Greetings fellow Rotarians! Today we had the opportunity to learn more about two of our newer members through classification talks.  We first heard from Janet Cooper.  Janet is originally from New York City and she came to Vermont for a different pace of life.  As a financial advisor, Janet has found a natural synergy between her profession and being a Rotarian as the goals in both cases are to serve and to help people. In addition to regularly attending our meetings, Janet also took over as our Club’s coordinator of the Holiday Senior Luncheon.  We next heard from Tim Gendron.  Tim is a native Vermonter who grew up in Barre.  As one of ten children in his family, Tim learned to work with others at a very early age. He also found that coming from a large family helped him become more empathetic, which is a trait that is certainly conducive to being a Rotarian. Even before joining our Club, Tim was no stranger to serving the community.  He frequently served as a coach, referee and umpire in youth sports while his own children were growing up in the area.  Thank you very much to both Janet and Tim for sharing your stories and giving us the opportunity to know you a bit better.  Classification talks like these serve as a reminder that fellowship is a large component of being a Rotarian.

            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.

            While some might think the term “hockey classic” refers to the Habs’ victory over the Bruins the other night, it’s actually the name of our Club’s second largest fundraiser.  The event features a men’s game and women’s game and all of the net proceeds that are generated from the Hockey Classic go into our charitable accounts to help finance our many charitable endeavors.  This year’s event will take place on Saturday, March 23^rd at the Essex Skating Facility. The women’s game will start at 4:00pm and the men’s game will start shortly after the completion of the women’s contest.  Although this is just a one-day event, we do need as many Rotarians as possible to volunteer on game day. Please contact Jeff Cabanaw at Tarrisonus@comcast.net if you have any questions about this event.

            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 23, 2019 – Our speaker will be St. Michaels College Professor John Reuwer.  He will be discussing the International Initiatives Promoting Conflict Resolution program.

 

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