Greetings fellow Rotarians! We had a very busy meeting today!  We first heard from Pablo, our Rotary Exchange Student.  Pablo is very excited about spending the next several months in our community.  In addition to playing soccer, he is playing tennis at the Edge thanks in large part to a free membership that was donated to him by the Edge.  Just as a reminder, we are looking for Rotarians who are interested in bringing Pablo along on outings. Please let us know if you are able to help!  We then heard from Tammy Heckenberg from District 7191 across the lake in New York.  Tammy reported that her District would be holding its District Conference at The Essex in 2019.  She is hopeful to set up a service project during that conference that can be done with members our Club.  Stay tuned for details on that! Our speaker today was District 7850 Governor Eric Denu. Eric has been a longtime member of the Middlebury Rotary Club and spoke to us at length about the ways in which Rotary can make a difference.  He emphasized that Rotary is now looking at environmental issues and the connection between the environment and the quality of life people enjoy.  As a way of contributing to this cause, Eric is encouraging Rotarians to take on the challenge of planting trees.  He also encouraged us to attend the Rotary Summit at the Mount Washington Hotel.  This event will be taking place from May 4^th through May 6^th of 2018 and Rotarians from Districts 7850, 7780, 7790, 7910, and 7930 are invited to participate in what should be an amazing meeting.  For more information about this event, please visit:  http://www.rotary7850.org/

 

 

            As mentioned above, our Rotary Exchange Student, Pablo has arrived and will be attending school at Mount Mansfield Union High School for the school year.  Edith Klimoski and her family will be hosting a dinner on Sunday, September 24^th as a way for Rotarians to welcome Pablo to our community and to get to know him a bit better.  The event will be catered by Mimmo’s, so please RSVP to Edith as soon as possible if you and your family are able to make it. Edith can be reached at klimoski@comcast.net

 

 

            Our Club is once again participating in the Essex Eats Out program.  Each month, a local church hosts a free dinner for the community at large.  Our Club has agreed to provide the food and staffing for the next event which is scheduled for Friday, October 6^th.   A sign-up sheet is being circulated for both volunteers and for people to donate money or food to this event.  Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder at Sharon.dettenrieder@gmail.com for more details about this service project.

 

 

 

            The next opportunities to volunteer at the food shelf will be on September 28^th and October 26^th. Please let Sharon Dettenrieder know if you are able to volunteer for any of these shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  September 20, 2017 – Our speaker will be Kitty Daly who will talk about Aunt Dot’s place, a new food shelf being opened in Essex.

 

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 follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EssexVermontRotary , on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/essexvermontrotary/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/essex_rotary

 

 

       Yours in Rotary,

 

Jason Ruwet