Greetings fellow Rotarians! Tonight, several Rotarians and community members gathered to honor those who best exemplify our motto of “Service Above Self”.  As we have done for the past six years, we recognized four first responders who have gone above and beyond the call of duty when serving their community.  These individuals were selected by the Essex Fire Department, the Essex Junction Fire Department, the Essex Police Department and Essex Rescue.  We then recognized our own Dave Johnson as this year’s recipient of the Service Above Self Award.  For years, Dave has selflessly committed his time and energy into our Club and its philanthropic endeavors.  He has been the face and driving force behind the Essex Rotary Golf Tournament for the past 5 years.  This is our Club’s most successful fundraiser as the money it raises accounts for roughly 60% of the total funds we donate to charity each year. While Dave will be the first to tell you that this event is a team effort, any Essex Rotarian will tell you that it is Dave’s infectious enthusiasm for Rotary and serving those in need that has made this fundraiser such a success.  Dave has also served as the Club’s point person for the Rotary Foundation.  As many of you already know, the Rotary Foundation is the financial arm of Rotary International that helps fund the good work that Rotary does across the globe.  Knowing the importance of the Foundation, Dave has been its biggest champion and has made sure that our members are educated about it.  Thanks to his efforts, our Club boasts a solid number of members who have donated to the Foundation.  Dave’s work with our Club alone would be enough to earn our Service Above Self award, but that is not all he has done.  In addition to serving as the Executive Director of the Burlington YMCA for 20 years, Dave has served on several non-profit boards including the Essex Children’s Choir, the Catamount Family Center and the Green Mountain Prevention Project.  As this year’s recipient of the Service Above Self award, Dave has had $1,000.00 donated to the Rotary Foundation in his name which makes him a multiple-time Paul Harris Fellow.  Congratulations to Dave and the rest of this year’s honorees for their richly deserved awards!

 

 

            Today, Dave Barra was sworn in as one of our State’s newest Superior Court judges.  Congratulations to Dave on this achievement! Due to Dave’s upcoming obligations, he will not be able to serve as our Club’s next President and he will also need to step down from his position as the Chair of the Scholarship Committee.  With that in mind, we are in dire need of an individual (or individuals) to fill those two positions. We would ask that anyone who is interested in serving in one or both of these positions please let the Board know as soon as possible so that we can quickly commence the transition process.

 

 

            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 28th – We will be holding our monthly committee meetings.

 

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