Weekly Bulletin - March 31st Meeting

Posted by Richard Garcia 
on Apr 04, 2016
 
A Club Assembly, when members have the opportunity to discuss club programs and activities. 
 
 
Guests:
  • Gino Frattalloni
  • NRHS Interact Club:
  • Camilla, current president
  • Brad, treasurer
  • Page (1), VP Elect
  • Page (2), President Elect
 
Announcements
  • A reminder about the District Conference, May 20-22.
  • April 11, Red Sox opening day and lunch for Stow seniors at Stow COA.
  • April 15, the Reality Fair at NRHS. 15 members are signed up, 40  volunteers are needed.
  • Sponsors are needed for the Brewfest, specifically businesses (not restaurants or brewers). Half the members have responded to the initial call, which has brought us to 50% of sponsor prospects needed.
  • April 8 is the annual Concord Pops concert. Unfortunately, this is a conflict with the District Assembly.
  • Two NRHS students have been chosen to attend RYLA.
  • The Social Media Seminar will be held tonight. 14 members have signed up, and 7 speakers will present information on harnessing social media to publicize club events and activities.
 
Happy/sad fines:
  • Karin: happy that Easter is past, so she won’t be tempted by Cadbury eggs any more.
  • Brian: grateful for Sudbury animal hospital, which took good care of his dog’s foot.
  • Ron: happy about the turnout for his Social Security seminar.
  • Laura: glad for our club’s support of the social media seminar; and grateful for John Erb of the Maynard club, who has taken charge of Wings & Wheels.
  • Carol: has a new machine that should heal her wrist, otherwise she’s facing surgery.
  • Nanci: happy that the Interact club has joined us this morning.
  • Bob: proud to have seen his granddaughter yesterday.
  • Gino: happy for the presence of the young people.
 
Club Assembly:
 
A Club Assembly is a meeting when members have the opportunity to discuss club programs and activities. Our club holds four Club Assemblies per year.
  • Every year our club has engaged in a global grant project: the mobile dental clinic in the Dominican Republic, rainwater harvesting (with the WPI Rotaract club) in Guatemala, and this year’s project, malaria eradication in Malawi. The range of projects speaks to the energy and impact of of our club.
  • We also participate in District grants: support for the Domestic Violence Services Network, the ropes course at the RFK center, funding for an updated video for the Healing Garden, which can be shown to potential donors, etc. For district grant projects, the club raises half the funds needed, then the District matches up to $1500. We then viewed the Healing Garden video; a similar project is proposed for the Nature Connection.
  • A change to the club’s bylaws was proposed: to add “president nominee to the list of officers. Currently, we have president and president-elect; the addition of a president nominee will give us three years of continuity. The change was approved.
  • Jacky Foster was proposed as president nominee; she was also approved.
  • Looking into the future, we would like to know how we can work more closely with the Interact club. Interact serves the school by going to various departments to help them: to buy extra books, and present other activities to supplement the curriculum. It was pointed out that they may apply for a district grant if costs ever exceed their resources. It was also suggested that they might plant a garden with a small sign in the new Bolton Common, as a way of publicizing the club. Interact can also help our Club out: by volunteering at the repair café on May 14. Volunteering at Wings and Wheels would also be helpful, especially during the setup and take-down phases. Nanci said that Healing Garden has a perennial walk, at which volunteers are welcome, as well as teams, each with their own theme. Bob spoke about UN day in November and the relationship between the UN and Rotary. Registration begins in August, and spaces fill up quickly. We can help with the transportation.
  • Meeting format: Laura said, “No songs,” which was enthusiastically approved. More seriously, Jacky suggested that we occasionally schedule a committee breakout session, to increase our ability to work together. The sense of the meeting, although not put to a vote, was that we would like to do this.