Rotary Rag, December 11, 2019
 
President Jim attempted to reverse entropy by calling the meeting to order at 7:15ish.
 
Acknowledgement was then offered to the official greeter for today, KJ. No mention was made of the roistrous posse. (You know who you are.)
 
Meeting schedule: There will be a meeting next Wednesday, Dec 18. You might wonder why there wouldn’t be a meeting. It involves tradition (holiday party on Sunday, and usually we don’t have a meeting that week), calendar (both holidays fall on Wednesday), and a sense that 3 weeks is too long to go without seeing each other. All to the end of recruiting a greeter (Turner volunteered) and someone to get a speaker (Val will try, Josh U volunteered as back-up.)
 
Dec 18  Greeter - Turner
Dec 18 Speaker Seeker - Val / Josh U
Dec 18 Scribe - Not recorded
 
This day in history:
  • 1882 - A production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe at Boston's Bijou Theatre becomes the first performance in a theatre lit by incandescent electric lights.
  • 1930 - As the economic crisis grows, the Bank of the United States closes its doors.
  • 1941 - The United States declares war on Italy and Germany.
  • 1964 - Frank Sinatra, Jr., is returned home to his parents after being kidnapped for the ransom amount of $240,000.
  • 1972 - Challenger, the lunar lander for Apollo 17, touches down on the moon's surface, the last time that men visit the moon.
  • 1997 - The Kyoto Protocol international treaty intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses, opens for signature.
  • 2008 - Bernard "Bernie" Madoff arrested and charged with securities fraud in what was called a $50-billion Ponzi scheme.
 
Guest - Jon Mabie, member noon club
 
Fine - Kevin, Jim’s name tag in hand, proposes a fine on the President for failing to wear his tag. Motion passes to general acclaim. President Jim fines himself for failing to look up birthdays and anniversaries in advance. No one argues.
 
Announcements -
  • Jon Secrest - Party this Sunday, light on main course , will send out email with address. Ali asks that directions go out, Will will to confirm Jon does it.
  • Staci - Reports that the NY Eve Gala committee is looking for silent auction items. Proposes that each member donate at least one of their “favorite things” to be put into gift baskets. Could be food, drink etc. (no mention made of whiskers on kittens). Please bring to the next meeting or call Staci to arrange pick-up/delivery.
  • Tom -  Reports that the Board discussed the results of the member survey on makeup policy and achieved a semblance of consensus which he will attempt to draft into a coherent policy.
  • Josh U - Reporting on Pints for Polio noted that he was unable to acquire a venue for this fall and is working on getting it set up for March.
 
Student Rotarian Reports
  • Hazel  reports that winter sports have started.  The first Nordic practice this year was on snow (whoopie), an unusual occurrence. They have a lot of new skiers. It’s going to be a good year.
  • Sarah is playing hockey. They lost their first game after getting lost on the way there. (The 5 hour bus ride probably didn’t help). Their first home game is tonight. And, in a non-sports related item, the student council is leading the schools “Feed the Thousands” project participation.
  • Alina is a member of the Athletic Leadership Council which is publishing advance notice for games and competitions to increase attendance. Also noted that PSAT scores are out. (No gnashing of teeth or wailing observed).
 
President Jim confirms that there are no anniversaries or birthdays.
 
Cards - With a pot of $59 the Ace of Clubs was drawn. There was no winner.
 
Brags
  • Marcy - Daughter Rowan swam in 9 events (that’s a lot) in the winter classic meet in WRJ. She took time off every event she had a previous time in. In the 50 yd free-style she  beat rival by over a second (“totally on the flip turn”) and broke the 30 second barrier.
  • Sadie - Matilda opens tomorrow night at NEYT. It will be fabulous. If interested, contact her to join her crew tomorrow night. She also reported that Patty Meyer,  musical director for NEYT,  was informed of the death of her daughter in car crash this past Sunday during rehearsal. They are sending all of the light they can to her family.
  • Mona - Reported that she doesn’t get to spend much time with father and step-mother, even though they are close by. Last night they spent 6 hours with them, going  to “Bright Lights” in Springfield MA and then out to dinner. It was “the best night.”
  • Katya - Reported that she attended a memorial service for dear friend named Monty, (96 years old) from Kennebunkport, ME. He was a man of many stories who loved skiing, sailing, and cars. He lived 3 houses down from the senior President Bush. She shared a story from the 1980’s when he had purchased a new Mazda. President Bush saw him in it and asked to drive it (I’m imagining a convertible Miata, but I’m not sure). Some one captured the President driving it  on film (pre-digital, pre-cell phone) and it went viral, that is, into PRINT. Mazda tried many times to get Monty to accept compensation, which he declined. They finally just sent him a check for $50K that he donated to charity. More importantly, he walked Katya down the aisle at her wedding.
  • Will - Updating his presentation a few weeks ago, he reported that 3 people so far have signed up for his AirBnB offering “Learn to Ski with a Vermonter.”
  • KJ - A $2 brag for Monday’s Trivia which had a great turnout and donated $605 to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Also a $5 brag for Erin, one of many remarkable women in our midst.
  • Jim - Memorialized the loss of his long time friend and teacher Richard Edelman at 93 years old. He brought Jim to Penn State to learn to act. They worked together in NYC. Richard had great sense of how and why do what you do as an actor. In Vermont, he had an association with Eric Bass at Sand Glass. Jim is going to miss him very much
  • Michelle - She joined Rotary when her daughter was in diapers. Same child is now being proposed for Rotary membership. 
  • Deb - In what I thought was going to be a brag for a new Mexican restaurant in Springfield (which is excellent she says) noted that her daughter was born 31 years ago, She also touted the benefits of moonshine, which doesn’t cause hangovers. Unlike the Margarita(s) she had last night.
  • Damon - Aiden competed in his first NCAA Div I competition in Boston on the “fastest track”. Came in 18th out of 30, half second off his previous personal best. Torin’s first race is Sunday.
  • Bethany - Two brags. First, for her last day of undergraduate studies, even though she has a couple of papers due. She starts a fulltime internship at C&S in the transport dept the first week in January. Second, for another procedure on her back, this time an “invasive surgery.” She anticipates a long road of recovery and his hopeful for relief.
 
Bowl of LIfe
 
This Rotaria climbed ¾ of Mt. Kenya. Guesses went in the following order: Dan to Will to Katya to Erin to Tristam to Jon S (who climbed all of Mt. Kenya) to Jason to Kevin to Josh T (not here) to Nick to Damon to Chris to Tom to Jeff to Lisa to Turner to Toni to Michelle to Sadie to KJ to Staci who guess Valerie, correctly She and John tried in their late 20s but couldn’t acclimate to the altitude.
 
Dinner Raffle Drawing
  • Total proceeds not available
  • Winners
    • Second prize - Kelly Willison, KJ’s sister
    • First price - John Mabie
 
The meeting adjourned with the Four Way Test at 8:16am
 
Submitted by Tom, standing in for Cindy