Newsletter 4-17-12

Posted by Jim Brown 
on Apr 17, 2012
 
 

Rotary Club of Needham

April 17, 2012

Newsletter

 Bill led us in the pledge of allegiance.  Karen led the way with God Bless America, and Darrell led us in prayer.

 Announcements:

·        Needham Art Association Spring Art Sale, Saturday, April 28, 1-4 PM will be held at Wingate (a percentage of the sales will benefit the NAA Art Scholarship for Needham High School students)

·        Crutches for Africa-  clean out your closet, basement, attic and give away your crutches, walkers, canes, wheel chairs to be loaded into a shipping container to help folks in Africa- See Karen

·        Reality Fair is May 21 at Needham High School.  Volunteers are needed. Contact Rich, Bill P. or Chris if you would like to participate

·        Congratulations to Chris Teachout who got a loud round of applause for completing 16 of the 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon, on the hottest day ever recorded for a Marathon. Chris can be proud of his accomplishment, and looks forward to going the distance next year.

·        Raffle Tickets:  Each member has been given $250 worth of raffle tickets to sell to raise funds to support our local projects.  It will be a 50:50, with a minimum pot of $1,000 up to $6,000.  SELL, SELL, SELL to support our great initiatives and projects that serve to improve the quality of our community!

·        Jerry Goodman has missed a few meetings, and we called him from the meeting. He was at the hospital, and is making ‘steady progress’.

·        Jim Brown had called Dr. Al Pierce who is hoping to be able to make a meeting this spring!

·        The Needham Rotary Scholarship committee has wittled down the list of potential winners to 6 applicants. Reports are that this is very hard, because of so many qualified students!

Future Events:

  • April 24: NHS Robotics team as guest speakers.
  • May 8: joint meeting with Newton.
  • May 15: Bob Day Family Celebration of Bob.
  • June 2: NBA Street  Fair back at the town Common.

Guests:

Dr. Eric Roseen, a Chiropractor from Visions Medical Center in Wellesley (a prospective Rotarian!); Deb Kazarian, Asst. Branch Manager from Family Federal Bank in Needham, another prospective Rotarian; Zelda Rosenthal, Bill’s 6 month old daughter (did you notice how ell she took to our internal babysitters ? No tears!); Julie Nations, our guest speaker; Retired Col. Charles Haberly, visiting Rotarian from Portland OR;

Birthdays:  Deb Donovan, but she denies it!

 Humor: A little girl asked her mother, "How did the human race appear?" The mother
answered, "God made Adam and Eve and they had children, and so was all
mankind made.."
Two days later the girl asked her father the same question.. The father answered,
"Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved."

The confused girl returned to her mother and said, " Mom , how is it possible that
you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said they developed from
monkeys?" The mother answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my
side of the family and your father told you about his."

 Happy $$$:  Lot’s of dollars for Chris Teachout at the marathon; Scott for having driven the marathon route over the weekend; Melissa for going to Charleston for her sister-in-law’s wedding; ; Greg Cronin for the Bruins; Ron-happy to be a Rotarian; Eric Roseen for a great marathon weekend with his friend, and his girl friend taking the Medical Board exam; Deb Donovan for her promotion to handle not only Mass. but now New York for her job; Jim Brown great to be able to come to Rotary this week.

 50:50: Our on going visitor Col. Charles Haberly had the correct ticket, and drew the Ace of Clubs! But, he was still a loser. Je did not think he could break his string of 20 years never having won a raffle! $458 is in the pot.!

  Guest Speaker: Our guest speaker today was Ms. Julie Nations, Executive Director of the ‘Ellie Fund’, a non profit created in memory of Jeff and Eliot Popkin’s  mom, Ellie, who passed on from breast cancer. This organization was founded in 1995 to raise money to fund transportation to medical appointments, childcare, housekeeping, groceries and meals completely free of charge for breast cancer patients and their families across Mass.

 Julie is a long time friend of ‘Teddy’ Shaughnessy, and is on the BOD of Gift of Life. Julie said they are receiving applications at a rate of 40 per month, and have been able to raise some $ 500,000 per year to fund this. Julie has been the spark plug behind this, having been appointed Executive Director.

 Today, patients are being referred by the social workers at 75 Mass. hospitals. That is how one get’s in touch with them.

 Other groups which support cancer victims include Neighbor Brigade   www.neighborbrigade.com,  and, Healthy Habits kitchen in Wellesley who prepares meals for those in need.

 Our BOD has been talking with Julie about sponsoring some type of fund raiser with Ellie’s Fund, similar to what the Neponset Valley and Dedham Rotary clubs have done.

 They do great work, and are always seeking donations. See www.elliefund.org.