Posted by Toni Ciampaglione on Jul 06, 2017
Empress Pong started her first meeting with this day in History…......  
 
1865- US Secret Service begins operations under the Treasury Department.
1643- First recorded tornado in the US was in Essex, MA.
1841- Thomas Cook opens the first travel agency.
 
Quote for the day……Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible. St. Francis of Assisi
 
GREETER:
Josh very warmly greeted us this morning and next week Will is going to be at the door with a smile  to say good morning.
 
GUESTS:
Bob Spencer- guest speaker
Jeff Dunklee - prospective member
Staci (no last name given) - prospective member
Kevin- visiting Rotarian from CT
Allie & Sarah – from the Family Garden
 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:  
  1. Allie & Sarah – from the Family Garden are looking for help with some projects. Painting a porch before the end of the summer. Ross volunteered to be project leader for the club and will try to organize a work crew of 6 to 8 people to help out….More details to come!!
  2. Marcy presented Damon with his Past President plaque and pin. Thank you for a great year Damon, now you can relax and heckle from the group like everyone else.  
  3. Thursday 7/6/17 is a board at 7:15 am at WKVT….all are welcome.
 
BIRTHDAYS: No Birthdays today
ANNIVERSARIES:   Jen Moyse joined Rotary 3 years ago...time flies!!
CARDS:  6 of Diamonds..… and the winner is ~  YOU LOSE LOSERS!!!!
 
 
BOWL OF LIFE:
This Rotarian spent a winter in Jackson Hole, WY boarding and bartending at the Alpenhof…..Jason was picked to go first and he guessed Will who guessed Josh who guessed me of all people who guessed KJ who guessed Sadie who guessed Drew>>> Ross>>> Jim M>>> Deborah>>>Lisa>>> Dan who finally guessed Nick….wow that was a money maker!!
 
BRAGS:
 
KJ: Has a request…. A friend is looking for a place to store an airstream for the winter, preferably inside. Contact him if you have something available. Also Rescue is selling raffle tickets again for a Subaru. $20 apiece or 5 for $100, great deal, drawing is in October.
Jim M: His jury duty has been put off from July to September….must be a slow time for the courts. He’ll be in good company with Sadie.
 
Marcy: Bragged a $1 for everyone who remembered that it was Wednesday and made it the meeting.
  
Ali: Bragged for our new President Michelle and for the fireworks last night, had fun with Sadie, Da and Deborah.
 
Dan: Bragged for surviving having his 2 grandkids for a week, he even brought them to changeover. Married off his daughter a few weeks back and watched the kids while they were away on honeymoon.
 
Val: Bragged for her birthday celebration out in California with her father, son and sister who live out there. Lots of family celebrating a big birthday. She also wanted to brag for the “passing of the old guard” , Chuck Cummings and Barbara Smith were both friends who truly embodied the sense of community that is Vermont. She also wanted to brag for Turner hosting the changeover, great time.
 
Will: Reminder that next week his son Nick will be our guest speaker presenting on graphic design and storyboard artistry.  
 
Damon- Bragged for all the Tough Mudders in the room. Caleb and Jacques were on his team and completed their first TM event (and maybe last).They had 16 people on his teams ranging from 16 to 63…long day. Nick also participated in his first TM at Mt Snow, Toni completed her 4th TM and Damon his 5th…he is already signed up for next year!!
 
Michelle: Bragged for the clubs new officers and wanted to thank everyone for stepping up this year as we had a lot of turnover. Also bragged for meeting a bunch of Chris’s niece’s and nephew’s this past weekend and becoming the most FAVORITE AUNT EVER!!! She was well armed with 250 water balloons, fireworks and sidewalk chalk and she was happy to report everyone left with all their fingers and toes intact.
 
 Before our Guest Speaker took the podium Sandy Shriver stood and fined himself as he had numerous people turn him down for his speaker spot so he finally had to texted Michelle looking for help ……actually I think he texted her “I suck” but my notes may be off.
 
GUEST SPEAKERS:       Bob Spencer Executive Director from Windham Solid Waste Management was our guest speaker today.
 
The Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) was formed in 1988.  At that time, only eight towns were members of the District. These towns cooperatively managed a 30 acre landfill.
 
In 1995, federally mandated landfill operation regulations forced WSWMD to seek alternative landfill sites or an alternative to landfill disposal. After much debate, WSWMD opted to get out of the landfill business and start recycling
 
"The Windham Solid Waste Management District's (WSWMD) mission is to provide solid waste education, recycling management, and disposal services for its member's towns and other entities as the need arises." This means the WSWMD is responsible for providing public education programs on all aspects of solid waste and hazardous waste management to member communities, and collection and diversion services for all wastes banned from Vermont landfills. In 1995, the WSWMD adopted the following goal: "each item of waste generated within the District (should) be directed to the highest level of the solid waste management hierarchy as is possible." 
The WSWMD's headquarters are based on Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro, Vermont where it maintains the following:
 
• a 30 acre closed landfill that was among the first in the nation to use its methane gas to generate electricity 
• a compost facility
• a transfer station that accepts non-recyclable solid waste  (often called Municipal Solid Waste, or MSW), and construction and demolition (C&D) debris 
• a drop-off facility (recycling drop-off center) for paper, cardboard, commingled containers, waste oil, tires, batteries, textiles, white goods, metal, books, computers and other electronic waste, compostable material, and yard waste
• a Swap Shop for reusable items
 
Since 1994, WSWMD has operated a materials recovery facility, or MRF, to sort, bale, and market recyclable materials collected from member towns, as well as from “out-of-district” towns. At the Board of Supervisors meeting on December 8, 2016, the Board voted to cease operation of the MRF at of the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2017.
The decision to close the MRF was controversial, but has been carefully studied by District staff and Board members for the past two years as single-stream recycling has become increasingly popular with trash haulers, and the towns they serve. This is due to the fact that all recyclable materials can be put in one container, and collected with conventional trash trucks rather than special trucks with two compartments; one for paper/cardboard, and the other for bottles and cans. This results in lower collection costs for recyclables as mandated by Vermont’s Act 148 (For more information, (see Vermont's Universal Recycling Law, Act 148).
 
On Tuesday, December 6, the Brattleboro Selectboard voted to switch to single stream recycling, diverting over 20% of the total tons of recycling processed at the District’s dual stream MRF to Casella’s single stream MRF in Rutland, Vermont.  Due to the fixed costs of operating the District’s MRF, and the loss of revenue associated with the diverted recyclables, the economic viability of the District’s MRF is greatly reduced, and therefore the Board of Supervisors voted 13 to 10 to close the facility.
By the end of June, the District removed recycling roll-off boxes from transfer stations in Dover, Jamaica, Readsboro, Townshend, Wardsboro, Whitingham, and Wilmington. The 24-7 recycling roll-off containers was also removed from Brattleboro’s Fairground Road, Brookline, Dummerston, Halifax, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, Vernon, and Westminster. Recycling containers will still be available for use by District residents at the recycling convenience center at Old Ferry Road.
 
District residents can purchase a sticker for just $25 per year to use the District’s convenience center for trash and construction & demolition debris disposal. WSWMD will continue to operate its transfer station and recycling convenience center at Old Ferry Road, as well as the swap shop, and food and yard waste composting facility. The District is also required by state law to provide other solid waste recycling services: household hazardous waste collection; recycling education for residents, schools, and businesses.
 
Another priority is to expand the District’s food and yard waste composting facility to serve a growing number of businesses, schools, and residents in accordance with Act 148 mandates.  It is possible that the District will develop a food waste methane anaerobic digester that would generate electricity, replacing the closed landfill’s diminishing supply of methane gas.