Twice a month at their formal meetings, Sheridan Rotarians take a few moments to celebrate something they are happy about that occurred in their lives recently. Called Happy Buck, this is a special cash donation of $1 or more as recognition for their happy moments.
Happy moments typically include a birthday, an anniversary, a favorite team win, the good weather, a job well done or just about anything else you can imagine. The events are recorded on a Happy Buck slip along with the amount donated. Later the amounts are recorded on a spreadsheet and the slip is retained for the annual celebration.
The annual Happy Buck celebration honors the club member who has contributed the most money the previous year. The money collected is used to provide a monthly cash stipend to the club-sponsored Rotary foreign exchange student at the local school. Sometime early in the New Year the Happy Buck celebration award takes place and the winner is honored with a plaque recognizing her or his achievement. In addition, the Happy Buck coordinator uses the collected Happy Buck slips to have some fun and “roast” members with what they were happy about in the previous year. It is all in good fun and provides an entertaining evening for club members.
At the Sheridan club meeting this past Tuesday, the Happy Buck winner for 2018 was none other than the lovable Rev. VJ Stover. On a humorous note, one of VJ’s Happy Buck comments from last year was that he was happy to be regaining his flexibility and when questioned about it he offered to demonstrate. Commenting that his sciatica seemed to be in remission, VJ proceeded to bend over – slowly, of course – and place both palms flat on the floor. Just as slowly, he stood back up. When the laughter and applause finally died down, the program continued.
Some people think that Rotary Clubs are populated with a bunch of staid old members whose meetings are somber and unadventurous but that is just not true. We have a lot of fun and roasting our members at the annual Happy Buck program is just one example of the fun we have with each other. Yes, we do serious work with our contributions – monetary and otherwise – to local, national and international causes, but we always do it with a smile and laugh or two along the way. Rotarians are good community people and revel in each other’s company.
The Sheridan Rotary Club meets the first and third Tuesday evenings of each month for meal and an interesting program. Programs are always open for the public to attend and include some rather interesting and informative individuals presenting on a variety of topics pertinent to local concerns and issues. If you would like to attend a meeting or a program, contact any local Sheridan Rotarian or call (317-758-5201) or visit Steve Martin at the Sheridan Public Library for further information. Meetings take place at 6:15 p.m. every first and third Tuesday of the month in the library’s Community Room. The library is located at 103 W. First St., Sheridan, just on the country side of Hamilton County.