Granite Chips Octiber 31, 2012
President Jim call the meeting to order and Maestro Richard set the tone with a long HHMMMMMMM HMMMMMMMMMM as we found the right note for America the Beautiful, and we sounded great. Roy said grace with an emphasis for those who are suffering and dealing with losses from the hurricane.
President Jim said he had been to Ctrl Vermont Community Action Council and discovered that they did not have applications or knowledge regarding the Flood relief grant from RI. He will be looking into this with PDG Marilyn Bedell.
Secretary Susan talked about vandalism in the downtown, and specifically about someone stealing the light bulb from the flag pole area at her business, She has been working with the police department, but is very discouraged about repeated offenses.
Mario said he went to The Cornerstone Pub and Kitchen last night and had a great meal. His son, Mike is the bartender ( the tall, dark, and handsome guy behind the bar.) The food was great and the restaurant is doing things the right way as it begins its life in Barre. Dick Shadruoi chimed in with the same sentiments, and he too, has relative there. His great nephew is a chef, or a waiter. This reporter lost track. No description added. If he is like his Great Uncle, he is short, dark, and handsome.
Roy presented an updated Vision/5 year plan with recommendations the from the Presidential Development Committee and the Board of Directors.
After some discussion about the Honduras project, Green up day, rotary after Dark, and the Rotabarrrians, the plan was approved and accepted on motion and a vote of the membership present.
A significant change is how we will work with potential members. Going forward, any member who is sponsoring a member will contact Roy to set up an informational meeting with theirprospect to learn about our club, Rotary, before an application is submitted to the board for consideration. We think having a dialogue before someone joins Rotary will develop clear expectations about being a Rotarian and it's benefits.
Bill Noyes talked about the membership goals outlined in the 5 year plan. He remarked that all of us needed to be looking at the community for new Rotarians. He had an example of a way to find prospects. The World ran a 4 page ad with professional women in our community. If you know one of the ladies in the ad, invite them to Rotary. He talked about our ability to get things done as a club, saying it is difficult to sustain our programs with more people to work on them and that we have a leadership crisis as we loo for a President Elect for 2014-15 and beyond.
He encouraged every Rotarian to become engaged in finding new members, looking to themselves as examples of being someone who values and enjoys Rotary.
Claire spoke, passionately, about making Barre a better community. She met Eddie Lesko this morning at the Newbury building, but his man was sick, so Claire ended up cleaning the windows herself. She wants the club to make more of a difference in Barre and shared her thoughts.
In the spring, she wants Rotary to do what needs to be done with the picnic tables at Rotary Park. She said that we just finished helping the labor hall with stenciling their tables and chairs.
She, as well,as Susan are upset about the vandalism in our downtown and she doesn't want to sit idly by and accept it. One thing that has proven productive in dealing with this issue, is for people to be present on the street, by simply taking a walk. Next week at 5:30, anyone who can and is interested is invited to meet at City Hall Park and take a Walk to Celebrate our beautiful new Main Street.
After next Thursday, she plans to take a walk from the park to Lenny's and back every Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. She hopes Rotarians will support her and join in a weekly walk to send a message that we love our downtown and we want it respected. Almost every Rotarian present pledged their support and will begin walking each week.
Please review the attached 5 year plan. Bill mentioned that there is room for fresh ideas, and when bringing in new members, we can look to what interests them and begin new projects to make being a Rotarian meaningful to everyone. Take a look at the projects, and become a champion for one of them by taking a leadership role. You will find other Rotarians to support you and make it a success. As Claire says, it is good for Barre, and ot will make you feel good too.
Not discussed today, but missing from the Community Service Projects is the event "Over the Edge". The board feels that this project will create too many liabilities and will be difficult to accomplish so it omitted the event from the 5 year plan. If anyone disagrees, please bring it up for discussion so we can all be on the same page with this recommendation.
Susan won the weekly raffle drawing.