Weekly bulletin, February 5, 2015

Posted by Richard Garcia 
on Feb 09, 2015
 
Meg O'Leary spoke to us about the effort to convert the property formerly occupied by Smith's Garage to Bolton Common.
 
Weekly meeting, February 5, 2015
 
Guests
  • Gino Frattiloni
  • Michael Mills
  • Meg O’Leary, speaker
 
Announcements
 
  • WPI Rotaract Club: Jim Stone attended the inauguration. There’s little overlap between this club and Engineers Without Borders, which also works on Guatemala rainwater harvesting.
  • Stop Hunger Now: The event will be held February 7; we have high school volunteers and six Rotary clubs involved; we’re also hoping to make this a kickoff for starting an Interact club.
  • Power of Change: Thanks to Dan Hnatio, Karin Gaffney, Mary Garcia, and Nancy McPherson for their work to make this event a success; it’s our intent to redo this every year.
  • Repair Café: 30+  guests attended. The next café will be in May or thereabouts. Stow is now interested in having its own repair café.
  • Fundraisers: It’s important to start now planning for Wings & Wheels and the Brewfest.
  • Brewfest: is expanding sponsorship and including more restaurants.
  • Health care fair: We’re now sponsoring a fair for small businesses providing health care for employees. This year, we’re working with the Maynard club.
  • Gift of life child: Gabriel’s operation was done Wednesday and was successful. He’s moving into his own room today.
  • Guatemala rainwater harvesting: The big news is that with the international grant funding, they can complete the whole village. The result will be not just recovering water, but recovering time for the women and children who now have to go to fetch water from its present source.
  • Rotary days: thanks to Jackie Foster, who will head the project.
  • RFK Center ropes course: Construction will begin sometime in March.
 
Happy/sad fines
 
  • Ron Bott: went to Boston and saw the Patriots’ victory parade.
  • Alina Pirez: Her dad is coming home.
  • Ray Pfau: Also saw the parade, and happy that the repair café went so well.
  • Gino Frattiloni: Glad to be at his 5th meeting this week, and encourages us to go to other clubs.
  • Brian Burke: had Laura and Chris Spear at his Superbowl party.
  • Laura Spear: happy to have missed the last snowstorm, as she was in California; Chris is in Istanbul and Baku visiting their son.
  • Jim Stone: was at the installation of the new Rotaract club at WPI.
  • Maryann Fitzgerald: happy to be here.
  • Fatima Simon: had a good time in Panama; her daughters are expecting; and her mom is in surgery.
  • Carol Toomey: is praying to support her friends in Bourne, who reported the car fire that led to the shooting of the police officer.
  • Jackie Foster: is happy for the snow!
  • Bob Johnson: ryla coming up; end of this month
  • Nanci Bishop: is happy about the Healing Garden event coming up next Thursday at Nashoba Valley Winery. The club is invited to attend after next week’s meeting.
  • Michael Mills: is happy to be with such a hospitable club.
  • Richard Simon: is happy to have Fatima in his life; happy that Gabriel is doing so well (he looks at his hands and sees that the fingers aren’t blue!); and shares Fatima’s concern for her mother.
 
Speaker:
Meg O’Leary, Bolton Town Common Initiative
 
When the property formerly occupied by Smith’s gas station became available, the town voted against purchase, but four families put up personal assets  for the purchase by the Conservation Commission. Remediation is now underway, under the auspices of the state Department of Environmental Protection;  this is the biggest cost to the program, $750,000. The property was filled with oil, and gas tanks were discovered around the property. The property consists of 8 acres, 3 of which are visible from Route 117, the remaining 5 acres include conservation land, interlaced with hiking trails.
 
The committee  started with a survey, to determine how people in town wanted to use the space. Top voters were beautification of the town, as a gathering place, use for common markets (e.g., farmer’s market),  concerts, walking/jogging on trails. Also suggested was a coffee shop, which isn’t possible, but could lead to an independent business. Concerns are: traffic, parking, taxes, and whether Route 117 can permit safe access.
 
Based on community input, designs have been proposed.
 
The total budget is $1.2 million. Large-scale fundraising will begin in March, with donations and pledges over 3 years. Ideally, the entire cost will be paid off in 2017.
 
The web site, for further information, is at Boltontowncommon.org.
 
Next meeting
 
  • Time:  February 12, 5:45 p.m.
  • Place: Nancy’s Airfield Café, 302 Boxboro Road, Stow
  • Speaker: Laura Spear, past president of our club and PR chairman for the District, will talk about creating and maintaining a brand for a club.