June 19, 2013 Newsletter
Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary
Meeting Minutes 6/19/13
PRES. SANDY'S RIDDLE OF THE DAY TO WAKE US UP: What word is it if you add two letters to it, it becomes shorter? SHORT
GUESTS: Arlene Coughlin and Kathryn Kindopp
GREETER: Thanks to Bob F. for a great job! Next week: Tom McRae
PRESIDENT'S ANNOUNCEMENTS RE: MEETINGS: No meeting JULY 3 due to July 4 holiday - no Board Meeting IN JULY - next Board Meeting will be AUGUST 1.
SPEAKERS' LIST - has been updated by Toni Sewing
NEXT WEEK'S NEWSLETTER SCRIBE: Alisa Barry
SUMMER MEETING LOCATION: Pres. Sandy announced that the meetings will continue to be held at the Legion. THANKS, TRISTAN!
RELAY FOR LIFE: Dan Deitz circulated the sign-up sheet for people to work at this event which will be held Fri., June 21.
CHILD HUNGER PROGRAM: Dan also circulated information and a sign-up sheet for this program. Sadly, this note taker did not get any of the pertinent data on this. IF INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT DAN.
NEW MEMBERS INFORMAL MEETING AT METROPOLIS: this will be held on Thurs. night at 6:00 PM. The purpose is to familiarize new members (those who have joined in the last 2 yrs.) with Rotary. Long-time members are welcome, too!
CARDS: King of Spades! Erich Hoyer won $13.00!
BIRTHDAYS: Will Shakespeare, Toni Sewing and Valerie Stuart were serenaded by the Club's gentlemen songsters (and they were on tune, too!)
BRAGS
TRISTAM JOHNSON - had to stop his car the other day by the Retreat Meadows to allow a family (or flock) of Canadian geese to cross Rte. 30. They believe they have the right-of-way. It's quite a sight!
RALPH MEIMA: HE MADE HIS FIRST BRAG! Keep 'em coming, Ralph! Last Thursday he was a guest speaker at a Club in Sweden and he did it in Swedish!
SADIE FISCHESSER AND EVIE: Sadie visited Baltimore, MD and had a great time - really enjoyed the Visionary Arts Museum. Evie had her last day of school! (She really seemed happy about this) HAVE A GREAT SUMMER, EVIE!
DAVE COUGHLIN: (Who was able to sit with the regular people for the first time in a long time. Jill is now the official Treasurer.) Dave said his daughter threw them a going-away party. His entire gene pool (kids) was there. (His words, not the note taker's) Had a great time! He's been looking online for a Rotary club in the Pensacola area and there are way too many suits. He did find one where the meetings are held in a bar - looks like that's the one for him.
MARCY CAULKINS: Rowan is now a first-grader. She is also a kindergarten graduate.
BOB FAGELSON: sad to see that Barb Sondag is leaving the Town Manager's position to take a similar one near her family. He's worked with five Town Managers and she is one of the best!
TONI SEWING: she thanked Jerry Goldberg, Tristam Johnson and Pres. Sandy for handing out our Rotary scholarships at the Hinsdale HS, Leland & Gray HS and BUHS, respectively, graduation ceremonies.
LINDA TORUNSKI: went to Laconia, NH on her motorcycle! Also, the four baby falcons that were born at Vt. Yankee have left the nest.
JOSH TRAEGER: continues to be amazed by how his young daughter is progressing in speaking and all things connected with getting older.
ERICH HOYER: he and Mary went on an African safari they won in a lottery - it was a Zulu safari. They saw all kinds of wild life in their natural habitat. They visited Cape Town and Nelson Mandela's birthplace in Soweto. Had a wonderful time!
SANDY LADD: their wild turkey babies have left their nests and are running around their fields. They've had to be careful when mowing as wild turkeys nest in tall grass.
MICHELLE PONG: she thanked the Club for the scholarship that was awarded to her daughter, Caroline.
JILL TERRELL-QUAZZONI: her mother celebrated her 65th birthday in Munich, Germany where she is there on a Rhodes Scholarship (I hope I got this right) Her father was visiting for 4 weeks and that was very enjoyable.
TODD MURCHISON: his son is here for the summer so he joins his sister in making it a "full House". Todd also fined himself for arriving at the Changeover Party at Turner's at quitting time instead of the start time.
VALERIE STUART: she reported that there is a happy ending to her serious eye problem. She is on the road to being "out of the woods". She also celebrated her birthday with friends in NYC and they had a great time visiting old haunts.
JERRY GOLDBERG: gave thanks for the opportunity to give one of our Club's scholarships to Tilden (a former Rotary Student) at the Hinsdale graduation. He also bragged for the Windham Regional Career Ctr. and Dave Coughlin for the wonderful job they do with the students in the area.
GUEST SPEAKER: Sandy Ladd introduced Kathryn Kindopp, Administrator of the Cheshire County Maplewood Nursing Home.
Kathryn thanked Rotary for the opportunity, as a young person, to belong to RYLA which helped her in public speaking and leadership. She was also a Rotary Student in Germany and is a Paul Harris Fellow.
Kathryn spoke about the nursing home industry and that most people think of it in negative terms as demonstrated when she asked the members of our Club.
-10,000 people a day turning 65 in the US
-41% of nursing home patients are under 65
-People have to have exhausted funds down to $2,000 to qualify for Medicaid in VT. The government goes back 5 yrs. in determining financial eligibility. Inability to care for oneself on a daily basis also a qualifier.
-Daily cost ranges from $250 - $300/day but Medicare only pays $150/day.
-Atty. Jon Secrest said that VT is better in this area than NH. Primary house valued up to $560,000 and 401-ks and IRAs can most of the time be exclusions to these financial requirements.
VERY INTERESTING SUBJECT MATTER THAT COULD NOT BE TOTALLY CAPTURED IN THIS NEWSLETTER.
Linda Hopkins, Notetaker