With rituals complete, nineteen Barre Rotarians and three guests dined from a buffet of chicken, spaghetti, salad and cookies. President Liane was first to rise and proposed a fine of one-and-nine on Tony for wearing a plain, boring shirt. Caroline came to his defense as she explained that it took courage for someone to wear a boring shirt so contrary to his personality. Tony claimed that the boring colored shirt had once been dark red, but that he had dyed it. Fine passed. Elizabeth proposed another fine on Tony for thinking that he is king. It seems that Tony wore a crown to the hospital to undergo a procedure. His wife Cindy said that she wouldn’t go if he did, but he wore it anyway and received lots of laughs and attention. Bob proposed fine number three on Tony for his attempt to step up to take over from Ron, but has not measured up in that he allowed an ad in the Time Argus to run with incorrect prices. Ron said that it had gone on for three years. Karl shed light on the subject when he reported that it would all be corrected by the person apparently responsible in the Times Argus and in social media. Both Ron and Tom were willing to pay the fine, but it did not pass. Elizabeth gave a Sad Dollar because her husband is related to the person responsible.

Final details for the breakfast were discussed. Everything appears ready to go. Caroline suggested an After Action Report.

Reservations for the cookout were down from previous years and a discussion took place regarding rescheduling. It was decided to move it to Friday, August 17^th. A new invitation will be sent out in early August.

 

 

 

 

Tony suggested a Make-a-Wish Ambassador, whom he had hired recently, as a speaker at one of our meetings. She has written a book about her recovery from a brain aneurysm and how Make-A-Wish played an important role in her recovery. She will be embarking on a book tour soon. Bob proposed a fine of one-and-nine on Tony for saying “hired someone.” Fine passed.

 (Jamie Heath will speak at our meeting on Wednesday, August 1^st.)

 

 

Sue asked Barre Rotarians to introduce our guests: Eddie introduced Lauren Polk, Acting Director of the Aldrich Public Library; Caroline introduced Doug Bullet from the Bon Air, Virginia club; Karl introduced our newest member, Reta Sanders and John Yacavone from the Lebanon club.

 

 

John Yacavone spoke about his experience as a weatherman at WNNEW-TV which was founded in 1978. Weather was a hobby of his; he was not a professional. When the station was founded, the weather segment was given two to four minutes on each newscast. The newscast was timed and if a certain news story ran over its time or was less than the allotted time, then the weather time was adjusted accordingly. The weather information was supplied by a meteorologist at Channel 5 in Boston. Maps were sent via fax daily and telephone communications when necessary. It took a year to prepare all the different segments of the station in order to go live. Eventually, WPTZ-TV out of Plattsburg bought WNNE-TV and presently operates from that location. John was the weather broadcaster for two years in addition to doing his regular job as an X-ray technician. We enjoyed his anecdotes and the stories of his encounters with some well-known personalities and we showed our appreciation with a warm round of applause.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our newest Rotarian, Reta Sanders, was inducted accompanied by her sponsor Tom Babic. Reta is a CPA with Salvador and Babic. She was presented with a Rotary pin by Tom and a membership kit by President Liane. She was warmly welcomed by Barre Rotarians and their guests with a hearty round of applause.

 

 

A quote from President Liane regarding the Annual Rotary Breakfast:

 

“WOW!  What an amazing day we had at the Breakfast. The weather held (although a little warmer than we would have liked), we worked as a team, the new banners looked amazing, the breakfast tasted awesome, and we didn't have any emergencies. And, we had the Governor flipping flapjacks!  What a great day.”

 

And a couple of photos illustrating some of her quote: