Greetings fellow Rotarians! Our speaker today was Col. Hank Harder, Vice Wing Commander of the Vermont Air National Guard. Col. Harder spoke to us about the arrival of the F-35 squadron and the preparations that are being made to accommodate these new planes.  For 32 years, the Vermont Air Guard has been patrolling our skies in F-16s.  In 2013, it was announced that these planes would be replaced with 18 F-35s.  In 2016 an announcement was made that the arrival of the F-35s would be accelerated by a year and would in fact be arriving in 2019 instead of 2020.  For the past few years, the Air Guard has been busily preparing for this transition.  In addition to sending personnel to California for F-35 training, the physical infrastructure of the Air Guard base has been undergoing a transformation to fit the needs of the new planes.  For example, new flight simulators are being installed at the base to replace the old F-16 simulators.  For more information about the Air Guard and its mission, please visit the following website: https://www.158fw.ang.af.mil/

 

 

            Our Club will once again be helping out with the Feed My Starving Children food packing event.  Each year, our Club provides roughly 30 volunteers to assist with the packaging of food that will be sent to regions of the world that are affected by famine and drought.  This year’s event will take place on Saturday, October 20^th at the Albert D. Lawton Middle School in Essex Junction from 9:00am to 11:00am.  We need several volunteers for this event, so if you and your families are interested in helping out, please sign up at future meetings or e-mail Amy Jackman at amymj@us.ibm.com

 

 

            It is time to start thinking of nominations for our annual Service Above Self award that will be presented at our annual Service Above Self dinner in February.  Each year, our Club recognizes a member of our community who best exemplifies the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self”.  Please submit your nominations to Dave Johnson at mdkiln@gmail.com along with an explanation of why you think this individual is worthy of this award.  Nominations are due by October 31^st.

 

 

            We are looking for volunteers to help staff the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf in the next few months.  We will need volunteers for the following dates: Monday, October 6 (5:15 - 7:45 PM); Thursday, October 27 (3:30 - 6:30 PM);

Monday, November 12 (3:30 – 6:30 PM); Thursday, November 15 (3:30 - 6:30 PM); Monday, December 10 (5:15 - 7:45 PM); and Thursday, December 20 3:30 - 6:30 PM). Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder at sharon.dettenrieder@gmail.com if you are able to fill any of these shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  Wednesday, September 19, 2018 – Our speaker will be University of Vermont Professor Cheryl Morse who will be discussing the growing problem of young Vermonters leaving the state.

 

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