Greetings fellow Rotarians!  We started today’s meeting off with the first round of the annual Rotary Speech Contest. Four young adults from Essex High School, Mount Mansfield Union High School and the Center for Technology delivered speeches on the manners in which they can foster and sustain service in the community.  All contestants did an outstanding job of articulating their positions but the eventual winner was Eva Joly.  Eva will go on to compete in the next round of the Contest at a future date. Congratulations to all four participants on a job well done!  Our speaker today was Diane Nancekivell, President of Kids4Peace International.  Kids4Peace is a grassroots interfaith youth movement dedicated to ending conflict and inspiring hope in Jerusalem and other divided societies around the world.  By bringing Israeli children from different backgrounds and faiths together at camps in the United States, this organization gives these children the opportunity to learn from one another and to work towards bridging the gaps that divide them.  The hope is that these children will bring what they learned back to Israel and impart this knowledge to their friends, family and community members.  Diane ended the presentation with an inspirational video that featured testimonials from several of the participants of this program.  The video may be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ef9PPAl4N8  

You may also learn more about Kids 4 Peace by visiting it’s website at:  www.k4p.org

 

 

            Just as a reminder, 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 on game day. You may sign up to volunteer for shifts online at:

 

 

 

 

            Our Club will be holding its annual Service Above Self dinner on the evening of Wednesday, February 15^th.  At this dinner we will be honoring Greg Morgan as this year’s recipient of the Club’s Service Above Self award.  We will also be recognizing selected members of the public safety community who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.  Tickets to this event are $35.00 per person and we ask that you please RSVP and purchase tickets at the following link by a date no later than February 10th^th. 

 

 

 

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

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  February 15, 2017 – We will be holding our annual Service Above Self Dinner at The Essex.  The event starts at 5:30pm and will be held in lieu of our regularly scheduled meeting.

 

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