Granite Chips October 17, 2012

President Jim – recently returned from Italy – rang the bell.  We sang, pledged & prayed (led by Roy).

Lunch was coleslaw biscuits, mashed potatoes and some sort of mystery poultry in a gravy.  Everybody seemed to enjoy it, and Roy took the basket of biscuits from our table.

Bill N. offered an observation and inquiry about the Rotary banner – wondering whether it was still in the care of the person to whom he had entrusted it last week.  Carol stood up to say yes, she still had it safely ensconced in her car.  (I will try to remember to bring it in next week!)  Carol said the reason she had the banner was for last week’s Joint Service Clubs community service recognition dinner, and she offered a report.  The event was wonderful, the food was great, about 110 people attended, and the anticipated donation to the Aldrich Library is $1,600.

Karl proposed a fine of 1+1 ½ on new member Sandy.  Apparently, Sandy had predicted Karl was going to fine her, and in so doing, Karl is welcoming her to the Club.  The voice vote seemed to be in favor of letting Sandy off the hook, but Prez Jim declared it passed.  Karl said it was a good lesson in Rotary justice.

P. Jim said he had a Rotary run in while in Italy, as there was a Rotaract meeting in the hotel in Milan where he stayed.  He said his trip interfered with his scheduled awarding of the Rotarian of the Quarter.  He said this Rotarian has been doing programs for 2 ½ years, gives grace frequently (and eloquently), and gives up updates on Rotary Park.  He asked for guesses, and everybody knew he was talking about Joe.  Congrats, Joe!

George officially welcomed new member Shane Mispel (George is his sponsor), and pinned Shane with his Rotary pin.  Shane is thestore manager at the Barre branch of TD Bank.  Welcome, Shane!

Prez Jim have a Happy Dollar – he recently visited the pet store on the Barre-Montpelier Road (I forget the name) to purchase pet supplies, and ran into Amber Vecchiarelli, who is happy and doing well there.

Tom proposed a fine of 1+4 on Mario for not wearing his name tag (it was sitting on the table next to him).  Mario gave a long explanation about movements, magnets and maneuvers, culminating in a wardrobe malfunction.  The fine passed.

Dick gave a Happy Dollar, announcing that the Rotabarrians are meeting to rehearse tomorrow at 4:30 PM at his house.  All are welcome to come sing!  Dick also announced that the Barre Opera House gala this past weekend was a resounding success.

President Jim was just getting started with the program when he was interrupted by Sue, who proposed a fine of 1+9 on Jim for once again forgetting the secretary report.  P. Jim paid the fine without a vote.  He then proceeded to start the program again without asking for the secretary report (some old dogs can’t learn new tricks!).  Bill N. proposed of fine of 1+9 on Sue for not offering the secretary report.  Sue paid without a vote.

Karl introduced our speaker – Chelsea Ingram.  He said her program is “heart healthy”, that she is a meteorologist in the Burlington area, and she happens to also be Miss Vermont.  Chelsea told us about the Miss America organization, which has the longest history of running pageants in the US.  MA is a not-for-profit organization, unlike Miss USA, which is for-profit and owned by Donald Trump.  One other distinction is that the Miss A pageants include a talent portion.  She said she is an opera singer and will be performing opera at the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas in January.

Chelsea displayed her crown and said the 4 points of the crown have significance – they mean scholarship, service, style and success.  She said scholarships given by the Miss A organization helped her pay for her undergraduate and graduate education.  She talked about being successful and serving as a role model, and said the service is the most important part of the Miss A organization.  Her platform is heart health, which is of particular personal interest to her.  Her father suffers from heart disease, and she talked about the impact on family and friends.  She talked about using that impact as motivation for better heart health through eating right and exercise.  Chelsea said watching her father suffer through poor heart health led her to lose 50 pounds, and she encouraged people to be accountable for their health and to their families.  She said it’s never too late to start living heart healthy.

She was asked about her education, and said she received her undergraduate degree in meteorology from North Carolina State University (she grew up in NC), and received a post-graduate certificate from Lyndon State in broadcasting, where she studied with Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel.

Chelsea was encouraged to show off her singing skills and gave us a taste of her lovely voice with a short portion of an aria from Carmen.

As a meteorologist, she was put in the hot spot about this winter – will we get more snow?  She said yes (and we’ll hold her to it!).  She was also asked about global warming, and said she believes it’s happening regardless of human intervention, but humans are accelerating the process.

Club members asked after her father’s health, and Chelsea said he is doing well, has lost 80 pounds and is swimming for exercise.  We thanked her with a hearty (get it?) round of applause.

Shane held the winning raffle ticket – I don’t know if he had any luck with the marbles.

Visit other local Rotary Clubs – it’s fun and counts as a make up!