Dana Mills explains the rules of the activity.
Sara Fox | Bladen Journal
Dana Mills explains the rules of the activity.
Sara Fox | Bladen Journal
Dana Mills explains the rules of the activity.
Sara Fox | Bladen Journal
Rotarians bow their heads in prayer before beginning the meeting.
Sara Fox | Bladen Journal
Rotary Club president Cristin Hursey gives announcements.
Sara Fox | Bladen Journal
ELIZABETHTOWN — The Elizabethtown Rotary Club met on Wednesday to refresh their knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order.
Following their usual opening of the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer, Rotary president Cristin Hursey gave announcements. The Rotary Club will soon be preparing to elect a new president, so the search is underway.
Terri Dennison also provided some announcements for upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.
Bladen is Blooming will host its casino night on Jan. 21. Tickets are $50 and sponsors are always welcome.
The White Lake Water Festival will be May 19 and 20.
The first event of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Elizabethtown will be on March 4. It will be a parade in which participants are encouraged to celebrate when their business/church/organization came to Elizabethtown. The March 4 celebration will focus on the years 1773 to 1824.
Once announcements had been completed, Bladen County Schools CTE Director Dana Mills led the Rotarians in an exercise to clarify and reinforce some lesser-known aspects of Robert’s Rules of Order.
Mills provided some background on the history of Robert’s Rules and went over the most common and useful types of motions before beginning the activity. “I’m a teacher, so you know I had to bring packets with me,” Mills joked.
For the activity, Rotarians were required to make trail mix using provided ingredients, but in order to add things, they had to abide by the procedure laid out in Robert’s Rules. Motions had to be made, seconds had to be received, votes had to be counted, and some Rotarians definitely enjoyed stirring up a bit of trouble during the process.
Mills did an excellent job making something that many see as dull and tedious into something engaging and easily understandable.
The Elizabethtown Rotary Club seems to have several ideas in store for the year, and it will be interesting to see how this newly-honed Robert’s Rules knowledge will be utilized by these mischievous do-gooders.