Greetings fellow Rotarians! Our speaker today was Patrick Standen from the Northeast Disabled Athletic Association (NDAA).  This non-profit organization was founded almost 25 years ago with a mission of giving physically disabled individuals opportunities to take part in athletic activities. The NDAA provides the means of not only connecting those individuals with one another, but it is also provides them with the tools they need to realize their goals.  Thanks to the generosity of donors and volunteers, the dream of participating in athletic and active pursuits such as sailing, sled hockey, power soccer and kayaking has become a reality for hundreds of individuals in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. To illustrate what the NDAA does, Patrick showed us an inspirational video about a young women named Jamie Perron.  A car accident left Jamie paralyzed from the neck down at the age of 19.  Jamie didn’t let her condition deter her, however, as she was determined to still maintain an active life.  Thanks to a specially-designed kayak that was provided to Jamie by the NDAA, she is now able to enjoy paddling around Lake Champlain on a nice, summer day.  This is just one of many examples of the great work the NDAA does.  You can watch the video about Jamie’s story at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJNhqvGwyY  You can also visit https://disabledathletics.org/ for more information about Patrick’s organization.

            By now, members should have received invoices for their annual dues. The Board asks that if you plan to continue your membership for the 2019-2020 year that you please have your dues paid in full by Friday, June 7th.  It is important for us to have all of our invoices paid as those funds are used to pay the fees that are charged to our Club by the District and Rotary International for each one of our reported members. We also ask that you please let us know as soon as possible if you do not intend to renew your membership.  If we do not receive your dues payment in a timely fashion, you will not be enrolled as a member of our Club for 2019-2020 and you will need to re-apply for membership. Please contact Betty Poulin at Betty.Poulin@gmail.com if you have any questions about dues or renewal.

            The weeks have now turned to days as we are exactly 7 days away from the annual Golf Tournament! Thanks to the efforts of our members, we have already exceeded last year’s number of hole sponsors!  Great work, everyone!  A special thank you goes out to Dave Johnson and his committee for their tireless efforts in putting this event together!

            We are looking for volunteers to help staff the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf on the following dates: Monday, June 10^th (5:00pm) and Thursday, June 27^th (3:30pm). Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder at sharon.dettenrieder@gmail.com if you are able to fill any of these shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  Wednesday, June 12, 2019 – We will be holding our annual Golf Tournament at the Links at Lang Farm in lieu of our regularly scheduled meeting.  We’ll see you all on the golf course next Wednesday!

 

For the complete list of upcoming speakers and information about the Club, please go to our website at rotaryclubofessex.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