Questioning Gender Equality, Winning a Run and Pointing a Finger
With rituals complete, fifteen Rotarians sat down to the usual make-your-own-sandwiches, soup, salad and cookies. Tony was recognized by President Caroline with the expectation that he .JPG)
would propose a fine since he was standing. He was standing, he said, because a woman (Sara) had entered the room. He then went on to propose a fine on Eddy and Bob who were sitting in the vicinity, but hadn’t stood. Bob defended them by using the argument that in this age of equality of the sexes the basis of Tony’s fine was “pitiful.” Sara forcefully retorted that there was no data to support the existence of gender equality. Without further ado the fine passed. Doug Bullet offered two Happy Dollars: one for Shalene Flanagan winning the New York City Marathon and one for being an alumnus of the University of North Carolina, as is he. President Caroline asked Barre Rotarians to introduce our two guests: Bob introduced his co-conspirator, Eddy Rousse; Elizabeth introduced Doug Bullet. Liane rose and was recognized by President Caroline and proposed a fine on Tom for pointing his finger while in the food line at Bob to indicate that it was his phone that rang when in fact it was Tom’s phone. Tom questioned how she (Liane) knew it was his phone and she quipped “I know your ring.” Fine passed.
A Membership Moment and M&M’s
Scott was called on to give us a “Membership Moment.” As a preamble to one of his candy/membership metaphors, he told of our earlier conversation about caramel M&M’s and said that he had not known of their existence. He pointed out that we have been eating the same kind of M&M’s each time that he has provided them. Like the discovery of caramel M&M’s, we need to reach out and invite a more diverse field of applicants for membership. We assume that at a future meeting we will be enjoying the newly discovered M&M’s and more diversity in our luncheon crowd.Karl rose, was recognized and proposed a fine of one-on-nine on Scott for not providing M&M’s for the children’s table. In his defense Scott observed that seats were available at the grown-up table. An argument was made that only two seats were available since the one at the head would have placed the occupant with the back of the head facing the head table and that would be rude. Karl also evoked the arcane policy that Rotarians should sit in a different seat each week. Brenda touched us with her sympathetic reasoning for sitting at the children’s table; not wanting those already seated there to feel ostracized. By now the “fine” discussion had gone far afield from the original intent (notice no mention of M&M’s). I think the fine passed and Scott threw some M&M’s in the direction of the children’s table.
Donations Approved and More Happy Dollars
President Caroline presented the Proposed Donation List. After brief presentation and discussion, Tony moved and Tom seconded the acceptance of the List. Motion passed unanimously. Those receiving donations included a wide variety of local charities and nonprofits, international projects, district Rotary events and activities, and Barre Town and Barre City schools. Given or allocated, $9,250 will have been donated this year by the Rotary Club of Barre.
Liane rose again to add three Happy Dollars to the coffers. The first for a stress-free Ball and a thank you for all of those who helped make it a success; a second and third for the upcoming weekend; she will be attending Rotary Team Training at Lyndon State and Skid School where she will learn defensive driving.
Earle’s Pearls
- President Caroline announced that she has received information from Rotary International regarding the Presidential Citation Award. She will review and get back to us about applying.
- The Mount Washington Summit will take place from May 4-6, 2018. It will include four districts from the Northeast. Registration will open soon.
- The Rotary International Conference will take place in Toronto in June. Here is an opportunity to meet Rotarians from around the world and it’s relatively nearby.
- The Speech Contest this year will be headed up by Brenda Waterhouse.
- Our Christmas Wrap/Party will take place on Saturday, December 9th from 10-1 at the Granite Museum. It will include a brunch potluck, wrapping coats and decorating ornaments activity for children. We will be joined by Central Vermont Young Professionals and the Central Vermont Rotary Club. The Salvation Army will distribute the coats.
- Sam Markewich has applied for membership and this is the second announcement.
Skills Improved and Confidence Increased Through the RYLA Experience
President Caroline asked Elizabeth to introduce our speaker of the day, Makenna Taylor, last year’s recipient of the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award). Before she began her talk, Elizabeth presented her with a RYLA certificate.
Makenna told us that her experience at Lyndon State was full of activities and discussions on team building and leadership. During one activity the participants had to build a bridge with newspaper and tape strong enough to hold a can of paint and without talking. She said that as a result of the experience her leadership and listening skills improved and her confidence increased. She had to learn to work with many different people who often did not share the same viewpoints. For talent night, she and a couple of other girls told jokes. With prodding from Rotarians she offered this: “One morning he tried to catch the fog, but he mist.” She has told others at Spaulding about her experience in the hope that some of them will apply for this year’s RYLA. President Caroline presented her and her guidance counselor, Emily Graham, a bottle of Rotary maple syrup and the rest of us provided a warm round of applause in appreciation of her presentation.
More M&M’s and Dog Statues
Since there was a little more time, Scott rose to fine the children’s table for not eating the
M&M’s that he had reluctantly provided to them after being fined earlier in the meeting. Brenda defended her behavior by pointing out that she did not want to eat during Makenna’s talk which she felt would be rude. Not sure if the fine passed or not.
Karl then stood and presented a fund raising idea that he stumbled on when he had to go into Catskill, New York for boat repairs. Throughout the city, decorated fiberglass statues of cats were mounted on platforms. They are auctioned off and often fetch thousands of dollars. He thought that perhaps we could have dog statues, purchased by merchants, decorated by local artists and auctioned off during the Heritage Festival. He will do some more research and get back to us with more details.
