BRATTLEBORO SUNRISE ROTAY RAG
JUNE 5, 2019

GREETER:
 - Among those who were thanked, this stand-in Scribe along with our Sgt.-at-Arms, Ed… But does anyone remember who the greeter was actually supposed to have been, because it wasn’t either of us; {some thought maybe Will?} 
Next week’s greeter – Turner (plus anyone else who might also need hugs)
 
SCRIBE – Drew… but Ali stepped in for him (since the man already works hard enough for our community and inarguably deserves a free pass!!)
Scribes Upcoming weeks:
~ 6-12-19 – Tristam Johnson
~ 6-19-19 – Damon Kindopp
 
Quote of the Day: “When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.”  ~ Mark Twain
 
Today in History:
June 5, 1933 – The US went off the gold standard, a monetary system in which currency is backed by gold, when congress enacted a joint resolution nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold.  The US had been on a gold standard since 1879, but bank failures during the Great Depression of the 1930’s frightened the public into hoarding gold, making the policy untenable.
June 5, 1968 – At 12:50am PDT, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a presidential candidate, was shot three times in a hail of gunfire at the Ambassador Hotel in LA.  Five others were wounded.  The senator had just completed a speech celebrating his victory in the California presidential primary.  Kennedy, critically wounded, was rushed to the hospital, where he fought for his life for the next 24 hours.  He passed away on the morning of June 6, only 42 years old. 
June 5, 1993 – Julie Krone rode 13-to-1 shot Colonial Affair to victory in the Belmont Stakes to become the first female jockey ever to win a Triple Crown race.  Krone retired in 1999 with 3,545 career wins, the most ever for a woman.  In 2000, she became the first female jockey inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.

GUEST INTRODUCTIONS:
Rob Wheeler – of Wheeler Farm in Wilmington, VT – And our day’s Guest Speaker
Ayla – daughter of Josh T
Shoshana– daughter of Debra R
 
No Birthdays nor any Anniversaries to sing about.
 
STUDENT ROTARIAN:
Josh has enjoyed being a Student Rotarian in our midst for the past three years, and hopes to return for future visits.  He’ll be splitting his time this summer, working as a trail guide at Berkshire East, bike racing, and preparing for next fall when he’ll be starting at the University of NH with a major in Business.  Josh, you’re welcome back any time, and as Josh T added… ‘Hey, bring the family!’
 
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS:
 
Tom Franks – future incoming Club Secretary – invited us once more to assist with the herding of the Heifers at this Saturday morning’s stroll (8am - ?).  Any last minute takers are more than welcome to come help and be a part of the fun… Reach out to Tom via ClubRunner (email or phone numbers both available).   Or try: snwbkr@gmail.com
 
Marcy reminded us of the Board Meeting tomorrow (Thursday, June 6) which are now held HERE at our own breakfast location / Legion, and no longer at WKVT.  Meeting starts at 7:15am, and all general membership  members are welcome to attend.
 
Ali (me): Reiterated that the final week of this month – June 26th – (in lieu of the regular morning meeting) we will be enjoying an evening celebration at the annual Changeover Party.  This event celebrates the changing of the guards, from the soon-to-be outgoing President Marcy to the incoming Jim Verzino at the podium.  For our venue again this year we have been invited back to Lisa Fitzgerald’s in Chesterfield, NH.  Our agenda will be light on formalities, heavy on frivolity!  Please mark the date in your calendars as the fuller the attendance the finer the festivities!!  A family-friendly event, and generally a covered dish with a BYOB format.  More details forthcoming and the sign up sheet should get passed around next week.
 
Jim Verzino – Speaking of parties… As his year at the helm looms nearer, the position of Club Service Chair (a.k.a. the club’s official ‘party planner’) is open.  Upon asking for any takers, Will Shakespeare stepped up to take on the role this year, as Ali is moving into her role as the Counter of Coin. (Lisa cheered nearby.)
 
Dan – Successful blood drive last week – with a good turn out and (I think) 24 pints of blood collected.  A number of our brethren still sported the bruises from having done their part.  Future blood drive date(s) TBD.
 
Kevin – As an unofficial fundraiser, our Student Rotarians carry sheets for us to sign throughout the year, which we are to do after introducing ourselves and taking a few moments to get to know them in an effort to help them feel welcome.  Each unsigned sheet later handed in at year’s end represents a dollar due if your name is not upon it.  Well, the sheets are in and the unofficial tallies, minus those not yet counted from Josh’s recently delivered sheet, exceeded $80 this year – yikes!  Kevin relished (with noted glee) doling out fines and publically shaming (albeit all in fun, sorry Debra!!) those of us who’d neglected to officially greet some of the students and sign their sheets.  While Kevin read off each name, I’ll spare members additional public shaming in this newsletter but if you missed today’s meeting, check with Toni who now possesses said list to see what you may owe.
 
BRAGS:
 
Deb C – With another grandbaby on the way, Deb and hubby Tony had offered to build the family a new bed.  But not just any wooden framed bed… this one was a raised bed and it had specifications any architect would be impressed with including steps, shelves, cubbies and all handmade and hand-stained, a dedicated labor of love.  Deb is truly celebrating the accomplishment, especially since the little one may be arriving weeks sooner than expected – I think she said mom was in early labor as we sat there noshing on breakfast!

Cindy – was camping all weekend – and her relaxed glow was noted by many.   She visited the Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt library and mansion, located in Rhinebeck (Hyde Park?), NY.  Cindy was ‘incredibly impressed’ with the body of good work and great accomplishments the Roosevelts have both done for our country.  The place was a ‘must see’ for history buffs and casual enthusiasts alike.
 
Chris – Good news to share: Chris’ wife is pregnant and they are happily expecting child #2, although noting some level of concern around anticipated sleepless nights soon to be the new norm.  Hearty and heartfelt congratulations!
 
Jon – remembering back that far himself bragged for his daughter Alina who has gone from attending Rotary in her car seat to now Sweet- 16.
 
Josh T – Daughter Ayla is about to celebrate her 9th birthday and will also be moving from lower elementary to upper elementary, which is really exciting.  Also for an epic adventure over the past weekend exploring 5 (that’s FIVE!) different golf courses in central Massachusetts with other fellow disc golf aficionados.  He nearly glowed with love and fond memories for all the disc golf he’d been able to play – over 80 holes of disc golf, which our table was marveling over, in that for many of us – one single hole could take upwards of 20 minutes!
 
Debra – A brag for Shoshi for her upcoming graduation from 6th grade later this week, and for a big presentation ‘Sho-Sho’ will be giving on Harry Houdini!
 
Lisa F – Survived her first week with two Swamp Bat boys who are staying with her family for the rest of the summer.  Feeding them so far has been the biggest challenge, as they are teenage boys, after all.  But also two of the nicest and most well-behaved boys she’s ever known, aside from her own children.
 
Jen – Had a parental brag, starting with for her father who passed away 5 years ago.  She and her mother attended his 50th reunion from Princeton Univ last weekend, down in Jersey… something she’s been doing with her parents ever since she was a little girl.  She enjoyed marching in the parade with her mother and reconnecting with her father’s former classmates (Class of ’69), as she’s known them most of her own life.  The brag then segued to Mom with her strength that continues to inspire and amaze Jen, who was so glad to help her mom honor Dad’s memory.
 
Mona – with an absentee brag on behalf of Christine Takacs who couldn’t come but wanted to thank Turner and Kay for a lovely dinner they put on for Lucy over the weekend.
 
Dan – Over the weekend he took our Rotary exchange student Lucy off-road jeeping… Lucy experienced her American redneck fantasy driving in 4 feet deep swamps filled with mud, over fallen trees and many rock obstacles!  There was one nail-biting moment when the threat of rolling felt fairly imminent … but they were able to hold on and with a little help from gravity and the Jeeping swamp gods, they landed back safely!
 
CARDS:
Picked was the Jack of Hearts – held by the lucky Papa-to-be – Chris.  Making Ed’s assessment accurate – monies raised from these card shenanigans DO in fact go towards (future) educational funds. 
 
GUEST SPEAKER:
 
Rob Wheeler – a third generation dairy farmer – out in Wilmington, VT talked to us about dairy trends.
 
Back in the 1950’s, Vermont had 14,660 dairy farms and a population of only 379,000 people.  Calculating that ratio, that was 25 people: 1 farm.
Now in 2019, Vermont has only 687 dairy farms remaining, but now almost double the population at 626,000 people.  That ratio is now 912 people: 1 farm.  Vermont still continues to make 63% of the milk for New England.  Today we know more about health and welfare of cows than we do humans!  With advances, cow production is up even though the number of cows doing that producing is down.  Efforts to become more efficient have yielded other improvements to the industry such as the development of manure digesters, 16 of which in VT alone which make energy to power more than 4000 VT homes annually.  
 
Due to industry improvements and gained knowledge, today a gallon of milk is produced with 65% less water and 63% less carbon than it took to produce a gallon of milk in 1944. Now we are able to make better products, supply nutrients to the world (Agri-Mark ships whey products that are sold in North and South America, Asia, Australia, Egypt and the Netherlands), and continue high standards of sustainability.
 
Another cool milk-fact – on average, milk travels less than 300 miles in under 48 hours to get from the dairy farm to your local grocery store. 
 
Rob’s Wheeler Farm is a member of one of the three largest dairy co-ops in VT, called Agri-Mark.  Agri-Mark consists of 1,000 dairy farm families from all six New England States and NY.  Agri-Mark markets a full truckload of milk every six minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  By working together in co-ops like Agri-Mark, farmers can accomplish more than they can individually. 
 
Meeting Adjourned.
 
Please excuse any errors or omissions, as they can be blamed on the fact that the entire meeting long I forgot to take any notes what-so-ever and had to recall most of what you just read from memory.