Fundraising planning and two guest speakers kept Rotarians involved in Zoom meetings during October. Here is a summary of those virtual gatherings.

Be Our Guests

DG Jamie Milne

From Joe’s Pond, District Governor Jamie Milne, former member of Barre Rotary, made the traditional visit to our Club via Zoom. His father, George, a member of our Club and a former District Governor, joined Rotary in May 1959, the month in which Jamie was born. He began by announcing some dates of upcoming Rotary events: Jennifer Jones, who will become the first woman to serve as Rotary International 2022-23 President, will speak to the Randolph Sunrise Rotary on November 24th; and the District 7850 Leadership Symposium will take place on November 14th via Zoom. 

Reminding us of this year’s RI’s theme, Rotary Opens Opportunity, he asked about our Club’s operation during the pandemic. We have been very active during this time with fundraisers and community projects, such as the coin drop, the drive-in movies, the pick-up barbeque and the garden project. Jamie noted that the pandemic has transformed the way Rotary clubs operate. Jamie said that other clubs have found their way and adjusted and have been creative. Moving forward, he asked, “Where will we be in a year?” He went on to describe Randolph Sunrise’s setup for achieving a successful hybrid meeting. He then asked, “If you were to start a club today, what would it look like?” He reported that a Rotary International committee is studying this and looking for the development of innovative club models. A discussion of “Why join Rotary?” followed with the focus on business connections and service. The point was made that strategic planning should be ongoing which fits nicely into our current work on such a plan. Regarding membership, the points were made that when recruiting new members, we need to make sure that prospective members fit with Rotary’s purpose and ideals and we need to be open to suggestions of new members.

Malcolm Appleton

President John introduced Malcolm Appleton, a family friend, a former Mad Valley Rotary Club member, and an architect, as our guest speaker on October 21st. He was born in the United Kingdom and after graduating from architecture school came to the United States. He first settled in New York City and later moved to Vermont. He worked with the capitol complex designers on State House projects, the reconstruction of the Pavilion Hotel and the renovation of Montpelier City Hall.  He was also part of the team that developed The Bridges in Waitsfield. Malcolm’s leisure activities include restoring MG’s, motorcycling and collecting toy cars. He is a former participant in the National Senior Olympics. He told delightful stories and anecdotes, such as visiting the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington on which he worked as an architect early in his career. Rotarians thoroughly enjoyed his talk. Thanks, President John.

In Motion

It was moved and seconded that $1500 be donated to the World Santa Fund. Motion passed unanimously. 

It was moved and seconded that $250 be approved to purchase a Rotary banner to be displayed in the Barre Auditorium. Motion passed unanimously. 

It was moved and seconded that the expenses associated with accepting credit card payments online be approved. Motion passed unanimously.

Fundraisers

Barre Art Splash Show News: A meeting of artists took place on October 24th with an artist from Catskill, N.Y. who will demonstrate how to add decorations to the sculptures. A ten page artist package was provided to local artists in preparation for the meeting. Karl reported that 35 sculptures have been purchased (15 cats and dogs and 20 race cars). Bruce talked about clear coating options for the sculptures. Karl noted that Catskill preferred the “7000” product.

Drive-In Movies continued in October, culminating on Halloween with a double feature. Caroline led the effort which was successful in raising funds from concession sales and providing fun times for families and the volunteers. 

In an effort to raise funds for combating polio and the Coronavirus, Joe Shadroui and Karl placed collection cans in various businesses. This was a welcomed resurrection of an activity which formerly occurred yearly. Thanks to Bruce for reminding us of this worthwhile fundraiser.

Work continued through the month on Tailgate BBQ 2 Go with major contributions to the effort by Tony, John and Karl. The event is scheduled for Sunday, November 15th.

Since Last We Met

Birthdays : 

Joe Preddy    Sept 30

Reta Sanders   Oct. 13

Club Anniversaries: 

Sandy Rousse      8 years   Oct. 3

Joe Shadroui        2 years    Oct. 3     

William Rossi     40 Years  Oct. 15

Bertil Agell         29 years  Oct. 21

October Days in History:

1959 Guggenheim Museum Opens In N.Y.

1960 Kennedy & Nixon debate Cold War foreign policy

1913 the moving assembly line debuts at Ford factory

1947 Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier

1964 Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize

1889 Wyoming legislators write the first state constitution to grant women the right to vote

1927 Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run 

Meet Mike Lannen

Mike Lannen, who applied for membership, attended a meeting in October and introduced himself. He founded Eternity, a  web design and development company, twenty years ago in his dorm room at Champlain College. He would like to contribute to the Club by coming up with ideas and volunteering for projects. Mentioning that he was an Eagle scout sparked a lively and humorous conversation with Tony divulging that he was a Tenderfoot for four years. He has lived in Barre for nine years, is married and has two daughters. At the end of the meeting, the members present unanimously voted to accept him for membership.

Until next time, that’s all folks…...