The focus of today’s Moment was the Second Amendment. Caroline made it clear that she was not making a political statement in choosing this focus, but made a case for all of us to reflect on our individual interpretation of the Second Amendment and its meaning. She pointed out that Rotary does things that unite and not divide us. She referred to an earlier Moment when she explained two major ways in which  the Constitution are interpreted: 1) “originalism” which goes back in time to an exact  interpretation of what the framers met and: 2) the view  that the Constitution is a “living document” and interpretations evolve as the society changes. She presented startling  statistics regarding gun violence in this country, including the fact that one person dies every fifteen minutes from gun related incidents. She also compared our country with other countries, such as Switzerland, which has one of the highest number of gun ownerships, but one of the lowest rates of gun violence. She encouraged us to review the Second Amendment and decide what each of us believes regarding gun violence in this country and what should/can be done about it. Caroline delivered one of the most powerful, thought-provoking Moments that we have had the pleasure to hear. Thank you so much for your commitment to the Constitution, Rotary and our Club! Yeah Caroline, our next District Governor!

 

 

 

Tom introduced our speaker for the day, Emily Boedecker, producer of the Quarry Project, a dance/theater performance on the waters of the Wells Lamson Quarry. Emily started her presentation by asking Bob Pope of Polycor, Inc. (an acquisition of Swenson and Rock of Ages) to describe the meeting between him and Emily and others proposing the project. He recalled that he thought they were a “bunch of lunatics” in trying to pull off this event. They persisted and he suggested that they visit the new owners of the Quarry in Quebec City which they did. The CEO, Patrick Perus, liked the idea and so arrangements were made to lease the Quarry from Polycar and the project was a go! In 2017, the group experimented on a pond with a floating stage and in 2018 rehearsals began. Then Covid-19 hit and all was suspended. Two years later the project resumed with many of the original players married, with babies and replaced due to new commitments. The artistic creator of the project is Hannah Dennison, the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for dance and the arts and the founding director of the non-profit Cradle to Grave Arts, Inc. Volunteers are needed for a variety of functions, including construction, assisting in assembling and closing and ushering. For dates of film showings and exhibits, performance dates and tickets visit the website: https.the quarryproject2022.com