Greetings fellow Rotarians!  We started today’s meeting with classification talks from two of our newer members. Our first talk was from Laura Marthaler.  Laura grew up in Long Island, New York before going on to pursue an education at SUNY Geneseo and the University of Maryland at Baltimore.  She went on to a career as an applied research mathematician with the U.S. Government before embarking on a teaching career.  Laura currently resides in Essex with her family and is teaching at the Community College of Vermont.  Our next talk came from Max Seaton.  Max grew up in the St. Louis area before his father was transferred to a job in Belgium.  Max finished his final year in high school there and went on to university in Belgium after that.  Max remained in Belgium for the next 20 years where he taught at an international school.  After that, he and his wife took teaching positions in Cairo, Egypt where they remained for another 13 years before deciding to come to Vermont to retire.  Max and his wife have three children who have also followed in their parents’ globetrotting footsteps.  Thank you to Laura and Max for letting us get to know more about you!

 

 

            Today we held our monthly charitable committee meetings and heard reports from most of the committee chairs. The National Committee has thus far donated $2,500.00 to Blue Star Mothers in support of that organization’s efforts to prepare service dogs for veterans.  The Youth Committee has donated $350.00 to the Essex CHIPS healthy snack program; $250.00 to the Green Mountain Girl Scouts for the purpose of sending an Essex girl to a week of summer camp; $89.50 in support of Brian Cookingham’s Eagle Scout project; and a $250.00 application fee for a long-term youth exchange student. The Local Committee also spearheaded our Club’s participation in the Feed My Starving Children event at which 15 Rotarians helped pack enough food packages to feed 387 children for a year.  The Local Committee has donated $100.00 the Essex Historical Society; $500.00 to each of the three (3) food pantries in our area; and $358.26 to purchase two tires for a family in need.  The Literacy Committee has earmarked $1,000.00 to donate to the Reach Out and Read Program which is a collaborative effort with pediatric practices to deliver free books to children aged 6 months through 5 years during well visits and check-ups.  The International Committee has committed to a $1,000.00 donation that will be matched by the District to support Sharon Dettenrieder’s upcoming humanitarian trip to Jamaica this summer.  Finally, the Scholarship Committee is on track to once again provide scholarships to a number of deserving high school students.  The annual Scholarship Luncheon is tentatively set for May 17^th.

 

 

            The Vermont Rotary All-Star Hockey Classic will be held on Saturday, March 25^th at the Essex Skating Facility. This is our Club’s second largest fundraiser, so we will need everyone to help in securing sponsors and to volunteer to help out on game day.  Please contact Jeff Cabanaw with any questions about the event itself, or if you are interested in serving on the Hockey Committee.

 

 

            The next opportunities to volunteer at the Heavenly Food Pantry will be on January 26^th, February 23^rd and March 23rd.  Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder if you would like to sign up for shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  February 1, 2017 – Our speaker will be fundraising consultant, Caisil Weldon.

 

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