With rituals completed, twelve Rotarians sat down in the Vermont Room of the Aldrich to a lunch of roast pork, glazed carrots, apple salad, rolls and cookies provided by Delicate Decadence. President Eddie started the meeting by adding to his remarks about Liane that he had made at the Changeover Dinner. Here’s what he said:

 

President Eddie mentioned that he had heard from Jen Milne regarding donating breakfast tickets to the Good Samaritan Haven. It was pointed out that presently we give free tickets to those in need. A brief discussion regarding free tickets ensued, but not sure what the outcome was except maybe to keep the status quo.

 

 

Tony rose and proposed a fine of one-and-nine on Eddie for not being prepared since he did not bring the breakfast signup sheet. President Eddie had a long defense involving an oil change and a slow uploading to his car’s computer. All to no avail; the fine passed. Caroline added to the coffers by offering five dollars of self-imposed fines: one dollar for leading Alana Tate, a guest, astray; and four dollars for promoting a Will Workshop to be conducted by her at the Aldrich on Thursday, July 11^th from noon until 1:30 p.m. Liane matched her with five Happy Dollars: one for recognizing Eddie as our new president; another for being able to finish her meal; a third for her trip to California being postponed; a fourth for her son moving into his own apartment and establishing his independence; and lastly, for being happy to have lunch here with everyone.  Tony rose again to give a Sad Dollar because he won’t be here next week since he will be going to Portland Oregon, for a television conference and then on to L.A. to visit his son Alex. President Eddie resumed center stage and announced that he discovered that the Barre Rotary Club had won an award in 1994 for Best World Community Service Project in District 7850.  He asked if anyone knew what that project was, but no one had an answer. If anyone reading this newsletter knows, please email me (just click Reply).  Eddie asked for a report on the status of the closet for the Department of Children and Families. Tom and Bruce brought us update. The closet, to be used for storing donated clothing, will be looked at to determine if anything needs to be done to it before using it. Alana Tate joined the conversation and said that she would like to see an emphasis on helping out teens and preteens. Bruce also gave an impassioned account of a program that he had been a part of in Ellsworth, Maine in which Rotarians would give youth money and take them shopping at Christmas time. He pointed out that this kind of activity could become part of a broader program for youth in need.

 

 

Bruce report that Elizabeth LaPerle had a birthday this month and Rebecca Duranleau marks her fourth anniversary as a Rotarian.

Eddie then introduced Loren Polk who gave her Classification Talk.

 

 

 

 

Loren began with great photos of Washington State where she grew up and of her family. She has known her husband since seventh grade, but didn’t get together until college. He is a classical guitarist, but now works for Vermont NEA which brought them to Vermont. They have three daughters.  She then went on to describe the path that she followed, or in her case, forged. She received a BS in Economics, Political Science and Philosophy with a minor in Statistics. She taught advanced placement courses, Art History and Economics and earned a teaching certificate in Social Studies. She said that she enjoyed teaching kids to think critically and connecting kids and adults to information. She abandoned a master’s degree in teaching that she was working on and instead started over and earned a MLIS in Information Sciences with a minor in Data Analytics. She worked as a librarian in Washington before assuming the position of director at the Aldrich. She went on to describe the nature of her work and why she loves it so much. While she said it was different every day, her work centers on connecting people to resources in the community and information: online, physical (i.e. books), people and agencies. She had interesting anecdotes of these activities and presented them with passion and joy; it was clear that Loren loves her work. She provided some impressive statistics including door traffic (128,603 people), items checked out (88,659), new items added (2,956 library items and 2,595 digital items), meals and snacks (2,128), volunteer hours of service (2,502) and program numbers and attendance 441/7,416). Loren ended her presentation with ways to get involved:

Rotarians enjoyed Loren’s Classification Talk and applauded warmly in their appreciation of the good work she is doing at Aldrich.