Greetings fellow Rotarians! Today we were joined by Rotarians from both of the Burlington clubs and the Colchester-Milton club.  In addition to having the opportunity to mingle with several other Rotarians from the area, we were treated to a Paul Harris Fellowship presentation to Larry Brett, a member of the Burlington Rotary Club.  Our speaker today was Donald Benton, the national director of Selective Service.  Mr. Benton explained that the Selective Service is an organization that has created a fair and equitable system for filling our nation’s personnel needs in the time of national emergency. By law, young men are required to register for the Selective Service within 30 days of turning 18 years old, however, individuals may register through the age of 25.  Once an individual reaches the age of 26, he is no longer eligible to register for the Selective Service, thereby forfeiting a number of benefits that are associated with registration.  For example, those who fail to register are forever barred from Federal employment and will not be eligible for several forms of Federal student loans or grants. For individuals who are not yet U.S. citizens, failure to register could delay their paths to citizenship.  Presently, Vermont has one of the lowest Selective Service registration rates in the nation with only 52% of 18 year-old men registering and only 73% of eligible men registering prior to their 26^th birthdays.  As a result, roughly 27% of young men in our state will not be eligible for Federal benefits and employment. For this reason, efforts are being made to inform young Vermonters about the importance of registering for the Selective Service. Mr. Benton concluded his talk by answering several very good questions from the audience.  For more information about the Selective Service, please visit its website at www.SSS.gov

 

 

 

            Please don’t forget to RSVP for the annual Service Above Self Dinner.  This year’s event will be held on the evening of Wednesday, February 21^st at The Essex. In addition to recognizing several first responders, we will be honoring our own Dave Johnson with the annual Service Above Self award. The cost for this dinner is $35.00 per person and a sign-up sheet will be available at our meetings.  Rotarians are encouraged to bring family members and friends to what should be a very memorable evening!

 

 

            Thank you to all who have volunteered to cover shifts at the Food Shelf in January.  Presently, we have enough volunteers for the month of February.  We are, however, looking for volunteers for March (Monday, March 12^th and Thursday, March 22^nd).  Please let Sharon Dettenreider know if you are able to fill any of these slots.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  Wednesday, February 14th – Our speaker will be fellow Rotarian and CPA, Mike LeBoeuf who will discuss the recent changes to the Federal tax code.

 

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