Weekly Bulletin - February 20, 2014 Meeting
To learn more about each other, we answered five questions about ourselves:
- Where do you live, and how long have you lived there?
- What is your favorite color?
- Are you a morning or night person?
- If you had to describe yourself using three words, they would be…
- Why did you join Rotary?
Next meeting on February 27 at Holiday Inn Boxborough, 5:45 p.m., Meat and Greet, Roche Bros meat demonstration, a joint meeting with the Acton-Boxborough Club. There will be a free raffle – who gets to take home the beef?
Guests:
- Kathy Cataldo
Club Announcements:
- Local projects:
o March 4: An Ethics in Business event with Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce. RichardS, Jim, Ron and Nanci are planning and volunteering at this event.
§ 8-9:30 a.m. at MassDevelopment office (33 Andrews Parkway) in Devens, MA
§ $20 members, $27 non-members
§ Register at www.nvcoc.com
o Reality Fair 2014 is on Friday, March 14 at Nashoba Regional High School. Please let Laura know if you would like to be part of the planning committee or would like to volunteer that day.
o Amy’s Angels (a Lancaster organization) project is in the planning stage. Karin, Mary, and Nanci are working on this project.
o Stow Springfest is scheduled for May 17 rain or shine: Bill suggested we get a booth next time instead of locating our table in the parking lot to increase the number of people who visit us. We could also have some give aways such as balloons or popcorn. This event is good for recruitment and service. We can help with getting cars parked, for example.
o RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Conference: The Board approved funding RYLA Conference attendance in June for two students. Application forms are available on our website and are due on March 1.
o Spirit of Hudson: Contact Nanci to help plan or volunteer at the event.
- International projects:
o Natascha suggested we could make a donation to a woman in the Dominican Republic who finishes a project we have already agreed to fund. Perhaps something related to attending college like a laptop would be appropriate. (The two new projects we are supporting at Dr. Compere’s Rotary Club in the Dominican Republic are: $500 for a Public Health program and $500 for a Teen Pregnancy Prevention program.) Contact Natascha to discuss ideas!
- February 27 meeting: Special joint meeting with the Acton-Boxborough club
o Meat and Greet!
o 5:45-7 at the Holiday Inn Boxborough
o Meeting of the week PLUS consumer education on meat cutting!
o $10 meeting fee includes hearty appetizers
o Cash bar available
o Free beef raffle!
- Foundation Minute: RichardS told us about the NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit) project that allows families to see their new babies on the Internet. Multiple Rotary clubs in District 7910 donated to this effort that is now fully funded. Our club’s project with DVSN (Domestic Violence Services Network) is also 50% funded through the district with Rotary Foundation funds.
- Dues news:
o H2 dues are due ($60) – you should have received an invoice. Please send your dues payment to Jim if you haven’t already!
o To cover RI and district dues, we’ll be increasing dues to $150/year ($75 semi-annually) starting July 1, 2014.
- Laura has posted the Best Club award criteria and the updated 2013-2014 Calendar of Activities on our website www.nashobarotary.org.
Other Club and General Rotary Announcements (Capitalized events earn points for our club!)
- Congrats to Dana who participated in the 4th annual Polar Plunge! You can still sponsor him; give a check to Ron, made out to the Rotary Foundation.
- We donated $100 towards a camera that Dick Manelis will use on his Brazil trip this year as part of the Hands-On Service club. Contact Dick (manelis711@yahoo.com) to make a donation or participate in a trip to Puerto Rico next year.
- March 28: Save the date! The DISTRICT PROJECT EXPO & PR Awards dinner will be on Friday, March 28 at the Holiday Inn Boxborough.
o 5-6:30: Social time and the expo
o 6:30-9: Dinner, program, and awards
o We’re shooting for the Make Your Mark award again!
- First ever Zone 24-32 Avenues of Service - Zone Photo Contest – photos are due March 31, 2014 - The most important rule of the contest is to “have fun.”
o The photographer must be a member of a Rotary, Rotaract, or Interact club in Zone 24 or Zone 32 (our club is in Zone 24-32).
o Photos submitted must be in JPEG file format with a maximum size of 3 MB and be submitted on or before March 31, 2014.
o Each photographer may submit up to 3 photos that were taken between July 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014.
o Each photo should represent one of the 5 Avenues of Service that the photo best illustrates: community service, international service, youth service, club service, and vocational service.
o To enter the contest and upload a photo, click HERE.
o For contest rules and small print, click HERE, and for the judging criteria, click HERE.
o Rotary Zone 24-32 website - www.RotaryZones24-32.org
Non-Rotary/public announcements:
- March 2 at 4 p.m. – Everyone is invited to Don’s bonfire birthday celebration at the air field on March 2 at 4 p.m. Don will supply the bonfire and a “stick” for cooing. Bring your own meat and beverage. No gifts. Rain, snow, or shine, it’s a GO – “come and enjoy my crazy friends!!!” Musical instruments and other kinds of merry making are encouraged.
- Bolton Road Race planned for June 14: Last year was an inaugural race to benefit the White family, victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Plans are underway for the second race. Anyone interested in helping to plan, sponsor, volunteer, or participate should contact Mary Ann and Deb Kotlarz.
Birthdays:
- Richard Simon: February 28
- Rotary International: February 23
- Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley: February 24
Happy/Sad Fines:
- Barbara was happy to be over a bad cold.
- Bob was happy he got out of his snowy/icy driveway.
- Carol was sad that her roof is really heavy. She was also happy to be back at Rotary meetings after being away.
- RichardS was happy for Fatima, who had her third grandchild last night.
- Jim was happy that his next grandchild, Atticus, will be born in May.
- Chris was sad because we either have too much or too little snow.
- Mary was happy to be at a morning meeting. She also announced that she has decided to retire in two years!
- Laura was sad that her trip to Florida last weekend was snowed out. She was stuck at Logan Airport for 7.5 hours! She was happy that Kathy was at the meeting. She was also happy about our club’s two year birthday!