Greetings Rotarians!  Ray Allaire started things off by breaking down the numbers for this year’s Corn Booth.  Some adjustments have been made to the expense figures that were reported last week which changed the net profit we realized from $4,524.00 to $4,771.00.  This represents a $429.00 increase over the net profit that was realized in 2015. Thanks again to Ray and his committee on a job well done! Our first speaker was Republican candidate for State Attorney General, Deborah Bucknam.  Deb has been in the private practice of law in St. Johnsbury for 29 years and is campaigning on a platform that emphasizes crime prevention.  Ms. Bucknam believes that the best way to combat our State’s opiate epidemic is by cutting off the supply.  She hopes to achieve this by collaborating with law enforcement officials and those who deal with this crisis on a daily basis.  She also hopes to address what she sees as growing frustration with inefficiency in Montpelier by becoming a highly accessible public figure.  Our next speaker was Jason DiRosa who served on the Recreation Governance Study Committee.  This group studied the different ways of possibly merging the recreation departments of Essex and Essex Junction. They unanimously concluded that forming a unified rec district would be the best model for both communities.  The new district would be called the Essex Community Parks and Recreation Department and it be an entity that is merged from the Essex Town Essex Junction parks and recreation departments. A special election is going to be held on this issue on Tuesday, December 13^th.  For more information about this proposal, please visit www.essexrec.org

 

 

            Our heartfelt condolences go out to fellow Rotarian, Kaitlyn Raymond and her family.  Kaitlyn’s father very unexpectedly passed away this week. A GoFundMe site has been established at https://www.gofundme.com/jeffrey-raymond-funeral-fund-2tujfuc?ssid=767845745&pos=4 to help the family with the funeral costs. Please consider donating to help Kaitlyn and her family through this difficult time. 

 

 

            We are pleased to announce that the Essex Eats Out service project that was held this past Friday was a huge success!  Thank you to all of the Rotarians, friends and family members who put on a great meal for 64 community members!

 

 

            Thank you to the 49 Rotarians who participated in our survey!  The results will be discussed in greater detail at the October 26^th meeting but for now, you may view the results and the comments at the following link:

 

 

            The next opportunity to volunteer at the Heavenly Food Pantry will be on October 27^th.  Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder if you would like to sign up for shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  October 19, 2016 – Our speaker will be Catherine Stevens from Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity.

 

For the complete list of upcoming speakers and information about the Club, please go to our website at www.essexrotary.org   Be sure to also visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EssexVermontRotary

 

       Yours in Rotary,

 

Jason Ruwet