GRANITE CHIPS
A small but stalwart group of eleven Rotarians sat down for a rather rowdy lunch. Caroline kicked things off by offering a happy dollar and a thank you card depicting the lovely decorations leftover from the even lovelier wedding breakfast she enjoyed. She offered special thanks to Ron and Liane for their parts in making it such a special morning for her. Though Dick briefly considered jumping ship to the kids' table, he thought better of it and instead fined Michael and Bertil for eating alone when there were many open seats at the main table (and with such "lovely ladies" there as well). Bertil's defense was that he felt antisocial and wanted to be alone, which Michael ruined by sitting with him. Bob tried to pay the fine for both in gratitude that they'd left the big table in peace, but Michael and Bertil's giving spirit meant the fine was paid twice over.
2nd Annual Rotary Ball Update
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Liane stood to give an update on the 2nd annual Rotary Ball to be held at the Elks Club on November 5th. They are seeking sponsors for advertising now. Three $250 sponsorships are available for the posters and four $250 sponsorships are available for the dance programs (which will be provided at each table at the dance). They are selling these separately, so you can spend $250 on a program sponsorship and $250 on a poster sponsorship. For that price, your company logo is displayed as a sponsor on the selected material. There will not be table sponsors this year. Poster sponsors need to step up immediately as they are looking to print in the next week or two.
There will be two tiers of tickets this year - premium tickets and general tickets. Prices and menu selections are TBA, with details coming soon. The balcony will be open this year for ticket sales in hopes of doubling our profits from last year.
They're waiting for confirmation on the male dance contestant but were able to announce that yours truly will be representing the ladies in the competition (my apologies in advance to everyone who will be watching).
Karl offered a happy dollar for having watched our president elect, Caroline, jump off an actual cliff and live to tell the tale. This led to some chuckles that were not shared by the whole room, prompting Bob to fine Karl, Tom, and, eventually, Caroline as well for keeping secrets from their fellow Rotarians and not letting us in on the joke. Apparently Karl had invited a select few Rotarians out on his dinghy (which is much too small to accommodate all of Rotary), and sometime in the midst of their festivities Caroline nearly drowned after a daring dive from a cliff. While it might seem harsh to fine someone for surviving what sounded like a harrowing experience, the other Rotarians felt more than justified in passing the fine on all three - perhaps because they had not been invited on said boat trip? In any case, three more dollars entered the pot.
Speaker - Michelle Beam, Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains
With no secretary's report and a (not too terribly executed) couple of songs complete, Karl introduced our speaker, Michelle Beam. Michelle began her career in nonprofit management over 20 years ago with the YMCA. Her first position at the Keene, Y in New Hampshire spanned nearly 17 years and was followed by a post in Burlington. Michelle recently joined the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains where she currently holds the position of Assistant Director of Fund Development. Her role is to expand awareness and opportunities for girls and to remove barriers to ensure that girls across Vermont are able to access the leadership development experiences that Girl Scouts provides.
Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains has over 10,000 girls as members and engages more than 4,000 volunteers. Michelle works out of the Williston satellite office, which covers all of Vermont and part of New Hampshire. As an organization, Girl Scouts of the USA is 104 years old.
Girl Scouts accomplishes its goal of empowering girls through three key initiatives: STEM education, entrepreneurship, and outdoor activities. The most well known Girl Scout initiative, cookie sales, is actually a program that teaches five key financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills and is the world's largest girl-run business. In this region alone over 1,300,000 boxes of cookies were sold last year with 1/4 of the profits staying with the girls and their local troop.
1,800 girls in this region participated in outdoor programs last year, including camps, horseback riding, and other field trips. For many, these programs offered transformative growth experiences that would not be available to them anywhere else. There was far more demand for programs and financial assistance than Girl Scouts has capacity to provide, primarily due to funding availability.
STEM education is seen as particularly important for girls because of the low participation rates women have in STEM fields as well as in leadership positions in any field. Only 20% of girls believe that they have what it takes to be a leader. Girl Scouts has a proven record of turning girls into leaders, however: the vast majority of women in congress, in business leadership, and in science were all Girl Scouts at some point in their childhood. Investment in girls and their education has been shown to have one of the highest returns on investment of any social program. Half of all women alive today - and indeed, half of the present female Rotarians - had been girl scouts!
Michelle was visiting Rotary to build community connections and help spread the word about the work that the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains was doing in our region. She welcomes questions, ideas, and collaboration opportunities that will benefit girls throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.
-- Sarah Costa Director, Aldrich Public Library Barre, VT (802) 476-7550 ext. 307 www.aldrichpubliclibrary.org