Interact Club Members Give Witness to the Shenanigans of Barre Rotarians
Rituals sans piano and flag but with gratitude, sixteen Rotarians and five members of Interact sat down to a great lunch; tasted as good as it looked. (See photo above.) President Caroline started the money flow to go to Spaulding Interact with two Happy Dollars: one for a successful blood drive (23 pints)*; and another for returning a pie dish to Sarah which formerly contained a delicious pear crumble pie. Tom was next with two Happy Dollars for a great day of skiing with Karl. Karl then proposed a fine of one-and-nine on everyone not wearing a badge including him. The defense by Dick and Karl that they didn’t see them went nowhere. Tom offered an amendment of 1 and 11/2 (a quarter) for Karl’s confusing explanation of "one-and-nine" to the Interact Club members. Karl offered to add three quarters to the fine to round it up to a dollar. Amendment and fine both passed.
Interact Takes Center Stage
"Fining timeout" while the students made a PowerPoint presentation on their service activities. Here are the highlights:
- Every Thursday they go to Lincoln House and play games or engage residents in a creative activity.
- They darn Smart Wool Socks and Darn Good Socks that have been returned to Lenny’s and give them to those in the community who are in need.
- Every Monday Interact students collect bottles in the student drop-off area and use the funds for their service projects.
- “I Matter You Matter” is a day of kindness which will be celebrated this year on March 28th. Buttons will be given out with the intention of promoting acts of kindness and positivity in the school.
- Members of the Interact Club are going to pass out inspirational quotes to those in the school community who are experiencing hardships with the hope of cheering them up.
President Caroline Earle presented the students with a Certificate of Organization and a check for $132.00 (the difference between what we usually pay for lunch and today’s actual cost) to be used for their various projects.
Pictured from left to right, Jordan Fecher (Sr.),
Incoming President, Ella McCarthy (Jr.),
Earle, Justin Thurber (Jr), Jillian Tosi (Jr), and
current Club President, Randi Dudley (Sr).
Work-Based Learning
President Caroline asked the students who were eating lunch with us to talk about their personal goals which led to a discussion of work based-learning. Students work with community partners; last year there were seven and now there are sixty-nine partners. Among those mentioned during the discussion were the hospital, an accounting firm, the Vermont Historical Society and Head Start. Sarah reported that two students work at Aldrich and she’s been happy to have them.
Defend-Support-Think-Give (Celebrating the Verb)
Tom rose to defend the accounting profession (it’s more than numbers) and to gain support from members to help with RockFire on June 29th. Rotarians would collect the attendance fee and the proceeds that night will help fund the Boy Scouts’ statue which will hopefully be unveiled this fall. Three or four Rotarians volunteered as an expression of support.
Liane again asked us to think about the decision whether or not to continue the Annual Rotary Ball as a fundraising event. It will be under discussion at next week’s Club Assembly. If you are not attending, email Liane with your thoughts.
*The Barre Rotary Club co-hosted its first blood drive with the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce at its office in Berlin on March 19th. Many club members volunteered to give blood and work at the drive; some made pies. Here are a few photos.
Let them eat pie!
Until next time...that's all folks.