January 11, 2017 Newsletter

Posted by William Shakespeare
 
President Damon took the helm with quote:
 
“This Day in History: 1935 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California; 1922 - First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient; 1908 - Grand Canyon National Monument is created.”
 
Rotary Project of the Week: LIGHTING THE WAY TO A BETTER LIFE: Since the installation of more than 175 solar lights, families living on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, USA, can now read, work, and study long after the sun sets.
 
 
Guest Speaker: Club Assembly. No Guest speakers
 
Guests:
Bill Stevens, Bethany.
 
Scribes:   1/11 (today) = Will.   1/18 = Sandy S.  1/25 = Valerie.  2/1 = Tristan.
 
Birthdays:   Lisa Fitzgerald
 
 
New Member Inductions: Damon welcomed Lissa Weinmann, the owner and manager of “118 Elliot Street” with a classification “Communications”, with the Rotary wrap. Welcome, Lissa.
 
 
 
Committee Reports and Announcements:
 
Damon: Board meeting on Thursday, 1/12 at WKVT.
 
Deb: Erin’s mom is sick so Erin is in Hawaii with her providing care and support
 
Sandy S: We had about 55 players and ten tables at the Brattleboro the Boards Trivia night on 1/9. The Windham/Windsor Housing Trust board won the grand prize of about $400.
 
Kevin gave a wrap-up summary of the “Feed the Thousands” food drive. Thanks for your organizational skills in keeping us all on task.
 
Josh reported that Rob Spilla dropped by to let us know that we made $2,762 at the disk golf tournament. Well done!
 
Tristan reported that we have send over $700 to Honduras as proceeds from the coffee sales project.  Thanks all you coffee drinkers for your support.  Lets keep it going! Great coffee and great help.
Toni announced that the 3-on-3 Rotary event is scheduled for March 18th and we need to promote the event with posters, letters, registrations, etc.  Lots of work but one of our oldest and most productive fundraisers.  Business sponsors are critical to our success so if you know of a business that would like to sponsor us, reach out to them. More info and sign-ups for the work to come.
 
Cards: The Queen of Diamonds was pulled.
 
Brags:
  • Ali’s adventurous daughter is back in Ecuador for ten-weeks. 
  • Josh is going to the UK to look at “Pop-Up” roller-skating rinks that can be moved from place to place. Some people have really fun jobs!
  • Will invited folks to come out to the Latchis this weekend to hear the Brahms’s Requiem done by the Brattleboro Music Centers Concert Choir.
  • Lissa invited folks to a training on how to apply for a Vermont Humanities Council grant on strengthening institutions. The date is January 17th, lunch meeting at 118 Elliot Street.
  • Bill S made it to rotary today even though the roads were slick and dangerous. A true friend of our club.
  • Damon thanked Empress Michelle for covering for him last week at the podium while he went off to the World Junior Tournament in Montreal where his brother was playing. Eight hockey games at the Bell Center. That is true Canadian dedication to hockey.
  • Dan gave a brag for “studded snow tires” in helping get him off Woodford Hill and safely to Rotary. He made little mention of where one can get these special times.
  • Sandy L has four nieces and nephews who are visiting her grandpa in Florida. He is no longer driving so they are setting him up with an Uber account and teaching him how to use voice text so he can get his Uber car to come pick him up. Wow! What a great way to get around!
 
Club Assembly: 
 
Damon presented the topic for the Club Assembly after Tristam went to a Vision Team training.
 
Do we want to use the Rotary “Visioning Team” tool and consultant to help us define what our vision is for this club?
  • Do we need and/or want to do a visioning process as a group?
  • How and when would we do this to include as many members as possible?
  • Can we get community health and welfare data to help us in the process? (Sadie and United Way should have access to some of this data).
  • What are other clubs in the community doing? (Rotary, Elks, BPOE, etc.)
 
More discussion over the next few meetings to get a clearer picture of what this might look like.
 
 
 
Minutes provided by Will Shakespeare,