Granite Chips September 19, 2012
Posted by Carolyn Dawes
on Sep 19, 2012
Granite Chips
The Newsletter of the Barre Rotary Club
Give, Live, Laugh
Notes from September 19, 2012 meeting at The Hilltop
Upcoming Rotary Programs
9/26/12
Club Assembly
Prez Jim
As people were entering, Elizabeth was handing out our new Rotary T-shirts.
We started with the usual bell ring, song, pledge & grace – offered by Roy. Who thanked God for caves (in honor of our speaker).
Bob started right off by proposing a fine of 1+1 ½ on President Jim. Bob said he had read last week’s Granite Chips while being chauffeured cross country by his son, Michael, and noticed the fine on granite manufacturers because of the broken spoke on the granite Rotary wheel on the podium. Bob said it’s obviously P. Jim’s fault. While we enjoyed Bob’s stories about his travels, we didn’t pass the fine.
Lunch was a buffet of beef stew with potatoes, noodles, rolls and salad (do you think there was enough starch in that menu?).
Bob, concerned that he would get food on his new T-shirt, kept looking moving it around until he managed to drag it through the beef stew gravy. Thank goodness for Tide stainstick!
Roy said he had challenged club members to navigate their way through the club website and offered prizes for the 1 st , 6 th , 13 th , 19 th & 23 rd Rotarians to follow his instructions and respond. He was feeling discouraged when he received only 3 responses, but then ran into Rotarians who visited the website, but hadn’t followed all the directions. He said the 1 st responder was Carol (I’m all about the competition), and he presented her with her prize – a candle donated by Bill N.’s wife, Diane. (NB – I left the candle on the table by accident. I’m hoping someone picked it up for me, or it’s still sitting there. I’ll check the Hilltop after work.)
Karl said he will bring his camera next week before the meeting for anybody who wants and updated photo for their profile on the website.
Chet & Karen gave a Happy Dollar – last week they were honored with an award at the annual Bread & Roses festival in Lawrence, MA, which was celebrating the 100 th anniversary of the Lawrence mill strikes. During the strikes, children of striking millworkers were sent to Barre to be out of harm’s way.
Carol gave an update on the Joint Service Club community service recognition dinner, which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 10 th at the Canadian Club. Honorees are John & Cindy Hooker, Dr. E. V. Reynolds and our own John Gardner. Another person selected has declined to be honored, so the committee will decide this evening whether to make another selection. Tickets will be $20 each and Carol will have them available at next week’s meeting.
Karl said there will a special after-Rotary program next week. Following the meeting, there will be an opportunity to tour the Blanchard Block and meet with Granite City Developers about their plans for bringing that building back to life. (NB – I’ve been through the building recently, and the tour is well worth taking!)
Jack gave a Sad Dollar – one of his two three-legged dogs, ran off the other day to chase deer. A neighbor found the dog, who had had a run-in with a porcupine which left him with a snout full of quills. It was early evening, and the neighbor helped transport the dog to the emergency vet center in Williston, where it took until after midnight to get the quills out. Jack gave a Happy Dollar for have such a great neighbor.
Roy said it’s time for the 2 nd drawing of the early incentives offered to those who have already registered for the Rotary district conference cruise. The winner of $300 is Wendy Franklin of the Newport Club.
President Jim reminded everybody that next week’s meeting is Club assembly, and among the items on the agenda will be the approval of the charities budget.
In Sue’s absence, Elizabeth gave the secretary’s report. She said Sandy Rousse has turned in her membership application, so this is the official first publication of her name as a potential new member.
Bill N. gave a Happy Dollar for the great job the Membership chair is doing in recruiting new members (guess who the membership chair is…)
Claire proposed a fine of 1+1 ½ on Chet – something about having his wife’s emails go in his spam folder. Bob told us he visited Austin, Minnesota on his recent cross country jaunt. Austin is home of the Spam Museum. Bob offered to pay the fine, which passed.
Claire introduced our speaker today – Peter Youngbaer, executive director of People’s Health & Wellness Clinic. Claire said Peter is a caveman. Peter agreed, telling us he’s a caver or spelunker, and has been exploring cases for more than 40 years. He belongs to the National Speleological Society, whose mission is to explore, study and protect caves. There is one chapter in Vermont, based in Rutland. Peter brought copies of several publications for people to take.
Peter asked us to close our eyes to experience what caving is like, and he read “The Ghost of Floyd Collins”, a poem inspired by a caver who died trapped in a section of Mammoth Cave.
Peter talked about the longest cave system (Mammoth Cave with 390 miles of continuing passages), and the deepest (a cave in Soviet Georgia at a depth of 7,208 ft.) He said Vermont caves have an internal year-round temperature of 42º, and there are 150 caves in the state. Tennessee has the most in the US, and Delaware only has one.
Peter brought his caving pack and showed us all the stuff he takes with him, including special clothing, knee pads, helmet with lights, webbing, duct tape, caribiners, candles, waterproof supplies, extra batteries, camera, etc. All cavers need to be self-sufficient, and he said the recommendation is to have at least 3 people on an expedition.
Club members enthusiastically thanked Peter for his great presentation.
I didn’t see who had the winning raffle ticket – but it wasn’t me!
Visit other local Rotary Clubs – it’s fun and counts as a make up!
Club
Weekday
Time
Location
Montpelier
Monday
12:15 PM
Capitol Plaza
Central Vermont
Monday
6:15 PM
The Steak House
Waterbury
Tuesday
7:15 AM
Waterbury Senior Center
Valley
Wednesday
7:15 AM
The Sugarbush Inn
Randolph
Thursday
12:15 PM
Grant’s Camp
Northfield
Thursday
6:15 PM
Senior Center
The Newsletter of the Barre Rotary Club
Give, Live, Laugh
Notes from September 19, 2012 meeting at The Hilltop
Upcoming Rotary Programs
9/26/12
Club Assembly
Prez Jim
As people were entering, Elizabeth was handing out our new Rotary T-shirts.
We started with the usual bell ring, song, pledge & grace – offered by Roy. Who thanked God for caves (in honor of our speaker).
Bob started right off by proposing a fine of 1+1 ½ on President Jim. Bob said he had read last week’s Granite Chips while being chauffeured cross country by his son, Michael, and noticed the fine on granite manufacturers because of the broken spoke on the granite Rotary wheel on the podium. Bob said it’s obviously P. Jim’s fault. While we enjoyed Bob’s stories about his travels, we didn’t pass the fine.
Lunch was a buffet of beef stew with potatoes, noodles, rolls and salad (do you think there was enough starch in that menu?).
Bob, concerned that he would get food on his new T-shirt, kept looking moving it around until he managed to drag it through the beef stew gravy. Thank goodness for Tide stainstick!
Roy said he had challenged club members to navigate their way through the club website and offered prizes for the 1 st , 6 th , 13 th , 19 th & 23 rd Rotarians to follow his instructions and respond. He was feeling discouraged when he received only 3 responses, but then ran into Rotarians who visited the website, but hadn’t followed all the directions. He said the 1 st responder was Carol (I’m all about the competition), and he presented her with her prize – a candle donated by Bill N.’s wife, Diane. (NB – I left the candle on the table by accident. I’m hoping someone picked it up for me, or it’s still sitting there. I’ll check the Hilltop after work.)
Karl said he will bring his camera next week before the meeting for anybody who wants and updated photo for their profile on the website.
Chet & Karen gave a Happy Dollar – last week they were honored with an award at the annual Bread & Roses festival in Lawrence, MA, which was celebrating the 100 th anniversary of the Lawrence mill strikes. During the strikes, children of striking millworkers were sent to Barre to be out of harm’s way.
Carol gave an update on the Joint Service Club community service recognition dinner, which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 10 th at the Canadian Club. Honorees are John & Cindy Hooker, Dr. E. V. Reynolds and our own John Gardner. Another person selected has declined to be honored, so the committee will decide this evening whether to make another selection. Tickets will be $20 each and Carol will have them available at next week’s meeting.
Karl said there will a special after-Rotary program next week. Following the meeting, there will be an opportunity to tour the Blanchard Block and meet with Granite City Developers about their plans for bringing that building back to life. (NB – I’ve been through the building recently, and the tour is well worth taking!)
Jack gave a Sad Dollar – one of his two three-legged dogs, ran off the other day to chase deer. A neighbor found the dog, who had had a run-in with a porcupine which left him with a snout full of quills. It was early evening, and the neighbor helped transport the dog to the emergency vet center in Williston, where it took until after midnight to get the quills out. Jack gave a Happy Dollar for have such a great neighbor.
Roy said it’s time for the 2 nd drawing of the early incentives offered to those who have already registered for the Rotary district conference cruise. The winner of $300 is Wendy Franklin of the Newport Club.
President Jim reminded everybody that next week’s meeting is Club assembly, and among the items on the agenda will be the approval of the charities budget.
In Sue’s absence, Elizabeth gave the secretary’s report. She said Sandy Rousse has turned in her membership application, so this is the official first publication of her name as a potential new member.
Bill N. gave a Happy Dollar for the great job the Membership chair is doing in recruiting new members (guess who the membership chair is…)
Claire proposed a fine of 1+1 ½ on Chet – something about having his wife’s emails go in his spam folder. Bob told us he visited Austin, Minnesota on his recent cross country jaunt. Austin is home of the Spam Museum. Bob offered to pay the fine, which passed.
Claire introduced our speaker today – Peter Youngbaer, executive director of People’s Health & Wellness Clinic. Claire said Peter is a caveman. Peter agreed, telling us he’s a caver or spelunker, and has been exploring cases for more than 40 years. He belongs to the National Speleological Society, whose mission is to explore, study and protect caves. There is one chapter in Vermont, based in Rutland. Peter brought copies of several publications for people to take.
Peter asked us to close our eyes to experience what caving is like, and he read “The Ghost of Floyd Collins”, a poem inspired by a caver who died trapped in a section of Mammoth Cave.
Peter talked about the longest cave system (Mammoth Cave with 390 miles of continuing passages), and the deepest (a cave in Soviet Georgia at a depth of 7,208 ft.) He said Vermont caves have an internal year-round temperature of 42º, and there are 150 caves in the state. Tennessee has the most in the US, and Delaware only has one.
Peter brought his caving pack and showed us all the stuff he takes with him, including special clothing, knee pads, helmet with lights, webbing, duct tape, caribiners, candles, waterproof supplies, extra batteries, camera, etc. All cavers need to be self-sufficient, and he said the recommendation is to have at least 3 people on an expedition.
Club members enthusiastically thanked Peter for his great presentation.
I didn’t see who had the winning raffle ticket – but it wasn’t me!
Visit other local Rotary Clubs – it’s fun and counts as a make up!
Club
Weekday
Time
Location
Montpelier
Monday
12:15 PM
Capitol Plaza
Central Vermont
Monday
6:15 PM
The Steak House
Waterbury
Tuesday
7:15 AM
Waterbury Senior Center
Valley
Wednesday
7:15 AM
The Sugarbush Inn
Randolph
Thursday
12:15 PM
Grant’s Camp
Northfield
Thursday
6:15 PM
Senior Center