Nothing But Happiness to Start the Meeting
With rituals completed, fifteen Rotarians and four guests sat down to enjoy lunch and conversation. Tony was up first with 5 Happy Dollars in celebration of Cindy’s successful spinal fusion surgery; she’s home and recovering nicely. DG Caroline added 2 Happy Dollars in recognition of Spaulding’s efforts to maintain a balance between academics and athletics. She added another dollar announcing that her stepson, who graduated from SUNY at Plattsburgh, will be teaching at St. Monica’s, assisting the drama director and coaching cross country at Spaulding. George gave a Happy Dollar as he told of he and Linda’s celebration of their 30th Wedding Anniversary at the Pitcher Inn in Warren.
Acting President Eddie introduced guests Chis Hennessey, Superintendent, Barre Unified Union School District and Spaulding High School Athletic Director, Derek Cippriano. Tom introduced his guests James and Suzann Martin.
Since Last We Met
Wedding Anniversaries: George and Linda Milne August 22
1932 American aviator Amelia Earhart took off from Los Angeles and when she landed in Newark, New Jersey, the following day, she became the first woman to complete a solo nonstop flight across the United States.
A Constitutional MomentDG Caroline reported on a Washington Post article written by two law professors, one from Harvard and one from Yale, who proposed a hypothesis that would essentially ignore the Constitution. They reasoned that, since we live in times when there is a high level of interpretative Constitutional conflicts, Congress should create laws to deal with these conflicts instead of leaving the resolution to the courts. Of course, this proposed change in the process has sparked controversy and one can expect debate to continue for quite some time.
Stand-Shelter-Splash
Tom proposed a fine on Tony for not standing when making a remark. Without much of a defense, the fine passed.
Karl reported that the City will pay for half of roof repairs to the shelter at Rotary Park. He also reported that we are adding a new race car, a ‘34 Ford Coupe to Splash sculptures. The mold will cost $5027 and he is currently trying to raise the money. If anyone can help out, it would be greatly appreciated. Regarding the cats and dogs, he said that he was having trouble contacting the manufacturer to get a price. He’ll keep working on it. Of course, he will!
Happenings at Spaulding High School
began with some remarks about his background and then went on to athletic participation numbers which are high in a variety of sports. He also explained lower numbers for the football team and the system of participation on teams with members coming from other schools. He will be working on increasing Spaulding's football team based on members coming from geographically close schools. He answered a few more questions which drew a great deal of interest from the audience. Chris began by telling about his thirty-four years in education, seventeen in Barre. He then went on to talk about the breakdown of civil discourse in society, pointing out that includes schools. He and faculty and staff are working to counter that by showcasing the schools and taking pride in the work that is done in them. A few days ago, for the first time in two years, seven hundred employees met in the auditorium to
celebrate the opening of school. Among those assembled were twenty-five professionals recruited since late June when the District was faced with that number of vacancies. Through a community effort places to live for the newly recruited were found. The goal is to change the story and make the schools the jewel of the community and attract highly qualified professionals. Weekly videos taken by Chris showcase various aspects of school life and posts them on the District website. Here is the direct link: The Rotarians and their guests enjoyed hearing about the happenings at Spaulding and were impressed by the guests and showed their appreciation with a warm round of applause.
Until next time....that's all folks. 
.png)
