“Rotary Reads” Gets Ready

Nineteen Rotarians and one guest joined the virtual meeting of the Barre Rotary Club. The singing of America the Beautiful was accompanied with a recording provided by Karl. Sounded like Elvis, but I couldn’t be sure. Joe Preddy provided words of gratitude following the Pledge of Allegiance. President Eddie introduced guests Larry Vars and Bill Thompson, both past district governors, Garrett Grant, Young Adult & New Technology Librarian at Aldrich, and Lindsey Lozier, corporate member of the Community National Bank. He asked Loren Polk to speak about opportunities to help with programs at the Aldrich. She began by reminding us of CRAP (Currency, Relevance/Reliability, Authority and Purpose) when seeking information. She described a virtual reading program conducted by the Children’s Librarian and talked about the idea of Rotarians reading to adults. Brenda suggested coordinating the children’s reading program with community service and Interact at Spaulding. Those interested in recording or reading to children or adults should email Loren (aldrichdirector@gmail.com). Loren then went on to show us how to obtain a library card, borrow ebooks and audiobooks at the website (aldrichpubliclibrary.org). Tony suggested that she prepare a worksheet for doing such. It was also suggested that she identify books to read for those Rotarians participating in “Rotary Reads.” 

Since Last We Met

 Birthdays:  Charlene Rinker  Mar 23rd

 Mary Anne Parnigoni    Mar 24th                     

 Club Anniversaries:

   Brenda Waterhouse  4 years    

   Bruce Fischer  36 years

 Lest We Forget: From The Bulletin March 23rd, 1931:

 Rotary is encircling the world, not because of service, but because of friendship which finds expression through service and understanding. What gives Rotary its innate power is the instinctive friendliness that comes out of Rotary relationships.

On this day in history: 1958 Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Carmen Basilio for the middleweight title.

All’s Well That Ends Well (Movies and TV Shows)

President Eddie called on Caroline to talk about the establishment of a local virtual mutual aid group. Each nonprofit/service organization would appoint a representative who would receive a response from members of that organization who would like to volunteer and provide a service for the community as well as providing their contact information. The representative would share this information with the mutual aid group and it in turn would match identified community needs with the service being offered. Individuals would volunteer; this would not be a club function. It was moved and seconded that Caroline be appointed representative, gather more detail and report back to the club. Questions raised during the discussion included: How would the funds be used? What are the guidelines for conducting the service to families and individuals in the community? Caroline summed up the purpose of the effort: It is a group of concerned citizens creating a platform for responsible organizations to help people. Motion passed unanimously. 

It was announced that in addition to the cancellation of the district conference, the international conference has been cancelled as well. 

Loren gave a Happy Dollar in celebrating that one of her daughters has left Washington state and now lives in Arizona and another daughter has moved from Paris to northern France.

The meeting ended with suggestions for watching movies and TV shows. Among them were: Joe, Joe Rabbit, Airplane, The Irishman, Cheers and Fraiser.

As they “say” in the movies...The End.