Good morning! It has been a minute since I've had the opportunity to sit down and share what we've been up to at our meetings. 

Since I don't think I've written for a month, maybe you didn't hear. But, Tony and myself are still acting as Presidents until changeover in July where Nicole will take over. Zachary Lyle-Delong had said he would take on the presidential duties for the last part of the Rotary year but was unable to take this on with his current schedule at the Salvation Army. So you're stuck with Tony and/or myself for the next few months. 

Mike Gibson and the Aska App

We heard from Mike Gibson earlier this month, he has developed the Aska App, and shared his concept with us. The app is meant to enhance word of mouth business and in some cases incentivize it with participation by local businesses. Often we're asked by friends what our favorite local places to grab a coffee, find someone reliable to work on their car or a general contractor that actually shows up. The Aska App helps you to put all your favorites in an easy to share format when you know someone asks you for a recommendation. With the participation of local businesses they would be able to offer an incentive of their choosing to those that refer them business. 

Phayvanh Luekhamhan and the Green Mountain Film Festival

The following week we heard from Phayvanh Luekhamhan where she shared about the Green Mountain Film Festival with us. She had been busy getting everything finalized for the upcoming festival. The Green Mountain Film Festival is 4 full days of films, some of which are having their world premier at the event. Shown are all sorts of films, everything from shorts that are a few minutes long to documentaries lasting 5 hours. One thing that stood out to me was that the film festival has been partnering with the Montpelier schools to be able to show a film to students in 4th grade and 9th grade I believe. They specifically choose a couple of films they believe will be good for each age level and the school gets to go on a field trip to the theater to view them. 

Pie for Brunch

On March 14th we hosted the 4 Annual Pie for Brunch and Community Grants celebration at the American Legion Post 10. We had a great turn out, plenty of pie and a silent auction. It was wonderful hearing a little bit from each organization about what they do and how the grant money will help support them and their missions. 

Club Assembly

Last week we held club assembly where an intimate group of Rotarians discussed the future of the club and what we'd like to see going forward. President Elect Nicole voiced her concerns and asked for input on how to we thought things should continue on in the next Rotary year when she steps into the Presidential role. Her biggest concern has been succession not only on large fundraisers but in Barre Rotary's leadership roles. With no one committed to be President Elect for the ‘26-’27 year she's concerned that the club may not continue if someone doesn't step up into the role. Other leadership roles that need filling are the Secretary and Vice President. 

Another thing we need is someone to fill upcoming speaker slots! I took over that duty over the winter but have much less time to commit to anything extra with the girls sports schedules and work picking up.  (I'm also going to be coaching Riley's age group for spring soccer very soon)

If you've got someone you think would be an interesting speaker reach out to them and see if they'd like to present some week! Or if you've got an idea for a field trip we need those now too.