GREETER:
Debra Cox thank you for all the hugs this week and next week…oops missed that this morning, guess it will be a surprise.
GUESTS:
Kevin Quigley- Guest Speaker
Rennie Washburn
Christine Takacs
Kevin O’Keefe
STUDENT ROTARIANS:
Snow Day….no kids this morning!
ROTARY MINUTE:
Is Sunrise Rotary a 501c3? Yes and No!! The club itself is not a 501c3 but several years ago, thanks to the work of Sandy and Jon we established the Brattleboro Sunrise Foundation which is a 501c3.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Succession Planning – Marcy announced that KJ and Lisa agreed to stay on Secretary and Treasurer for next. Jim Verzino will be our President Elect and she is currently hoping to get someone to volunteer for VP position.
Trivia- is February 12th at the Legion. Boys & Girls Club is the charity this month. We just found out this morning that the Legion is having renovations done on March 12th so we have no home for Trivia that month…lots of good suggestions made and Sandy will be looking into it.
Past District Governor - Dennis McMann’s wife Donna is in the hospital. Please keep them in our thoughts.
Over Flow Shelter Dinner – is tonight and everything looks to be all set….even with the snowstorm.
Touch a Truck & Camp for a Common Cause – there will be some overlap this year as Camp for a Common Cause is Friday night and Touch a Truck will be the next day on Saturday. Looking to see what kind of support we will get from club members as we will need a lot of help to cover both events.
Coffee Shop – is not open today…the LACK of purchases has temporarily closed the shop but if you are looking for coffee please let Tristam know and he will bring it to the meeting. If you are wondering the coffee sales supports a scholarship for a high school student in the mountain regions of Honduras that would otherwise not be able to attend…SO PLEASE BUY COFFEE!! It makes a great gift.
CARDS: 2 of clubs…KJ is the winner!!!
BIRTHDAYS: It’s Stacy’s birthday but she missed being serenaded this morning so if see her miss a very happy birthday!!
LOTS OF BRAGS:
Damon: Bragged for the Keene Indoor Track Team and Aiden. Sunday was the end of their season with an event at Dartmouth College were Keene came in 7th overall and Aiden had a great day with his events. Happy to have a break before the outdoor season starts in March.
Turner: Bragged for his 3-week vacation Africa. He and Kay went on 2 separate safaris in which he did not try to play vet to any of the animals he came across.
Cindy: Bragged for her husband who has been a crane operator for 30 years and was contacted last week by the union to act as the Business Agent for VT and NH in which he will handle all contracts for both states.
Kevin Quigley (guest speaker): Bragged for 2 Marlboro College students who will be competing in the Harris Hill Ski Jump this year.
Ali: Bragged for Marlboro College as they are the reason she moved to Brattleboro. She had a friend from college who got jog at Marlboro and talked her into moving to Vermont.
Jon: Is off to Lithuania and won’t be missing “our ugly mugs” (his words not mine) for a couple of weeks. Lithuania will be celebrating their 100th anniversary of their independence from Russia. On their way back to the states they will have a 5 day stop in Iceland because where else should you go in the winter when you haven’t had enough snow.
Will: Bragged for his daughter Justine who lives and works in NYC…she doesn’t make a lot with her job but the benefits are great. She will be spending 5 days in London for a conference. She was recently in Thailand doing research on labor standards and will be at Rotary on March 14th to tell us all about her work.
Tristam: In response to Jon’s ugly mug comment Tristam said his facial affliction was caused by the lack coffee sales and it may not improve until sales do.
Josh T: Possibly the cheesiest brag per Josh but getting to know his fellow Rotarians as people and appreciating their inner beauty is a great joy and wanted to let everyone know about Jon’s inner beauty and his penchant for happy socks. That sparked quite the conversation and many individuals showing off their socks this morning.
Nick: Bragged for big family vacation outside of Orlando. Had 9 kids under 9….like on big house party. Also bragged for Valentine’s Day next week and he decided to up his game this year by surprising his wife a ski day at Mt. Snow.
BOWL OF LIFE:
This Rotarian played Walter Mondale in high school in 1984in a mock Presidential Debate.
Started the guessing with Diane who guessed Damon (right time frame, wrong country) who guessed Jon Secrest who guessed Jim Verzino who guessed Mark (surprisingly enough Mark did actually do that but not 1984 and it was middle school…what are the odds??) and finally Sandy Shriver who claimed that Walter Mondale who won 1 out 50 states actually did better than he did in the debate.
GUEST SPEAKER:
Kevin F. F. Quigley, President of Marlboro College
The ninth president of Marlboro College, began serving in July 2015. Before coming to Marlboro, he served as Peace Corps country director in Thailand, and as president and CEO of the National Peace Corps Association, a global alumni organization for the more than 200,000 former Peace Corps staff and volunteers.
He started off his presentation by apologizing to the club because he went to the Noon Club to speak and thought that they were the go to club.....OUCH!!!
Marlboro College is a small, close-knit learning community that provides the rare opportunity for independent thinkers to direct their own studies, working collegially with world-class professors. The goal of Marlboro College is to teach students to think clearly and to learn independently through engagement in a structured program of liberal studies The college promotes independence by requiring students to participate in the planning of their own programs of study and to act responsibly within a self-governing community.
Like most liberal arts colleges in US they are facing the challenges of falling enrollment. They have started addressing this through their partnership with Marlboro Music. They have been on the campus for 67 years and are shifting landlord /tenant relationship to a full fledge partnership. Starting with the construction of 2 new buildings on campus to house them. This $10,000,000 project is a major investment in the college.
They are also collaborating with other area colleges in Southern Vermont so that the 4 small colleges can share services to be more efficient. They have been in contact with Putney Student Travel to have them use their campus. They would like to have the group leaders spend a few weeks at the college to build their leadership skills. Conversations have been started to also provide academic credit to the Putney Student Travel group.
They are gaining momentum and focusing on the college…...”all this about our students”. They are very passionate about what they do and it is evident in the way they talk about the students currently enrolled at Marlboro College.
As an aside he did mention the Annual Wendell-Judd Cup – a Ski and snowshoe event
These beautiful trails are suitable for all skiers, from novice to veterans, and snowshoes are also encouraged to participate. For more information, contact Adam Katrick at 258-9253 or katrick@marlboro.edu. Rain Date: Sunday, March 4th.