Greetings fellow Rotarians! Today’s speaker was fellow Rotarian, Tim Gendron who spoke to us about the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center.  This organization aims to create health-promoting communities in which people have the knowledge and resources to reduce the risk of suicide in our state. After sharing his very personal experiences with this subject, Tim discussed some alarming statistics about suicide.  For example, the suicide rate in Vermont has been 30% higher than the national rate over the course of the past five years.  The first step in reducing suicides is to inform people about the warning signs.  Tim went on to provide materials that educate us on how we can assist individuals we think might be having suicidal thoughts. In addition to providing people with useful information about how to help those who might be at risk, Tim explained that his organization also tries to educate people about the stigmas surrounding those with mental health issues and depression. He pointed out that as a society, we need to change the way we think about these issues and the way we discuss them. For more information about the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center, please visit its website at www.vtspc.org

            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. The cocktail reception begins at 5:30pm with dinner being served at 6:00pm. The cost of the meal is $35.00 per person.  The deadline for signing up for this event is Thursday, February 7^th.  Members and their guests are encouraged to sign up and pay for their dinners online at the following link:   https://rotaryclubofessex.org/event/annual-service-above-self-dinner-1/

            We are inching closer to the Rotary All-Star Hockey Classic which 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, February 13, 2019 – We will be holding our annual Service Above-Self Dinner. Please note that this event will be held in lieu of our regularly scheduled lunch meeting that day.

 

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