to the success of the auction, including you, Jim. And and we want the foundation just wants to continue to have the problem of doing IRS 990.
SPEAKER_08Well, one thing I want to say to you, Carol, that I never get to say, and I'm gonna say it while we're on the podcast. Two things. One, I I'm not going to go into Carol's background, but every time I see Carol, she acts like she's saying hello to me, and she takes my pulse and looks at my face to see what kind of health I'm in. I get that. I know I know what you're up to, and I appreciate that. Secondly, Carol does a lot for us with our audiovisual stuff. Uh is audiovisual a term anymore? I don't know if it is or not. It's not much of a work. And I I think we have a couple other people doing it now, but you do a great job, and we appreciate it. So thank you. Janet, you're going to close us out, I guess. So what do you want to say?
SPEAKER_01Well, I really appreciate the opportunity that we've had to be here um sharing with the community and and with you and uh our Rotarians. Uh a lot of history's been shared and a lot of thoughts have been shared. Uh, we want everybody to really come out and and support our auction. We've got a fantastic committee this year, which we'll be introducing next Thursday at our uh rotary meeting uh at noon. So we'd love to have, I mean, I think we can have uh visitors. We'd love to have anybody come out and join us. Again, the auction is October the 15th at starting at five o'clock in the afternoon. And we normally uh we have we have lots of items and lots of good things to to auction, and we also have a door prize that we give at the end of the evening. So um, you know, when people stay around and and buy, they get a a ticket at the beginning when they when they sign in, and uh something to look forward to as well.
SPEAKER_08Thank you all for coming. Number one, uh I just want to say that if you're a Rotarian and you're listening to this, it's time to get on it. You know, it's time for us to start working, and we're gonna work from now until October and put out a good auction. We'll have another uh if Janet wants to, we'll have another podcast here as we get closer to the auction and kind of let you know where we're where we are, what the status is and how things are going. If you're not in the rotary club and you're listening to this and you'd like to be in the rotary club and get to know somebody that you know is a Rotarian, uh come and have lunch with us and let us take a look at you. We'll look you over. If we like you, we'll let you in the club. If we don't, there's a door right there in the back. It's not that hard to find. But we'd like to have you. Uh we love it if we have people that contribute contribute to the community and that are community-minded. That's about it. I went to the code.
SPEAKER_01Now, Jim, I'll add one thing. Okay. I joined Rotary because I came to an auction.
SPEAKER_08Oh, really?
SPEAKER_01And I found out what Rotary did when I was at the auction, things that were uh auctioned off, and and uh so I when I found out what Rotary did with the money, I actually sought someone to sponsor me in Rotary.
SPEAKER_08Wow. Well, see, and that's a good thing. So come down to the auction. I personally know the auctioneer uh this year. Hopefully, uh he'll be there. He's right out of Hollywood casting. You're not gonna believe it. I'm not gonna get into it, but whoa, I've seen this guy. He's hot. Come down and join us for the auction. Uh, you'll have a good time. Be prepared to spend some money, we'll take it. And remember that about 97 cents of every dollar that you spend at our auction goes directly back into the community. There's a little bit of overhead. We have to pay for some things like I don't know, paper and stuff like that, but uh it's very minimal. Almost every penny goes back to Marion and McDowell County. So uh if you're a listener and you're not a Rotarian, uh please think about coming and joining us. That's about it for now. Got some good stuff coming up. We have someone coming up that's gonna give us a photography lesson here before too long. I'm working on uh the Brown Mountain Lights. Got somebody coming up that knows a little bit about them, so maybe we can uh discuss that. I think it's a hoax, but some people don't, so we'll try to we'll try to look at it with an open mind. Got some ghost storytellers coming. I think you're gonna enjoy that. I don't know how I feel about ghosts, they're probably here. So maybe come in and join us for that session. You can reach me at on the porch with Jim Williams. That's one word. On the porch with Jim Williams at gmail.com. I appreciate your comments and your criticisms. Although I don't take criticism very well, you'd be better off to just compliment me. I like that a lot better. But you're free to do whatever you want to do. I I enjoy getting your emails. I thank you for all the emails that we've gotten. And yes, since Walt is here, uh, we're probably gonna do another Walt and Jim do something. I think we may do movies, huh?
SPEAKER_05Yes, Jim. But I'm better at that than restaurants, I think.
SPEAKER_08Alright, alright. Well, we're gonna put something together that will help you to go on to your TV channels and your streaming channels and find just the right movie. Hope you enjoyed it. Join me next week here on the porch.