Weekly meeting September 22

 
This week's speakers were District Governors Pat and Skip Doyle. The district governor is required by RI to visit each club in the district.
 
 
Guests:
Pat Doyle, district co-governor and speaker
Skip Doyle, district co-governor and speaker
Peggy Thorson, district assistant governor
Bob & Jean Capobianco, Charles River club
 
Announcements:
  • Next week is a special working meeting, an opportunity for committee groups to work together.
  • Oct 5 a celebration of Women in Rotary will be held, sponsored by the Rotaract/Boston club. Details are available at womeninrotary.eventbrite.com.
  • Purple pinkie day: alert that this is coming up in October.
  • The Lions Club helped us with Wings & Wheels; now it’s our turn to help them with their fundraising selling cider donuts. The doodle signup has already been sent to all club members.
  • The next repair café in Bolton takes place this weekend, 9 to 1.
  • Oct 27 we’re sponsoring the showing of a film on Razia’s Ray of Hope, Razia Jan’s secondary school for girls in Afghanistan and her preparations for a school of midwifery. Details and registration can be found at bit.ly/500_Concord_MA.
  • We will again be hosting a Veterans Day breakfast at First Parish Church in Stow.
  • Fundraiser: Dean has pt together a Rotary cruise from Boston to Bermuda,  to take place the week of May 19.
  • A flyer, why join rotary/our club, has been printed and will be included in all “welcome to Bolton” packages.
  • Thanksgiving baskets: these are reusable grocery bags printed with a discreet Rotary logo. Enough have been printed for every senior citizen household in Bolton. We now need a collection box for donations, to be placed in the public safety building in Bolton.
  • An Oktoberfest celebration will be held at Verrill Farm in Concord. Help will be appreciated.
  • Don: at 3:30 tomorrow, there will be a ribbon cutting and tour to honor NAA.
  • State rep. Kate Hogan will conduct an orchard tour of apple orchards in Stow and Bolton.
 
Happy/sad fines:
Laura: is going to Slovakia until October 1 with her father and other members of her family.
Skip: is happy to be here.
Pat: will be in Canada for a week.
Mary: is glad to have attended pre-PETS; sad that her car died and happy to have bought a new one.
Fatima: is happy just to be alive and to have many friends; sad for all the shootings; and glad that she beat a $200 fine.
Bob: is gla that his daughter is back from Hawaii; and glad to have a guest from China.
Ron: survived pre-PETS; and is glad that the Red Sox are in a position to win their division.
Karin: go patriots weekend!
Don: is happy about the upcoming meeting of his pilots’ fraternity, which unfortunately is in Charlotte. 
Peggy: is happy to be here.
 
Program:

There’s something magical about visiting this club. It’s only four years old, yet it has sponsored four international projects and been voted the best club in the district in its first year. We’re all part of the best service organization in the world, and each of us can be thankful for the person who asked us to join.
 
Our perception of ourselves differs from who we are. “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a really persistent one,” Einstein said. Our object is to change perceptions, and therefore our experience. If we’re not aware of perceptions, others will change it for us. The perception of millennials is that Rotary is old, steeped in traditions, lacks vitality, creativity, energy; not open to diversity. This isn’t who we really are; but it’s the perception that we need to change. So the RI board has voted to allow clubs to vary meeting times, to allow “e-meetings”, to set their own membership requirements: aimply to be of good character and willing to serve the community. High ethical standards don’t go out of style. To be forward looking is the reality of Rotary. Our task is to spread the idea of Rotary serving humanity throughout the central Massachusetts area.
 
Nobody can tell us what Rotary will be tomorrow, but what it will be tomorrow depends on what we are today.