Greetings fellow Rotarians! We kicked off our first meeting of 2019 by recognizing three of our fellow members for their contributions to the Rotary Foundation.  Lois Parmelee was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow for donating at least $1,000.00 to the Foundation. Bill Parmelee was next recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow Plus One for donating a combined $2,000.00 to the Foundation. Finally, Rusty Brink attained the status of Paul Harris Fellow Plus Two for donating at least $3,000.00 to the Foundation. Thank you, Lois, Bill and Rusty for your generous contributions!  Today’s speaker was Charlotte Ide.  Charlotte has been a world-traveler since her early high school years.  Despite her lack of travel experience, Charlotte boldly embarked on a school-sponsored educational and service trip to Tanzania at the age of 15.  While there, she had the opportunity to connect on a personal level with many locals as she and her team assisted with the implementation of a clean water project in a rural village.  Charlotte’s journeys next took her to the Dominican Republic. While there, she had the opportunity to learn about the diverse eco-systems and the challenges faced by that country in preserving its reefs and indigenous fauna.  Finally, Charlotte was selected as a Rotary Exchange Student to spend time in Belgium. Throughout her travels, Charlotte has developed a real connection with the people she has met and a better understanding of the world in general.  She recently took the opportunity to pen a memoir of her experiences and the profound effect that travel has had on her and the manner in which she views the world.  Her book is titled, Exactly Paradise and can be purchased either on Kindle or Amazon.com. Charlotte concluded her talk by telling us about her future travel plans, which include a visit to Sweden this coming summer and a return trip to Tanzania.

            You won’t want to miss this year’s annual Service Above Self Dinner that will be held at The Essex on the evening of February 13^th.  We will be recognizing several of our community’s first responders who have gone above and beyond the call of duty as well as this year’s recipient of the Service Above Self award, Dorothy Bergenadahl. This is a nice event that celebrates what our motto of “Service Above Self” is all about. A sign-up sheet should be distributed for this event soon, but please contact Dave Johnson at mdjkiln@gmail.com if you have any questions about the dinner.

            We are looking for volunteers to help staff the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf on the following dates: Monday, February 11^th (5:15pm); Thursday, February 28^th (3:30pm); Monday, March 11^th (3:30pm); and Thursday, March 28^th (3:30pm). Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder at sharon.dettenrieder@gmail.com if you are able to fill any shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  Wednesday, January 16, 2019 - Some of our newer members will take the opportunity to tell us a bit more about themselves.

 

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