Club Assembly led by President Laura Spear.


 

 
  • The latest calendar is on our website: nashobarotary.org
  • Ron shared financial highlights of funds we’ve raised and donations we made.  Laura had copies of the latest budget available.
  • Do you have an idea for a new project?  Bring your proposal to one of our Board meetings?  We may ask for more details to make sure the money is spent wisely, but we are open to new ideas and suggestions!

         

Next meeting on January 30 at Colonial Candies in Bolton, 7:15 a.m., Corinne Walker, President of the Lancaster Garden Club.  Richard is running the meeting.  Be kind. J  Our meeting after that is also a morning meeting: February 6 (1st Thursday of the month)

 

Guests:

  • Mary O’Hagen, one of our newest members under the Kotlarz & Associates corporate membership, attended her first Rotary meeting with Deb Kotlarz: Welcome!

 

Club Announcements:

  • Local projects:

o    Stop Hunger Now: THIS SATURDAY, January 25 is our meal packaging event at NRHS from 9-1 p.m.

§  9:00-10:00 is set up.  We need at least 5-7 volunteers to set up.

§  10:00 starts meal packaging.  We need 40-50 volunteers to package.  We should be done by noon!

§  Littleton and Clinton Clubs are also sponsoring.

§  The NRHS Community Service Club is participating.

§  The public is invited! Invite your friends and family! Help get the word out!

§  The NRHS Community Service Club has helped with PR – they even arranged for the principal to send out a phone recording about this event to all high school parents!

o    Reality Fair 2014 is on Friday, March 14 at Nashoba Regional High School.  Please let Laura know if you are interested in supporting this event!  Also please contact Laura if you would like to be part of the planning committee.  (Catherine and Jim have already volunteered.)  We will be kicking off planning meetings very shortly.

o    An Ethics in Business networking event is being planned for April 10 (tentative date).  RichardS, Karin, and Nanci are coordinating this event.  More information will be forthcoming.

o    Amy’s Angels (a Lancaster organization) project is in the planning stage.  Karin, Mary, and Nanci are working on this project.

o    RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards): The Board approved funding two students.  Applications will be available soon.  Bob said thsat he is looking for students and adult volunteers (Rotarians and non-Rotarians) to help during June 27-29 weekend.  Children of Rotarians are allowed to participate!  More information is forthcoming.

o    Spirit of Hudson: The first planning meeting was held this week with a focus on how to involve more members across the two clubs.  Nanci Bishop will follow up with members of our club for our support.

  • International projects:

o    Board news: We approved funding two new projects for the Dominican Republic: $500 for a Public Health program and $500 for a Pregnancy Prevention program. Many thanks to Natascha for initiating these and to Chris for offering to be our club liaison and project manager. Additionally, Dr. Compere will contact the sponsors of a similar project feature in the December Rotarian.

o    Sister Club: The Rotary Club of Aurangabad West (India) is interested in having our club be a sister club.  Natascha may be interested in serving as a liaison to this club.

  • 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.

  • February 3 Board meeting: Monday, February 3, 6:00 PM at Emma’s Café in Stow (Shaw’s Plaza) – Everyone is always welcome to attend!

  • February 6 meeting: Instead of a speaker, we will have a baby shower for Giuliana Eva Ouellette, Ashley’s baby.  Ashley is registered at Target and Babies R Us.

  • 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: Richard Simon

o    New We Are One video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/udHv3LQtiIo

o    Paul Harris recognition: Bob Johnson received his Paul Harris +1 pin

o    The Rotary Foundation has grown from an initial $35 to over $800M today.  More than 200M is donated every year!

  • 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!)

  • Rotary Club of Marlborough is sponsoring a Texas Hold-em Poker Tournament on January 25. Registration is at noon, and cards start at 1 p.m. Register online at www.marlboroughrotary.org.
  • Rotary Club of Greater Salem, NH. His club is holding its 4th annual Polar Plunge on February 1, 10:45 AM, at the Cape Ann Motor Inn in Gloucester to raise funds for Polio Plus.  Dana will be taking the Polar Plunge!  Please contact Dana or Karin if you would like to sponsor him.
  • Rotary Club of East Fitchburg: Asking us for help with Superbowl brunch on February 2 from 8:30-12. Contact President Mark (markminnucci@yahoo.com) if you’d like to help that day or sell tickets in advance. Last chance for Silent Auction donations: Contact Laura (laura@spear.net) by Monday, January 27 if you’d like to donate an item for a basket for the Chinese auction. The club is also accepting donations of Silent Auction items, such as weekends away.  More information is on Facebook.
  • Dick Manelis is leading a trip to Brazil this year as part of the Hands-On Service club. He is also looking at donations and participants for a trip to Puerto Rico next year. Contact Dick if interested.
  • March 28: Save the date! The distrit Project Expo & PR Awards dinner will be on Friday, March 28 at the Holiday Inn Boxborough.  Social time and the expo are from 5-6:30.  Dinner, program, and awards are from 6:30-9.  Our club won the Make Your Mark award last year, and we’ll go for it again this year!
  • First ever Zone 24-32 Avenues of Service - Zone Photo Contest
    • 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:

  • Minute Man Air Field Annual Kick Off Party: TONIGHT at 7 PM (right after our club meeting) – We are sharing a review of Wings & Wheels.  Everyone is invited to attend!
  • Lancaster Community Blood Drive: Wednesday, January 29 from 2-7 PM at the Perkins School gym, 971 Main St. Walk-ins welcome!
  • Stow Community Blood Drive: Saturday, February 1 from 8 AM – 1PM at the Church of St. Isidore on Route 117.  Walk-ins welcome!
  • Next Bolton Repair Café: February 1, from 9 – 1 pm in Davis Hall (hall attached to the First Parish of Bolton Church on Main Street, Bolton – next to the Houghton Building).  Contact ray.pfau@oracle.com if you want to help.
  • Nashoba Valley Winery Benefit Event for the Healing Garden: Thursday, February 13, 6:30-9:30 PM.
  • 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 Deb Kotlarz.

 

Birthdays:

  • Fatima Serra: January 7
  • Matt Tucker: January 11
  • Bob Johnson: January 18

 

Happy/Sad Fines:

  • Congratulations to Don and Nancy, who celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary on Wednesday! We had cake!
  • Rich was sad that his brother passed away, they drove to New Jersey where there wasn’t any arrangement they had to make, and they ran into a snow storm on the way back.
  • Mary G. was sad about Rich’s brother but commented that the funeral director was a Rotarian.
  • Nanci was sad for Rich’s loss and happy that Deb and Mary were here. She is always glad to be here!
  • Keel was happy that her daughter won the highest score on the vault in her first gymnastics competition.
  • Carol was sad about Rich’s brother and happy that we have our Stop Hunger Now meal packaging event this Saturday.
  • Ron was happy that his daughter got the lead in the Concord Middle School musical. She will play the part of Princess Fiona in Shrek.
  • Chris was happy to discover new family connections in Nome, Alaska.
  • Cyndi was happy to visit her company’s home office in Great Barrington and sad that she was hit with a cold.
  • Mary O. was happy to be at her first meeting, happy to be here with Deb, and looking forward to participating in the Stop Hunger Now event with her kids.
  • Deb was happy to be here with Mary O. and to be participating in the Stop Hunger Now event with her kids.
  • Bob was happy that thanks to Allie Spear, Next Step Living installed a new heating system in his home. (Next Step Living was one of our Wings & Wheels sponsors!)
  • Mary Ann was happy to have anniversary cake.
  • Dan was happy that his younger son has a job and is leaving the country (going to the Philippines).
  • Nancy was happy that we did not get 18” of snow and sad that she closed her restaurant. She was also sad at the loss of Bob R., who lived in Bolton.
  • Laura paid a happy fine for Dana’s visit to the Littleton Club. She was sad for Rich’s loss, happy for the support the NRHS Community Service Club is providing for the Stop Hunger Now event, and happy for Bob’s taping of the Stop Hunger Now presentation at last week’s meeting.