Caroline jumped right into Club Assembly business with an announcement that Pierre Couture is seeking volunteers for this year's Rockfire festival.  He's specifically looking for people to help with the Heritage walk Friday night and fire tenders on Saturday (6/29-6/30).  If you're able to help contact Pierre at millstonehill@aol.com or 479-1000.

Next up were the proposed amendments to the by-laws.  These changes were proposed by the board to make Rotary membership more accessible to the modern professional and to bring our by-laws into alignment with current practice.  Tom asked about adding any language about our upcoming 501(c)3 status; consensus was that as the process was not yet finalized and the 501(c)3 will ultimately be a different entity while Barre Rotary will maintain its 501(c)4 status, we should not attempt to add language to these by-laws addressing that change.  Sue moved and Dick seconded that we approve the new by-laws as amended.  The motion passed unanimously.

Caroline then polled the members present about the state of our banners.  It's been noted that they've seen better days, and that moths, parades, and mending have all taken a toll on their appearance.  Replacement costs for new modern banners are estimated at $500-600.  The membership felt this was not an urgent need and should not be pursued at this time.

 

The mural committee had a productive meeting on February 27.  They've proposed a general topic of "nature" to avoid any controversies around representing individuals in the design.  Plans include making the mural interactive, with objects hidden in the picture that are tied to Barre's and Vermont's history.  There are special plywood panels the mural can be painted on (not the ones used for the previous Summer St. mural, but durable outdoor panels) that will allow for better maintenance and upkeep as well as indoor painting.  Marc Browning has volunteered to approach Allen Lumber and Sherwin Williams for donations of the plywood and paint.  At this point the only funding needed from the club was $185 for the Rotary International grant application; the expenditure was approved unanimously.

 

Amanda Garland from the Central Vermont Career Center has put together a proposal that for $3,500 would get students planting and caring for trees in Berlin, Barre City, Barre Town, and East Montpelier, with sites including elementary/middle and high schools as well as the Vermont Granite Museum.  They've asked for and received $1,000 each from the Barre and Central Vermont Rotary Clubs, and the remaining $1,500 will be fundraised with donations from businesses and individuals.

 

Sue started her report with five happy dollars for having retired last Friday from her 45 year career in financial services.  She paid tribute in absentia to George Milne, who got her started in the field and mentored her throughout her career.  She also warned us that she is plenty busy, so no one get any ideas about what she should do with her all her new "free time".  

Susan also announced that Community National Bank is now a corporate member of Barre Rotary and welcomed Kristin Hayes as a representative from them.  

 

Bertil rose to give us an update on Gladys: she is now home, and it's been six months since her last stroke.  She continues to have both good days and bad days, and it's hard to know which will be which.  We all offered our well wishes and whatever help he and Gladys need that we might be able to provide.

John rose to give a sad dollar for having missed so much of Rotary, a happy dollar for being back, another happy dollar for the beautiful weather, and another sad dollar for the lack of snow.  He passed out the annual reports for the Barre Supervisory Union and briefly discussed the upcoming school budget votes.  The proposed per pupil spending at Spaulding is going up 1.04%, at Barre Town Middle and Elementary School 4.59%, and at Barre City 3.78%.  He asked everyone for their support of school budgets at Town Meeting next week.

 

Sue Higby sat down to chat with us about her experience in leadership and vision for Barre.  She described Barre as an "urban rural" city, having all the problems of an urban setting but none of the resources.  Despite that, she sees great potential for Barre and wants to build on the successes already in progress here thanks to the hard work of small businesses, artists, and others trying to remake this community.  As the long-time director of Studio Place Arts, she often gets mistaken for an artist herself, but she describes herself rather as an administrator.  She was the first female in a senior management role at the Nature Conservancy in the 1980s and says its interesting to be in the same groundbreaking position now in 2018 as the potential first female mayor of Barre.  Sue describes herself as a systems rather than a line manager with experience forging significant partnerships across different sectors.  Although SPA has a relatively small economic footprint here in Vermont, she has experience on a different scale from her years in management in DC.

Sue believes she is the right person to market Barre and help reignite its pride.  She describes herself as open, fair, respectful to all, and frugal.  As a nonprofit leader, she is always aware of tight budgets and the care that is necessary when spending the money that other people have entrusted to her, and she promises to bring that same care to the mayoral office.  She promises to bring results, to end "do nothing" meetings, and to operate with transparency.

 

Thank you, Sue, for visiting Barre Rotary and for stepping up to democracy as a candidate for elected office.

 

Wherever you live, don't forget to step up to democracy yourself by voting during Town Meeting Day next Tuesday, March 6!