Weekly Bulletin - February 21, 2013 Meeting

First, Karin gave us a brief history of the beginnings of our club.  Before our club was officially chartered on February 24, 2012, people had been meeting for about one year.  Founding our club was the brainchild of Ron, Carol, and Bob, who were already members of other Rotary clubs.  In order to qualify for a charter, we had to have 25 members.  To reach this threshold, spouses joined.  Unfortunately, most of the spouses did not continue their memberships after the charter.

Next, she listed the goals she set for her year as club President in July 2012.  With just 18 weeks left in her presidency, most of Karin’s goals have been met!

• New Members – It is very important to have new people join our club so we can do more things.  At the beginning of July we had 15 members.  Karin’s goal was for our club to reach 20 members and we now have 20 members!  Our club is also almost equally divided between male and female members.  Nanci is our new Membership Chair.  She and Karin are reaching out to stores and businesses in Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow.  They have visited three stores already and plan to visit more in the future.  Karin encouraged us all to invite new people to the club.  She told us that she and Nanci are available for help.
• Service Projects – Rotary’s motto is service above self so service projects are very important.  So far this year we have either completed or begun working on the following projects: RYLA, Reality Fair, Interact Club at Nashoba Regional High School, Dictionary Project, Stow’s Kids’ Fest, Opening Day meal for seniors in collaboration with the Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow COAs.  For international projects we had Purple Pinkie Day in October, the Mobile Dental Clinic project is underway, and we might be able to accept an exchange student from another country and/or sponsor a local high school student for an exchange trip.  Additionally, we have donated money to the following organizations: Honor Flight New England, Domestic Violence Services Network, Stow’s Food Pantry, the Rotary Club of Acton-Boxborough’s Wine Tasting Fundraiser, and Warm Hearts of Stow.

 In conclusion, Karin said that we have accomplished a lot and need to raise money for projects.  Nanci complimented Karin for her good work and enthusiasm.  We all applauded Karin!

Guests: Gino Frattallone (Rotary Club of Acton Boxborough), Jack Shapiro

Anniversay Celebration: Allison decorated our meeting room in the Houghton Building for our celebration of the Nashoba Valley Rotary Club’s one year anniversary.  She put table cloths on the tables and got a cake consisting of both chocolate and vanilla with plenty of mostly white frosting.  She also brought very festive paper animal plates that would cheer up any one year old.  Karin wisely let us begin eating cake ASAP!

Club Announcements:

• Reality Fair – Dana finished building the wheel of fortune!  More volunteers are needed at the event on March 15 from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  Contact Carol to sign up!
  
  
• Cruise Nights – Laura is the chair of the planning committee for this event. 
  
  
• Opening Day Meals at COAs – Jim has talked to the COAs in Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow about this event and all are interested.  Stow’s COA has a big 55-inch TV and would like to host the event.
  
  
• Mobile Dental Clinic – RichardS is in the Dominican Republic on vacation and doing work on the MDC project.  He wrote the grant application and is now working on the fundraising.
  
  
• RYLA – our club will sponsor two high school sophomores at this year’s RYLA event.
  
  
• Recycling Day in Lancaster – Natascha and Chuck are organizing this event.
  
  
• Stow’s Kid Fest/Spring Fest – Bill and Barbara will work on this event.
  
  

Happy/Sad Fines: 

Happy Fines

• Jack was happy to be at the meeting.
• Dana was happy that he finished building the wheel of fortune for the Reality Fair.
• Jim was happy that he had recovered from the illness he had last week.
• Gino was happy to be invited to the meeting.
• Rich was happy that his second cataract surgery went well.
• Karin was happy to be celebrating our club’s birthday.

Sad Fines

• Chuck was sad that snow is on the way because it prevents his company from getting work done.
• Barbara was sad because Laura’s Mom passed away on Valentine’s Day.
• Allison was sad that her sister was put on bed rest with seven weeks to go in her pregnancy.

Non Club Announcements:

• "A Bridge to Hope Boutique” will be open from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the March 2 and March 3 weekend in Sudbury.  All proceeds go to Domestic Violence Services Network’s Lawyer for a Day program that provides legal assistance for victims of domestic violence at no charge to the victim.

Future Meetings

First, third, and fifth Thursdays:

7:15 AM to 8:30 AM

Houghton Building (across from the school)

697 Main Street, Bolton, MA 01740

(Route 117 West from I495, Exit 27)

Second and fourth Thursdays:

Nancy’s Airfield Café

302 Boxboro Road

Stow, MA 01775

5:45 PM to 6:45 PM

About Rotary:

Founded in Chicago in 1905 as the world's first volunteer service organization, Rotary now has 1.2 million members who provide humanitarian service and help build goodwill and promote world peace. About 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas address today's challenges - including illiteracy, disease, hunger, poverty, lack of clean water, and environmental concerns - while encouraging high ethical standards in all vocations. For more information, go to www.rotary.org.

For more club information, contact Club President, Karin Gaffney, at karin.m.gaffney@rbscitizens.com or 978-387-5369.