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Emma's Cafe
Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley: Club Meeting at Emma's Cafe 7/18/19
Guest Speaker: Helena Donlevy from Wachusett Rotary Club speaking about Happy Children Happy India initiative
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley is a diverse, action-oriented, fun-loving club that serves the youth, the seniors, and the needy in our communities, often partnering with others. While focusing our service in the communities of Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow, Massachusetts, our club acts upon service opportunities wherever there is a need – regionally, nationally, and globally.
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Check our Calendar for Monthly Social and Service Events!
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On June 20, the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley held its installation ceremony and celebration at the Bolton home of Jacky Foster, the club’s 2018-19 president, who will also serve a partial term as a 2019-20 co-president until September 30.
The 2019-20 co-presidents are Foster, Laura Spear, Richard Simon, and Chris Spear, who will share the duties in three-month segments. The 2020-21 president-elect is Carolyn Read, and the 2021-2022 president-nominee is Steve Jones-D’Agostino. For the 2019-20 year, Rick Burkhart is the treasurer, Catherine Hammill is the secretary, and Ron Bott is the executive secretary. The 2019-20 board members are Foster, Read, Laura Spear, Chris Spear, Jones-D’Agostino, Ron Richard, Hammill and Burkhart.
Also during the ceremony and celebration, Jones-D’Agostino was named the club’s 2019-20 Rotarian of the Year, Foster was recognized for her excellent service as 2019-20 president, and Bill Wilkinson was installed as a new member. Foster also presented “I (Heart) Rotary” ballcaps to several club members who have gone above and beyond the service-above-self call of duty this year: Nancy Bishop, Mary Garcia, Carolyn Read, Laura Spear and Catherine Hammill.
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2019 scholarships. The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley awarded a $2500 college scholarship to Collen Pokorney, who graduated from Nashoba Regional High School and will attend the University of Connecticut to pursue a degree in psychology. The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley also awarded tool scholarships to Jeffrey and Tyler Benoit, who graduated from Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School. Jeffrey will continue his education at University of Tampa where he will study management. Tyler will major in marine biology with a research focus on marine micro-organisms.
These scholarships are eligible for students who have demonstrated significant community service and plan a career aligned with Rotary’s six areas of focus: promotion of peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, saving mothers and children, supporting education, and growing local economies. Our scholarship awardees each met and exceeded the scholarships’ requirements, and we wish them well in their future studies.
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Clear Path for Veterans NE, along with the Rotary clubs of Nashoba Valley and Ayer, Devens, Harvard and Shirley, hosted its second annual Devens Dog Fest in support of the Dogs2Vets program to match service dogs with local veterans. The program, perfected in Clear Path for Veterans' center in New York state and now available in Massachusetts, involves a veteran in the canine-training process, working together with the trainer to achieve individual goals.
The goal of the 2019 Devens Dog Fest was to raise funds for both the dogs and the training costs associated with the Dogs2Vets program in support of local veterans. Festival sponsorships included the opportunity to either sponsor or co-sponsor a service dog. Many thanks go out to Tito's hand-made vodka, which sponsored the event for the second year.
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, with support from Bolton Local and the Repair Cafe Foundation, hosted its eighteenth Bolton Repair Café on June 1 at Bolton's Florence Sawyer School. 59 guests attended, bringing 89 items for repair. Thanks to the 28 volunteers, about 79% of the items were repaired! Among the more interesting items for repair were a hoverboard. an electronic lawn mower that needed rechargeable batteries, and a decorative well with a broken chain for the bucket. See more photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/YtRb3guStdkH4sQg9.
Mary Garcia welcome new member, Susan Wilkinson. Razia Jan was our honored guest and speaker.
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley ran its seventh annual financial Reality Fair for Nashoba Regional High School sophomores on Friday, April 5 . Over 50 volunteers brought a taste of financial literacy to the 243 students in the Sophomore class.
The Reality Fair was a financial management event for the high school’s sophomores, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, Nashoba Regional High School, and Clinton Savings Bank. The objective was to give students a better understanding of the financial responsibilities they will face in the real world. Students picked a career, received a monthly paycheck, and had to maintain a lifestyle within their budget.
“On the day of the fair, students get a paycheck based on a career that they select,” explained Jacky Foster, President of the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley. “The paycheck shows their monthly salary and deducted taxes. With the remaining money, they need to pay for essentials like housing, utilities, insurance, transportation, clothing, and food. They are also tempted with “nice-to-have” luxuries, such as pets, travel, and entertainment, and they must spin a Wheel of Fortune that will help them understand life’s unexpected expenses or windfalls. It’s a real eye opener for most of them, and we can use more help for this learning experience. Besides, it’s a ton of fun!”
After students visited the various tables at the fair, they balanced their budgets and reviewed their spreadsheets with a credit counselor. The completed ledgers will be sent home to the students for further discussion. As a result, each student should gain greater financial literacy and appreciation for future financial decisions.
Congratulations to scholarship winners Abigail Ayotte, Emma Conant, Leo Lukaszevicz and Teagan O’Connor, who were all selected to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award conference in June 2019. Robert Johnson, local Committee Chairperson, said that the chosen students will be among the more than 150 Massachusetts high school sophomores who will attend the RYLA Conference at Fitchburg State University.
Aimed at developing the leadership potential of young men and women, the conference will feature many thought-provoking events including interactive Leadership Labs, exciting guest speakers, and challenging mental and physical activities that will provide the participants with a chance to excel among and with their peers. Topics will include decision-making, critical thinking, communicating effectively, ethics, and public service.
To be chosen, the candidates needed to qualify by showing leadership potential and good citizenship characteristics, and showing a strong desire to attend and benefit from the conference. Additionally, in their individual interviews, they needed to stand out from the other applicants. We thank all applicants for this program!
To kick off the new year, the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley baked and assembled plates of goodies, which were then distributed to the police departments, fire departments, and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in our three primary service towns: Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow. It was an opportunity to show our gratitude to every-day heroes that serve our community!
Razia’s Ray of Hope sent the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley a thank-you note for the $58,000 Global Grant the club sponsored and awarded in 2017:
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The Razia Jan Institute is a tuition-free, two-year midwifery training program and educational facility emphasizing the importance of maternal and infant health while supporting health-sector employment for Afghan women. Learn more about Razia's Ray of Hope at https://raziasrayofhope.org.
Twenty-seven founding members of the new Interact Club of Maynard High School were inducted during a ceremony on January 28, 2019 at the public school. John Erb, who sponsored the Interact club as a member of the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, asked the members to "promise to do goodwill within your community and your country. In addition to service, you will have the benefits of strong bonds of friendship with fellow Interactors, locally and worldwide, as well as the chance to develop strong leadership and professional skills." John also led them in stating Rotary's Four Way Test. View the photo album, and learn more about this new club and its new officers: http://ht.ly/bnlW30nFVp6
Part of Rotary International, Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self. Learn more at https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/interact-clubs.
