Nashoba Rotary Charitable Endowment
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of long term club member, Ray Pfau.  Ray’s obituary beautifully recalls all that Ray brought to the world including being the genesis for the Repair Cafe movement in Bolton and sharing his passion with so many across the country.   
 
 

Raymond (Ray) Pfau of Bolton, Massachusetts, passed away on November 28, 2023. He died peacefully with the love of his family surrounding him.

Ray is survived by his wife, Catherine Pfau; daughters Polly Pfau (Matt Johnson), Jennifer Pfau, and Erika Anderson (Erik Anderson); stepsons, Joe and Steve Bernotas (Julie Bernotas); former wife Peg Pfau; brother Richard Pfau; grandchildren Jaleen, Kendall, Kayla, Brayden, Oliver, Tyler, and Mason.

As a longtime resident of Bolton, he considered himself “almost a local”. Helping friends and neighbors was a big part of his life. Whether it was coaching soccer for his daughters, being a judge at the Bolton Fair, volunteering in many capacities, or enjoying card games with his Bolton friends, he loved Bolton and being involved in the community.

Ray grew up in Centerport, New York, and received a bachelor’s degree from MIT in math, where he enjoyed rowing, his fraternity (Chi Phi), and the lifelong friends he made there. He also received a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. He volunteered with the Peace Corps in the Philippines, taught middle school math in Concord Massachusetts, and worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, and Oracle Corporation. 

Ray was a generous, gentle, loving man who enriched the lives of all those he met. He was a wonderful family man, friend, and helper to all. Ray made the world a better place by:

• His dedicated involvement with the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley where he helped get funding for a school for girls in Afghanistan. He made several trips sponsored by Rotary to Guatemala to provide proper stoves and clean water to residents.
• Ray’s vegetable garden was a joyful place, where he spent many hours. He volunteered at Nicewicz Family Farm in Bolton and Growing Places in Concord to learn better methods of farming and to help local farmers.
• He had a great interest in sustainability and was part of Bolton Local, a group that focuses on taking care of the earth.
• Ray was a member of the founding Board for Nashoba Neighbors, a nonprofit that helps older adults remain at home.
• Most of all, he loved to fix things and never went anywhere without his tool kit. He could not pass up an opportunity to fix something that needed fixing. He started a Repair Café in Bolton, a place where volunteers fix things for others for free. Due to the success there, he helped start more than 15 other Repair Cafés in Massachusetts and inspired his grandson to start one in Pennsylvania.

When he wasn’t helping others, Ray could be seen running, hiking, playing tennis, kayaking, biking, and dancing, where he met his wife Catherine.

His family and friends were the highlight of his life. He cared deeply for each one of them.

No flowers, please. If you would like to do something in his memory, you can donate to the following organizations:

The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley
Nashoba Rotary Charitable Endowment
PO Box 322, Stow MA

Nashoba Neighbors
PO Box 123
Bolton MA, 01740


It would make him happy if you started composting or fixing something instead of throwing it away. You will be surprised at some of the simple things you can do for yourself and the earth!

The family is planning a Celebration of Life in early 2024.

 


 
 
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley is delighted to announce that the David and Eleanor Morley Endowed Global Grant Scholarship has been awarded to Katherine Painter, a lifelong resident of Stow. RNV sponsored Katherine as a candidate for this scholarship and is thrilled that she was selected! This unique Scholarship was established in 2002 by David and Eleanor Morely, to be granted to a resident of Rotary District 7910 who will be doing graduate-level study outside the US in one of Rotary’s areas of focus. David Morley was a Rotarian, a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and had a long career at General Electric. 
 
Photo: Katie and RNV members
 
Katherine’s area of focus is Peace and Conflict Resolution. She graduated from Yale in the spring of 2023 with a simultaneous BA/MA in Classics and a BA in Religious Studies. She will be attending Oxford University to obtain a Masters of Philosophy in Religion and Theology. Her focus is on understanding the root causes of and potential solutions for contemporary religious conflicts and ways to bring people and communities together toward resolution of those conflicts. After she obtains her master degree, her goal is to obtain a doctoral degree in religion and work in higher education, devoting here career to teaching, research, and community outreach.
 
Photo (left): Katie & RNV President Chris Mudgett  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Katherine attended a Rotary of Nashoba Valley club meeting in early September and is heading off to Oxford later in September. We wish her all the best across the pond! 
 
Photo (right): Katie at Yale Graduation
On Monday, June 5, 2023, The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley awarded its annual scholarship to Bella Tijin of Bolton, MA.    Bella was the recipient of the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley Ron Bott Memorial Scholarship named for our dear friend and one of our charter members.   Ron lost his battle with cancer last year and we told him that we would name the scholarship after him, which gave him great happiness.   Ron's wife Jeanne attended the ceremony as well.
 
Bella is a very accomplished student and is also an EMT cadet at Nashoba Regional High School, which requires significant training, certifications, and sacrifice to respond to emergencies and administer care.   Bella will be attending Quinnipiac University and pursuing studies in health sciences with a goal of becoming a Physician's Assistant in the future.   Please join me in congratulating Bella!
 
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In partnership with Clinton Savings Bank and the Guidance Office, the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley once again sponsored our annual financial Reality Fair at Nashoba Regional High School on the morning of Friday, April 7th. More than 200 10th graders selected a career and starting salary. On the day of the fair, they received a monthly paycheck (with deductions!) to purchase life's necessities, such as housing, transportation, insurance, clothing, and food. They were also tempted with nice-to-have purchases such as concert tickets, vacations, and pets! Students also tooka chance to spin the wheel of fortune to reflect unplanned income or expenses that happen as a part of life.  Please consider volunteering and contact Carolyn Read at carolyn.read@yahoo.com to sign up next year!

You can see last year's volunteer handbook to learn more about what the students will purchase and can find the 2022 volunteer handbook on nashobarotary.com in the Download section. 

 

On April 9, more than 70 people from the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, the Humanitarian Club of Littleton High School, the Nashoba Regional High School Interact club, several Rotary clubs across central Massachusetts, and the local community came together to package 20,000 meals to address hunger. 
 
The Rotary clubs funded the cost of the meals, and Rise Against Hunger New England provided the ingredients for packaging. Every dehydrated rice/soy meal is fortified with 20 essential vitamins and nutrients. The meals are then shipped to areas around the world where the need is greatest, including within the United States. Requesting organizations must meet certain requirements to receive a shipment of meals or donated aid, including accountability, importation (the ability to cover shipping costs), storage, and distribution.
 
Rise Against Hunger provides food and life-saving aid to the world's most vulnerable people and works to end global hunger in our lifetime. Established in 1998, the organization has provided more than 225 million meals in 74 countries. Charity Navigator gave Rise Against Hunger 4 stars, its highest rating.
 
 
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley collected more than 500 pounds of thin-film plastic as part of the NexTrex recycling program. By you donating plastic film to NexTrex®, not only did the club help to keep thousands of pounds of waste out of landfills, it also helped Trex® to continue to make eco-friendly outdoor products. Through its donation, the club qualified for a Trex bench to be donated to the local community. Many thanks to the Bolton Bean, 626 Main Street in Bolton, MA, which served as a collection point. The club is hopeful that other community organizations will take on this challenge. For more information about the program and what plastic is acceptable, visit https://recycle.trex.com.
 
2023-2024 Theme: Create Hope in the World
We meet both in person and virtually through Zoom on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Thursdays of each month from 7:30 - 8:30 AM:
The Houghton Building
697 Main Street (Route 117)
Bolton, MA 01740
(additional parking at the nearby First Parish of Bolton church) 
Check our Calendar for Social and Service Events!
Club Executives & Directors
President
President 2024-2025 (PE)
Immediate Past President
Secretary
Treasurer
Membership Chair
Sgt at Arms
Service Chair
Foundation Chair
Public Relations Chair
Polio Challenge Chair
Speaker Chair
Website Chair
Social Media Chair
RYLA Chair
Interact Chair
Scholarship Chair
International Projects Co-Chair
International Projects Co-Chair
Director
Environmental
Rotary @ Work
Social Equity