President Jim Stone Receives Paul Harris +1 Pin From Foundation Chair Chris Spear
 
 
Guests:
  • Gino Frattellone, Littleton club
 
Announcements:
  • The Red Sox home opener for the Stow Council on Aging got off to a slow start, but people trickled in, and it was ultimately a success.
  • The Reality Fair at Nashoba Regional was fun for us, and the feedback from the students shows it was successful. Students now are better prepared, since many have older siblings who have gone through the process. The Interact club had flyers and students working the fair, so it was especially successful.
  • District conference May 20-22. We’re hosting a hospitality suite with the Acton-Boxborough club, and featuring a display on the Repair Café.
  • Next week no regular meeting; instead we’re meeting with the Acton-Boxborough Club for their eighth annual wine, beer, and dessert tasting. (Holiday Inn, 5:30-8:00.)
  • Nature Connection is having a benefit May 25, details later.
  • Repair café: Last Saturday was in Stow, Bolton on May 14, and June 18 in Ayer. Volunteers are needed to distribute flyers.
  • Healing Garden is having its Perennial Walk on May 22. Rotary is well represented. This year the HG is celebrating 15 years in existence.
  • Jim received a Paul Harris plus 1 pin for contributions to The Rotary Foundation.
  • Our Malawi mosquito spraying global grant application was approved by The Rotary Foundation. Recognition goes to Richard for his work on these international projects.
  • The anti-polio campaign is switching from vaccines to an injection with a better effectiveness against two strains.
  • The Stow Boy Scouts are sponsoring electronics recycling this Saturday, and a paper shredding event on May 7.
  • Gino told us about his recent trip to Arizona. In the town of Wickenburg, he attended a Rotary meeting. As a result, along with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, he’s raising money to feed the hungry in the area.
 
Happy/sad fines:
 
  • Nanci: is glad that our club and others are part of the Perennial Walk.
  • Ray: grateful for the break in the weather.
  • Jacky: also grateful for the warmer weather so outdoor work can get done.
  • Mary: glad to have been on vacation from school this week.
  • Leigh: over the edge happy
  • Chris: had his last day working at Intel; is glad that a campership was approved by the Board; and grateful for a beautiful day.
  • Laura: glad that a week of nonstop Rotary events is over; and glad to be working outdoors in the good weather.
  • Alina: told of a pet goat so fat, she seemed pregnant. A few months later, her daughter said the goat was in labor. Unfortunately, the baby was stillborn.
  • Gino: grateful for the Rotary family.
  • Brian: glad that his dog is well enough to run; and sad that he’s had to leave coaching his girls’ under 12 soccer team.
  • Jim: grateful for a beautiful day.
 
Speaker:
 
President-Elect Chris Spear spoke about about Biking Across the USA for the Pan Mass Challenge (PMC), the largest single athletic charity event in the country. The PMC brings together thousands of impassioned cyclists, committed volunteers, generous donors and dedicated corporate sponsors each year. Together, they provide Dana-Farber’s doctors and researchers the necessary resources to discover treatments and cures for all types of canc.
 
Chris and friends began traditionally, with wheels in the Pacific. Then they were off, approximately 100 miles a day.
 
The first major event was the uphill journey through the Sierras, with grades often as high as 13%. Locally, 13% might be found on Mt. Washington, but more likely 6-7%. Coming downhill was as challenging as uphill, due to strong headwinds. Then came the desert. A sock filled with ice worn around the neck provided some relief, with water stops every 20-30 miles.
 
A popular culture reference: “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona” (the Eagles). Next popular culture stop, Roswell, New Mexico. On through Texas and Arkansas. Entering Indianola, Mississippi, the birthplace of BB King. The whole town had turned out—the cyclists thought it was for them, but it was actually a homecoming parade. Finally, Georgia and the finish in Savanna, with wheels in the Atlantic.
 
So what’s next? PMC is planning a northern route. Chris is suggesting a path from Gardner to the shore, in Beverly, at Endicott College.
 
$9,000 more, and Chris will have raised $200,000 for PMC.