Weekly meeting, March 26, 2015

 

 

The meeting tonight was our Club Assembly.

 

Richard began the meeting with a quote from K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran , incoming president of Rotary International and guest speaker at PETS earlier this month:

 

You are the eyes and ears of the Rotary world. You know what your clubs need and what they have to offer. You are the ones who can bring it together…. I will ask all of you to give a great deal in the days and months ahead. I will ask you to give your faith. I will ask you to give your dedication. I will ask you to give your commitment and compassion. I will ask you for all of these gifts. I will ask you to be a gift to the world.

 

Richard then stated: “The Avenues of Service are Rotary’s philosophical cornerstone and the foundation on which club activity is based:

 

 

The meeting was then opened for members to share comments and observations on various projects and topics.

 

PR awards: Laura Spear was acknowledged for her work to organize the PR Expo and Awards Night. Our club won several of these awards: Best Use of Digital Marketing; Unique and Innovative Use of PR; Best PR Coverage; and Best Brand Compliance. (Laure was not on the selection committee.) Our club does not seek awards for their own sake; they’re a recognition by other clubs that our club is amazing.

 

Chris spoke about his trip to Sunnyvale, California. The wonderful thing about visiting other clubs is the perspective one can gain from new ideas. Sunnyvale is a place where homelessness is a huge problem—people are being squeezed out of affordable housing by the Silicon Valley millionaires. The Rotary club is tackling some problems by making microloans to people via Kiva.com.

 

Brewfest: Nanci said that this event is challenged by not having a great process: it’s more successful than anyone ever thought. We need to show the Hudson club that Nashoba Valley is involved. Our immediate challenge is to raise $3,000. We’re lacking in support from Bolton and Lancaster. Ron pointed out that we were originally invited so that the event might not lose money. Now we need to work to not give Hudson one iota of a reason to drop us.

 

Wings and wheels: This year, Acton is leading the event. Every club needs to appoint a volunteer coordinator; our responsibility is for four nights. Sponsorships brought in $12,000 the first year, and only $10,000 last year. With new members, our club has a lot of new energy; setup and tear-down volunteers especially are needed.

 

RFK ropes construction : Construction has begun. Jackie is heading our part, with Bolton Rally also a partner. A reception/opening will be held in June when the rope course is finished.

 

Reality fair: Our third financial reality fair will be held April 7 for sophomores at the high school.  Students have been studying careers all year; now they’ll have a (pretend) starting salary, with which they’ll need to find accommodations, travel options, utilities, insurance, etc., and plan for the unexpected. Rich will be the volunteer coordinator.

 

Interact: At a meeting yesterday; about 20 kids said yes to the idea. It will happen!