Rotary Minutes - March 25, 2020
First meeting on Zoom (online video-conferencing platform) due to COVID-19 restrictions.
President Jim welcomed everyone onto the platform and began meeting roughly between 8:00am and 8:10am, due to learning the platform and awaiting more participants to log into the meeting.
Greeters of the Day:
Both Josh Goldberg and Debbie Cox! Thank you both for your lovely “good mornings”!
Next Week’s Greeter:
Not entirely sure – perhaps the first member to log into the meeting?
Today’s Scribe:
Bethany Martin! Next week’s meeting, Wednesday, April 1st on Zoom will be Katja Matthews!
Today’s Guest Speaker:
None
In Weeks to Come Guest Speaker:
Perhaps our Student Rotarians? Hazel Wagner was asked if she would present some of her artwork, and she appeared to be willing to do so! Looking forward to it Hazel!
This Day in History:
- 1663 - Charles II of England awards land known as Carolina in North America to eight members of the nobility who assisted in his restoration.
- 1664 - In London, Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island.
- 1765 - Britain passes the Quartering Act, requiring the colonies to house 10,000 British troops in public and private buildings.
- 1900 - Mayor Van Wyck of New York breaks ground for the New York subway tunnel that will link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
- 1947 - Congress proposes limiting the United States presidency to two terms.
- 1965 - The Freedom Marchers, citizens for civil rights, reach Montgomery, Alabama.
- 1989 - The Exxon Valdez oil tanker spills 240,000 barrels of oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Rotary Minute:
- Rotary 2020 Convention June 6-8 in Honolulu HI has been cancelled.
- For the first time in history, Rotary International recommends that Rotary and Rotaract clubs meet virtually, cancel, or postpone meetings and events.
Guests:
No guests, but our Student Rotarians Hazel Wagner and Alina Secrest made it onto the call – yay them! And yay us for their dedication to continue participating in our club during these crazy life changes!
Rotary Anniversaries:
- Tristan Toleno – 14 years!
- Valerie Stewart – charter member, but still congratulations!
Birthdays:
None for this week.
Announcements:
Sadie – Overflow Shelter
- Shelter has closed at its physical location on the Winston Prouty campus. Groundworks has moved them to hotels in the area, such as the Quality Inn, as well as set up their own office there.
- The next dinner that Rotary has signed up to cook for will be in Mid-April. Volunteers have been bringing meals to the hotels and Groundworks packs them up individually to send to their rooms.
- Groundwork’s goal in moving them to the hotels was to enforce social distancing and keep everyone housed.
- Sadie will update sign-ups online and figure out ONE driver to be picking up food from the Legion and transporting it to the Quality Inn.
- https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4eaba728a3f58-seasonal13
Mona – Overflow Shelter cont.
- Our next meal contribution will be Tuesday, April 14th. There is no need for servers or clean-up people due to Groundworks wrapping up the meals individually. There is, however, a need for ONE person to pick up from the Legion and bring to the Quality Inn – Tristam has volunteered to transport meals! Thank you Tristam!
- Rotary also owes Justin for cooking the last meal Currently, our club has $115 collected, and Josh Traeger offered to help with the costs. Many thanks, Josh!
- Groundworks is also looking for other supplies, such as craft, puzzles, books, DVDs, coloring books, etc. for their client to do during the day while they are living at the hotels. Please reach out to Mona via email if you have any items to donate – Debra Rosenzweig said she can put together a bag of puzzles, games, and books! Many thanks, Debra!
Jim – Overflow Shelter cont.
- When Justin knows the exact amount for last meal and for meal coming up in April, he can send an email to Ali and she can then send money his way.
Justin – Overflow Shelter cont.
- Currently, he is working off the food he has, and needs to do a walk-through of the Legion to see what he can prepare for April’s meal. No set meal in place at this moment in time.
Josh – Clean-Up Project
- He was in contact with Carol Lolatte from the Brattleboro Parks and Recreation Center about cleaning up the pavilion. Carol will reach out when a good time would be for us to go and clean the pavilion.
Tristam – Educational Fund
- He received a letter from Carla and the organization that collects money for the educational fund thanking Rotary for what we have given her. Carla was very grateful to receive financial support to send her to school and her objective is to complete this school year for both herself and for her family.
Jim – Hurricane Dorian
- Our Rotary club had sent funds to support disaster relief to victims caught in the devastations of Hurricane Dorian back in January/February, and we received a thank-you note back.
Hazel, Student Rotarian – School Update
- Haven’t had much schooling yet since cancelling in-class studies due to COVID-19, but online classes just began on Monday. Since Monday, Hazel’s teachers have been using Zoom and Google Classroom to teach and administer assignments. Some teachers have set schedules aligned, some currently do not.
Mona – Lucy Update
- There was an earthquake in Croatia recently – Lucy and her family are okay! Very scary, but minimal damaged occurred. Lucy says to us Rotarians to stay inside and be well due to COVID-19.
Tristam – Project Proposals
- Has reviewed seven project proposals since November. Two of the most promising ones appear to be a project occurring in the Philippines providing wheelchairs to those that need them, and another project on the border of USA and Mexico in Tijuana.
Josh – Kevin Yager
- Reached out to Kevin, says that Kevin and his family are doing well!
Josh T. – Band Application
- Introduced the “Band” application a few years ago and was wondering if it makes sense to start using it again for communication purposes directly in our Rotary group. Perhaps we try it again?
Cards:
No cards for today!
Brags:
Ali – Nicole Update
- Not a brag per se, but Ali’s daughter, Nicole, is in transit from Pacific Samoa. She will be returning home, hopefully soon, but it has been a challenging time trying to figure out traveling arrangements. Positive thoughts are being sent their way!
Lisa – Travel Agent Lifestyle
- Lisa has been working nonstop to get her clients home. It’s been challenging due to airline policies constantly changing due to COVID-19 responses.
- Bragging for the people in her travel agent industry – their trajectory is going to be completely different from now on.
- Another brag for Michael, Lisa’s husband, for devoting his time to work under this life-altering pandemic. She hasn’t been able to see him in three weeks due to his work responsibilities rapidly changing from COVID-19.
- Lisa says to keep healthy and stay safe everyone!
Debbie – Florida and Grandchildren
- Debbie and Tony had a fast round-trip to Florida and back – less than 2.5 days there due to pandemic.
- Currently, Debbie is practicing social distancing from seeing Amber (her daughter) and her children (Debbie’s grandchildren) due to the pandemic. It’s challenging right now to try to explain to her grandchildren and for them to understand why she isn’t coming to see them in person. Various books are aiding in explaining germs and how they work to her grandchildren.
Tristam – Horse Rides
- Brag for his horse that has been taking him into the woods where both of them an forget about the controls of life.
Jim V. – Nephew is a Dad!
- Jim’s nephew and his girlfriend just had a baby! Unfortunately for his nephew, he works in the healthcare field and won’t be able to see his son until this pandemic I over.
- Also, a brag for Erin O’Keefe for hew work with Brattleboro Area Mutual Aid (BAMA).
Erin – BAMA
- She’s been working on setting up mutual aid for people around the community. She’s been making maps of the communities in Brattleboro and appointing a point person to each neighborhood in order to create mutual aid and support during these rough times. There are still a few neighborhoods that need a point person, which include: Belmont, Green Hill, Lower and Upper Putney, Main Street, South Main Street, and South Street.
- Please encourage your neighbors to fill out the BAMA Survey here: https://forms.gle/zX381PH8wPwFo5HZ8
- BAMA Survey in Spanish: https://tinyurl.com/reffaqj
- Needs? Vermont211.org
Justin – Wonder Wife
- Bragging for his wife, who works for Families First. She has been managing both staff and clients’ personal development, working on helping them balance family and work life. She’s gone from working 8 hours a day to 10+ hours a day! AND been busting her but putting up with Justin!
Marcy – Thank to Teachers
- Thankful to have a person more tech-savvy than herself running the Rotary meeting – thank you Jim!
- Thankful to all the teachers for putting together online learning programs for students everywhere.
Josh T. – Our Rotarians
- Shout-out to Hazel, one of our Student Rotarian’s – Josh had the opportunity to see her photography over at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.
- Another shout-out to Erin – incredible work she is doing to gather people together throughout the community during these challenging times and create a support system.
Comments? Questions?
Josh G. – Payment Question
- Since we can’t meet physically, Josh was wondering if there was any electronic payment ability in Rotary?
- ANSWER: Jim V. –
- Do NOT currently have an electronic payment method set up.
- ANSWER: Jim V. –
Jim V. – Leaving House Policy Question
- Governor has put up a “don’t leave your house” order – Jim was wondering if this means you can’t exercise (walk/run/bike/etc.) outside or walk pets?
- ANSWER: Hazel –
- You CAN leave your house to exercise/walk pets, but it should be independently.
- ANSWER: Hazel –
Lisa –
- Mental wellness is very important for all of us! Put on real clothes and shoes! Wearing yoga pants for work now is fun, but your work clothes aren’t going to fit when you finally go back into the office!
Many thanks to Josh Goldberg for setting up the Zoom meeting! Perhaps next week we will be beginning the meeting earlier than 8:00am.
Meeting adjourned by 9:15am.
