The Rotary Club of 
Barre, Vermont
 
Chartered 1924
District 7850
PO Box 167
Barre, VT 05641
 
Granite Chips
Stories
Focus Away From Self
 
The Rousse Report
 
After the rituals, fifteen Rotarians sat down to Caesar salad with chicken, bread and cookies. President Eddie announced that we have an interest-bearing account and that we now have credit card capabilities.  He also announced that Caroline will be coordinating the speaker program and she will enter those programs on the website. Regarding the breakfast, 1107 were served and $7,000 was made on the placemats. More statistics to follow.
 
Secretary’s Report
 
Bruce announced the following club anniversary: President Eddie---19 years. He introduced our summer resident: Doug Bullett from Bon Air, Virginia.
 
Lots of Happiness and Fines (Some in Advance)
Caroline was on her feet to give a Happy Dollar in recognition of Tim Bolton of Delicate Decadence and two more for the successful and joyful trip to Jamaica with her daughter to celebrate her graduation from high school. Nicole was next with a self-imposed fine and several Happy Dollars: starting to eat lunch too early; her daughter’s first birthday; her first Rotary breakfast; a $10,000 donation to finish the boy’s dormitory in Tanzania; and her brother and his wife coming for a visit. Karl rose to give a Happy Dollar for the aerial photo of the breakfast scene taken by Caroling from the roof of the Washington Apartments. Doug threw another one in the basket for David Warshofsky being here to give a talk. Ted gave a Happy Dollar for tasty sausages and the new grills. John was recognized for ably putting the grills together. Tony proposed a fine of one-and nine on Bob for calling John away from the egg station to adjust Bob’s grill. Bob reminded Tony of the chain of command and that one should ask for help from the person who knows what he is doing. Fine passed anyway. Ron gave ten dollars for fines that he might have paid if he were at the meetings the rest of year. He was recognized for his past and continuing good work on the breakfast. John contributed to the coffers with a Happy Dollar in recognizing the runners. In the spirit of recognition, Ray gave another for the fine effort of the Babic boys and Bob coughed one up for the rookie runners. Nicole reported how impressed she was with the meeting held at the Wheelock space organized by Bruce and noting that Ted was taking notes and measurements.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Focus Away From Self
 
Doug introduced David Warshofsky. “David is a graduate of the MFA Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and in his early career worked extensively both on and off Broadway. He is an accomplished movie, television, stage actor and he has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Born on the Fourth of July; There Will Be Blood; Lincoln; and Captain Phillips. He most recently starred in the Signature Theatre production of Sam Sheppard’s Curse of the Starving Class. David is also an Associate Professor of Theatre and the Director of the MFA Acting Program at the University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts. David lives in Los Angeles and now spends summers in Montpelier.”
David began his talk by explaining why he wasn’t eating. He told us that he couldn’t eat before going in front of the camera or before a stage performance and in this case giving a talk to an audience. He grew up in the Bay Area were his father was a physician and his mother was a nurse. After his father left the army, the family settled in Silicon Valley. He came from a family with no “arts” in the backgrounds of its members. He was an athlete although his mother tried to get him to attend musical theater which he resisted. At thirteen he gave in and attended a children’s version of Oklahoma and he knew what he wanted to do as his life’s work-become an actor. He joined the theater company which produced Oklahoma and he began his acting career. He was a theater major at UCLA and he discovered that he was not as good a singer and dancer as others around him. Someone told him about “conservatory” programs and he enrolled in the MFA Program at NYU at twenty years old.  Shortly after being dropped off at the YMCA, he called his parents and asked them why they had kept New York City from him for last twenty years.  He completed the program in three years and graduated in 1984. During an internship at the La Jolla Playhouse, he was a “spear carrier.” He described himself as shy and not an extravert and, therefore, could not sell himself or ask someone to be his agent. He decided to look for other work and became a stone mason. He worked as a stone cutter with a master and learned to cut marble and granite. He joined a professional training program for stone cutting at Saint John the Divine. While in the program, he was asked to audition for Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues, but did not get the job. He did, however, accept a role in Angels in America and did it for free. He was good at acrobatics, such as falling off a balcony and sword fighting. While he was working as a stone cutter he received a call from Meg Simon, the director of Biloxi Blues. The producers and Neil Simon had fired all the actors in the Broadway production and she encouraged him to audition for one of the new productions being cast and rehearsed in secret. He secured the services of an agent and was cast in a role in one of the Biloxi Blues production companies. He has made over hundred movies and television appearances and acted in thirty to forty stage performances. He said he was not a celebrity, but he was a working class actor. He is a parent with two children and ex-wife and a current wife. He told us that he knew how to be an actor; he knows his craft, how to tell a story and follows the laws of experience. Philosophically, he eliminates talent from the equation, focuses away from self and believes one does not need to be great to be successful in one’s chosen profession. He found, while working with actor Daniel Day Lewis, that he and Lewis have the same approach to their work. In conclusion, he said he was profoundly grateful for the profession that he had chosen. In response to a question on how do you get famous, he listed training, good looks, social media and persistence, with talent less so. When asked which he liked better, teaching or acting, he said about equal. Rotarians liked what he had to say and showed their appreciation with a warm round of applause.
 
Until next time, that’s all folks…
 
Reminder: RSVP to jcatone@comcast.net by Thursday, August 8th to make a reservation for the cookout on August 14th.
Club Information
 
KEEP CALM,
JOIN ROTARY
 
 
We meet:
Wednesdays, 12:00 PM
The American Legion
320 North Main Street
Barre, VT  05641 USA
 
 
 
Speakers
Aug 07, 2019
Amazon Marketplace
Aug 14, 2019
Annual Summer Bar-B-Q
Aug 28, 2019
Club Assembly Today!
Sep 11, 2019
Rotary Year 2019-2020
Sep 25, 2019
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Robert Pope
August 6
 
Nicole DiDomenico
August 15
 
Anniversaries
Ronald Parnigoni
Mary Anne
August 7
 
Karl A. Rinker
Char Rinker
August 9
 
John Steinman
Lynne Addiego
August 14
 
George Milne
Linda R. Milne
August 22
 
Join Date
Sarah White
August 6, 2014
5 years
 
Ronald Parnigoni
August 26, 1970
49 years
 
John Steinman
August 29, 2018
1 year
 
Russell Hampton
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Jim Catone