Rotary Rag

 
 
 
THANK YOU, Tristan, for taking notes while I went to take my girl to school!!!
 
This day in history: 10/05/05 Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer III 24 miles in 39 minutes, a record that stood until 1908; 10/5/21 1st ever radio broadcast of the World Series; 10/5/69 1st episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired on the BBC
 
Guests (apologies for misspellings): Nancy Heydinger and Jessica Rodriguez (Girls on the Run VT), Rick Hashagen (Dad), Erin O’Keefe (woo for membership), Lucy Farnum (12 year old), Debra (last time as a guest!), Ava (daughter) and Shoshana (daughter) Rosensweig, Leah McGrath Goodman (writer), Evelyn Woliver (curly), Davey Either (student)
 
Rotary anniversary: Sandy Shriver, 19 years of service! Yay!
 
New member welcome: Debra Rosensweig. Congratulations! We are lucky to have you as a member!
 
Announcements:
  • Trivia is Monday night, October 10, GOTR VT is the charity partner
    Please come and bring friends!! There is a facebook event—pass it around.
  • World Polio Day October 24
    We are very close to eradicating polio. There is a big push for every Rotarian to donate something to the polio fund this year. Please consider a donation.
  • Board meeting tomorrow, 7.15 AM at WKVT
  • Disc Golf Tournament, October 16
    Go play on the course! It’s fun. Ask your fellow Rotarians to play with you. Register for the tournament at the Go Fund Me page. Also share the Facebook event. Damon suggested we reach out to B&G Club to see if they want to use sponsor’s registration--Sadie will do that. Thank you to everyone in the room who is sponsoring the tournament! There are prizes for each division. Josh has posters if people want to put them up in town.
    Dan asked for help with food, etc. He passed around a list, but contact him if you can help! We need a source for free food, too. Let him know if you have contacts.
  • The state student music festival (?) is coming in May
    They are looking for people to host high school students for 1-2 nights in May. If you are interested, contact KJ.
  • The Coffee Shop is open!
    We guarantee that if you like the coffee or not, you will NOT get your money back! WOW! Half the price goes to help a Honduran child to attend school. Davey guilted Mark into a purchase--go Davey!
  • West Chesterfield School is selling pumpkins if you want it.
  • Fagelson watch
    Bob is having a birthday (milestone) this year. If you see him say Happy Birthday. They are well, just busy and will be back soon.
Cards: Queen of Clubs—Ross wins and donates back to the Club! Thanks!
 
Bowl of Life: When this member was a toddler, they stuck a key in the electrical socket and that is why they have an electrical personality! Diane guessed Toni, guessed Jon S., guessed Debra, guessed Ali, guessed ???. guessed Ed, guessed Jim Maxwell (when I was a toddler there wasn’t electricity), guessed Gerry, guessed Sandy, guessed Jen,  guessed Shannon, guessed Marcy, guessed Amelia. Correct! Her explanation was that it was the 60s. Jon asks how many in the room did the same. Ten hands go up.
 
Brags:
  • Shannon: $1 brag (and apology for streaking). Discussion ensues about streaking costs. Brag for Empty Bowls this weekend.
  • Jon: Kerry in CA for two weeks, leaving him with the kids.
  • Ali: Going back to work part-time! Also for her daughter’s 18th birthday. Celebrating while in Madasgar.
  • Nick: Celtics game at Umass. Great time and affordable.
  • Amelia: $5 brag for Girls on the Run. Great experience for her daughters.
  • Jim: Bragging for Girls in the Run's energy and how they got it off the ground.
  • KJ: Last Day for Rescue Raffle tickets. Adventure race Oct 15th for rescue. See the tech team at work. Shannon is on the team this year.
  • Marcy: Promote herself for a speaker on Halloween next week. Tech geek Halloween stuff next week.
  • Turner: Jason for getting a new used car.
  • Toni: Drove to NY with her sister and daughter. Found herself registered for a 5k run. Not so much her thing, but she had a great time and it was a great event.
Guest speakers: Nancy Heydinger and Jessica Rodriguez from Girls on the Run VT
Diane introducing her guests. Learned about it from her daughter’s experience. Great experience for her.
Many people have some connection. We started off with a little self-reflection. Thinking on your life now and the things you know today, is there something you wish someone taught you or showed you when you were younger? Erin offered negotiating conflict. Nick offered patience. Damon offered the value of being offered; he started running 6 years ago when he was overweight and wished he had started in his youth instead of starting at 40. Turner offered to be a better listener; his dad was a minister and if he had listened, he would have gotten in less trouble. Jess shared that she wished she wasn’t compared to her twin brother and the understanding that there are different kinds of success. Nancy shared she wished she knew that she had value compared to her brothers, who were all-star athletes.
Imagine a place young girls had a safe space to start a positive life stories. That is what GOTR is all about. It is after school grades 3-8. You don’t have to be a runner. At the end of the program, you complete a 5K (running, walking, etc.). They shared a video of 2 girls from the first GOTR team and others. We then thought about how this video might relate to our thoughts from earlier. It is not only life-changing for the girls who participate, but the coaches as well.
It is national GOTR’s 20th anniversary. GOTR VT has been going for 17 years and prepared 41,000 girls in VT to reach their limitless potential. They have also had over 3,000 volunteer coaches. The cost is $180/girl and the program cost is $100 for girls (financial assistance is available). They had to raise $300,000 to cover the cost last year. Nancy thanked the group for helping them with the Trivia Night. Other opportunities are to: sponsor a team; sponsor 1-2 girls; become a coach or co-coach; recruit coaches; volunteer at the 5K on May 20; join the 5K committee. Nancy encouraged people to share their stories with people and the story of GOTR.
Questions and comments:
  • Jon talked about his daughters and the template for teaching life skills and the high quality of the self-empowering curriculum.
  • Tristam’s wife has been a coach for over 12 years. He has heard a lot of stories. What impacted him recently is the blooming of the girls. He talked about the Grafton team and how it helps the girls in ways they would never get; it is a very under-resourced community. He applauded Nancy.
  • Damon’s wife works in a male-dominated profession and she has stories about misogyny in her business. It is a critical time to talk about empowering young women and make it happen.
  • Heart & Sole is a program of GOTR for girls in grades 6-8. It is a more advanced curriculum and based more on their voices.
  • Jim V. asked about the parent experience and if it has a construct for talking with their daughters. Nancy shared there is a parent guide so that people know what is going on and can engage in conversation. You also see changes in family behavior and health.
Nancy read a story from a girl about the first time she ran a 5K in VT. She talked about how hard it was but how accomplished she felt. She talked about how supported she felt. She knows she can set goals and reach them.
President Damon congratulated the speakers and transferred the honor of a Rotary mug upon them with gratitude.
 
Respectfully, Sadie