Greetings fellow Rotarians! Today’s speaker was Vermont state trooper, Lt. Gary Scott.  Lt. Scott spoke to us about the State’s Fair and Impartial Policing initiative.  In recent years, there have been several allegations across the country of racial bias during police investigations and traffic stops. As we have all seen this past year, these allegations have created a great deal of tension between law enforcement officials and the communities in which they serve.  Lt. Scott reported that this bad publicity has certainly had an impact on enrollment in police academies.  He indicated that the numbers of people taking the entrance exams to get into the Vermont police academy is significantly lower than it used to be.  The Fair and Impartial Policing initiative was created in response to those concerns and allegations here in Vermont.  The program is designed to better educate state troopers about issues concerning racial and ethnic bias during traffic stops and investigations.  He indicated that training procedures have been altered to address questions of racial and ethnic bias before they become an issue. Lt. Scott hopes that programs like this will help allay the concerns many have about law enforcement officials.

 

 

            Just as a reminder, our Club is once again partaking in the Feed My Starving Children service project on Saturday, October 21^st.  At this event, volunteers put together nutritious food packages that are shipped to people in need across the world. As of right now, we appear to have enough volunteers for this project, so thank you to everyone who signed up.  A special thank you goes out to Amy Jackman for coordinating our Club’s involvement with this event.

 

 

            Phil Murdock is looking for donations of banana boxes that will be used to cart apples to the local food shelves.  Please contact Phil or Sharon Dettenrieder if you have any boxes that you are able to secure and donate. 

 

 

            We are still looking for nominations for the annual Service Above Self Award recipient. Each year, our Club recognizes an individual in our community who best exemplifies the spirit of our motto of service above self.  To date, Dave Johnson has only received one nomination, so we are hoping to get more.  Please submit your nominations along with a detailed description of why you feel your nominee is deserving to Dave Johnson at mdkiln@gmail.com by a date no later than November 1^st!

 

 

            The next opportunity to volunteer at the food shelf will be on October 26^th. Please let Sharon Dettenrieder know if you are able to volunteer for this shift.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  October 18, 2017 – Our speaker and program is not yet determined.

 

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