Events

Join us this week for some holiday festivities. Play a fun game, participate in a Yankee Gift swap and enjoy everyone's company before we take a break over the holidays. 

Happy Holidays! Wishing everyone peace, joy & love this holiday season and always. 

No meeting this week. 

Toni Kaeding is a nurse whose work has spanned clinical, academic, administrative, and policy positions in Vermont.  She retired from the University of Vermont where she held both faculty and administrative appointments in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences. She was also founding Director of the Freeman Scholars Program.  Since 2017, Toni has served as a volunteer for Patient Choices Vermont where she provides, upon request,  education about medical-aid-in-dying to doctors, nurses and community organizations.  Toni enjoys cross-country skiing and tennis and lives at the end of the road with her family in Worcester, Vermont. 

Christina is the owner of two Barre small businesses, Breath & Bone Reiki and Rooted yoga. She is a Reiki Master in the Japanese style of Usui Shiki Ryoho, reiki has been part of her personal life for over 20 years, she opened her practice to the public in 2023. Christina was also recently certified in 5NP Auricular (ear point) Acupuncture which she now offers clinics through her yoga & reiki studio. 5NP can ease symptoms including, stress, anxiety, addiction, insomnia and much more. And if you don't like needles, there are seed stickers that can be used in their place. Lean in on some self care with us today. 

Last summer Barre Rotary President Emily and family went to Juneau, AK to visit friends and family who live there. While there they went on a fishing and whale watching trip. Emily spent two summers on the water in Juneau guiding whale watching trips while in college and this one day trip took the title of best whale watch EVER! Join Emily as she shares video footage and humpback whale facts from this epic whale watching excursion on the inside passage around Juneau. 

Please join us this week as we host the Rotary Youth Speech Contest!  Our topic for students to discuss this year:  How Can We Be Instruments of Peace?  Be prepared for some inspirational speeches!  

Kris Hunt, Millstone Trails Vice President joins us to share about the fantastic network of trails right here in Barre. The Millstone Trails Association is a non-profit that maintians this network of non-motorized recreational trails. The trails cover 1,500 acres of diverse terrain among some of Barre's historic quarries making hiking, biking, skiing or snowshoeing an enoyable outing year round. 

Word-of-mouth is the most powerful marketing for local businesses, but until now it's been invisible—difficult to recognize or reward. The Aska app changes this by creating a simple way for people to share their favorite local businesses and be thanked for doing so.

When we recommend a great coffee shop, trusted plumber, or favorite restaurant, Aska makes those connections visible and keeps marketing dollars in our community instead of flowing to distant corporations. It's about appreciating the everyday advocates who strengthen our local economy and the relationships that make our communities thrive.

Join us to explore how each of us plays a vital role in our community's health—and how technology can serve Main Street instead of replacing it.

Please join us today as we hear about the upcoming Green Mountain Film Festival, taking place from March 1-15 in downtown Montpelier!  Green Mountain Film Festival   

Join us for this "insider's" presentation from the FMFF Festival Director.  

Phayvanh was Montpelier Alive’s Executive Director from 2011-2014, and has been a staunch supporter of collaborative, creative community building.

She is co-creator of PoemCity, former coordinator of Montpelier Art Walk, and piloted the City’s parklet project. Phayvanh spent five years on VTDigger’s business team, growing the digital ad revenue fourfold with combined digital ad management and new product development.

She later went on to work with LION Publishers, a national organization that supports independent news businesses in the US and Canada. Currently, she is executive director for the Center for Arts and Learning, a nonprofit arts hub in downtown Montpelier. She cooks, crafts, and conspires during her free time. Contact Phayvanh at director@gmffestival.org

Please join us today as President Elect Nicole shares her vision for her presidential year of 2026-27.  As this is Club Assembly, please plan on a 1.5 hour meeting. 

We look forward to an exciting preview!  

This week join Rotary as we visit AR Market and Pearl Street Pizza. Where we'll get to hear from both Peter Roscini Coleman, the founder of Vermont Salumi, a premier cured meat company based in Barre. Born in Italy and raised on Cate Farm in VT, he blends traditional Italian techniques with local, sustainable pork to create authentic sausages and salamis. As well as Chef Stefano Coppola, the chef/owner of the Morse Block Deli and partner in Pearl Street Pizza in downtown Barre. Sepcializing in Vermont's local food scene has become his passion, and sourcing and networking with local farmers and artisans are paramount to running his own business.

Josh is one of the founders and the Program Director of Vermont Fatherhood. He has been working with men and fathers for 20 years and has started a number of men's groups for his own personal growth and connection. Vermont Fatherhood was founded in May 2025 and is a nonprofit iwth a mission to value, support and educate fathers so they can be the best for their children and families. The vision is that every dad feels supported and has the skills they need as a parent and to increase the quantity and quality of their time spent with their children. Vermont Fatherhood helps to fill a gap for fathers where there is limited support and societal value on a dad's place in a childs life by empowering them and providing community. 

Francis (Topper) McFaun (Republican Party) (also known as Topper) was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, representing Washington-Orange District. He assumed office on January 4, 2023. He left office on April 3, 2026.

Topper was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and lives in Vermont. McFaun graduated from Rindge Technical High School. He earned a B.S. in education from Boston University in 1963 and took graduate courses at Boston College, Harvard University, and the University of Vermont. His career experience includes working as a Vermont state government employee. McFaun served as president and board member of the Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation and Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice.

Please join us today for Part II of President Elect Nicole's presentation on her vision for her presidential year of 2026-27.  As this is Club Assembly, please plan on a 1.5 hour meeting. 

We look forward to an exciting preview!  

Join us as we visit Barre's own 1920's Gatsby style speakeasy lounge, Moruzzi's Pub. Located below Ladder 1 Grill. 

Rustam Sengupta is the founder of Tuktu, a community-powered platform that helps people access trusted local support for everyday needs such as transportation, errands, companionship, meal help and other non-medical support. Tuktu is built around the idea of neighbors helping neighbors, using technology to make local support safer, easier, and more accessible. Rustam will share more about Tuktu's work in Vermont and how stronger local networks can help build more connected and supportive communities. 

Michele Braun the Executive Director at Friends of the Winooski River will be joining us to share about their plans around the trials at Rotary Park. They have been working alongside the City and the Barre Rivers Collective on plans for a new trail from the park to an overlook view of the waterfalls and work to remove a dam that will require access to the river via the baseball field.