Pancake Breakfast - Needham Bank to SponsorThe Rotary Club of Needham’s Pancake Breakfast is coming up Nov 4th, 7am to 11am, at Newman Elementary. A big thank you to Needham Bank for agreeing to be a Platinum Sponsor of the event. You can get your tickets at www.NeedhamPancakes.com. See you there!  |
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Rotary Aid to UkraineRotary Club of Needham is raising money to help a Ukraine Rotary Club buy a generator for a prosthetic limb facility. Depending on how much money we raise, we could also buy a scanner to allow them to scan people and 3D print them new limbs that fit better and are produced more quickly. You can contribute by mailing your check to Rotary Club of Needham, PO Box 920009, Needham, MA 02492.
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2023 Needham CarnivalCome check out the Needham Carnival. We will have kiddy rides, thrill rides, the midway, and everything in between. No price for entry, so you can come ride a couple rides and go home. July 20-23. For more, go to www.NeedhamCarnival.com.  |
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Rotary Aid to Ukraine
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Kurt Czarnowski- Social Security
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Ellie Fund for Breast Cancer
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Fredie Kay, Suffrage 100 MA
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Josh Obeiter: Seniors Helping Seniors
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Center at the Heights
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Kate Curran, School the World
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Needham Education Foundation
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Handling Gender-Neutral Pronouns
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State Representative Denise Garlick
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Storytime Crafts
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Shelterbox
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Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
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Co-Presidents
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Rotary Summer Picnic
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Sara Shine, Needham Youth and Family Services Director |
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Michael Downey, Service Forester |
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January 2021 Newsletter |
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Rafi Nova |
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Virtual Carnival |
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Amy Haelsen, Economic Development Manager |
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District Governor Diana Nestorova |
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Virtual Carnival Nov 7th In these COVID days, what are the kids to do for fun? How about a Virtual Carnival??? Here’s the link for the November 7th Virtual Carnival: http://virtualcarnival.eventbrite.com That page has all the info on the event including the schedule. Registration is free. We are hoping to get kids from all over the world to join the fun. Please feel free to share this link widely among family members you have across the USA as well as around the world. The more the merrier. If people want to make donations, we are suggesting https://www.shelterboxusa.org/donate/. ShelterBox does amazing work helping families that have lost their homes. Thanks!
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Lise Elcock, Newton Needham ChamberRotary Club of Needham Newsletter September 22nd, 2020 In our (Global) Community: Bujjuko and Ssumbwe Relief Project Our member, Sylvia Kiggundu, has organized fundraising to support a project that distributes food and sanitary supplies to families whose income has been disrupted by the COVID-19 lockdown in her home country of Uganda. Located about 14 miles west of the capitol, Kampala, economically vulnerable families (home-hound elderly, widows, disabled persons and single mothers) in the villages of Bujjuko and Ssumbwe were identified as candidates to receive support from the project. The first-round goal of $5000 was achieved and distributed to families, providing an estimated 6 weeks of food and sanitary supplies. Fundraising and support are on-going and the project has currently supplied over 900 persons. If you would like to donate, go to: https://gf.me/u/ynbi9m. For more information on the project, you can view the presentation at: https://www.facebook.com/UgandaHunger.  Speaker: Lise Elcock, Membership Director, Newton-Needham Regional Chamber  Lise spoke to us about the Needham 100 Day Challenge. "With less than 100 days to go until the end of the year, we all need to do our part to save the small businesses that we love". The program is designed to promote and support Needham businesses and restaurants through the remainder of 2020. Here's what the chamber says we can do to support the campaign: Businesses
Community Supporters
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ShelterBoxRotary Club of Needham Newsletter September 1st, 2020 Speaker: Bill Tobin (photo below), Rotary Relations Manager, ShelterBox    ShelterBox is an international disaster relief agency that provides emergency shelter and building tools to families displaced by disaster or conflict. ShelterBox was founded 20 years ago by the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in England. It became Rotary's project partner in disaster relief in 2012, a role that it retains today. The Rotary Club of Needham has supported ShelterBox for the past twelve years. In addition to financial support, about 1000 Rotary members are involved in Shelter Box as volunteers, staff or response team members. Local Rotary clubs provide valuable, practical advice at the disaster sites: 90% of ShelterBox responses have been assisted by Rotary. Of the organization's $8.6mm of income in 2019, 13% was contributed from Rotary Clubs with the balance from: individuals (59%), foundations (24%), and corporations (2%). In 2019, ShelterBox provided shelter to 145,000 families displaced by 11 disasters or conflicts in 9 countries, including: a cyclone in Malawi, flooding in Paraguay and Bangladesh, an earthquake and a typhoon in the Philippines and drought in Somaliland. ShelterBox helped those displaced by conflict in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Nigeria and Syria. Spending of $8.5mm in 2019 went to: program grants (81%) with the balance spent on administration and fundraising. That efficiency earned ShelterBox a four star (top) rating from Charity Navigator. ShelterBox rose to prominence with its first large-scale disaster response: the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which displaced 20,000 families. Its largest response to date was the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which displaced 30,000 families. The civil war in Syria has elicited their longest deployment, helping 60,000 displaced families since 2012 to present. The largest US deployment was Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017, which displaced about 10,000 families. The overall size of the need for emergency shelter: 104mm people were displaced by disasters or conflict in 2019. Adding to their vulnerability, about 75% of displaced persons are women and children. Each green shelter box is designed to hold emergency shelter and essential, basic household supplies that create the framework for everyday life. Each box contains a family sized tent that protects people from the elements and provides a safe space for people to start to recover from physical and emotional trauma. The boxes also hold a cooking set, a water carrier and filtration equipment, blankets, a solar light and school supplies. Shelter Kits contain hand tools (hammer, pliers, saw, hoe and shovel) to rebuild. Each box costs about $1000 per family. Alex Goodale of Needham High School also addressed us to discuss her efforts to raise funds for ShelterBox. She leads the high school's ShelterBox Club, which organized a scavenger hunt, the "Stock the Box Challenge". For a $20 contribution participants received 15-20 clues and a chance at a bag of prizes. Their club raised $1700 for ShelterBox! To donate or to volunteer, go to ShelterBox's website: http://www.shelterboxusa.org. You'll be helping in a good cause: ShelterBox was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in both 2018 and 2019. |
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The Challenge of Remote LearningRotary Club of Needham Newsletter August 18th, 2020 In Our Community: Watch for an email list of our club's typical, annual community projects, so we can discuss re-imagining and re-purposing them in the context of a pandemic and recession at out August 25th meeting. Speaker: Stacy Gauthier (photo below), Consultant for Pedagogy and Technology, spoke of "Understanding the Modern Classroom: Challenges and Solutions for Remote Learning"  Stacy has been a science educator since 1997, and she is currently the Middle Grades (5th - 8th) Science Department Head for the Town of Natick as well as a private consultant. She is married to Charles Nelson. She discussed the challenge of teaching in remote learning environments imposed in response to the coronavirus. She used "pedagogy", the method and practice of teaching, to organize her presentation. She contrasted traditional with best current teaching practices. Traditionally, a teacher lectured to a class while standing at the front of the room. Under current best practice, several teachers facilitate small group discussions among students using laptops within the classroom. But that is not socially distant, and Zoom doesn't facilitate collaboration. So, the lack of interaction made it harder for today's teachers and students to adapt to remote learning. Stacy demonstrated a teaching technology called "Pear Deck" that allows students in a remote learning environment to interact with their teacher's slide presentation at their own pace. We learned about a worsening achievement gap between affluent and poor school districts due to the cost and shortages of remote learning technology. We discussed different approaches to the problem of kids that have not been logging on to keep up with their remote educations. Schools in Massachusetts will return to mandatory attendance in the Fall. A punative approach to "truancy" by threatening parents with a charge of "neglect" is unlikely to improve remote attendance or learning outcomes, given the problems imposed by pandemic and recession. Those problems include a lack of childcare for essential workers and a shortage of laptops when parents and children are all working from home. Instead, when a student repeatedly fails to log on in Natick, it triggers out-reach to the family by school-based social workers. Finally, Stacy reminded us to be sensitive to teachers' legitimate fear of becoming sick in a return to an in-person learning environment before the rollout of a vaccine. Next Week's Meeting (8/25/20): Discuss re-imagining our Club's projects during the pandemic |
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Louise Condon BiographyRotary Club of Needham Newsletter July 21st, 2020 In Our Community: Last Saturday, we shoveled seven cubic yards of soil into the new, raised planting beds that we built at Needham Housing Authority. Photos of before and after below:    Speaker: Louise Condon (Photo below) Louise Condon told us how and why she formed her real estate company. Born in Pawtucket, RI, Louise met her future husband, Frank, at the age of 16 at the Voice of Democracy contest (Louise won). Frank's first job with Westinghouse took the family to Mansfield, Ohio, where Louise taught school. Frank's job within Westinghouse moved to New York City, and the family lived in Connecticut. His career change to Finance brought the family to Needham in 1968. Raising seven children in a house on Hazelton Avenue, Louise focused on serving her family. As the kids neared college age, Louise looked to re-enter the labor force to help pay the tuition bills. Schools weren't hiring then, so she took a class at Needham High to train to become a real estate agent. In 1985, she had to create a real estate company to recover her kitchen, which had become a hang-out for her agent friends. Now, Louise Condon Realty, Inc. has served Needham for 35 years. It has 18 agents working for the only remaining independently owned real estate company in Needham. Among many civic contributions, Louise joined the Rotary Club of Needham soon after women were first admitted in 1987.  Next Week's Speaker (7/28/20): Needham Diversity Initiative |
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The Needham ChannelRotary Club of Needham Newsletter July 14th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've continued to meet on Tuesdays at noon. But, to maintain social distancing, our meetings have moved on-line. In Our Community: On Saturday, July 18th at 9:00: help shovel the soil into the new, raised planting beds at Needham Housing Authority Speakers from The Needham Channel: 1) Marc Mandel, Executive Director, 2) Ashley Morin, Director of News and Public Affairs, and 3) Mike Levin, Programming Manager    We had a virtual tour of The Needham Channel's (TNC) capabilities by three of their top executives (see photos, names and titles above). The Needham Community Television Development Corporation is a 501(c) 3, not-for-profit corporation that has served Needham since 1985. Because the cable TV companies needed to build out their networks within the town's public right-of-way, they were required to provide free public access TV for the first 15 years. Now, a portion of cable TV revenues raised in Needham is used to subsidize the station. TNC provides public access, educational and governmental programming for cable television subscribers in the town of Needham, Massachusetts. Their administrative offices and studio are located at 257 Chestnut Street. They operate four TV channels:
If you want to participate in an existing production or to get a show started, call Marc to set up an appointment. Volunteers and interns keep TNC running. TNC provides training, expert advice and most of the resources needed to get a show up and running. To get coverage of a news story, email news@needhamchannel.org. To post an announcement on TNC's community bulletin board, send an email (two weeks in advance) to: cbb@needhamchannel.org. Next Week's Speaker: Louise Condon, founder: Louise Condon Realty |
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Liz Adler Beacon Law GroupRotary Club of Needham Newsletter July 7th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've continued to meet on Tuesdays at noon. But, to maintain social distancing, our meetings have moved on-line. Speaker: Liz Adler, Beacon Law Group (Zoom photo below)  Liz spoke with us about employment issues in the era of the COVID-19 quarantine. She is a partner in Beacon Law Group LLC, which specializes in business and employment law. She represents clients in business disputes, wrongful termination and discrimination claims, general counseling and the drafting and negotiation of contracts. Liz co-founded Beacon Law Group after 25 years in private practice in Boston. She organized her presentation into four parts, commenting on the impact on business from:
Liz pointed out that the primary source of information on our state's re-opening plan is: http://www.mass.gov/reopening. For each business considering how to reopen there are four sections to help them create a unique reopening plan that considers: Social Distancing, Hygiene Protocols, Staffing and Cleaning/Disinfecting. They have to plan for the safe distancing and hygiene of both clients and employees. They have to plan a response to the discovery that they've got a sick employee. The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act created a paid sick leave program funded by the federal government for previously uncovered employees of businesses with less than 500 employees. The first two weeks are at full pay for workers who were quarantined or for working parents who were forced to miss work to care for children whose schools were closed for the quarantine. Weeks three through ten are at 2/3rds pay for caregivers. The CARES Act established loans from the federal government to small businesses that can change to grants, if certain rules are followed that were intended to help retain employees on the payroll despite the quarantine. The CARES Act also expanded federally funded unemployment compensation to 39 weeks with a $600/week supplement and expanded coverage to self-employed and gig workers. Needless to say, there are an extended list of rules and requirements for all of these governmental support programs. A handy summary of these laws is included in the "News" tab on Beacon Law Group's website: http://www.beaconlawgroup.com/news. Beacon Law Group can help guide employers to comply with the new laws and the impact on their business from decisions on staff reductions, furloughs vs terminations, pay vs hours reductions, and the procedures to be followed to protect against lawsuits. To contact Liz: eadler@beaconlawgroup.com. Next Week's Speaker: A Tour of The Needham Channel |
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Lynn Holmlund, IDGRotary Club of Needham Newsletter June 30th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've continued to meet on Tuesdays at noon. But, to maintain social distancing, our meetings have moved on-line. In Our Local and Global Communities: At our last zoom meeting, Needham Rotarian Sylvia Kiggundu (originally from Uganda) told us about the challenging times her home village of Bujuuko is experiencing. They normally have food security / hunger issues and COVID has made things worse. She is collecting money to help feed people in her village. For $10 you can feed a person for a week. It would be awesome if you would consider making a donation through her gofundme page. Any sized donation is welcome. The link is: https://gf.me/u/x3xvy4. Speaker: Lynn Holmlund (photo below), Marketing Director, IDG Inc.  We welcome IDG, Inc. to Needham. IDG Inc. is relocating this coming January from three buildings in Framingham to 140 Kendrick Street in Needham, the space by Cutler Park formerly occupied by PTC, Inc. IDG is the world's leading technology, media, data and marketing services company. Through the publication of expert reviews of new technology, they connect buyers of tech with sellers of tech. Founded in 1967, IDG has 300 employees in over 100 offices worldwide, with 600 employees working at company headquarters in Framingham. IDG is an acronym for International Data Group. This private company is organized into two business segments: IDC generates media content and consumer technology market intelligence with 1000 analysts offering global, regional and local expertise on technology and industry trends in over 100 countries. The second segment distributes the content: IDG Communications is a trusted source of technical insights and product reviews that connect tech vendors with informed buyers. Brands include: "CIO", "Computer World", "PC World", "Mac World", "Info World", and "Tech Hive". The basic business model is: tech buyers pay subscriptions for the content and tech sellers pay for advertisements to reach the buyers. But, there are other business segments that offer digital distribution, data and lead analysis and a segment that organized over 325 tech events and conferences for over 20,000 delegates in 2019. IDG looked at space in Boston and Cambridge before deciding on Needham. The company originally wanted to gather all headquarters employees under one roof. The difficulty of commuting into the city and the connectivity of Needham to the T and route 128 were factors in locational decision making. The need for social distancing due to the coronavirus added to the suburban impulse in that many employees are going to be more comfortable working from home until there's a vaccine or herd immunity. The amenity of the site by Cutler Park also helped: employees anticipate using the recreation trails and nearby restaurants. Welcome IDG! Next Week's Speaker: Liz Adler, Esq., Beacon Law Group, on employment law, including the issues employers face in reopening after quarantine. |
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Dan Tibma LobstermanRotary Club of Needham Newsletter June 23rd, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've continued to meet on Tuesdays at noon. But, to maintain social distancing, our meetings have moved on-line. In Our Community:
 
 Speaker: Dan Tibma, Lobsterman   Our President, Dan Tibma (predator photo on the left above; prey on the right), made a Zoom presentation to the club on his pursuit of savory summer dinners. He and Sharon have a Recreational Lobstering License that allows them to place up to 10 traps. The need to service the traps a couple of times per week gives them an excuse to go out on the briny water at the mouth of the South River in Marshfield in their motorboat. The season started strong, they've caught 31 lobsters this year, but an infestation of large, Lions Mane jellyfish has coincided with a reduced haul lately. Dan intends to outfox the jellies by dropping traps in the deeper waters out past where the mouth of the river enters Massachusetts Bay. To deter theft, each licensed boat carries a uniquely painted buoy that matches the buoys marking the location of its traps. The license number is stenciled on the trap. Dan and Sharon also have a Clamming License, but that is a story for another day. Next Week's Speaker: Lynn Holmlund, Marketing Director of International Data Group, Inc. on the relocation of IDG's headquarters and 600 jobs to Needham by the shores of Cutler Pond.
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George Floyd ProtestsRotary Club of Needham Newsletter June 2nd, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've continued to meet on Tuesdays at noon. But, to maintain social distancing, our meetings have moved on-line. In Our Community: Lois Sockol turns 87! Happy Birthday! Still protesting for justice!  Socially Distant Rotary Club Summer Picnic: at Claxton Field in Needham at 5:30pm on Tuesday, June 16th. Bring your own food and chairs. Speaker: Igor Golyak, Artistic Director, Arlekin Players, on Adapting the Performing Arts to Quarantine (postponed due to a scheduling conflict as our discussion below ran a little longer than anticipated) Igor Golyak founded the Arlekin Players Theater in 2009. Mr. Golyak received a masters degree in directing from the Russian Academy of Theater Arts in 2004 and an acting degree from Moscow's Schukin Theater Institute. He is an Associate Professor at the Boston Conservatory, and he has taught as a guest lecturer at Boston University, Harvard University and Wellesley College. He leads acting classes and directs plays at his studio on Hillside Avenue in Needham. The Arlekin Players Theater is rooted in the traditions of classical and contemporary Russian theater. Dance, spoken word, performance art and modern music blend to make unique and memorable productions in English and Russian with subtitles. This is their 10th season, but the Covid-19 pandemic has closed all theaters, and their entire season was cancelled. The Annual Gala, an important fundraiser, was postponed. Through the generosity of their Board and Supporters, a deficit of ($37,000) has been reduced to ($7,500). The Arlekin Emergency Fund seeks contributions to close the final portion of the deficit. Running as a free, live, interactive, on-line performance from May 17th through June 28th is, "State v Natasha Banina" by Yaroslava Pulinovich. For more information on how to make donations and on upcoming performances, visit the Arlekin Players Theater website: http://www.arlekinplayers.com. Eight days before our meeting, a black man named George Floyd was killed during his arrest in Minneapolis when a white policeman held him down with a knee to his neck until long after he became unresponsive, despite his pleas that he couldn't breathe. No attempt was made to resuscitate Mr Floyd, who died at the scene. A bystander recorded and publicized the event to social media, which -following public outcry- resulted in the arrest of the police officer for second-degree murder. The three officers who assisted in the arrest were eventually charged with abetting second-degree murder. Perhaps because the people of the United States have been quarantined for months, perhaps because of the long history of police brutality against blacks ( a 2019 study by the National Academy of Sciences showed that black people are 2.5x more likely to be killed by police than are white folk), perhaps because the President's comments lacked empathy ("I am your President of law and order"), the nation exploded in the most widespread protests of racial injustice since the sixties. So far -Mr Floyd's Memorial Service is today- , 17 people have died, 12 major US cities have declared a curfew, 11,000 people have been arrested and 17,000 National Guard troops have been activated. Before the meeting, everyone allowed that they were upset about events as they have unfolded. So, cherishing trust and hope in our national ideals and institutions, we discussed the disturbing events:
Next Week's Speaker: Meet the 2020 Rotary Club of Needham Scholarship Winner!
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Salsa ClubRotary Club of Needham Newsletter May 26th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've continued to meet on Tuesdays at noon. But, to maintain social distancing, our meetings have moved on-line. In Our Community: Our recent speaker, Chef Mike, gave away 640 meals on May 21st to low income families and assisted living facilities in Needham. The Rotary Club of Needham contributed $250 to help pay his expenses. Socially Distant Rotary Club Summer Picnic: at Claxton Field in Needham at 5:30pm on Tuesday, June 16th. Speakers: 1.) Salsa Club members from Needham High School: "What it's like to attend a virtual high school during the pandemic", and 2.) Jeff Dineen (photo "zooming" below) describes his "Cans for Calcium" program.  Karen Shannon, Senior Program Director, Needham Public Health Division, moderated the club's discussion. The SALSA Club, Students Advocating Life without Substance Abuse, was organized to teach students in Needham Schools how to say no to drugs and alcohol. During the "Question and Answer" section at the end, the students said that "substance abuse is a social thing", that quarantine has made parties impossible and forced a temporary reduction in youth substance abuse. So, the current focus of the club's activity has shifted to finding positive ways to stay occupied during the pandemic. Our discussion was: what it's like to attend a virtual high school during the coronavirus quarantine. First, they addressed the current learning process. Most students said that they are devoting as much time to schoolwork as they did before the quarantine; working from home about six hours a day. Assignments are available on-line on Sundays for completion by the following Friday. Remote learning has been effective, but with two caveats: it's harder and more time-consuming now to get extra help from a teacher, and lab classes don't work well online. From the students' point of view, the most onerous impact of the quarantine has been on the social lives of the students, especially seniors. Students are connecting with their friends using Zoom, gathering separately in cars, or working out or walking while maintaining social distance. Upperclassmen rituals: Senior Skip Day, Prom and the traditional Graduation Ceremony, are all cancelled. Happily, there will be a lockdown appropriate "Graduation Parade" from the Trip Advisor parking lot to Needham High School on June 7th. The Seniors were philosophical: "virtual is the best we can do" this year. They advised their parents and caregivers not to be too anxious about a celebration, they're ready to move on. The discussion closed with the students asking us to join them doing something positive during our confinement. They are making a montage of short videos about positive uses of quarantine time to post on the Needham Facebook page. They are asking for people to participate by sending their videos to: http://www.needhamstrong2020@gmail.com by May 30th. For more information about the SALSA Club:http://www.spanneedham.org. Jeff Dineen, who is "almost" a lifetime resident of Needham, told us about his "Cans for Calcium" program. First, there was the opportunity: recycling incentive deposits that we pay when buying a beverage. Unclaimed deposits resulted in $46mm going to the state of Massachusetts in 2017. Then, there were two catalysts: when he retired three years ago, he had been spending $1,000 per month of his own money to buy milk for the Needham Food Pantry. And then, he noticed an unused shed at the Needham Recycling and Transfer Station. Together with Sandy Robinson of Needham's Community Council, they met with Greg Smith, Superintendant of the transfer station and got permission to use the shed. Since starting to gather donated containers beside the recycling bins in March of 2019, Jeff has collected about 280,000 deposit cans and bottles, which has raised $14,000 to purchase milk for the Needham Food Pantry. When the quarantine started, the shed was closed. Undaunted, Jeff started collecting cans for calcium using bins at the end of his driveway at 1625 Great Plain Avenue. Starting this week, the shed at the transfer station has reopened, and we can again conveniently donate our cans for calcium there. For more information: http://www.needhamcommunitycouncil.org Next week's speaker: Igor Golyak, Artistic Director, Arlekin Players, on Adapting the Performing Arts to Quarantine |
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Mail-in VotingRotary Club of Needham Newsletter May 19th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've continued to meet on Tuesdays at noon. But, to maintain social distancing, our meetings have moved on-line. Speakers: 1.) State Senator Becca Rausch on her 2020 Vote-By-Mail bill, and 2.) Torry Katsiroubas Stamm of Katsiroubas Brothers Wholesale Fruit and Produce on their Katsiroubas Cares Produce Boxes   Senator Rausch (photo left above) discussed the "emergency" bill that she introduced in April to facilitate safe voting by mail during the Coronavirus epidemic. Five states, including: Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii and Utah already automatically send ballots to the addresses of registered voters before elections. The Senator's bill would require the Secretary of the Commonwealth to send a ballot package to every registered voter at least 18 days in advance of a scheduled election. Each ballot package would contain: 1) an official ballot, 2) a secrecy envelope, 3) a prepaid return envelope addressed to the clerk of the town where the voter is registered, and 4) instructions in English, Spanish and three other languages. There would be a warning included about penalties for voter fraud, and the voter would be required to return a signed affidavit attesting that they did not commit voter fraud. Voters could still choose to vote in person, and the bill would require the provision of personal protective equipment to poll workers, if the state of emergency due to the coronavirus is still in place at the time of the election. The bill would also establish the first Tuesday in November as a holiday. The 2020 Vote By Mail law is a response to the emergency situation imposed by the coronavirus, so it is written with an expiration date of December 31st, 2020. For the full text of the bill, search in Google for malegislature.gov/bills/s.2654. Senator Rausch's official email address is: Becca.Rausch@masenate.gov. Torry Katsiroubas Stamm (photo right above) owns a wholesale produce business, Katsiroubas Brothers, with her brother. The Katsiroubas siblings grew up in Needham, and Torry still lives here. They operate a 100,000 square foot, refrigerated warehouse out of Hyde Park with 200 employees, 70 trucks picking up and delivering within a 180 mile radius, and 1000 customers. They act as a middleman between farms and restaurants, which were about 80% of their business until the coronavirus quarantine. When all restaurants closed, they had to redirect a tidal wave of produce. Breaking the produce volume down into smaller, $25 Katsiroubas Cares produce boxes allowed their business to find retail customers. Each $25 box contains about $40-50 retail value of 3 to 5 items of each category of fruit, vegetables and greens (see photo below). Retail customers can order the produce boxes on line. They've established curbside pickup to serve their new, retail customers in Braintree, Needham, Roslindale, Beverly, Revere, Hamilton, and Quincy. In Needham, customers pick up their produce boxes once a week (Thursdays between 1:00-4:30) in the Newman School parking lot. The boxes are so popular that Needham customers are assigned time slots for pickup based on the alphabetical order of the first letter of their last name. While ordering, customers can donate the $25 produce boxes to the Needham Community Council, the Chelsea Collaborative or the Charles River Health Center in Brighton. Katsiroubas Brothers delivers the donated produce boxes to these locations. About 400 produce boxes have been donated so far to the Needham Community Council. To order or donate a Katsiroubas Cares produce box on-line: https://hello.katsiroubasproduce.com  Next week's speakers: 1.) members of the Needham High School Salsa Club will address what it's like to attend a virtual high school during the pandemic, and 2.) Jeff Dineen will tell us about his "Cans for Calcium" program that collects deposit cans and bottles and donates the proceeds to purchase milk for the Needham Food Pantry.
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Let There Be LightRotary Club of Needham Newsletter May 12th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've maintained our regular club meetings on Tuesdays at noon. But, to keep everyone safe, our meetings have moved on-line. Speakers: 1.) Dr Jeff Giles, Highland Animal Hospital (photo just below), and 2.) Steven Levine, Let There Be Light, International  Dr. Giles spoke about animal-to-human transmission of the coronavirus. We don't know the exact source of the current outbreak, but the Center for Disease Control states that it originally came from an animal. Some coronaviruses that infect animals can sometimes spread to humans. Then, there can be human to human transmission. Animal to human transmission is rare. The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person by respiratory droplets from coughing, sneezing and talking. People who are infected but who don't display symptoms also play a role in the spread of the disease. At this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus. So, the risk of animals spreading the virus to humans is considered low. On the other hand, Dr Giles noted that there are a handful of documented cases of people infected with COVID-19 spreading the virus to their animals. Here are his guidelines for caring for your pets during the pandemic:
And, if you're sick:
Highland Animal Hospital has reconfigured its services to maintain social distancing during the pandemic. They ask their clients to call the clinic on arrival for an appointment. A staff person will meet the client at their car and bring their pet inside. Following the examination, they'll call to discuss any findings and to bring the pet back to the car. For more information about Highland Animal Hospital: www.highlandanimalhospitalma.com For more information on caring for your pets during the coronavirus pandemic, search for: cdc/ corona virus disease 2019 (covid19)/ pets and other animals  Our second speaker, Steven Levine (photo just above), from Let There Be Light, International (LTBLI), addressed this organization's efforts to provide basic lighting to vulnerable off-grid communities in sub-saharan Africa. Steven is an attorney specializing in private power generation, energy services and renewable energy technology development. He is managing director of Encap Development, a leading US renewable energy project developer, and he is on the Board of Directors of LTBLI. Steven told us about energy poverty: 600 million people in Africa have no access to electricity. Instead, they typically light their homes with kerosine lamps. They are dirty, dangerous and expensive to operate. Children are vulnerable to burns, accidental poisoning, respiratory illnesses and death. Without proper lighting, health clinics are limited to providing care only during daylight hours. Working together with established local partners, LTBLI distributes solar lights to vulnerable families. They also use solar energy to electrify off-grid health clinics. They completed the electrification of their 39th clinic during their ten year history over the prior weekend. A solar light is inexpensive to purchase and to operate. It costs about US$10-12, can be charged in daylight and the battery lasts throughout an overnight shift at a clinic. Solar lights can be used for about three years. A solar storage battery system to light a clinic costs about $3500 and lasts about 20 years. Each clinic serves about 15,000 people. In addition to the electrification of 39 health clinics, LTBLI has donated 15,000 solar lights to 81,000 people. Their geographic focus is in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. LTBLI has a successful history of working together with US and in-country Rotary Clubs: the Rotary Club of Moorestown, NJ donated 670 solar lights, the Rotary Club of New London, CT donated 100 solar lights, and Buffalo's Sunrise Rotary Club helped electrify a clinic in Uganda. For more information: www.lettherebelightinternational.org. There's information on the website about volunteering, fundraising, and there's a donation tab. Next week's speakers: 1.) Terry Katsiroubas Stamm from the Katsiroubas Brothers Wholesale Fruit and Produce Company on food security and the food supply chain, and 2.) State Senator Becca Rausch on the mail-in voting initiative.
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The Front Steps ProjectRotary Club of Needham Newsletter May 5th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've maintained our regular club meetings on Tuesdays at noon. But, to keep everyone safe, our meetings have moved on-line. In Our Community: We celebrated Ron Sockol's 90th birthday by singing an enthusiastic version of "Happy Birthday!"  In the Needham Community: The Scholarship Committee (Andy Winig, Bill Paulson, Chuck Buyer and Lois Sockol) has completed their review of this year's candidates and the winner will be announced at our next meeting. Speakers: 1.) Sandy Robinson, Needham Community Council (highlighted within the photo below) and 2.) Cara Soulia (photo bottom right) and Kristen Collins for "The Front Steps Project"  Sandy Robinson, Executive Director, updated us on the condition of Needham's Community Council (NCC) during the coronavirus quarantine. On March 15th, Governor Baker closed schools and banned meetings of groups larger than 25 people. Since then, most NCC programs have been shut down, except the Food Pantry. With jobs lost to quarantine, demand for food has soared: the pantry served 354 households in April 2019, but in April 2020, they served 615. To maintain social distancing, the pantry changed to curbside pickup on Mondays and Wednesdays and to delivery on Fridays. People can schedule a pickup using "Signup Genius" or by phone. Volunteer participation has been reduced to a minimum to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus, since many volunteers are over 70. While the cost of serving more people has increased, budgeted revenue has taken a hit from the closure of the Thrift Shop. The Thrift Shop typically accounts for about a third of a year's revenue. To plug this hole, NCC has been working to re-open an Online Thrift Shop with curbside pickup within the next two to three weeks. Sandy characterized donations as "generous" and NCC's current financial condition as "OK", but she's worried looking out about four to five months from now. Regarding financial support, she urged: "Don't forget us!" Sandy mentioned three ways we can help the Food Pantry during this crisis. We can donate: 1.) "deposit" cans and bottles, 2.) Katsiroubas Cares Produce Boxes, and 3.) direct donation to NCC. Jeff Dineen has collected deposit cans and bottles at the Needham Transfer Station for years, donating the proceeds to provide milk at the Food Pantry. Social Distancing shut that program down. But Jeff has adapted to quarantine, now he collects deposit cans and bottles in two barrels located at the end of his driveway at 1625 Great Plain Avenue. The Katsiroubas Brothers Wholesale Fruit and Produce business operates from Boston, and the family lives in Needham. Their "Katsiroubas Cares Produce Boxes" contain three to five items from each category of fruit, vegetables and greens with a retail value of $45-$60. For a donation of $25 to cover the cost, Katsiroubas Brothers will deliver a produce box to Needham's Food Pantry. To order a produce box: hello.katsiroubasproduce.com. To donate online directly to Needham Community Council: needhamcommunitycouncil.org   Here are the first words that you read on "The Front Steps Project" website: "It feels like the world has stopped, doesn't it? Yet, we are very aware that we are still here in our community with my family, neighbors and friends. The purpose of this project is to bring us together virtually when we might feel isolated. We aim to highlight the faces of our community during a time when we might not see them in passing at the grocery store, coffee shop, on the train or at the gym. Participating in this project is also an opportunity to step up to help those who need it most right now." Professional photographer and Needham resident, Cara Soulia wrote: "My friend (Needham resident) Kristen Collins came up with an idea to photograph our neighbors and Needham residents on their front steps. People would love the fresh air and maybe they'd donate to a local non-profit to join the fun." On March 18th, Cara snapped the first pictures of Needham families on their front steps. Within 24 hours over 100 families signed up. With the help of photographers Topher Cox and Caitrin Dunphy, they photographed 400 families within a week. Hundreds remain on the waiting list. In exchange for the professional image, the families are asked to donate $15 to the Needham Community Council, helping to plug the budget hole carved out by the coronavirus. The Front Steps Project has raised over $26,000 for NCC so far. After posting their pictures and mission to social media, Cara and Kristen were asked if they minded whether their project was copied in order to raise money for local charities. They established a website, www.thefrontstepsproject.com, and they published bullet points there on how to get started. As a good news story in a dark time, they attracted lots of attention with articles in: People Magazine, CNN, ABC News, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Boston Magazine. Photographers across the country and the globe were inspired to start their own The Front Steps Projects. As of April 16th, over 400 photographers replicated #TheFrontStepsProject in their communities, raising over $1,000,000 for food pantries, hospitals, animal shelters and more. There are 100 families on the list, waiting for a photo. The list is currently closed, but is expected to reopen for a limited amount of time. Cara and Kristen will post the reopening on The Front Steps Project Facebook page. For more information: Next week's speakers: 1.) Dr Jeff Giles, Highland Animal Hospital, and 2.) Sarah Baird, Let There Be Light, International Dr Giles will speak on animal care in the era of COVID19. Sara Baird will talk about addressing the basic lighting needs of vulnerable, off-grid communities in sub-saharan Africa. |
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Chef Mike FucciRotary Club of Needham Newsletter April 28th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've maintained our regular club meetings on Tuesdays at noon. But, to keep everyone safe, our meetings have moved on-line. Surviving the Quarantine in the Restaurant Business. Speaker: Chef Mike Fucci (photo below)   Chef Mike Fucci talked to us about growing up in his family's restaurant business, mentored by his Uncle, the original "Chef Mike". Starting at 13, he learned the business from the bottom up: cleared tables, washed dishes, waited tables, cooked, eventually becoming head chef after his Uncle. When his Uncle died in 2004, Chef Mike took a break from the restaurant business. He wrote a cookbook: "Delicious Attitude", which brought the attention of The Food Network. He won their 2017 competition show, "Cutthroat Kitchen", where each episode featured four competing chefs in three elimination rounds. At the same time, he ran Chef Mike's catering business from Watertown. Looking to reenter the "bricks and mortar" restaurant business, the availability of the former D'Angelos space at 73 Highland Avenue in Needham offered an opportunity. Chef Mike's Restaurant opened there at the end of July '19. Mike described his cooking style for the Boston Globe: "authentic and fast-casual. Everything is super fresh. There are no freezers in the building. Everything is prepared everyday." The menu offers Italian classics prepared with "time, patience, love and respect for the food". "People should come in and expect the classics, but also for there to be something different, maybe something they haven't had before". I have happily sampled Chef Mike's tasty chicken and sausage risotto, and I can testify that quantities are ample at attractive prices. Mike told the Globe with a laugh: "People are getting second meals out of me". To state the obvious, the coronavirus has increased the challenge of starting a new restaurant. Chef Mike's restaurant has stayed open as a curbside takeout, delivery, and catering business. His focus during quarantine is on scrupulous cleanliness of the kitchen and leading the staff around issues of exposure to the virus. Mike used profanity to describe the Federal government's small business rescue lending program, which was first-come, first-served, but hobbled by a portal crashing under the urgency of the demand, then it ran out of money, and it has lots of "strings attached". His thoughts: it's more important to have the love and support of the community than the support of the government. |
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Hygiene and Nutrition for QuarantineRotary Club of Needham Newsletter April 21st, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've maintained our regular club meetings on Tuesdays at noon. But, to keep everyone safe, our meetings have moved on-line. In the Community Last Friday, partnering with One Needham, which -since the onset of the pandemic- brings together local restaurants and local supporters, Needham Rotary sponsored a meal from Brothers Pizza for Needham's first-line responders. Thanks to Libby and Roger Pero, Needham Rotary's donated hygienic supplies were transported from Capron Lighting and Sound, where they had been stored since the onset of the pandemic, to Circle of Hope, who distributed the supplies to seven shelters for use. Surviving Quarantine Speakers: 1.) Dr. Lisa Kane, Dental Office Compliance of New England LLC (photo left) and 2.) Tamara Luck, Licensed Dietician/Nutritionist (photo right)   After serving as a practicing dentist for 20 years, Dr Kane now observes, evaluates and trains dental practices for compliance with infection control, OSHA, CDC and privacy regulations. Against the current backdrop that requires people to wear face masks when out in public due to the COVID 19 pandemic, she spoke to us about the proper use of face masks. She reminded us that we can be infected with COVID19, but not exhibit any symptoms for up to 14 days. Also, because there's a shortage of personal protective equipment, the good masks (N95) are reserved for medical professionals, so wearing a home-made mask is as much about protecting others from your exhalations as vice-versa. Putting on a mask: 1) Wash your hands (min 20 seconds). 2) Stretch the mask over your face, covering your nose and mouth. 3) Think of the mask as contaminated (never push it under your chin, thinking that you'll pull it back up again). 4) Take the mask off by the ear loops without touching your eyes, nose or mouth. 5) Throw it out immediately after use. 6) Wash your hands. Once the masks are wet or after an hour's use, they become ineffective. There was extensive discussion of different types of home made masks and how to clean and disinfect them for re-use. Best to clean them in the clothes washer. For more information from Dr. Kane: lisa@doc4ne.com. Tamara Luck is a licensed dietitian with Needham's Birds Hill Compounding Pharmacy and Waltham's Johnson Compounding Pharmacy. There, she consults with clients to develop personalized nutrition and lifestyle changes to become and stay healthy. Her comments were focused on healthy living and stress reduction during the coronavirus quarantine. First, she discussed bolstering our immune systems with anti-inflammatory foods, like:
We talked about changing lifestyle to reduce stress:
There was lively discussion about how our menus could change to incorporate healthier ingredients. For more information on healthy diet and lifestyle: tamaraluck.com. Both presentations were recorded:Share recording with viewers: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/1-psBuGszGdOZI3dzQLdZKgHNZThX6a8hiVI_fBZyx7W24r842uRRsbW1rRcdNvf Next Week's Speaker (4/28/20): Chef Mike Fucci They say one of the hardest businesses to start is a restaurant. Mike Fucci, of Needham’s Chef Mike’s restaurant, has started a restaurant business here in Needham and on top of the normal challenges of the industry he is now having to deal with the impact of COVID-19. Hear from Mike about his background, some of the challenges he has faced, the creative ways he is working to keep his business alive, and the amazing people that have come out of nowhere to help. |
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Tom Keating Yesterday's SoldierRotary Club of Needham Newsletter April 14th, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed. In response, we've continued to fund local and international charities. We've maintained our regular club meetings on Tuesdays at noon. But, to keep everyone safe, our meetings have moved on-line. Speaker: Tom Keating (see picture below) on his book "Yesterday's Soldier, A Passage from Prayer to the Vietnam War"  Tom Keating, Needham resident, talked to us about his book: "Yesterday's Soldier, A Passage from Prayer to the Vietnam War", which tells of the struggle for his soul and his effort to remain human during a war. Tom entered the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1963 after high school. While training as a priest, he attended adjacent Stonehill College. Commenting that he seemed "distracted" by his college friends and activities that included co-eds, the Father Superior labeled Tom's vocation "temporary". This judgment required him to leave the seminary. It was 1968, and the Vietnam War was raging. Tom would have been subject to the draft, so he enlisted in the Army, where the length of commitment was shorter than that of other branches of military service. As a college graduate, Tom was sent to officer school after basic and infantry training. During the violent conflicts fostered by military training, Tom realized that -while he might be tempted and capable- he could not kill a person. He filed the paperwork needed to complete his service as a non-combatant, conscientious objector. During the four months that the Army used to process his request, Tom was harassed with the worst work details and threatened with imprisonment. Eventually, his non-combatant status was approved, but he was assigned nonetheless to Vietnam. Long Binh was the largest US Army base in Vietnam, a major command post and logistics facility. At its peak in 1969, there were 60,000 personnel there. Serendipitously, a fellow Stonehill graduate was assignment clerk there, who sent Tom to work as an administrative specialist typing supply contracts. The base was attacked by the Viet Cong as part of the Tet Offensive in 1969, and Tom survived a near miss sniper attack. Now, he cherishes the memory of friendships made with Vietnamese laborers at the base. Returning from the war, Tom had to deal with the anger directed at veterans of that unpopular conflict. His military service was never listed on his resume. He got a masters degree in Education and became a teacher. His book: "Yesterday's Soldier, A Passage from Prayer to the Vietnam War" is available on Amazon.com. A Kindle version is forthcoming. |
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Needham's Emergency Management AdministratorRotary Club of Needham Newsletter March 31st, 2020 Special Note: on March 11th, the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. As of this morning, there are 1,014,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus globally with 77,000 new cases overnight and 53,000 cumulative deaths. There are 8966 cases in Massachusetts, including 938 in Norfolk County. Thankfully, 210,000 people have recovered worldwide. Due to mandatory social distancing, most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities have been postponed indefinitely, except our funding of local charities. In response, we've maintained our regular club meetings on Tuesdays at noon, but they've become "virtual", on-line meetings. See Dan's picture below of the "dashboard" of our members and guests, including Selectperson John Bulian, participating in our meeting using Zoom.  In the Community Flowers for the Elderly: Holly Brown, Louise Condon, and Kathy Whitney (left to right in the picture below) delivered a harbinger of Spring to the elderly shut in by the virus.  Speaker: Rebecca Ping, Town of Needham Emergency Management Administrator Rebecca reviewed the resources that the Town has dedicated to fighting the pandemic and to informing residents about those efforts. (Her picture is highlighted in the lower left corner of the dashboard photo above.) When she last addressed the Rotary Club of Needham on October 22nd, we committed to help her by funding storage containers to securely store blankets for the Needham Medical Reserve to use in future natural disasters. At that time, she told us that Needham has an emergency alert system that had 700 persons opting in. The system was migrating from landline to cell phones. Now, due to Rebecca's efforts, there are 6000 residents opting-in. To opt-in to the Alert Needham system, text "Needham" to 67283, and you'll receive text updates during emergencies. Rebecca reported that there were sufficient beds and ventilators at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Needham to meet the estimated peak demand, which may come during the third week of April. We received a shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE) from the Federal government, but donations of PPE are still needed. There's a PPE dropbox at the Police Station and the hospital is accepting donations. There'll be a Select Board meeting via Zoom on Friday April 3rd at 3:00 with an update on Covid 19. The Town has created a Covid 19 website at Needhamma.gov/covid19, where there are updates on fighting the pandemic and on how town services have adapted to social distancing guidelines. Finally, Rebecca reminded us that the Red Cross is asking for blood donations. She asked us to reach out to help our neighbors and to remain vigilant about social distancing.
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Hearts and Noses Hospital Clown TroupeRotary Club of Needham Newsletter March 10th, 2020 Special Note: on Wednesday, March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. As of this morning there are 118,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in 114 countries with 4600 new cases yesterday and 4300 cumulative deaths. Last night, President Trump banned travel from Europe into the US for a month as confirmed cases in our country reached 1215 with 36 deaths. And, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker declared an emergency in our state as confirmed coronavirus cases here almost doubled overnight to 92. Most of our volunteer opportunities and community support activities (except our funding of local charitable organizations) have been postponed indefinitely. This is a rapidly developing story, and you should check meeting dates and details with the hosting organization. Club members are having lively debates about how best to continue with our charitable activities, given the restrictions posed by the social distancing that's required to slow the spread of the virus. At our Tuesday luncheon meeting, instead of serving ourselves unprotected, we chose some servers who wore gloves to ensure our safety. We still managed to have fun, celebrating the February-March birthdays of Ken Davis and Tom Savino (see photos below).   Volunteer Opportunities Meal Packing TBD presumed postponed In the Community NEF Spelling Bee TBD presumed postponed League of Women Voters Civics Bee TBD presumed postponed Flowers for the Elderly TBD presumed postponed Speaker: Kenny Raskin, Artistic Director, Hearts and Noses Hospital Clown Troupe (photos below) Kenny has built a career as a physical comedian and actor. He originated the role of Le Fou in "Beauty and the Beast", and he was the lead clown in Cirque du Soleil. Jeannie Lindheim founded a hospital clown troupe in Boston in 1997 after touring in Russia with Patch Adams' troupe. The name changed to Hearts and Noses in 2006. Kenny has been with the troupe for 23 years, the last four as Artistic Director. His job is to train the volunteers in clowning and to make sure that they're funny. Hearts and Noses engages and empowers children in a medical environment. Last year, the troupe visited 3,500 hospitalized children in five Boston hospitals: Tufts Floating Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Franciscan Children's Hospital and Mass General. Most importantly, the child gets to choose whether to participate in this type of "therapy". They don't have a choice in their medical care. Clowning makes the child the center of attention by following their lead. The power of clowning is that it briefly transports the child and parent to another place where the child rather than the illness can be the center of attention. The troupe's website cites medical studies showing that humor reduces anxiety and reduces length of stay. The troupe, now 21 clowns, started as an entirely volunteer organization. They have professionalized their staff by adding two paid clowns, which will increase to four next year. The mission has broadened as well with some touring clowns now focusing on refugees, veterans and elderly. A benefit for Hearts and Noses, starring Kenny and his band, Superchief, scheduled for April 4th at the Center at the Heights was postponed due to the new coronavirus restrictions. So, it becomes even more important to join our club in supporting Hearts and Noses with a donation: www.heartsandnoses.org/donate.   |
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February 2021 Newsletter |
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Elliot House-Riverside Community CareRotary Club of Needham Newsletter February 25th, 2020 Volunteer Opportunities Meal Packing "The Rise Against Hunger": packing 20,000 meals for the hungry on Saturday March 28th at a location TBD from 10:00-2:00 with the Needham High School Interact Club. In the Community Paul Harris Fellows (see picture below): Ron Sokol and Charles Nelson were recognized as Paul Harris Fellows at our Tuesday meeting for $1000 contributions to the Rotary Foundation.  We held a Grand Opening for the Ambassador Raymond Flynn Sensory Room at the Joseph P. Tynan Elementary School in South Boston on Wednesday February 26th (see pictures below). Ambassador Raymond Flynn, Mayor of Boston from 1984-1993 and Ambassador to the Holy See from 1993-1997, was keynote speaker. His speech traced his involvement in supporting autistic children and their parents from driving his nephew from South Boston to the only school that would then serve autistic kids, deep in the suburbs of metro Boston. He noted that parent advocacy had resulted in improvements in public education where kids with sensory disorders can now remain and get an education in public schools, and that the soothing environment of sensory rooms is the latest improvement helping to keep those kids engaged in their education. Libby Pero and Bill Paulson were recognized for their pivotal roles in getting the sensory room funded and built. The children were led into the room for the first time as the Ambassador was completing his remarks, and the sweetest reward was the pleasant sound as they enthusiastically played in the room.    Offsite Meeting: Beth Israel Deaconess Needham, Tuesday March 3rd in place of our regularly scheduled noon meeting that day, we will instead meet John Fogarty, President BID Needham, for an update on the hospital's new facilities. Please invite a friend to attend with you. NEF Spelling Bee Sunday March 15th at 3:00 at Needham High School Cafeteria League of Women Voters Civics Bee Sunday March 22nd at 2:00 at Broadmeadow School Speaker: Zachary Attenborough, Employment Coordinator, Elliott House of Riverside Community Care (see picture below) Riverside Community Care (RCC) is a non-profit organization that offers mental healthcare, developmental and brain injury services, early childhood and youth services, addiction treatment and trauma response. It serves over 40,000 children and adults in Eastern and Central Massachusetts. Elliot House is a unit of RCC located at 255 Highland Avenue in Needham. It's called a "clubhouse" because it's focused on providing a supportive environment where "members", recovering from a mental illness, can regain job skills, find employment, reduce hospitalizations, secure decent housing and develop meaningful relationships. The emphasis is on a reintegration into the community and a return to paid employment. Zach is an Employment Coordinator there. He told us that about 60% of people with a mental illness have an underlying substance abuse issue. People often inappropriately self-medicate to sooth themselves when facing difficulties. The clubhouse environment, including a 12-step, self-help, recovery program, helps members learn to manage difficulties though connection, support and education, reducing the chance of a relapse. There are three types of employment programs:
Typical work activities include: word processing, spreadsheet design, data collection, data entry, food service, banking, budgeting, and building and grounds maintenance. The amount of time that a member spends in a work unit is determined by their personal choice and interests. A "work-ordered day" concept keeps tract of members' work and results in reimbursement, which is billed to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. For more information on Elliot House see Riverside Community Care's website: www.riversidecc.org.  |
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Louise Condon Realty IncRotary Club of Needham Newsletter February 18th, 2020 Volunteer Opportunities Meal Packing "The Rise Against Hunger": packing 20,000 meals for the hungry on Saturday March 28th at the Masonic Hall from 10:00-2:00 with the Needham High School Interact Club. In the Community Offsite Meeting: Beth Israel Deaconess Needham in place of our regularly scheduled noon meeting on Tuesday March 3rd, we are instead meeting John Fogarty, President BID Needham, for an update on the hospital's new facilities. Please invite a friend to attend with you. Grand Opening: Sensory Room at the Joseph P. Tynan Elementary School Wednesday February 26th from 10-12 at Tynan Elementary School, 650 East 4th Street, Boston, Ma. NEF Spelling Bee Sunday March 15th at 3:00 at Needham High School Cafeteria League of Women Voters Civics Bee Sunday March 22nd at 2:00 at Broadmeadow School Speaker: Louise Condon In order to facilitate trust-worthy referral business within our club, members have been sharing their biographies at our meetings. This week, Louise Condon told us her life story. Born in Pawtucket, RI, Louise met her future husband, Frank, at the age of 16 at an academic contest (Louise won). Frank's first job with Westinghouse took the family to Mansfield, Ohio, where Louise taught school. They moved within Westinghouse to New York, and lived in Connecticut. A career change to Finance brought the family to Needham in 1968. Raising seven children in a house on Hazelton Avenue, Louise focused on serving her family. As the kids neared college age, Louise looked to re-enter the labor force to help pay the education bills. The schools weren't hiring then, so she took a class at Needham High to train to become a real estate agent. In 1985, she had to create a real estate company to recover her kitchen, which had become a hang-out for her agent friends. Now, Louise Condon Realty, Inc. has 18 agents working for the only remaining independently owned real estate company in Needham. Pursuing business references, I have only focused on Louise's professional career, but there's lots more to tell about her contributions to our club and in support of our community. And then, there are 17 grandchildren and an upcoming great-grandchild. But, those are stories that we'll ask her to tell on another day. |
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Charles River YMCARotary Club of Needham Newsletter February 11th, 2020 Volunteer Opportunities Meal Packing "The Rise Against Hunger": packing 20,000 meals for the hungry on Saturday March 28th at the Masonic Hall from 10:00-2:00 with the Needham High School Interact Club. In the Community Needham High School Service Fair (see photo below) Students at Needham High School are required to provide 60 hours of service to their community. On Wednesday February 12th, local service organizations, including the Rotary Club of Needham, held a "service fair" at the High School to explain their community service to the students while offering the students an opportunity to get involved and meet their service goals. Needham Free Public Library and the Boston Bruins Pajama Drive to Benefit Children in the Department of Children and Families System and Cradles to Crayons The goal was 12,000 pairs of pjs. Our members donated new pajamas or funds to buy them, multiplying the impact of the Club's $500 donation. The combined Rotary donations were used to purchase 200 pairs of pajamas. Spelling Bee Sunday March 15th at 3:00 at Needham High School Cafeteria Civics Bee Sunday March 22nd at 2:00 at Broadmeadow School Meeting: Charles River YMCA Speaking on behalf of the Charles River YMCA were Paula Jacobson, Executive Director (see photo below), and Julie Richmond, Business Director. The Charles River Y is one of 13 YMCA facilities serving the greater Boston community. The first Young Mens' Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States was founded in Boston by Captain Thomas Sullivan in 1851. Needham's Charles River branch followed in 1880. The YMCA has a distinguished history of nurturing the "triangle" of body, mind and spirit in this region. Springfield College, originally the School of Christian Workers, was founded to train YMCA leaders. It retains that role today. Basketball was created in 1891 when the director of the Springfield YMCA gave Physical Education teacher, James Naismith two weeks to come up with a game that could be played indoors in winter. Volleyball followed four years later. Northeastern University started off in 1916 as the "evening institute" for the YMCA. Today's YMCA is open to people of all ages, genders and religions. The "Y" is dedicated to reducing the barrier to participation for less affluent families posed by fees. Membership dues and program service fees are designed to cover the cost of operation, while grants and donations (22% of Greater Boston Y's $77.5mm revenues in 2018) cover the cost of outreach to the less affluent. The Y promises to partner with others to create a community of caring people to improve health and to empower youth and families. Paula noted that the Charles River Y offers special programming with partners, including: the Charles River Center (developmental disabilities), Riverside School (behavioral health disorders), Walker School (behavioral, social and emotional challenges), Parent Talk and Needham Youth Services. Funding partners, who help to make the Charles River Y's programs accessible to all, include the Rotary Club of Needham, the Exchange Club, Needham Bank and Webster Bank. Julie Richmond pointed out that an important fundraiser for the Charles River Y' the Giving Gala, is coming up on March 21st at Powers Hall.   |
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Citizens' Climate LobbyRotary Club of Needham Newsletter February 4th, 2020 Volunteer Opportunities Meal Packing "The Rise Against Hunger": Saturday March 28th at the Masonic Hall (details still TBD) with the Needham High School Interact Club. In the Community Circle of Hope Circle of Hope is looking for coats for all ages. There will soon be a coat sorting event (date TBD) where volunteers can help prepare the donated coats for distribution to shelters. Needham Free Public Library and the Boston Bruins Pajama Drive to Benefit Children in the Department of Children and Families System and Cradles to Crayons The goal is 12,000 pairs of pjs. We're helping by encouraging our members to donate new pajamas for children of all ages or to donate funds for this purpose, multiplying the impact of the Club's $500 donation, which was used to purchase 84 pairs of pajamas. Pajamas can be dropped off at our club meetings. Meeting: Dr. John Keller, Citizens' Climate Lobby: "How we can stabilize the climate and improve the Human Condition" Susan Peghiny, Assistant Governor of Rotary District 7910, introduced meterologist, Dr. John Keller (photo below). John represented the Boston Metrowest Chapter of the Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL). CCL is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on developing the political will and organization to enact national policies to address climate change. The focus of CCL's advocacy is "The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019" (HR 763), which is a bill in the US House of Representatives that proposes a fee on carbon at the point of extraction with the revenue raised redistributed to households in the form of a flat, monthly dividend per household. The dividend is intended to offset the impact of higher fuel prices from the carbon fee. Rotarian Marshall Saunders founded CCL in 2007 after seeing Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". He realized that his prior advocacy on behalf of people living in poverty could be wiped out by the effects of climate change: "There was a real danger of all our good works going for naught." Lots of the respectful, non-partisan culture of CCL can be attributed to him. When asked the question: "What should we do?", Marshall responded "What's needed is thousands of ordinary people organized, lobbying their members of Congress with one voice, one message, and lobbying in a relentless and unstoppable, yet friendly and respectful way." Dr. Keller started off with the good news: the proportion of the world's population living in extreme poverty (< $2/day) has declined from about a third to about a tenth in the twenty-five years from 1990 to 2015. But economic growth is linked to consumption of energy, and 85% of the world's energy comes from burning fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a byproduct of fossil fuel consumption, and the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has been steadily rising from 270 parts per million (ppm) in 1750 to 410 ppm currently, and -depending on the path chosen by global leaders- could increase to 660 ppm by 2100 on our current path, to 540 ppm based on current international climate change agreements, and to 420 ppm, if all nations follow the Paris Accords. At 660 ppm the global climate would heat up to +4 degrees centigrade; at 540 ppm it would heat up to +3 degrees and at 420 ppm +1.5 degree. (Please see the graph below.) Dr. Keller noted that a 3 degree cooling resulted in an Ice Age, and a 4 degree increase in temperature could result in a 2 to 6 foot rise in sea level, while increasing the intensity of storms. Here's the problem, the science of climate change is accepted, but the policy solution is not. Pollution is an externality to the cost of production: the private cost of production can be passed on to the consumer in the price, but the "external" cost of pollution is passed on to society. As a consequence, private cost is lower than societal cost, a market failure that can be addressed by government taxation or regulation. Carbon emissions were once free, and an effective policy solution will impose a price on those emissions throughout the world. CCL's preferred policy to fight climate change is a bill in Congress called HR 763. HR 763 would place a carbon fee of $15/metric ton on fossil fuel production, rising $10/year until emissions drop by 90%. The economic impact of the carbon fee on less affluent households would be ameliorated by dividending back the revenue raised on a flat basis per household. Studies estimate that about 60% of households would take in more from the dividend than they'd pay in higher prices. Imported energy, not subject to the domestic carbon fee, would be subject to a "border adjustment" reimposing the carbon fee. CCL has 568 local chapters globally with 535 organized by congressional district in the US. There are five levers of political will that CCL uses to draw citizens into the political process and to provide training and support to ensure that their contribution is constructive:1) lobbying Congress, 2) media relations, 3) grassroots outreach, 4) grass tops engagement, and 5) group development and organizing. "Laser talks" on the CCL website offer intriguing examples of the organization's support of their volunteers. A laser talk is a powerful statement on a specific topic, including: climate science, policy design and impact and politics. CCL trainers offer webinars on climate advocacy twice a month. If you're ready to take action on climate change, the CCL website offers information on how to get started as a new CCL member or as a financial contributor (citizensclimatelobby.org).   |
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Anaya Tipnis FoundationRotary Club of Needham Newsletter January 21st, 2020 In the Community Circle of Hope Given cold weather, Circle of Hope is urgently looking for coats for all ages. There will soon be a coat sorting event (date TBD) where volunteers can help prepare the donated coats for distribution to shelters. Needham Free Public Library and the Boston Bruins Pajama Drive to Benefit Children in the Department of Children and Families System and Cradles to Crayons The goal is 12,000 pairs of pjs. We're helping by encouraging our members to donate new pajamas for children of all ages or to donate funds for this purpose, multiplying the impact of the Club's $500 donation, which was used to purchase 84 pairs of pajamas. Pajamas can be dropped off at our club meetings. Meeting Trusted Referrals In order to foster business referrals within our membership, based on trusted relationships, our members are encouraged to present brief biographies in order to make the other members aware of their careers and expertise. This week, Dan Tibma, our President, presented his life story. He was born in Indiana, and his parents separated when he was still quite young. His father was a developer in Tampa, Florida, and his mother was in the hospitality business in Aspen, Colorado. Dan would spend the school year in Tampa and the summers exploring the West from Aspen. He has been in the construction business since the 6th grade, full time since graduating from the University of Florida. His first wife was from Boston, which brought him here, and his wife, Sharon, taught him how to catch lobsters, which helps keep him here. For the last 15 years he has focused on design-build projects with a geographic focus in and near Needham. I am one of Dan's many satisfied customers: he renovated our kitchen and expanded both cooking and dining space by knocking down a wall separating the two rooms. He also helped us expand our closet space and improve the size of our bedrooms by eliminating and redistributing a tiny bedroom. Thanks, Dan! Speaker: Monica Kachru, Board Chair, Anaya Tipnis Foundation (see photo below) Monica founded the Anaya Tipnis Foundation in honor of her daughter, a graduate of Needham High School, who died in 2017 as an incoming freshman to MIT. Anaya's name means "God answered", and the Foundation's mission and ethos are hers. Anaya felt that all young people deserve an opportunity to prosper through higher education and a strong support system. The foundation's mission is to help low-income, need-based students succeed in college by providing them mentorship focused financial support along with access to internship opportunities. A network of mentors (counselors, educators and industry professionals) actively work with the scholars in their journey as they transition to college. The mentors strive to understand their challenges and help them achieve their goals. The foundation's approach has three areas of focus intended to improve the college outcomes of low-income students: 1) financial: each year, each student receives a scholarship of up to $3000. 2) mentorship: mentors provide advice on academic, financial and other college transition challenges. 3) internships: scholars have the option to participate in a six-to-eight week internship at partner organizations, including research labs, technology companies, and financial institutions. Ideal candidates will have demonstrated authenticity in their passion for entrepreneurship, science, technology, education, social justice or the empowerment of women or minorities. Passion and authenticity should be demonstrated by community service and leadership. Candidates also need to demonstrate financial need based on total family income. The foundation currently supports five scholars, and it is in the process of securing support to expand further. Current sponsors include Roche Brothers and Volante Farms. Potential supporters can get involved in several ways:
For more information, contact: www.anayafoundation.org.  |
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Massachusetts Cultural CouncilRotary Club of Needham Newsletter January 14th, 2020 Meeting Speakers: Needham Select Board: 1) Dan Matthews (photo below) and Massachusetts Cultural Council: 2) David Slatery, Deputy Director and Needham resident (photo below); and 3) Timothea Pham, Program Officer for Local Cultural Districts (photo below) Dan Matthews, representing the Needham Select Board, offered a brief description of Needham's Tax Assistance Program. This program offers assistance in paying property taxes to seniors and the disabled. The average, annual real estate tax bill is currently $10,000 in Needham. The annual program budget of $15,000 funds about 35 grants averaging $425. Elderly or disabled individuals with less than $55,000 in annual income and married couples with less than $67,000 of annual income are eligible to apply. Here "elderly" is defined as age 60 or over and "disabled" is defined as a person who has been determined to be incapacitated from working by a recognized source such as Social Security, the US military, workers' compensation or a retirement board. The grants can be matched with a circuit-breaker program that is appropriated by Town Meeting to offer greater tax relief. The Tax Assistance Program, however, is funded entirely by voluntary contributions, typically using the labelled envelopes found with your tax bill. Dan asked us to consider contributing to the fund to boost this program helping seniors and disabled to remain in their homes. The contributions are tax deductible. Further information is available through the Town Treasurer's Office (781-455-7500 ext 208) or online at www.needhamma.gov. Dave Slatery, the CFO and General Counsel of the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), spoke about the many ways that the agency supports and enhances the cultural life of the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts. The MCC partners with local community councils across the state to expand access, improve education, promote diversity and encourage excellence in the arts, humanities and sciences. As a local partner, each dollar of MCC's $18mm annual budget ($16mm from state appropriation) is leveraged 152 times by other funding sources to fund the total budgets of grantees' cultural programs. To expand access: the EBT Card to Culture program has provided 258,000 free or discounted admissions to 140 cultural organizations to Massachusetts residents of limited means. MCC's cultural organizations offered 48,000 public events each year, including 200 festivals with free or low-cost admission. To improve education, MCC grantees engaged 102,000 children in creative youth development programs, including 6,100 at-risk youth. Students in the arts have lower dropout rates, higher GPAs and better scores in math and language on standardized tests. For more information on MCC and its programs: www.massculturalcouncil.org. Timothea Pham administers MCC's local grants in our region. Needham's Cultural Council (NCC) received a $6,800 grant from MCC in FY2019. That money helped support performances and festivals including: Longwood Opera, Needham Concert Society, Needham Community Theater and New Year's Needham. Needham cultural groups are encouraged to apply for grants by October 15th annually to support exhibits, festivals, field trips, artist residencies and performances. For more information on NCC grants, contact: Kristen Mazzocchi (617-894-9967).   |
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Needham Community Revitalization Trust FundRotary Club of Needham Newsletter January 7th, 2020 Volunteer Opportunities Circle of Hope emergency coat drive They're currently looking for coats for all ages. There will soon be a coat sorting event (date TBD). In the Community Construction of the sensory room at Joseph Tynan School On December 30th, our volunteers assembled the sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston (please see the picture of the finished room below). Why did we take on this project? According to the Center for Disease Control, one in 59 children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The resulting difficulties with communication, social interaction and comprehension make it difficult for these children to thrive in everyday settings. By providing a sense of calm and comfort, sensory rooms help children with sensory disorders, like autism, learn to self-regulate their behaviors, which ultimately improves focus. This was our largest project year to date, the focus of our fund-raising. Other organizations and people helped by contributing generously to our funding: Capron Lighting and Sound Company, the Perfect Peace Project, the Weston-Waltham Rotary Club and Libby Pero. If our members remain interested, this project could serve as a template to help other schools with large populations of children on the autism spectrum. During the project, we learned that there are at least two similar schools in the Boston district. Meeting Speaker: Paul Good, founder of the membership-based, private coaching practice: "The Power of Intentional Living" and the Needham Community Revitalization Trust Fund Paul is the founder of a private coaching practice called the Power of Intentional Living (TPOIL). It addresses the question: how do we decide what we should be doing with our lives? He points out that we start off following a path that others create for us, and then, randomly discover things that we like to do. We intuit that we possess unique competitive advantages, but sometimes they remain undiscovered. Once you identify the natural gifts that you have to work with, then you need to decide where to go on your journey. By building your own "owner's manual" you can start to create your own life, intentionally. TPOIL is a membership-based coaching service that helps its members identify their natural gifts and the experience of life that they will find most fulfilling. The Needham Community Revitalization Trust Fund (NCRTF) has completed more than 30 public space revitalization projects in Needham since its founding in 1999. The Rotary Club of Needham has contributed to funding for NCRTF's beautification projects. In my, admittedly subjective, review of the projects, I discovered that NCRTF sponsored the iconic sculptures on the town common called "Once Upon a Time" and the "Circle of Peace" (see the picture of Paul completing the circle below). NCRTF has also sponsored decorative banners, elegant trashcans, commemorative benches and bike-racks. It has obtained pre-approvals for projects that only require funding to be realized. For example: an art gallery for Eaton Square (the side of the Rice Barn facing the train) consisting of five, stainless steel frames to hold digitally imprinted panels with smaller frames below offering contact information with the artists. Then there's the "All Aboard" Locomotion Wall Mural Project for the rear walls of Kumon and CMC Systems (117-119 Chapel Street) to show a digital image of the original H.H.Richardson-designed train station (a space now occupied by The James) before it burned. For more information on TPOIL and NCRTF, please review the business cards for both shown below.     |
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Norfolk County Sheriff Jerome McDermottRotary Club of Needham Newsletter December 17, 2019 Volunteer Opportunities Construction of the sensory room at Joseph Tynan School The equipment has been purchased and delivered! On December 30th our volunteers will assemble the sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. In the Community Wrapping presents for the Walker School On Thursday December 12th, our volunteers wrapped and gave presents to the children. Christmas Party Many thanks to Scott and Cathy MacFarlane for graciously hosting this year's Christmas Party on December 13th. (See picture below). Rotary District 7910 Service Trip to Guatamala We're sending Jim Dietel to Guatemala to participate in our district's service trip there, focused on installing and training the users of water purification systems. Meeting Speaker: Norfolk County Sheriff Jerome McDermott (see photo below) In December 2018, Governor Baker appointed Jerry McDermott to fill out the remaining term of departing Sheriff Michael Bellotti. Most recently, Jerry was Chief of Staff at the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. Previously, Jerry was State Director for former U.S. Senator Scott Brown, and he served as a Boston City Councilor for six years. He also held leadership positions with Eversource and South Shore Habitat for Humanity. He served as co-chair of the Allston-Brighton Substance Abuse Task Force. The Norfolk County Sheriff's Office operates a safe, secure and humane correctional facility located in Dedham. Offenders arrested by the police of the 28 towns comprising Norfolk County are sent to the Dedham correctional facility. Of the 445 men currently residing there, about 80% have dual diagnoses: mental illness and addiction. With an average stay of about 3.5 months (ranging from 1.5 months to 2.5 years), the correctional program is focused on re-entry: sobriety, treatment and obtaining an employable skill. Norfolk County's female offenders (currently 33 women) are sent to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Framingham. The Dedham facility's original design capacity was 320 inmates. Societal changes, like the movement to de-institutionalize persons challenged by mental illness, result in chronic over-capacity utilization of the prison as that population is now frequently incarcerated. Sheriff McDermott described volunteer opportunities at his facility that included activities like coat drives for the inmates' families and teaching courses like "Intro to Law".   |
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Closing the Needham Rotary History ExhibitRotary Club of Needham Newsletter December 10, 2019 Volunteer Opportunities Wrapping presents for the Walker School Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Our volunteers will wrap, and present about 15 gifts in the $25-50 range to the children. Construction of the sensory room at Joseph Tynan School The equipment has been purchased and delivered! On December 30th our volunteers will assemble the sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. In the Community High Tunnel Construction at Needham Community Farm On Saturday November 23rd, we stretched the plastic skin over the frame to enclose the greenhouse at the community farm. See the before and after pictures below. Thanksgiving Day Dinner provided by the Rotary Club of Needham, the Needham Community Council and the Needham Masons On Thanksgiving Day, our combined volunteers served dinner to 80 people in the Masonic Hall while others delivered 116 dinners to folks that are shut-in. Please see the picture of the kitchen crew below. Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army We collected $692 for the Salvation Army by ringing bells on Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms. Rotary Club of Needham Christmas Party Friday December 13th at 6:30 at Scott and Kathy MacFarlane's house at 147 Fox Hill Road, Needham. Please bring hors d'oeuvres or dessert and a Yankee Swap present ($20-25). Meeting Closing the Exhibit on the 90 Year History of the Rotary Club of Needham at the Needham History Center: Living the motto "Service over Self" We met at the Needham History Center to mark the closing of the exhibit on the history of the Rotary Club in Needham. Since 1929, Needham Rotary has been an active and valued partner in the town of Needham, providing a wide variety of entertainment, volunteer opportunities, and needed resources. Although the club is famous for the Pancake Breakfast and the Thanksgiving Day community dinner, there are many other projects that Needham Rotary has sponsored over the years: Beautification: Arbor Day tree planting, Needham Community Farm, Memorial Park garden, NHS Campus Sports Teams: Needham Little League, NHS Golf Team School Enrichment: NHS Scholarships, Buddy Benches, Reality Fair, Ambassadorial Exchange Scholars, Grade School Dictionaries Health and Safety: Home Smoke Detectors, Tippett House International Projects: Gift of Life, Maternity Wards in Uganda, Solar-powered schools in India, Safe drinking water projects in Africa, Schools for girls in Afghanistan Thanks to the Needham History Center and Museum and Executive Director Gloria Greis for hosting our exhibit and our meeting!    |
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Where have we come from? Where are we going?Rotary Club of Needham Newsletter November 19, 2019 Volunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction at Needham Community Farm Saturday November 23rd at 10:00. Bring stepladders (if you have one) and help stretch the skin over the frame of the greenhouse that will extend the farm's growing season by a month at either end. Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner Monday November 25th at the Wellesley College Club at 6:00pm. Featured speaker: Greg Comella, who played for the Xaverian Hawks, Stanford Cardinals, and the NFL Giants, Titans, Texans and Bucs before becoming a business leader in our community. Thanksgiving Day Dinner (free!) provided by the Rotary Club of Needham, the Needham Community Council and the Needham Masons on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28th at the Masonic Hall, 1101 Highland Ave. Doors open at 11:30 with dinner served at noon. To attend, call: 781-444-2415. Volunteers should register at the Community Council: office@needhamcommunitycouncil.org Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms from 8:00 to 5:00. Wrapping presents at the Walker School Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Seven volunteers are needed to wrap, and we are needed to purchase at least 15 gifts in the $25-50 range for the children. Construction of the sensory room at Joseph Tynan School The equipment has been purchased and delivered! If you have painting or construction skills, please reserve time over Christmas Break (TBD) to help us assemble this year's most important community project: the sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. In the Community Support for the Needham Community Revitalization Trust Fund The club donated $250 to support the Trust Fund's efforts to enhance Eaton Square in Needham Center. Paul Good, Chairman of the Trust, notes that over $200,000 of community revitalization projects have been approved by the town but await financial sponsorship to be completed. Rotary Club of Needham Christmas Party Friday December 13th at 6:30 at Scott and Kathy MacFarlane's house at 147 Fox Hill Road, Needham. Please bring hors d'oeuvres or dessert and a Yankee Swap present ($20-25). Meeting Where have we come from? Where are we now? Where are we going? Our President, Dan Tibma, led a wide-ranging discussion of past, current and prospective club activities, prompted by a list of 27 (see my personally annotated list below) recently completed charitable activities of our club in our local and international communities. Comments from members extended that list by -at least- another five popular activities. Asked to comment positively and negatively on the activities listed below, the members had almost exclusively positive comments on the club's past and current involvement in our town and abroad, and recommended extending these activities into the future. Out of many comments that were supportive of existing activities, there was one that recommended extending an existing activity to better address the global problem of climate change. Instead of, or perhaps, in addition to our popular, existing tree donations to fourth graders in Needham, where there's some attrition between delivery of the trees in the classroom and the planting of the trees in the children's backyards, maybe we could do mass plantings of trees in Needham's town tree nursery or in a town-sanctioned place? Another comment noted that we haven't had an active Social Committee for the past three years. The comment went further to note that social events allow us to attract new members and more deeply engage existing members by involving their spouses and families. The conversation was so enthusiastic that I'm sure I missed lots of important suggestions. Please forward your additional comments to me at: ddeveuve@verizon.net.  |
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Elevator Pitch Coach Andy WinigRotary Club of Needham Newsletter November 12, 2019 Volunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction at Needham Community Farm Saturday November 16th at 10:00 and Saturday November 23rd at 10:00. Bring cordless drills (if you have one) and help complete construction of the greenhouse that will extend the farm's growing season by a month at either end. Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner Monday November 25th at the Wellesley College Club at 6:00pm. Thanksgiving Day Dinner (free!) provided by the Rotary Club of Needham, the Needham Community Council and the Needham Masons on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28th at the Masonic Hall, 1101 Highland Ave. Doors open at 11:30 with dinner served at noon. To attend, call: 781-444-2415. Volunteers should register at the Community Council: office@needhamcommunitycouncil.org Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms Wrapping presents at the Walker School Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Seven volunteers are needed to wrap, and they'll have an opportunity to purchase gifts for the children. Construction of the sensory room at Joseph Tynan School (reserve some time over Christmas school break) Reserve time to help us assemble this year's most important community project: the sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. In the Community Rotary Club of Needham Christmas Party Friday December 13th at 6:30 at Scott and Kathy MacFarlane's house. Meeting Andy Winig staged an interactive presentation that he calls the "Elevator Pitch Handbook". It's a step-by-step guide to starting unique and memorable conversations. An effective elevator pitch starts business conversations that lead to leads. It's not a monologue listing your skills, because that's all about you and other people want to talk about themselves. Most introductions lead into three typical questions: "How's it going?"; "What do you do?"; and "How do you do that?" Specific answers about personal or business successes start conversations. Conversations started on shared interests are more likely to lead to connections and further conversations. It's important that the answer to the third typical question, a client success story, is shared after a connection is made (otherwise: not interested). So, having planted some seeds, how do you stay top of mind for when your services are needed? Offer something of value (examples follow) in exchange for their contact information; it's a natural reason to follow-up: invite them to join your newsletter or webinar or offer a free phone consultation. Business networking success starts with the Elevator Pitch, gains momentum with effective follow-up, then hits its stride with professional referrals and opportunity spotting. The Elevator Pitch is the first of five skills of the trusted advisor. Visit Andy's online course catalogue to learn more: http://courses.improvandy.com. |
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Pancake Breakfast, Reach Beyond Domestic ViolenceRotary Club of Needham Newsletter November 5, 2019 Volunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction at Needham Community Farm Saturday 11/16 at 9:00. Many hands will be needed to help stretch the plastic skin safely over the frame. Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner Monday November 25th at the Wellesley College Club (reserve the date, further details TBD) Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms (time TBD) Wrapping presents at the Walker School Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Seven volunteers are needed to wrap, and they'll have an opportunity to purchase gifts for the children. In the Community Pancake Breakfast Attendance was up on a beautiful Fall Saturday, helping to raise an incremental $700 over last year. In addition to serving lots of flapjacks and playing games, we drew the two winning tickets for our Lottery Scratch Ticket Raffle. Winner of the First Prize ($1000 face value of scratch tickets) was Marcus Hannay of Marlborough; 2nd Prize ($100 face value of scratch tickets) was won by Dan Colino (picture below). Collaboration with the Needham Exchange Club: providing socks and underwear for homeless veterans (see photo below). The Rotary Club of Needham gave 180 pairs of thermal socks, 60 pairs of women's underwear and 150 pairs of men's underwear to support an initiative of the Exchange Club to give clothing to homeless veterans. Joe Burns, President of the Exchange Club, outlined the club's signature local (the Needham Fourth of July Celebration) and national projects (Child Abuse Prevention). Connect with Local Business while learning how to answer the question: "What do you do?" Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 (free for Needham Rotarians) includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig. Register on-line: RotaryMeeting.EventBrite.com Joseph Tynan School The most pressing priority among our community projects is the need to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. Meeting Our speaker was Lauren Montanaro (see photo below), from Reach Beyond Domestic Violence. REACH is an acronym for: (R)efuge; (E)ducation; (A)dvocacy and (C)hange. Reach Beyond works with survivors of domestic violence to foster safety and support, while engaging communities to promote healthy relationships. They provide these services in 27 Metrowest communities, including Needham. Needham is one of five communities served more intensively: it has a Domestic Violence Action Council coordinated by the Public Health Department and the Police. It has trained service personnel at the Council on Aging, Housing Authority and the Police Department. Reach Beyond needs our help to deepen their work in our community: they'll speak and work with your church or civic group to fight domestic violence. For more information: www.reachma.org.    |
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Needham Food PantryVolunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction Construction will continue in November, dates TBD. Pancake Breakfast Saturday November 2nd from 7 to 11am at Needham High School cafeteria. Lots of volunteers will be needed for setup, cooking, games and cleanup. Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner Monday November 25th at the Wellesley College Club (reserve the date, further details TBD) Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms (time TBD) Wrapping presents at the Walker School Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Seven volunteers are needed to wrap, and they'll have an opportunity to purchase gifts for the children. In the Community Connect with Local Business while learning how to answer the question: "What do you do?" Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 (free for Rotarians) includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig Joseph Tynan School The most pressing priority among our community projects is the need to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. Meeting A team, including Bill, Dan, Jim D, Holly, and myself sold the remaining 120 Lottery Raffle tickets in the monsoon before the Patriots-Browns game (see the soggy sales-folk photo below). Thanks to all for braving the elements! Our speaker was Sue Biasizzo (see photo below), Coordinator of the Needham Food Pantry. The Pantry has existed since the Great Depression to offer free food assistance to Needham residents whose lives have been disrupted by divorce, illness or job loss. Currently, 215 households with 438 residents are receiving help. The Pantry is open three days per week, staffed by Sue and a team of volunteers. Cans donated at the Town's Recycling and Transfer Station support free milk at the Pantry. Partnerships with "Hope and Comfort" and Lovin' Spoonfuls" provide free toiletries and a source of rescued food. The Needham Community Farm provides produce in season.   |
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Needham Medical Reserve Corps needs VolunteersVolunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction Construction will continue in November, dates TBD. Selling Lottery Raffle Tickets (see photo below) Sunday 10/27 sell to tailgaters at the Patriots home game vs the Browns. We expect to gather at my house at 829 Webster St., Needham around 12:45 to drive to Libby Pero's house near the stadium, where she has graciously agreed to allow us to park. Selling team still TBD, and we could use your help! Pancake Breakfast Saturday November 2nd at Needham High School. Lots of volunteers will be needed for setup, cooking, games and cleanup. Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner Monday 11/25 (reserve the date, further details TBD) In the Community Connect with Local Business while learning how to answer the question: "What do you do?" Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig Joseph Tynan School The most pressing priority among our community projects is a push to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. Meeting Prior to the meeting, we labelled 100 blankets that were given to the Needham Medical Reserve Corps (NMRC) to be used in the event of a local emergency (see photo below). Speaking on behalf of NMRC, were Rebecca Ping, Needham's Emergency Administrator, and Tiffany Zike, Needham's Public Health Nurse. Local Medical Reserve Corps were set up in response to 9-11 in order to improve emergency preparedness and to promote disease prevention. The Boards of Health of the eight towns in Norfolk County-8 region work collaboratively to prepare for a range of emergencies. Volunteers are needed! Residents with medical expertise and those with other important skills are needed to assist the local Boards of Health in the event of an emergency. Volunteers can also help with other local health events, like flu clinics. Volunteers will be invited to training sessions to develop skills such as CPR, dispensing and setting up emergency shelters. Another important initiative of NMRC: the Town of Needham Rave Alert System. Also called a "reverse 911" system, it's the Town's mass communication system used in the event of an emergency. Residents, people with local jobs, and folks with loved ones residing here should subscribe to the system. NMRC notes that while all the Needham landline phone numbers have been pre-loaded into the system, the system will become more effective if affected parties add their cell phone numbers and email addresses to the system. To subscribe to the Rave Alert System: www.needhamma.gov/emergencynotification. To volunteer for NMRC, contact the Needham Public Health Division: www.needhamma.gov/ (781-455-7940).   |
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Foundation for MetrowestVolunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction Construction will continue in November, dates TBD. Selling Lottery Raffle Tickets Sunday 10/20 from 11-3 at Sudbury Farms. Sunday 10/27 sell to tailgaters at the Patriots home game vs the Browns. We expect to gather in Needham around 12:45 to drive to Libby Pero's house near the stadium, where she has graciously agreed to allow us to park. Selling team and drivers from Needham still TBD, and we could use your help! This marks a change in plans away from a second selling date at Sudbury Farms on 10/27 because of our recent positive sales experience in Foxborough, and because it conflicts with the selling opportunity before the game. Label blankets to be donated to Needham Medical Reserve Corps for local disaster relief Tuesday 10/22 at 11:30 before the meeting at Needham Sheraton Pancake Breakfast Saturday November 2nd at Needham High School. Lots of volunteers will be needed for setup, cooking, games and cleanup. Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner Monday 11/25 (reserve the date, further details TBD) In the Community Connect with Local Business while learning how to answering the question: "What do you do?" Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig Joseph Tynan School The most pressing priority among our community projects is a push to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. Meeting Our speaker was Jay Kim, Chief Operating Officer, Foundation for Metrowest (FFM). FFM serves 33 communities bounded by routes 128 and 495 on the east and west, up to route 2 as the northern and route 109 as the southern boundaries. The foundation acts as a connector, educator, funder and ally for nonprofits in our region. There are 17 similar, regional foundations in Massachusetts. FFM's mission is to lift up the lives of people that live in the Metrowest region by partnering with philanthropies and identifying nonprofits to support. In 2018, contributions from Metrowest residents and businesses allowed FFM to distribute over $1.5mm dollars in grants to local nonprofits working in our community. Areas of focus for grant-making are: arts & culture, environment, family support, hunger relief and youth development. Beyond grant-making, the foundation provides support for local nonprofits so that fewer dollars go to administration and more can go to their mission. Five Metrowest communities have permanent, endowed funds that are administered by FFM to extend their philanthropic reach. Last year, FFM's Center for Philanthropic Education taught 770 nonprofit professionals from 643 organizations across our region. Their Youth in Philanthropy program last year taught about 300 kids to fundraise, pick beneficiaries, and distribute grants. In the coming year, FFM will be doing a community needs assessment that will result in a public resource that celebrates the strengths and shines a light on the challenges facing our communities. Metrowest region challenges include poverty, hunger and isolation: 12% of the population of Framingham lives below the poverty line ($24,000 per year per family); 10% in Waltham; 8% in Milford. Over 40% of people over 65 years old in the region live alone. |
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Harvest Fair, Dialysis Centers for Navi MumbaiVolunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction Saturday 10/12 9-12 at Needham Community Farm. Cordless drills needed! Selling Lottery Raffle Tickets (see Harvest Fair photo below) Thursday 10/10 sell to tailgaters at the Patriots Home Game, gathering at Bill Paulson's house at 4:15 Sunday 10/20 from 11-3 at Sudbury Farms Sunday 10/27 from 11-3 at Sudbury Farms Label Blankets to be donated to Needham Medical Reserve Corps for local disaster relief Tuesday 10/22 at 11:30 before the meeting at Needham Sheraton Pancake Breakfast Saturday November 2nd at Needham High School Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner Monday 11/25 (reserve the date, further details TBD) In the Community Dictionaries We distributed 540 dictionaries last week, one for every third grader in Needham (see photo below). Connect with Local Business while learning how to answering the question: "What do you do?" Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig Joseph Tynan School The most pressing priority among our community projects is a push to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. Meeting Our speakers were Rakesh and Sheela Srivastava from the Rotary Club of Navi Mumbai Sunrise Kharghar (RCNM). Kharghar is a node of the Mumbai Metropolis in India. Rapid growth around Mumbai brought in a large population of poorer migrant workers. The children of these workers do not attend school. With rising incomes and changing diets, there's a large and increasing population of diabetics. RCNM engages in health and literacy projects around Navi Mumbai, and is soliciting support from our Rotary Club for two types of projects: Child Literacy Centers (CLC) and a Dialysis Center. RCNM currently supports 7 CLCs serving 210 children. The emphasis at a CLC is on teaching basic reading, writing, math and language communication. RCNM also proposes to establish a dialysis center that would be able to serve up to 18 patients per day.   |
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Rotary Raffle - Time Running Out The Rotary Club of Needham's scratch ticket raffle has one month left. You could win $1000 or $100 worth of scratch tickets! There is still time for you to get your tickets though. You can get them in person at Bagel's Best, Bin Ends, or Condon Realty. You can also mail in your money using this page. Also - we will be selling them at the Rotary Club of Needham table at the Needham Harvest Fair Oct 6th on the town common.
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Bill Paulson Bio, Dictionary DistributionVolunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction Thursday 10/3 from 9:00-12:00 and Friday 10/4 from 2-5 at Needham Community Farm Dictionary Distribution to 3rd Graders Thursday 10/3 at 10:30 at St Joe's Thursday 10/3 at 1:00 at Sunita Williams Monday 10/7 at 1:15 at Eliot Tuesday 10/8 at 10:35 at Mitchell Harvest Fair Sunday October 6th 12:00-4:00 Selling Lottery Raffle Tickets Thursday 10/10 Patriots Home Game at 5:00 at Gillette Sunday 10/20 from 11-3 at Sudbury Farms Sunday 10/27 from 11-3 at Sudbury Farms Pancake Breakfast Saturday November 2nd In the Community Project Gratitude We sent the first shipment of hats and scarves knitted for veterans, part of Project Gratitude. Joseph Tynan School The most pressing priority among our community projects is a push to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. Shelterbox We increased our donation to Shelterbox in response to the devastation of Hurricane Dorian. Shelterbox provides emergency shelter and tools to families displaced by natural disasters, Meeting Our speaker was Bill Paulson, our Immediate Past President, who shared his biography. Bill was born in New Jersey, where his father was a chemical engineer for BASF. Bill's Dad bought a factory making winter products, like antifreeze, in Lowell in '75, and Bill grew up working all kinds of factory, accounting and management jobs in the family business. But Bill hated chemistry in high school and really liked computer science and coding, so he got a Computer Systems Engineering Degree from the University of Massachusetts. He wrote software, made sales, worked as a consultant for Arthur Anderson, developed a technical magazine site, and redesigned websites. His first employer, GenRad, was bought by Terradygn. Later, he was working for Peoplesoft when it was acquired by Oracle..."enough". Bill's mother was a real estate agent, and he decided to pursue that field full time. Keller-Williams Realty is a challenging and supportive employer due to their solid training and coaching programs. They have an excellent customer relationship management system that helps make connections between buyers and sellers based on the characteristics of their property. That -in turn- helps the agents develop and manage a sales pipeline.    |
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Power of Etiquette, Dictionaries, High TunnelVolunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction Saturday 9/28 from 9:00-12:00 at Needham Community Farm Dictionary Distribution to 3rd Graders (see photograph below) Broadmeadow School, Tues 10/1 at 9:00 Mitchell School, Tues 10/8 at 9:00 Remaining schools TBD Harvest Fair Sunday October 6th 12:00-4:00 Pancake Breakfast Saturday November 2nd In the Community Joseph Tynan School The most pressing priority among our community projects is a push to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston. Meeting Janet Parnes, a Social Conversation and Etiquette Expert, spoke to us about "How to Unleash the Power of Communications to Bring in Clients and Build Your Network". (See photograph below.) She offered tips, like using pauses to regain the attention of distracted listeners, small talk to put both parties at ease, keeping the distraction from your phone out of sight, and turning your torso to directly face the person you're attempting to engage in conversation. Janet conducts programs like today's for professionals and college students. For more information, visit: www.EtiquetteForToday.com.   |
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District Governor Presentation, High TunnelVolunteer Opportunities High Tunnel Construction Saturday 9/28 from 9:00-12:00 at Needham Community Farm Dictionaries Labels to be applied in an upcoming meeting (date TBD) and distribution thereafter (date TBD) Harvest Fair Sunday October 6th 12:00-4:00 Pancake Breakfast Saturday November 2nd In the Community Joseph Tynan School We are raising funds to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston Meeting Rotary District 7910 Governor, Pam Anastasi, welcomed our new President, Dan Tibma and thanked our prior President, Bill Paulson, for his service (see photos below). Pam spoke to our club on this year's theme: "Rotary Connects the World" by creating lasting change in our communities, in ourselves, and across the world. The top three priorities of our district: 1.) membership, remember too invite people to come to our meetings; 2.) engagement, help get visitors and members engaged by involving them in our service activities; and 3.) public image, make sure to keep the club's website and Facebook page up-to-date. The District has approved this year's global grant of $25,000 to support a water/sewer sanitation project in Guatemala. District clubs are invited to sponsor members to participate in the project as workers for a week in March 2020. Pam will be swimming in February 2020 in chilly Gloucester harbor to raise funds for "Pam's Polar Plunge for Polio". She has asked the district's clubs to contribute $100 each towards a $5000 goal, which will be matched 2:1 by the Gates Foundation.   |
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Honorary member, Fair Trade CaravansWelcome to our new honorary member, Holly Brown! Volunteer Opportunities Erecting the High Tunnel at Needham Community Farm Saturday 9/14 10:00-1:00 Sunday 9/15 1:00-4:00 Harvest Fair Sun 10/6 10:00-4:00 Dictionary Labeling and Distribution TBD (late Sept) Pancake Breakfast Sat 11/2 In the Community The frame for the high tunnel at Needham Community Farm was erected on Saturday 9/7. The remainder of the structure and the skin will be stretched over the frame this coming Saturday and Sunday 9/14 and 9/15. The high tunnel extends the growing season by two months. Meeting Carol Fassino of Fair Trade Caravans educates local students about the lives of farmers living in Africa, Asia and South America, who grow commodities like: coffee, tea, and cacao. These small, rural farmers lack the clout and information to receive a fair price for their commodities.Her organization's "Fair Trade Certified" label provides the consumer the following knowledge: 1) the farmer was paid a fair price, 2) no child labor was used, and 3) sustainable practices were encouraged. Fair Trade Caravans sells over 80 products in special orders that are taken after speaking at schools. Schools receive 25% of revenue from the orders. .jpeg) |
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Community Farm, Dictionaries, Days for Girls Volunteer Opportunities Community Farm Sat 9/7 8an to noon Sun 9/15 8am to noon Harvest Fair Sun 10/6 10am to 4pm Dictionary Labeling and Distribution TBD (late Sept) Pancake Breakfast Sat 11/2 In the Community Sell your Raffle Tickets! Get books of raffle tickets for Don $10 per ticket for a chance at $1000 (1st prize) and $100 (2nd prize) in scratch tickets Max 1000 tickets will be sold Drawing at the Pancake Breakfast High Tunnel for Needham Community Farm We have donated a high tunnel to the community farm that extends their growing season by a month on both sides. Join us 9/7 and 9/15 at the farm to help erect it. Meeting Patty Doyle of Needham represented “Days for Girls”, which makes and distributes re-usable feminine sanitary supplies in kits that contain pads and instructions. These kits enable women to stay in school and remain safe during their periods. About 500 million women have no access to feminine sanitary supplies throughout the world, and are subject to discrimination during their periods. Patty seeks additional volunteers to meet every Thursday to sew and prepare the kits. Donations support the $10 cost per kit. For more information: http://DaysForGirls.org |
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Flowers, Volunteer Opportunities, and New Projects!Happy Spring! Volunteer Opportunities Flower Deliveries March 27, 11:15 at the Sheraton to put Rotary Club labels on the flowers Then join us after the meeting as we deliver the flowers to residents at Wingate, Briarwood, and Avita. March 30, 8:30 to 2:00 at Needham High School Join us to pack 17,000 meals with Rise against Hunger Carnival Jul 11 - 14, 2019 In the Community Eliot Elementary School We will make a donation to a Rotary Club in one of the countries from their multicultural event. We are also sponsoring the TShirts for their effort to choose a mascot for the school A Bed for Every Child We are donating a bed for homeless children 4th Grade Forester Program We are once again giving a tree to every 4th grader in Needham Autism Awareness We are donating one box a month that contains products for kids like ear protection and weighted blankets Capron Lighting and Sound has generously donated 6 weighted adult lap blankets Meeting Our own Sylvia gave a very interesting talk about Uganda: The Pearl of Africa. Thanks for some great information! No speaker next week so we can deliver flowers. In two weeks, Aaron Sicotte, principal of Needham High School is our speaker! |
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Kistra, Civics Bee, Coat Sorting, Food Packing
Happy New Year! We are gathering donations in memory of Ryan's wife Kistra. Please make checks out to the "Rotary Foundation" and give them to Ted. Dick Manelis - Past District Governor spoke about his service trips to South America. He leads a trip every year and this year he is going to Columbia. We donated stuffed animals and coloring books and a check to support his wonderful work. Volunteer Opportunities - Feb 26 - Coat Sorting for Circle of Hope. We won't be at the Sheraton. Instead we'll take shifts at Circle of Hope sorting coats and eating lunch Mar 24 - Civics Bee. Marty and Lois have already volunteered. Let Marty know if you want to join the team and show off your knowledge of local politics! Mar 30 (not confirmed) - food packing with Rise Against Hunger and Needham High School Mark Your Calendars Carnival Jul 11 - 14, 2019  |
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Bell Ringing and Holiday PartyRotary Club of Needham Tuesday, November 27, 2018 'Tis the season! We will be bell ringing for the Salvation Army this Saturday (12/1) from 8 am to 5 pm at Sudbury Farms. If you haven't signed up yet you can do so here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B45A8AE2BAAF58-bell We will be having our holiday party at Lois and Ron's on Monday December 10th. Sign-up sheet coming soon! Our Needham / Wellesley football dinner was a great success! Speaker Pete Brock was outstanding and really connected with the kids (and the adults). Kudos to the Sheraton for hosting a great dinner and all our Rotarians who planned and attended. On Thanksgiving Day we served 50 meals and delivered an additional 100. There were many new and familiar faces. Thanks to Dan for organizing and for all Rotarians and friends of Rotary who helped out. Speaker next week is Catherine Delano from Substance Prevention Alliance of Needham. |
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Spring was late (again)If you feel like spring comes a little late every year... “You’re right!” says Don McCasland of the Blue Hill Observatory. The Blue Hill Meterological Observatory has the longest continuous homogenous weather data set going back to February 1, 1885. They have used the same equipment in the same location for the entire time, which means that they can accurately answer questions like are average temperatures rising, and are the seasons shifting (in fact, seasons start about a month later now than they did 60 years ago). He introduced us to the Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder, a device to record hours of bright sunshine. It’s a clear glass sphere that focuses sunlight on a paper card. The burn lines on the card show when there was direct sunlight during the day. It is a truly low tech device with no moving parts, no cleaning, and no maintenance required.
The Blue Hill Observatory offers tours and is supported by memberships. More info at: http://bluehill.org/
TRIVIA ALERT! WGBH, our PBS station, has a communications tower on the top of the Blue Hill. By the way, did you know what GBH stand for? Don shared the origin of the call letters for several of our local TV stations: WGBH - Great Blue Hill WCVB - Channel Five (think roman numerals) Broadcasting WLVI - 56 (in roman numerals) We have great speakers every week! Check out our speaker schedule on our home page and join us at the Needham Sheraton Tuesdays at noon. |
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A Dose of RealityWhat’s it really like to be an adult? On Tuesday morning, 5/29/18, 30 Rotarian and non-Rotarian volunteers helped provide a dose of reality to 400 Needham High School Juniors. It’s called the Reality Fair.  Students received a career and a salary, then go about the very adult business of renting apartments, turning on utilities, stocking their fridge, buying a car, getting their own phone plan, and haggling over the most critical purchase: 65” LED TV’s. Oops. Running out of cash? (Now that’s some reality!) Time for a trip to the bank for budgeting advice. The students were excited to learn how to plan today to avoid surprises after they graduate. And look out! The wheel of misfortune placed more than one student in handcuffs (yup, real handcuffs with a real police officer) for DUI, causing them to miss out on their date, the prom, and more… Some lessons just... can’t be unlearned! Want to make a difference in Needham? We are always looking for volunteers to help with our service projects. Join us for lunch Tuesdays at noon at the Needham Sheraton to see how you can get involved! |
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Newsletter 11-7-17Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday, November 7, 2017 Location: Needham Sheraton President Marty Lindemann presiding. Pledge of Allegiance: Marty Song: Oh Beautiful-Bob Cox Invocation: Karen Wetmore Guests: Dr. Ernest Lowenstein, an optometrist from Newton, was visiting today at the invitation of Greg Cronin. He will come back in the future and do a presentation on walking safey at night. We look forward to it! Joke of the Day: Announcements:
 Two happy customers!  Part of the team!  Drawing the winning Raffle ticket! This year we offered pancakes, chocolate pancakes and waffles! Watch out: next year may see more menu offerings! Again, Libby transported the left over food to a shelter in Attleboro which can gladly use the food to fee the homeless. Reminder: in 2 weeks there will be the Annual Needham-Wellesley Football dinner on Tuesday night at the Wellesley College Club in Wellesley. This features both football teams and both Rotary Clubs Happy Dollars: Libby’s Grandson is doing better; Chuck, Bob, Paul, Charles-Happy to be here; Andy, Ken, Lois, Jim, Louise, Kathy Whitney, Ryan all for a great Pancake Breakfast; Ted happy for the birthdays; Bill Paulson-great birthday trip to NYC!! 50:50: Well, we had only 3 cards to choose from this week. This week the pot grew from $1235 to $1360, with those odds. Andy Winig (the non-birthday boy) won the ticket draw (#213) but did not pick the correct card. So, this week there will be only 2 cards left. Do you think the pot will grow again? Guest Speaker: Our guest speaker today, Matt Ward, spoke to us on the topic “But First Chocolate!”. Matt passed out Hersey Chocolate drops, and spoke to us on ‘How to solve procrastination”. He says the subject project must have both your passion and focus. He recounted how Milton Hersey (founder of Hersey Chocolates) and his wife established the Milton Hersey School, in Hersey PA as a cost-free, private, co-residential school and home for children from lower income families located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. To date, they have graduated over 10,000 children .See https://www.mhskids.org Matt shared how he is a graduate, and has grown to where he has his own Web software design firm. He shared these 5 pointers about getting things done:
Great speaker, great topic! |
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Newsletter 10-31-17Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday, October 31, 2017 Location: Needham Sheraton President Marty Lindemann presiding. Pledge of Allegiance: Marty Song: Oh Beautiful-Bob Cox Invocation: Karen Wetmore Guests: Glen Davis was with us today. We were delighted to be able to have him with us. Joke of the Day: Announcements:
 Presidential Minute: Lois led us down the path about the 29th President of the United States. He was known for 3 things: 1. Apparently he appointed a number of his ‘friends’ into high positions. 2. Was responsible for the ‘Dome Pot Scandal’. 3. He did not want to join the League of Nations, as they provided mutual assistance in any member country was invaded. Because he did not want to do this, the country did not join. Look how things have changed! Who is it? Warren Harding……..Thanks Lois! Happy Dollars: Lois-$2.00x for having Glen visit; Ryan for Halloween; Louise-Back from a great Holiday weekend and conference; Kathy for a great BID event; Paul, Bob C, Jim B, Charles, Ted all for HTBH (Happy to be here); Tom for a great trip to San Francisco; Bill for a great Pats game; Ken Davis for a Happy thanksgiving. 50:50: Ryan had Ticket number 118. But drew the incorrect card. There is $1266 in the pot, with only 2 cards left. How many people will purchase how many tickets next week, with a 50/50 chance! Guest Speaker: This was a ‘Club Assembly, where the President lays out issues our club is struggling with as follows: -Membership. We need more! -Programs: Ken Karen and Kathy are looking for more speakers. Line one or more up, please!! -Foundation Grant Project: We are qualified, but, need ideas of where our cub can be useful with the District provided gran money. Our grill project for the Needham Senior Center had so much money donated to it, the mount we have to fund is too small. Any ideas? |
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Newsletter 10-10-17Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday, October 10, 2017 Location: Needham Sheraton President Marty Lindemann presiding. Pledge of Allegiance: Marty Song: America the Beautiful led by Bob Cox Invocation: Karen Wetmore Guests: Monica: Who was this woman? Mystery guest? We welcomed the guests with our welcome song led by Bob Cox Joke of the Day: Announcements:
Happy $$$: Bill Paulson, Charles, Bob Dunning, Tom, Libby to welcome Monica; Ted for a great weekend away; Ken and Jim for the late summer; Louise for great Harvest Fair! Paul HTBH; Roz-Nice Weekend; Kathy Whitney-nice weekend in Chatham; Andy for the Dictionaries, and for his daughter riding without assistance in the bike rodeo; Bob Cox-GTBH; Scotti for great upcoming trip to Vegas. 50:50: Ticket number 905 belonged to Andy, who drew the 10 of clubs, which is not the joker, so the $1020 pot rolls over to next week. There are only 6 cards left in the deck! ! Guest Speaker: |
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Newsletter 10-3-17**Needham Rotary Newsletter** October 3, 2017 Marty asked for a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the Las Vegas Shooting. Bob Cox led us in God Bless America, and Karen Wetmore led us in prayer Guests Denise Garlick was our guest and speaker Monthly Birthday Celebration: We sang Happy Birthday to Paula Kahr our October Birthday Rotarian! .jpg) Announcements We need volunteers this Saturday to staff the Rotary booth at the Harvest Fair The Pancake Breakfast is Nov. 4. We need volunteers We are still selling raffle tickets. There are 130 tickets left. The drawing will be Nov. 4 Andy is looking for volunteers to distribute dictionaries. Mission accomplished! We were fortunate to have with us today all 3 sponsors of our 'Needham 3rd Grade Dictionary Program', where the club gives to all Needham Third Graders a Dictionary. Rotarians go to every third grade class in town and hand out dictionaries, and the, teach the children how to use them. Pictured below is: Louise Condon of Louise Condon Realty Dan Tibma of Tibma Designs Denise Garlock, our State Representative  All of these sponsors think enough of this project to support it with a very nice financial gift. Many thanks to Louise Dan and Denise for their support!! We are working with St. Joseph’s School on the Buddy Bench project. Hillside School is also interested in working with us. 50/50 Raffle: There is $977 in the pot. We are looking for the Joker. Ken had the lucky number but did not pick the winning card. Better luck next week! Other We all signed and gave a Mass card to Ryan in sympathy for the death of his Step Father. Happy Dollars Happy to have Denice as our speaker Happy about the Dictionary Project Paula was happy about her birthday well wishes. Bill was happy to participate in the Hope Walk for newton jWellesley Hospital. Speaker – Denise Garlick The legislature is working on prevention efforts in the opioid crisis. Laws have been passed that limit how physicians can prescribe narcotics. The Department of Public Health watches to see if pharmacies are filling multiple narcotic prescriptions for one individual. These efforts and others have decreased abuse by 24% in the first quarter of 2017. Over 2,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016. Our next meeting is October 10. Carol Reed will be the speaker |
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Newsletter 9-26-17Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday, September 26, 2017 Location: Needham Sheraton Marty Lindemann presiding. Pledge of Allegiance: Marty Song: America the Beautiful led by Bob Cox Invocation: ADG Cliff Gerber Guests: Fasten your seatbelts… Karin Gaffney, District Governor Rev. Cliff Gerber, Assistant Governor, Helena Drolette, President Elect of Westwood Jack Hoyle, District Treasurer, Sgt at arms Dedham Sunrise Club Hien Tran, Resident Services Director at Needham Housing Authority Penny Kirk, Retired Resident Services Director at Needham Housing Authority We welcomed the guests with our welcome song led by Bob Cox Joke of the Day Louise told a good one from her joke book. Marty told a golf joke in honor of Bob Cox. Announcements: .jpg) First great visit to the Needham 3rd graders. Have you ever seen such enthusiasm?
Historical Minute (Lois): On this day in history Thomas Jefferson became Secretary of State in 1789 John Jay became Chief Justice in 1784 Happy $$$: Jim, Ted, Ron, Bob: GTBH, Charles, Libby, Paul: for our guests, Lois for great weather, Scott for 36 years in Needham Rotary, Louise for selling her last (50th!) raffle ticket, Andy for teaching his girls to ride bikes, dictionary project, and 85 degrees in September, Greg for guest Penny Kirk, cousin of Paul Kirk who served out Ted Kennedy’s senate term, 50:50: Ticket number 835 belonged to Rachel, who drew the 6 of clubs, which is not the joker, so the $938 pot rolls over to next week. There are only 8 cards left in the deck! Guest Speaker: Karin Gaffney, District Governor for Rotary 7910 .jpg) She became a Rotarian in 2012. She was quickly the president of the Nashoba Valley Club, an AG, and now DG. PDG Jim was about white shoes. Karin is about a giant Rotary wheel necklace. It’s the first gift her husband has bought her in, well, a long, long time. And the spokes are how we work together to Make a Difference (this year’s Rotary theme). The three pillars of this year: More Service, More PR, More Members. Karin also gave some great examples of “What is Rotary” and talked about the highly contagious nature of Rotary Spirit. 5-District Conference on Mt Washington May 4-6 International Conference is in Toronto. |
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Newsletter 9-19-17**NEEDHAM ROTARY CLUB** Minutes of Meeting Tuesday: September 19, 2017 Pledge of Allegiance: Marty Lindemann Song: God Bless America; Led By: Marty Lindeman Prayer: Led by: Karen Wetmore Guests: - Holly Brown, Bob Dunning; Raghav and Champaka Rao, Rotary members from Jubilee Hill, India; and Mark Robinson and Jordan Rich, speaker Announcements: . Members packed 500 Dictionaries for all Needham third graders. THANK YOU to everyone who helped.  .9/17 was Lois and Ron’s anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY and many more. . Marty told us the Constitution was signed this week. George Washington also gave his farewell address and asked “Where is our sense our morality?” Some questions haven’t changed. . Today is Rosh Hashanah and ends in 10 days with Yom Kippur. Lois gave is a brief tutorial explaining that 10 days are spent in reflection on past year. Lois ended wishing all a sweet new year . Libby updated us on the grill project for the Council on Aging. Chuck Mangini is building the grill new cabinet. Olympia Marble offered to supply the marble countertop with installation for no charge (Libby even gets to take her pick). 2 griddles from Kenyan and storage building have also been ordered. .Ted updated us on hurricane relief donations. Rotary Foundation has set up 2 funds for hurricane relief/assistance, one for Texas and one for Florida. At this time, board agreed to split $500 between the two funds. If members wish to personally donate, he provided a link. .Bill Paulson researched BUDDY BENCH and has arranged with St. Joseph’s Elementary School to have it installed in their yard. They already have a program regarding this concept. The bench is for children who need a friend. If this is well received, Bill will approach the other schools in town. Stay tuned for installation date. .Bill also introduced Raghav and Champaka Rao from Jubilee Hills, India who updated us on the solar panel installation in their school.  .Andy thanked three sponsors of the Dictionaries: Dan Tibma Builders, Condon Realty and Representative Denise Garlick. Thank you Chuck for getting labels done so expeditiously. Andy requested help delivering boxes to schools and will need help with distribution to children. .THANK YOU Holly Brown for always being there when we need help. Humor: Marty regaled us with some moaners. Rotary Moment: None today. Happy dollars: Holly happy for Red Sox; many members Happy to be Here; Scott happy storm not hitting us, that Siesta Key missed hurricane and that Angel’s Envy is well tied down; Ryan glad to be back and that his dad is on the mend; Ken welcomed guests and also wished everyone Happy New Year; Bill welcomed guests and happy Sarah arrived safely in Panama and Greg thanked Jim and Holly for new happy dollar envelopes. 50/50 drawing: Bob Duning drew number; Louise had lucky number and Ted chose card but no luck this week. $902 in pot – better luck next week. Guest speaker: Jordan Rich, at present a retired but active radio announcer from WBZ radio. Jordan used to have an overnight show from midnight to 5 am for some 20 years. He was heard in 39 states and around the world via the web. He recounted how much he likes being on the radio, but has cut back is hours tremendously as he is ‘retired’.  He recounted how he was able to work with a caller (who was suicidal) to help him through his issues, both on and off the air. He also recounted how supportive the audience was when his wife passed on. Jordan has worked with Mike Riley (a sports broadcaster from Needham who has visited our club many times) in getting him into the ‘Big Leagues’ of radio, at WBZ. Today, you can hear Jordan on Saturday’s as he does ‘New England Corner’ spots on WBZ radio, Next meeting: Tuesday, September 26 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton-District Governor’s Visit! |
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Newsletter 9-12-17**ROTARY CLUB MINUTES OF MEETING** **SPECIAL CASUAL MEETING AT NEW GARDEN RESTAURANT** Tuesday: September 12, 2017 This was a ‘special social’ meeting, one which centered on food and fellowship. We had some 25 members and guests, including Kathy Lindemann, Susana Brown, Emily and Allison Winig (Andy’s children), and Ed Mulhall and Irene Tsardinalis, both guests of Deb Kazarian’s from Family Federal Bank, and about to be Corporate members! So, we will see more of them going forward!!!. The New Garden put out a buffet of some 6 different Chinese dishes, and they were all excellent! New Garden has not been open quite a year yet, and it was a very nice restaurant and event. Announcements: Marty welcomed everyone, and it was a fun festive time. The big news is that: **DAN TIBMA ANNOUNCED HIS ENGAGEMENT TO SHARON EVANS!!** …. Now, that is big news! Recall Sharon has been to several Needham Rotary events including the June ‘Sail Boston event. We wish them both much health and happiness going forward! -Libby is still working with the Needham Senior Center to get the new electric grill for the Senior Center Roof installed and wired. Updates to follow... .-Bill Paulson reported again that we have sold $8200 of raffle tickets. Translated, this means we need to sell 180 more to meet our goal. Have at it! -On line pancake ticket sales ready to go! Just go to: http://needhamrotary.eventbrite.com and you can buy all the tickets you (or your friends) want! Upcoming Speakers: -Next week we have Jordan Rich, from WBZ radio, as our guest speaker. -The District Governor is visiting on September 36. So, BOD meeting at 11:00am, with all hands on deck for the normal noon meeting. |
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Needham Rotary Bulletin 9-5-17**ROTARY CLUB MINUTES OF MEETING** Rotary of Needham Tuesday: September 5, 2017 Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America; Led By our Maestro Bob Cocks Prayer: Led by: Karen Wetmore Guests: - Members of the Watertown Rotary Club, Betty Namuddu and Michael Balliddaw, both prospective members of Waltham members, both of whom are from Uganda. Announcements: .We welcomed out friendly guests from Watertown, and had Birthday Cake to celebrate our September birthday folks birthdays with a song and some cake:  .Well, our cookout at the Needham Senior Center went very well. There were many guests there, while the following cooked the food: Brad, Ted and Marty. In addition, many others helped prepare and execute the event: Kathy Whitney, Louise Condon, Rachel, Greg, Bill Paulson. The report is that all went well, and fun (including singing) was had by all. .Libby really organized the event from the beginning, and her employer Capron Lighting, funded the food and the DJ. . Additionally, the Senior Center and Libby are working on getting the new electric grill installed on to the roof of the Senior Center. The first one ordered was too small, so they are having the new larger one sized and installed: Many thanks to all who helped!!! .While not all the invoices have been received, at this moment Ted tells us the Carnival raised some $13,000, Plans are underway for next year, hoping to expand it by one more night. Thanks Ted!!! .Charles is the ‘main m an’ on rotary ‘Rotarian at Work’ tee shirts. If you have not received one, see Charles!! . Bill Paulson reported that we have sold $8130 of raffle tickets. Translated, this means we need to sell 187 more to meet our goal. Have at it!!! Please note that our friends from Watertown bought $300 worth. Let’s hope they win!! So, we will draw the winning ticket at the Pancake Breakfast on November 4, unless we sell out earlier. .REMINDER – no meeting at Sheraton on Tuesday September 12th since we will be having dinner at Ray’s New Garden the Monday night before evening at 5:30-no charge for members.$20 for guest. .Next board meeting scheduled for September 13, Bill Paulson’s office at 5:00. All welcome. .Karen Gaffney will be at our meeting on September 25. District is looking for district wide service projects. Humor: Rotary moment: Lois told us about President Howard Taft, who was the Heftiest President of all times at 340 pounds.. Happy dollars: Paul Dumochel-Welcome to all our guests; Chuck-Happy his wife had successful surgery; Ted Shaughnessy-Welcome to Watertown and Marty and the new BOD; Scotti-Happy to celebrate his anniversary over the weekend; Bob Cocks and Charles-Great to be here; Libby, Louise-for our guests; President Lilia from Watertown Rotary-thank you for hosting the Watertown Club this week!- Tom Savino-2 great weeks on the shores on New Jersey:off the grid!-Lois for the engagement of granddaughter; Karen-for many rotary meetings. Jim Brown for selling his business and retiring; Marty $20 for Jim to join the ranks of the retired! 50/50 drawing: $841 in today’s pot. Marty had lucky number but luck did not follow him home from WA. Guest speaker: We were delighted to welcome Amy Garst, and Robert Fleming of the Malayaka House, a children’s orphanage he founded in Ugandan in 2005. In that year, Robert was visiting Africa in an effort to assist in the devastation caused by the Sudanese crisis. In the process, he found himself with a Ugandan baby boy, who was born to a woman who Robert was trying to assist. Adoption is not very common in Uganda, because of it’s lack of wealth. Everyone is trying to fend for themselves. Robert detailed how he became the one turned too when they had no other place to send abandoned babies. Next thing he knows, he has 50 children! Since that time he has spent his full time supporting and raising money to support these children. Uganda is quite poor. 83% of the people under age 30 are unemployed. 20% of the children under 5 die from Malaria. This is a very difficult situation, and Robert is doing immense wonders over there. He has been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship (Rotary’s Highest Award).  We perform good acts around the world. Take a look at this web site: Now, are we doing enough? . Next meeting: Monday, September 11 at 5:30 p for Dinner at the New Garden Chinesse Restaurant. No meeting on Tuesday! |
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Newsletter 8-22-17**ROTARY CLUB MINUTES OF MEETING** Rotary of Needham Tuesday: August 22, 2017 Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America; Led By: Marty Lindeman Prayer: Led by: Karen Wetmore Guests: - Sarah Paulson; Jessica Glezellis and David Walsh from Direct Federal Credit Union Announcements: . NEW cell phone policy going into effect this week - $10 if Ted is interrupted; $20 if guest speaker is interrupted and $1 from Marty if he is interrupted. REMEMBER to silence phone when meeting starts. . Today Ted served last time as president since Marty has been away for the summer. THANK YOU for your service. . REMINDER no meeting at Sheraton next Tuesday since we will be hosting a cookout for the seniors at the Center at the Heights on Monday at 4:30. 50 people have signed up; Marty and Ted will be chefs du jour; Lois will train to be food runner if we have to use propane grills and cook on asphalt driveway and food needs to be transferred to roof; Roz will ask Kathy Reilly at Briarwood if they would provide lemonade; Roz will provide ice cream from Kindred Living; Capron will provide hamburgers and hot dogs, etc. and karaoke at 5pm. We should bring side dishes, if we can. . Libby told us that our original grill purchase had to be returned – it was too small for their needs. A larger version is being researched-details to follow. Libby’s husband, Roger, put the new cart together-she felt we should treat him to dinner at New Garden for all his hard work. .Karen Wetmore gave us an update on all the school supplies which were donated to the Needham Community Council. Hundreds of dollars of supplies will help Needham students get off on the right foot this year! Well done Karen!! .jpg) .Ted reminded us to be ready for September birthday cake; the speaker will be about an orphanage she started in Uganda with 45 children which started as a $75,000 Rotary project. This meeting will be joint with Watertown. .Ted told us that Gift of Life started in 1975 with a child from Uganda where the first Center of Excellence has been approved. Group has helped 31,000 children to date. .REMINDER – no meeting at Sheraton on September 12th since we will be having dinner at Ray’s New Garden that evening at 5:30-no charge for member; $20 for guest. .District has sent out a survey which needs to be completed by February 25th. PLEASE COMPLETE! .Next board meeting scheduled for September 13, Bill Paulson’s office at 5:00. All welcome. .Karen Gaffney will be at our meeting on September 25. District is looking for district wide service projects. .Libby reported recent Needham Community Council food drive was very successful. Karen reported equal success with school supply drive. She really enjoyed spending the $310 raised and made great use of available sales. .Scratch ticket raffle going very well - $8,000 deposited to date. Get ticket stubs and money to Bill or Marty when available. We will have table at NBA Harvest Fair on 10/7 to sell more. Ted will check to see if we can set up table at liquor store next to Bertucci’s to sell tickets. SHOUT OUT THANK YOU to Deb and crew at Family Federal for selling so many tickets-you are the best! Humor: Louise entertained us with 3 jokes. Rotary moment: Lois told us about president born on August 20 whose grandfather was also president and introduced tariff. Brad had answer: Benjamin Harrison. Happy dollars: Several members happy to be here; Scott, Jim and especially Ted happy to have Marty back; Ken, Libby and Jim glad for our many guests; Kathy glad to get new Rotary t-shirt; Louise glad to see so many Rotarians; Marty glad to be back from Leavenworth, WA; Lois wished Sara good luck in Panama; Roz happy for her weekend in Chatham and Bill happy to welcome his daughter, Sara and Direct Federal guests and special thanks to Jim for eclipse glasses. 50/50 drawing: $841 in today’s pot. Marty had lucky number but luck did not follow him home from WA. Guest speaker: None today Next meeting: Tuesday, September 5 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton |
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Newsletter 8-15-17Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday, August 15, 2017 Location: Needham Sheraton Ted Shaughnessy presiding for Marty who is in Seattle. Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America led by Andy Winig Invocation: Karen MEETING SCHEDULE: 8/22: Regular Meeting 8/28:MONDAY NIGHT: 4:30 – 6:30 Cookout at the Senior Center 8/29: NO MEETING. 9/5: Regular Meeting 9/12: NO MEETING – evening dinner at New Garden Restaurant that night 9/19: Regular Meeting: come early to label the dictionaries Guests: No guests so we did not get to raise our voices in a welcome song Cell Phones We’re not sure what Marty will do. Ted is suggesting a $10 fine if your phone rings while the president is talking, and a $20 fine if your phone rings while the speaker is speaking. This led to many people (Ryan, Jim) “dialing for dollars” during the meeting…Just wait till Marty returns! Joke of the Day Louise had her joke book. The most memorable one was payment up front for a 3-minute egg. Greg put the way back machine on Waaaaaay Back and read some jokes from 2004. Hopefully they were funnier back then. Announcements:
Happy $$$: Libby, Jim, Kathy, Paula : Happy to be here, Chuck for great vacation to Nashville, Andy for all the great projects going on in our club, Louise for looking forward to a better afternoon, Scott for employee Dennis who had successful heart surgery, Ken for actually making it to our meeting, Ryan for a great Wooknd, whatever that is… oh great weekend. Sorry. Couldn’t read his writing. And Greg for GO RED SOX! 50:50: Libby, on the Marty plan, drew her own number 674 (fix?) but drew the 2 of spades, which is not the Joker (so I guess it’s not a fix), so the humongous $807 pot rolls over to next week. Good luck everyone! Guest Speaker: No speaker this week. Remember to bring stubs and cash for the raffle tickets. No lunch meetings 8/29 and 9/12 8/28 Senior Center dinner 9/12 dinner at New Garden 9/19 labelling dictionaries 9/26 DG visit |
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Newsletter 8-8-17**Needham Rotary Meeting** August 18 2017 Needham Sheraton Jim Brown opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, Karen delivered the invocation, and Andy Wining led us in singing ‘God Bless America’. Guests: A former Neehdmite Betty Lloyd of Atlanta, a friend of Kathy Whitney; Jane Hwang, a member of the Taipei Taiwan Taipei Choumei Rotary Club, where she is a charter member, visiting her two sons in the Boston area. We traded club flags with Jane. .jpg) Announcements: -Several people turned in more Raffle tickets, cash and stubs. This is great! Remember, if you have any tickets sold or not sold, bring the stubs and cash back so it can be accounted for. -Reminder that we are doing two drives on behalf of the Needham Community Council. -A food drive for the Needham Community Council. Please bring in canned goods during the next ten days. -There are also 90 students who need school supplies. Please bring in large erasers, little pencil sharpeners and 12 inch rulers before August 17. These can be bought inexpensively at Walgreens. Bring ‘em in! -We will be cooking a cookout at the Senior Center on Monday August 28 at the senior Center at 5:00 pm. The BOD has approved the expenditure for a roof patio electric grill for the Senior Center. September 12 is our night at the new Garden Restaurant: bring friends and prospective members!! -The District is hosting a Red Sox game at Fenway September 13th. See Jim Brown for details. -On Sept. 22nd there is a Tippet House fundraiser. Louise is heading this up. -Keep your eyes for a District email requesting your participation in a District survey! Happy Dollars: Ryan HTBH: Betty Lloyd for being able to visit; Jane Hwang-please to visit with Needham Rotary; Scott for daughter Heather’s 40th birthday; Ken Davis for our guests; Kathy Whitney-delighted to have Betty as a visitor, and, looking forward to Chinese Food on Sept. 12; Betty for being able to visit Kathy in Needham; Louise-welcome to our visitors;. HUMOR: Louise provided humor Presidential Minute: Raffle: There is $in excess of $775 in the pot. No winner this week. We are down to 12 cards, so stay tuned! These 12 cards should last about another 3 months. Program: None this week. |
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Newsletter 8-1-17**Needham Rotary Meeting** August 1, 2017 Needham Sheraton Ted opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, Karen delivered the invocation, and Bob Cox led us in singing ‘God Bless America’. Guests: Announcements: Ted let us know of new fines for cell phones ringing obtrusively, as follows: -Cell phone goes off while Ted is talking $10 -Cell phone goes off while the guest speaker is speaking, $20 -Cell phone goes off while Marty is speaking: collect $1 from Marty!!! (See what happens when you go on vacation??) Ted reported that we are making progress on the Raffle. We only have some $40 unsold tickets in ‘inventory’. All the other unsold tickets are in members hands. Please return the money and stubs, or, the unsold tickets! In fact Jim Brown is in need of 3 more tickets on Tuesday. Karen reported that we are doing two drives on behalf of the Needham Community Council. -A food drive for the Needham Community Council. Please bring in canned goods during the next ten days. Below see the picture of food being delivered to the NCC:  -There are also 90 students who need school supplies. Please bring in large erasers, little pencil sharpeners and 12 inch rulers before August 17. These can be bought inexpensively at Walgreens. Bring ‘em in! We will be cooking a cookout at the Senior Center on Monday August 28 at the senior Center at 5:00 pm. District Grant Training was held last Monday night. We have 3 people who are now qualified: Ted, Rich Forte and Marty!! September 12 is our night at the new Garden Restaurant: bring friends and prospective members!! Birthday cake was provided for the two August Birthday folks: Jim Brown and Kathy Whitney! (Kathy-I at your piece....Jim)  Happy Dollars: Paul Dumochel is Happy to Be Here. He has had a rough few months at work: Glad you’re here Paul! Bob Cox: HTBH: Chuck looking forward to vacation in Nashville and Delray; Libby is happy for summer; Scotti grateful for no wind on his boat; Bill Paulson is happy for a 3-close week at work; Ken Davis grateful he was not offered a position at the White House; Greg a $2 happy birthday wishes to Jim Brown ; Jim Brown-thank you for the great Birthday wishes and great cake; Louise commenting that Kathy Whitney is messing her Birthday Cake (rumor has it the other Birthday Person ate it!);Andy Winig for the Red Sox winning streak and grateful for Dictionaries; HUMOR: Louise provided humor Presidential Minute: Lois talked about an August Birthday President: Barak Obama! Raffle: There is $766 in the pot. Karen ahd the right number but pulled the wrong card. We are down to v ery few cards left. Stay tuned!! Program: |
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Newsletter 7-11-17**MINUTES OF MEETING** Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday: July 11, 2017 Pledge of Allegiance: VP Bill Paulson Song: ‘Oh Beautiful’ led and accompanied by Bob Cocks Prayer: Led by: Karen Wetmore Guests: - Bob Dunning, an Honorary member. Announcements: .The big announcement was the success of the ‘First Annual Needham Rotary Carnival! Ted will have financial numbers next week. A big hand to our members who spent many hours helping to put this on!!!  .Reminder, September 12 no noon meeting, dinner at New Garden instead. .All the money has been raised for the Razia matching grant for the nurses college in Afghanistan .Bill Paulson announced that we have sold some 600 of the 1000 tickets for the raffle. Only 400 to go!90 of these were sold at the Carnival! .New District Website: Go to http://rotary7910.org/ It looks great!! .There are no more speakers scheduled for July and August: Who can YOU ask? .Birthday cake for the July Birthday’s for Brad White and Scotty:  Presidential Moment: Lois talked about the 200th birthday of Henry David Thoreau, who was jailed for objecting to the ‘Poll Tax’, and is famous for his thoughts on Walden Pond. Humor: This has been a good day for Needham Rotary, as we are all basking in the success of the carnival. However, it has not been a good day for everyone. This is the 41st anniversary of the day Ronald Wayne sold his 10% interest in Apple for $800.00. Today, that same stock is worth $56,065,210,000.! Happy dollars: Bob Dunning-Great to be here! Scotty for a great time on Nantucket; Greg Cronin-‘Ted Shaughnessy for President!’; Ryan for his vacation on the Cape; Andy for his vacation and the Carnival; Libby, Jim Brown, Ken Davis, Louise, Roz, Bob Cocks, Karen and Tom Savino-For the success and fun of working at the carnival!!! 50/50 drawing:. While no drawing today, the pot is still $715!! Guest speaker: None: who do you know who can speak? How about a classification talk to two… Next meeting: Tuesday, July18, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton |
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NEWSLETTER 6-13-17-A**Rotary Club of Needham** Tuesday: June 13, 2017 Minutes of Meeting Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America; Led By: Kathy Whitney Prayer: Led by: Cliff Gerber Guests: - Kathy and Henry Lindemann; Ted’s wife, Marilyn Shaughnessy; Clifford Gerber, Asst. District Governor; Irene Tsardinalis, Family Federal Bank corporate member and Carl Kaliszewski, past District Governor. Announcements: -Sadly Ted reported the death of a great Gift of Lift supporter, Tom Ford, in Panama. - Ted will be delivering a $10,000 Gift of Life check in Portland next week. .-Ted had his final board meeting Wed., June 7th. We voted to make the following donations:
.-RYLA needs help on 6/23-24 and 25 at Fitchburg State University. We have 2 participants, Sam Lindeman and Sam Whitney both from Dedham. -2018 International convention will be held 6/23-27. If you sign up by tomorrow, there will be a $200 discount. -Club history with Needham Historical Society – status quo. -Schooner Adventure sail on 6/18. Jim will send map of Seaport District. Contact him for lunch choice. -Annual cookout on Tues., June 27 at Rich Forte’s in Dover at 5:30. Let him know if you have any dietary choices. -Thank you to Andy Sherry, Holly Brown, Kathy Whitney, Lois Sockol, Charles Nelson and Karen Wetmore for help selling raffle tickets at Farmer’s Market on Sunday. -Carnival on 7/7-8-9 at Needham High parking lot. Bill has had 10,000 posts on Facebook. -Brad has also set up Needham Rotary Instagram account. Contact Charles to sign up for ticket selling. -Lottery ticket raffle sale still under way. Marty has 140 tickets still not assigned. Contact him when you can sell more. -Hank Philippi Ryan will be speaker next week. Karen has invited other clubs to join us. -Rich thanked everyone who helped with High School Reality Fair. . $1,000,000 dinner surpassed its goal at $1,300,000. Needham donated $30,000 with thanks to Marty, Ted and Karen. Everyone donated $150 to foundation this year. Perfect Attendance pins were awarded to Rachel; 19 years for Greg. Thank you both for your work as Sargent At Arms every week all these years. 23 years for Tom Sovino who also serves on our scholarship committee and 34 years to Jim Brown. Rotary moment: Nothing from Lois today. Happy dollars: Money collected but not vocalized. 50/50 drawing: $694 in today’s pot; Henry pulled number; Carl had lucky number but no luck with card-still looking for illusive joker. Humor: None today Ted’s Remembrances: Ted thanked everyone for their help during his year as president. Just to name a few, he mentioned: planting at Needham high school; Community Council food collection; distribution of dictionaries to all 3rd graders; Chapel St. banners; Harvest Fair booth; pancake breakfast; Needham-Wellesley football dinner; Thanksgiving dinner; gift certificates to Community Council; Salvation Army bell ringing; RFV dinner; packing of 19,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger with Needham High Honor society students; spring plants to all nursing homes; Spelling Bee; saplings to 4th graders for Arbor Day; Interservice Club dinner; Historical society display; Reality Fair; Community farm repairs; high school scholarship; Carnival with banners; sail on schooner Adventure to see tall ships; India solar project; Dick Manales project in Honduras; Razia’s Midwifery project, Shelter Box and Buddy Bench, just to name a few. Thank you everyone for all you did.  Ted had a fantastic year!!! More projects than any other 3 clubs in the District. Well done Ted!! Guest speaker: Carl Kaliszewski, Past District Governor spoke briefly to remind us about Rotary. Their year begins July 1 with new leadership, fresh ideas and a reminder that we need Rotarians to help create a world of friendship. Team motivation is due to leadership over the past 112 years. Rotarians believe in truth, family, friendship and service above self. Members believe in this act accordingly to make a difference. Marty presented Ted with a Thank You plaque with his gavel.   Carl installed our 2017-2018 board President: Marty Lindemann Treasurer: Ryan Damaso Secretary: Kathy Whitney President Elect: Bill Paulson Past President: Ted Shaughnessy Sargent at Arms: Greg Cronin Rich Forte Jim Brown Marty then took pleasure in presenting his wife, Kathy, with a Paul Harris for 16 years of helping him to be a better Rotarian.  After the meeting, Ted and Marty had fun with 'dueling gavels"!  Next meeting: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton |
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Newsletter 6-6-17**ROTARY NEWSLETTER ** Rotary of Needham Tuesday: June 6, 2017 Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America; Led By: Bob Cocks Prayer: Led by Lois Sockol Happy Birthday: We sang Happy Birthday to the June folks – Roz, Libby, Rich and Andy  Guests: Tami Lightfoote, Zack Blankstein, Scholarship winner and his Mom Jody Blankstein, Mercedes Announcements .We received a thank you note from the Nashoba Valley Rotary for a $1,000 contributing to a midwifery program in Africa .We will have a dinner meeting at New Garden on 9/12 at 5:30PM. .RYLA needs volunteers on June 24 – 26. We have 2 students attending RYLA. .The Brookline Rotary is sponsoring a community service project on July 12 from 1:30PM to 3:30PM at Cradles to Crayons, 155 N Beacon St in Brighton. The project is with food packaging. .The Sail Boston Schooner Adventure trip will be on June 18 from 2-5 PM .There will not be a meeting on 6/27. We will have a cookout instead at Rich’s home. .We are selling $10 raffle tickets .The Carnival will take place on June 7 – 9. We need volunteers to man the ticket booths. Happy Dollars Ken’s son, Ethan, was married last week in Dallas! Roz had a great vacation in Charleston and Savannah Paul had a stressful week last week and is glad that it is over. Bob’s son presented at a prestigious Google convention. 50/50 Drawing: Marty had the lucky number – 535. He picked the seven of spades and did not win. There is $675 in the pot. Scholarship Recipient: Zach Blankstein is the 2017 winner of the Needham Rotary Scholarship. Zach received a check for $2500, his first of four yearly payments for his Scholarship. Zach will be going to George Washington University in Washington DC, where he will be in the honors program in both Political science and Music majors. Lois Sockol, Scholarship Committee Cahir, said that all 3 Rotary interviewers were just overwhelmed by quality of the 64 applicants they received. All of them were excellent, but Zach stood out, and is the Scholarship Winner.  His Mother Jodi addressed us all and was most grateful, but feels that Zach is one who will ‘..make a difference..’ in serving others because he always ‘..puts the other guy first’., and has already demonstrated this in the projects he is involved with. Congratulations Zach! Sounds like we have awarded a winner! Next meeting: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton |
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Win $1000 in Scratch Tickets! |
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Bulletin 5-2-17**NEEDHAM ROTARY CLUB** Weekly Bulletin Tuesday: May 2, 2017 This week’s Rotary started off with a celebration for everyone who has a May birthday. This includes Lois Sockol, Ron Sockol and Ted Shaughnessy.  What's even more interesting is Lois's love of 'whipped cream'. She says it goes back to her childhood when she would not eat her oatmeal. Go figure!  It was arranged to have a special serving of whipped cream just for Lois. Happy Birthday! Guests: Steve Levitsky, District Asst. Chair for the Rotary Foundation was our guest and speaker.
HAPPY DOLLARS: Scotti $3 for spending a month at his Siesta Key home in Florida, and for the Celtics performance! Brad, Kathy Whitney wishing the birthday people ‘Happy Birthday’; Bob Cox, Roz, Charles and Ryan HTBH; Greg Cronin-Proud to be a Rotarian; Jim and Ken for Steve Levitsky’s presentation; Chuck for the Schooner Adventure sail coming up in July; Lois thanking for the whipped cream with the cake; Tom Savino glad to see his son Greg perform as principal timpanist with the Boston Civic Symphony, the second oldest symphony in Boston, playing Mahler’s first symphony. Steve Levitsky 50/50 drawing: Scotti drew the right ticket, but did not draw the lucky card. If he had won, proceeds would have gone to Gift of Life. Better luck next week! $542 in pot this week. Humor: none today Historical minute: Lois talked about our fifth President, James Monroe who was famous for the Monroe Doctrine, who died on July 4th. Guest Speaker: Steve Levitsky a member of the Concord rotary Club and out Districts Asst. Rotary Foundation chair, gave us an update on the Rotary Foundation. The foundation started I n the early 1900s with a single donation of $26.50. It has grown to where the Rotary Foundation has given away over $3 to date. Needham Rotarians are amongst the largest donners in the District, having provided over $324,000 to date. Much to be proud of. This week, new Paul Harris fellows were recognized: Bob Cox, Kathy Whitney and Dan Tibma. In addition Karen Wetmore reached the level of Paul Harris +3, meaning she has given a total of $4000 to the Foundation: Fantastic!:  Every year, $150 is given to the Rotary Foundation for each member of the club. Each member donates $100, and the club matches with an additional $50. This year, our club has taken advantage of the funds we donate to: -Spearhead installing solar cells in a school in India -Pledged giving towards Razia’s Hope school in Afghanistan -Pledged giving to a water project in Tanzania with the Neponset Valley Rotary Of course, Needham Rotary is quite committed to the Rotary Foundation over many years, and believes in it’s many worldwide projects. Next meeting: Tuesday, May 9th, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton |
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Needham Rotary 4-25-17**NEEDHAM ROTARY CLUB** Meeting Minutes Tuesday: April 25, 2017 Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America; Led by Bob Cocks Prayer: Led by Karen Wetmore Guests: - Jim Metcalf, Bob Dunning (former member), Carol Denman Announcements:
HAPPY DOLLARS: Ken Davis, Louise for our guests; Chuck Buyer and Lois for participating in the NHS Scholarship interviews; Welcome Carols, Bob and Jim; Bob Dunning (former member)-looking forward to the Red Sox-Cubs contest this weekend; Erica $5-for Jacks selecting John Hopkins for college, and, for her kids trip to China; Marty-Happy to be back from great Easter trip and visits to several colleges in the Carolinas; Charles, Doug, Brad and Jim-HTBH; Bob Cocks for his trip to Hawaii to visit with his son and family! 50/50 drawing: Dan drew the right ticket, but did not draw the lucky card. Better luck next week! $517 in pot this week. Humor: none today Historical minute: Lois told us about President Harry S. Truman. He is best remembered for the formation of NATO, the Marshall Plan, and dropping the first nuclear bomb. Guest Speaker: Jim Metcalf started this model train, eighty foot run of tracks in the Needham Town woods (off of Robinwood Ave. off High Rock Street, in Needham) some 20 years ago. He built it using battery powered trains, G-scale, and today it is radio controlled. It runs between the sitting area and the waterfall. He has named it ‘Martini Junction’, as he once delivered martinis to his guests, when he first strted it. Jim has had in excess of 2000 visitors, and it runs on a consistent schedule: when he wants to! While we have no pictures of him, better yet there are clips of the train on You Tube at: Directions to the train are: Go to the end of Robinwood Ave. in Needham. Start the trai to the right, and look for the orange bird houses which will lead you there. It is fun to see how this retired engineer has spent years building up his train set in the woods for all to see! Next meeting: Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton |
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Newsletter 4-18-17**NEEDHAM ROTARY CLUB** Meeting Minutes Tuesday: April 18, 2017 Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America; Led By: Ron Sockol Prayer: Led by Karen Wetmore Guests: - Bill Whitney and Capt. Stefan Edick Announcements:
Recycling Event to be at Dedham Middle School in Dedham on Whiting Ave. Sponsored by the Neponset Valley Rotary Club. 8 am to noon.
HAPPY DOLLARS: Ken Davis-condolences to Libby; Libby appreciative for the condolences and support during the passing of her Dad; Ted and Greg for our guest speaker; Kathy whitney-thrilled to have her husband and Capt. Stefan Edick as our guest speakers; Charles-Happy To Be here; Chuck-for a great weekend playing golf; Louise-Welcome to our guests; Doug-Go Red Sox! Lois and Ron-delighted the guest speakers are at her table; 50/50 drawing: Louise drew the right ticket, did not draw the lucky card. Better luck next week! $498 in pot this week. Humor: none today Historical minute: Lois told us about President Harry S. Truman. He is best remembered for the formation of NATO, the Marshall Plan, and dropping the first nuclear bomb. Guest Speaker: Kathy and Bill Whitney love to sail and have their own boat, and in addition, Bill is on the Board of Directors of the Schooner Adventure. Today we welcomed Stefan Edick, who is captain of the Adventure, and Bill Whitney. Stefan presented a slide show which showed us the beginning of Adventure, which was built and commissioned in 1926. It is one of 4000 such vessels built in Essex MA. It is the last U.D. Flagged Dory fishing vessel. Over its life, it has caught and sold $4 million worth of fish. Wow: that’s a lot! Remember, fish used to be $.005 to $.04 per pound. It was a fishing vessel from 1926-1953. Then it became a Windjammer touring vessel from 1954-1988. In 1988 it was declared a National Historic Landmark. Since that time, they have spent % million dollars restoring the boat, and it is now in tip-top shape. The Coast Guard provided a seaworthiness certificate in 2015. Bill has been active in the restoration of the ship, spending a lot of time over the last 5 years rebuilding the boat, from the inside out. It is quite a story, well told. For more information and info on riding on the Adventure, see: http://schooner-adventure.org/ Look for a 'special offer' from our social committee for a cruise on the Adventurer! Next email.... Next meeting: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton |
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Newsletter 3-21-17Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday, March 21, 2016 Location: Needham Sheraton President Ted Shaughnessy presiding Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy Song: God Bless America led by Bob Cox Invocation: Lois No Guests We had a short meeting today. Announcements: Rotary will be visiting/helping/building beds for the Needham Garden Center on Saturday May 13th. Hold the date aside! Rotary will be putting on the Reality fair at Needham High school on Monday May 22nd! This is a great event, and requires much cooperation from all Rotarians. Please put this on your calendar as well!! Today's Activity: Rotarians arrived early at 11am to label the daffodils for delivery to all nursing home residents in Needham: nearly 400 of them!  We had a quick lunch, did the opening of meeting, then closed the meeting so we could break into teams to deliver the flowers!  See you next week….. |
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Newsletter 3-7-17 a**NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER**
Sheraton Hotel
Tuesday: March 7, 2017
Pledge of Allegiance: President Elect Marty Lindemann
Song: God Bless America, led by Bob Cocks
Prayer: led by: Karen Wetmore
Guests: Jan Luchetti, visiting Rotarian from the Weston-Wayland Rotary Club.; our guest speaker Brenda Hedden.
.jpg) Look: up in the sky it's an...
What is everyone looking at?
(See below)
Announcements:
.At our next meeting, we will be delivering Daffodils to every nursing home resident in Needham. Plan to arrive at the Sheraton at 11:00 to help label the 400 plants. We will have a quick lunch and then head out to deliver the Daffodils.
.The ‘Birthday Cake’ has been put off to Tuesday March 28.
.Reminder of the upcoming District Conference Friday April 28 to Sunday April 30. This will be attended by 4 districts, and will be held in Providence. The current RI President will be at dinner Friday night.
Go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rotary-district-conference-2017-districts-7890-7910-7950-7980-tickets-25005687685 to register.
Happy dollars: Bill Paulson-Great trip to the MFA; Karen Wetmore-Great time in Florida and welcome to our guest speaker Brenda! Ken Davis-Happy First Birthday to his puppy Colby! Scott, Chuck and Paul-Glad to have Lois and Ron back from Florida; Greg-Great to see Marty running the show: caution Ted! Jim, Charles, Kathy Whitney, Bob Cocks and Paula-Great to be here; Jan Luchetti-$2 happy to be visiting Needham Rotary; Lois and ron-Great to be back in the town they love from a month in Florida!!!
50/50 drawing: Bill Paulson had the qualifying ticket #314, but pulled the 3 of diamonds. So, the pot of $452 continues to next time.
Humor: Three pastors went to a conference of Pastors, and just finished a session on the power of Confession. They were all sharing stories over dinner. The first Pstor said “Let’s confess our secret sins one to another. I’ll start: My secret sin is I just love to gamble when I go out of town: it’s cha-ching, cha-ching, let the machines ring!”
The second pastor said “My secret sin is that I just hate working hard. I copy all my sermons from the Internet.”
The third pastor said “My secret sin is gossiping, and oh boy, I just can’t wait till dinner is over!!!”
Don’t gossip, but this joke was provided by the son of a Luthern Minister!
Historical Minute: In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for something to become known as the ‘telephone’. He beat Elisha Gray to the patent office by two hours, otherwise it may have been known as ‘The Grey system’. FL.
 Guest speaker: Brenda Hedden has been a fan of and builder of Kaleidoscopes since she was a child. She currently owns 40 kaleidoscopes and had a number of them on display for our meeting
She is a member of the Brewster Kaleidoscope Society, names after the inventor of the kaleidoscope Sir David Brewster. David was a passionate inventor and physicist, and although born in 1781, is still the most awarded physicist in British history. He also invented the stereoscope as well. The word ‘kaleidoscope’ is the basis on:
kal means beautiful in Greek
eidos means forms in Greek
Scope means to see in Greek
Brenda enjoys making stained glass in addition to kaleidoscopes as well.
Her presentation had a weird effect on club members., and it was thoroughly enjoyed!
Website: www.heddenstainedglass.com
Next meeting: Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 11:00 at Needham Sheraton. We will then be delivering Daffodils to all the nursing home residents in Needham.
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Newsletter 2-28-17Rotary Club of Needham
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance led by Ted Shaughnessy
God Bless America led by Bob Cox
Invocation by Karen Wetmore
Announcements
Brad White is interested in being a member
Chaz thanked Marty for hosting the Rotarian from Siberia
We are working on recruiting 2 High School students for RYLA
We will be participating in the NEF Spelling Bee
Roche Brothers is donating flowers for the nursing homes. Delivery will be on March 21
Happy $$$$$$$$$$$$
Louise is happy that her daughter is feeling better
Erika is happy about the Civics Bee coming this Saturday
Charles had a great week in Puerto Rico!
50/50
Looking for the Joker. Scott had the lucky number – 287. He did not win the pot.
Program
We had a club assembly. Ted is working on a fundraiser. More information to come next week. A raffle is another possibility for a fundraiser. Everyone liked the food packaging and gardening projects.
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Newsletter 2-14-17**NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER**
Sheraton Hotel
Tuesday: February 14, 2017
Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy
Song: God Bless America, led by Bob Cocks
Prayer: led by: Rev. Karen Wetmore
Guests: George Hoffmeister; John Hannigan, MA Archivist; Amanda Glidwell, Briarwood
Congratulations to birthday brothers from another mother: George Hoffmeister and Bob Cocks, born on the exact same day of the same year.
Announcements:
. Ted thanked everyone who attended the wake for his sister and who sent cards.
. Ken Davis spoke on RYLA – we will host 2 students this year hoping more high school students will become future members. RYLA will be held on 3rd weekend in June at Fitchburg State.
. Next week’s meeting’s speaker will be Asst. Dist. Gov. Satya Mitra. Feb. 28 meeting will be Club Assembly reviewing how/what we are doing. Are we going forward in the direction members want?
. 2 children from Panama have had their surgery and are out of hospital getting ready to go home.
. Karen Gaffney sent email invited us to meet Rotary International President-Elect, Ian Riseley. He will be the keynote speaker at dinner from 7-9pm at Sheraton Conference Center, Framingham, cost for dinner $45.
. Next Board of Directors meeting will be on March 1st at 5:00 at Bill Paulson’s office, Keller Williams, 140 Gould St., rear. All are welcome.
Happy dollars: Many wishes for happy birthday to George and Bob; several condolences to Ted; welcome George and other guests; Scott wished us a happy Valentine’s Day and said he was glad to be the thorn among 5 roses-eat your heart out, George; Andy was happy for skiing; Erica happy for snow day with son at DaVinci exhibit at Museum of Science; Karen and Greg welcomed John from MA Achieves and glad to hear him speak.
50/50 drawing: George Hoffmeister pulled the ticket and Louise had lucky number but no joy this Valentine’s Day. $385 in the pot for next time.
Humor: While reading an article last night about fathers and sons, memories came
flooding back to the time I took me son out for his first pint.
Off we went to our local pub only two blocks from the cottage.
I got him a Guinness. He didn't like it, so I drank it.
Then I got him a Kilkenny's. He didn't like that either, so I drank it.
Finally, I thought he might like some Harp Lager. He didn't. I drank it.
I thought maybe he'd like whiskey better than beer so we tried a Jameson's.
Nope!
In desperation, I had him try that rare Redbreast , Ireland 's finest.
He wouldn't even smell it. What could I do but drink it!
By the time I realized he just didn't like to drink, I was so fookin' shit-faced
I could hardly push his stroller back home!
Presidential minute: None this week - Lois on vacation in FL.
Guest speaker: Karen introduced John Harrington, head of Reference Services at MA Archives on Columbia Point, Dorchester. They store the public, permanent and non-current documents of state government. The records go from 1629 to 2016 and include the permanent public records of government. Genealogists and lawyers are most popular visitors to archives and it holds about 80 million documents. Many of the records are in their original form, i.e., hand written, some has been put on microfilm and more current records have been digitized. Archives are open Mon-Fri., 8:30-4:30 to the public. They have a large amount of documents on the American Revolution and MA colonial history; also large number of Civil War records. Their documents include original state charter; 1776 copy of Declaration of Independence and one of fourteen original copies of The Bill of Rights.
Website:
Next meeting: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton. Our District Assistant District Governor, Sayta Mitra.
HAPPY VALETINE’S DAY!
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Newsletter 1-3-17**ROTARY CLUB OF NEEDHAM**
Bulletin
Tuesday: January 3, 2017
Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy
Song: God Bless America; Accompanied by Bob Cocks on the ukulele
Prayer: Led by: Rev. Stuart Tucker, speaker
Guest: Rev. Stuart Tucker, speaker
Congratulations to birthday boys: Chuck Buyer, Glen Davis and Stuart Tucker!
 All for me???
Announcements:
. Ted reminded us about our Food Packing project on January 31st at 12:30 at Needham High cafeteria – NO LUNCH/MEETING AT SHERATON – Honor Society students will be joining us. They were able to raise $3,700 for this project; we will add $1,000, so we will be able to package about 16,000 meals. Trucks with supplies are due to arrive at 11:30. Ted will need 3-4 able bodied members to help him unload. We will start packaging at 12:30 and need to be finished and cleaned up by 2:30 when another group will need the room.
. NO MEETING on Jan. 24 because of dinner at RFK Kitchen restaurant that night at 6:30. Fee will be $35 for Rotarian and $55 for guest – cash bar. Check should be payable to Needham Rotary by next week. Louise will get menu by then.
. John McQuillan, a long time Rotarian, passed away last week from Parkinson’s disease at 87. We sent flowers to the wake.
. Ted told us about 2 more children who are coming into Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME for heart surgery.
. There will be a Board of Directors meeting tomorrow night (1/4) at 5:00 at Ryan’s office. All are welcome.
. The nominating committee will be contacting all members about possibly being on the board. If you volunteer, the term will be 1 year. Greg asked why we need anyone else since we have Ted.
. Watertown Rotary will join us next week since their meeting location is not available. We hope to have Jim Boyd as our speaker.
.Kathy W. gave Ted some smoke detectors that came from Needham Community Council. Ted gave them to Dan for safe keeping. Needham Fire Department had a meeting at Needham Council at the Heights but didn’t have many in attendance. They will try again in the future and we will be included.
.Ted read us a delightful Thank You note from a Mitchell Student for all we do as Rotarians in town.
Happy dollars: Ken, Bill, Ryan, Jim and Charles wished us a happy new year and welcomed Louise back; Marty was happy for a great Christmas holiday in the snow in Washington state; Stuart glad he is going to be a grandfather; Bob happy his grandson visited and they could enjoy Needham’s First Night; Chuck wished the Pats good luck; Kath and Libby had a wonderful holiday and Greg is happy to be a Rotarian.
50/50 drawing: Our guest, Stuart Tucker pulled the ticket; Marty had the magic number but no luck. $316 in the pot for next time.
Humor: Louise is back and had a great bit of humor for us from the book “Old Jokes for Old Folks”.
.jpg) Presidential minute: None today
Guest speaker: Karen introduced Rev. Stuart Tucker, the retired pastor of Needham’s Carter Memorial Methodist Church. He spoke to us about Paws to Read where volunteers bring their therapy dogs into libraries to help children read out loud to the dogs. Dogs just make the children feel more comfortable and easy to relate to. He goes to 3 local libraries, Millis, Norfolk and Franklin. Each child has a chance to read out loud to the dogs for 15 minutes – the dogs are non-judgmental.
 Next meeting: Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton
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Newsletter 10-25-16Rotary Club of Needham
Tuesday, October 26, 2016
Location: Needham Sheraton
Ted Shaughnessy presiding for, well, Ted Shaughnessy
Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy
Song: God Bless America led by Ron
Invocation: Karen Wetmore
Ryan delegated the welcome song to Marty for our guests from BID Needham and Briarwood
Announcements:
Guests:
Happy $$$:
Marty for visiting is 103 year old dad, Jim Brown for voting early for himself (write-in!), Kathy Reilly for our guests and the BID Needham Gala, Kathy looking forward to BID Needham gala, Andy for Halloween, Erica for PTC craft fair, Lois for the Autism walk, Bill for fun day with daughter Sarah seeing Hillary Clinton in NH, Paul for election being over in two weeks, Ken for our guests, Libby for our guests, Chuck, Charles, Louise happy to be here
50:50: Marty had 038, which apparently he had offered to Ryan, but Ryan refused, so Marty drew the 8 of clubs, which is not the Joker, so the $173 pot rolls over to next week.
Joke of the day: No joking today.
Presidential Moment: None
Guest Speaker:
 John Fogarty talked about the BID Needham community hospital. It has been several decades of transformation (for the good). The idea is to provide access to Boston doctors in a community setting.
They have specialty clinics like hand surgery, the sleep center, and chronic pain management. They also just opened a BreastCare center.
He talked about their culture of safety. He believes that this is more important for his job security than keeping the financials strong.
Their gala is Saturday and is sold out (900 people!). He thanked the Rotarians for all they do for the hospital, and for being on the gala committee.
He also gave a shout out to his gift shop person. He got a last-minute gift for his wife and was the hero!
In 2017 they are going to electronic records and building a new ambulatory building.
The hospital loves community outreach. Any ideas for working together contact Alyssa Kence at 781.453.5460.
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Newsletter 7-12-16Rotary Club of Needham
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Location: Needham Sheraton
Past President Jim Brown opened the meeting and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ron Sockol led us in singing ‘God Bless America’, and Karen delivered the invocation.
Announcements:
We believe we still need one or two more clubs to sign up so we reach our goal!! Stay tuned….
Happy $$$:
50:50: Next week.
Joke of the day: No joking today.
Presidential Moment: Lois gave us the low down on John Quincy Adams, the Second President of the United States.
Guest Speaker:
Today we welcomed Tamatha Bibbo, Principal of the Pollard Junior High, and John Shea, head of the grade 9-12 Math Department at Needham High School. They are heading up a program which is now in grades 7 and 8 at the Junior High, hopefully it will grow through grade 12 at NHS entitled ‘Launching Scholars’. Here after the 6th grade, the school identifies students who are not doing well in math, and starts them with a 1 week intensive math class during the summer before the next school year. First year (14/15) they identified 28 students and 18 accepted the invitation to be tutored and helped in math. The thought is that raising their proficiency helps in raising that students overall school scores, more than just math.
This program started in Brookline. It is target at children who are METCO students, financially challenged students, and struggling students. The NEF funded this as an experiment 2 years ago, and it appears to be going well.
The students and teachers are all feeling this math proficiency makes a noticeable difference in the students, and they hope (over time) it will grow to service all grades 7-12.
We had a small group of Rotarians, so there was plenty of time to ask questions.
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Newsletter 6-28 and 7-4-16 **DOUBLE HEADER NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER: JUNE 28 AND JULY 4, 2016**
Formal meetings were not held on either date, rather on June 28 a cookout dinner was heled at the home of Rich and Kathleen Forte. Rich has perfected hosting Rotary cookouts, and this year was a perfect example. Rich had moved sine the last cookout, so, this year was complete with a new swimming pool! How great is that! Andy and Carol Wining’s children both enjoyed frolicking in the pool.
This year, Pres. Rich was able to turn over the celebratory cooking utensils to new President Ted Shaughnessy.
 Rich, thanks for a great Rotary Year, and Ted, congratulations on your election and the start of your official Rotary year!!
There were fourteen Rotarians, and lots of spouses and friends at the cookout. Much delicious food ‘right off the grill’ was consumed, and a fun time as had by all!
Thanks Rich and Kathleen!!
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Early on the 4th, Rotarians gathered on Great Plain Avenue, and loaded and decked out the truck from Distinctive Fences of Sharon. When it was time to march, the truck was decked out in grand style, thanks to Joe Quinnan of Hillcrest Gardens!
 Members worked hard planning and executing this event, and it looked like a million bucks! Thanks to Greg Cronin, Rachel, Bill Paulson, Ken Davis, Karen Wetmore, Mercedes from Family Federal, and to Greg’s son Garrett, and Chris Matthews for driving. Thanks to all who participated!!!
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Next week we resume our normal Tuesday noon meetings: hope to see you there!
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Newsletter 6-14-16Rotary Club of Needham
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Location: Needham Sheraton
Ted Shaughnessy presiding for Rich Forte
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
6/21: Installation of Officers
6/28: No regular meeting: Evening cookout at Rich Forte’s (note new location in Dover!)
7/5: No meeting
Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy
Song: America the Beautiful led by Bob Cocks
Invocation: Karen Wetmore
Bob led the Welcome to Needham song for our guests
Announcements:
Guests:
Happy $$$:
Bob Cocks: 50th college reunion at Bowdoin, Mercedes, Chuck, Marty: HTBH, Lois & Ron for 62nd anniversary, Tom Savino for 30th anniversary, Libby for guests and her birthday (shhhh), Bill for Cirque du Soleil with Ellen, Ken for a great vacation, Andy for his daughter’s 1st grade artists exhibit, Charles for our guests, Paula for her son graduating from Union and starting work at PWC.
50:50: Chuck had number 820 but drew the 10 of diamonds which is not the 2 of hearts, so the $140 pot rolls over to next week.
Good luck next week!
Joke of the day: No joking today. Seriously.
Guest Speaker:
James Rosso and Jon Bzdel told us about VidiLocal. They are a startup out of Babson that puts TV screens in pizza shops and doctors’ offices. The TV’s have content delivered through the cloud including local news, forecasts, sports, and advertising.
They are recruiting hosts and advertisers.
Hosts get the screen installed for no money and can make money from the ads that run on the screen.
Advertisers can get in front of a very targeted audience for a low monthly cost.
More information at http://VidiLocal.com
Future Meetings:
Join us Tuesday June 21st Installation of New Officers
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Newsletter 5-17-16Rotary Club of Needham
Minutes of Meeting Held
Tuesday: May 17, 2016
Pledge of Allegiance: Ted Shaughnessy
Song: God Bless America; Led By: Bob Cocks
Prayer: Led by: Karen Wetmore
Location: Wellesley (Room)
Guests: - Alissa Musto, Music Contest winner; Denise Garlick, State Representative and Amanda Bernard, Chief of Staff
Announcements:
. Ted announced the death of longtime Rotarian, Jack Marr. Jack died at 95 in Newark, NJ. Obituary can be seen online in the Boston Globe or Needham Times. Services will be Friday, 5/20/2016 at 4:30-6:00 at Eaton’s. Donations may be made to Needham Rotary.
. Reality Fair is next Monday, May 23rd at Needham High School from 8:30-12:00. Please let Rich know when you can help.
 . Alissa Musto, the Open Category winner of our Music Awards contest joined us to receive her plaque and check. She entertained us with a couple of tunes which she will perform at the Miss Massachusetts pageant. She will be participating as Miss Cambridge. She has graduated from Harvard and is planning to attend law school.
. We were well represented at Needham Plugged In last Friday by Bob Cocks and Andy Wining. They were the only acoustic guitar group of the evening. Thank you both for doing such a great job. Be sure to come next Tuesday and hear them repeat their performance.
. We will have a float again this year in the 4th of July parade. The truck is available. Charles Haberl will bring some visitors from Russia to join us.
. There will be a Leadership meeting in Peabody.
. Kathy is working on sponsoring an Alex’s Lemonade Stand at the NBA Street Fair on Saturday, June 4th. If anyone has time to help from 8:00-3:00 on that day it would be greatly appreciated.
. Rich presented the check to the Subway Dwarfs last week.
. Our grant with India had a complication around sending the funds to India. We now have the necessary documentation. India only does Global grants. Jim has already arranged for $500 from Waltham. We are also going to be involved with the Neponset Valley-Engineers Without Boarders water project. Ted also apologized for his exuberance last week. We are lucky to have such an enthusiastic incoming leader.
. The next Board meeting will be June 9th at Ryan’s office, 105 Chestnut St., Needham.
. Lois’ picture of our Arbor Day project got into the Hometown Weekly. Thank you, Lois, for following up on this.
. Ted reminded us that the Central Ave. bridge is being repaired and will be one way from 5/9-6/14; from 6/15 the bridge will be shut down.
. The District Conference is this weekend. Ted will bring our “Safety” basket silent auction donation down on Friday. Thank you Kathy for putting this together. There is still room if anyone else able to join us though the Hotel 1610 is fully booked there are several other hotels close by.
. Amadu has gone home. Her surgery has been re-scheduled for tomorrow in the morning. She will then be in the hospital for 2 weeks. Marty asked for pictures which Ted will try to get from her mother.
. RYLA is being held from 6/24-26 at Fitchburg State. They need volunteers during the weekend. Sunday at 3:00 the new District Governor will be installed.
. Wellesley Rotary requested at their Pancake Breakfast this Saturday. Contact Ted is you are able to help.
Rotary moment: Marty read from this month’s “Rotarian” about an interview of 1 of 3 millennials. He felt that Rotary has everything millennials want and they get to associate with people with more life experiences. Millennials are curious and Rotarians have a lot to tell.
Happy dollars: Ken was happy to see Denise and Amanda; Louise thought Bob and Andy were great at the Plugged In event; Kathy thanked Denise for being a great MC at the music event; several were happy to be here; Bill was happy for the Newton-Wellesley Hospital gala; Chuck was happy that his daughter; Michelle is now employed as a 3rd grade teacher in New Caanan, CT; many were happy for guests, music and Plugged In; Jim donated In Memory of Jack Marr and Denise donated to the competition – she belongs to the Needham Exchange Club.
50/50 drawing: None today
Humor: Louise had fast humor about the office “walk in” – he has about 6” and quacked. If you are curious he can be found on Facebook. The office had a lot of fun for 2 hours while waiting for a contractor to collect him to bring him to the pond in the yard.
 Guest speaker: Ted introduced our Denise Garlick, our State Representative. She thanked Karen for the blessing which really touched her heart; thought Bob and Andy did a great job at Plugged In and congratulated Ron on receiving the Melick Award. She is also inspired by Louise and her Valentine’s Day party going into its 29th year – talk about commitment. Denise is in her 5th year of teaching at Pollard School - she goes 20 times a year to the different classes to teach a class on How a Bill Becomes Law. She will also be speaking to AP history classes. She also congratulated everyone in Rotary for their work.
Denise is the Chair of the Committee of Elder Affairs. In 20 years a majority of MA residents will be 60 or over due to reverse migration. The baby who will live to 150n has already been born. Of the $3.5billion spent on elder services most of it going to the poorest and most ill. She is very proud that the amount going to each elder her been increased from $9.00 to $10.00. Needham is doing a survey for Seniors and transportation. We need a social movement around aging – we are getting older in a different way than our parents. She also commented that changes start with the individual leader. They can all be reached on line and through our vote.
Next meeting: Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton
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Newsleltter 2-16-16**Rotary Club of Needham**
Tuesday: February 16, 2016
Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Rich Forte, President.
Song: God Bless America; Led By: Bob Cocks
Prayer: Led by Karen Wetmore
Announcements:
Guests: Bryan Hannifin, Marketing Manager for Family Federal Savings.
Happy Dollars: Karen Wetmore for her impending trip to Florida for 2 weeks! Chuck Buyer for a gold weekend in Florida; Scotti was happy for a few warm days after the severe cold snap; Ted happy for the warm weather; Deb Kazarian for being able to bring Bryan with her to Rotary; Libby for a good Doctor’s check up for her daughter; George fo seeing Bryan as well; Bob Cocks for the weather; Marty $5 for his #1 son who is going to Peru on a community service project, and for #2 son who is going to Philadelphia for his community service project, and for Marty and Kathy’s get away for an overnight in Boston, while the kids are away! Ryan, Jim and Kathy: HTBH!! 50:50: Chuck drew the 3 of diamonds in the 50/50. Not a winner. Pot stands at $695 with 16 cards remaining.
Presidential Moment: Although Lois is in Florida, it seemed only right that we continue with the Presidential moment, as President’[s day was yesterday. The question was: What President served two non-contiguous terms as President?
Answer: Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times – in 1884, 1888, and 1892 – and was one of the two Democrats (with Woodrow Wilson) to serve as president during the era of Republican political domination dating from 1861 to 1933. He is the only President in American history to serve non-consecutive terms in office and the only President to win the popular vote more times was Franklin Roosevelt.
Guest Speaker: In lieu of a guest speaker, this meeting was a ‘Club Assembly, and a number of issues were discussed.:
Humor: No takers
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Rotary Music Awards - buy your tickets today3rd Annual Rotary Music Awards - Jan 30th
Buy your tickets today at http://needhammusic.eventbrite.com.
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Newsletter 1-12-16Rotary Club of Needham
Tuesday: January 12, 2016
Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Rich Forte
Song: America the Beautiful
Led By: Bob Cov
Invocation: Darrell Minnich
Announcements:
Guests:
Don Martini, Past President of Lexington Rotary
Deb Kazarian and Mercedes
Happy $$$:
Ryan’s daughter is having her 7th Birthday!!
Libby is going to be a grandmother!
Louise’s Realty Guild was rescheduled so she can be with us today
Scott is happy that he did not win the Lottery
Chuck wishes the Patriots good luck
50:50: Looking for the 10 of Spades
The pot is $622
Marty’s number was picked but he did not win the jackpot. Stay tuned for next week.
 Guest Speaker: Greg Reibman from the Newton/Needham Chamber of Commerce. Greg came to provide us with an update of what the Chamber has been doing of late. Of note is the fact that the Chamber is the fastest growing chamber in the state! The Chambers’ program is focused on Networking, Education and Outreach. Current projects are growing the N Square corridor, advocating for housing for employees of the N Square corridor and working on transportation challenges.
The Chamber is doing a lot of exciting activities. See. Their web site for complete details: www.newton/needhamchamberofcommerce.org
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Newsletter 12-15-15**Newsletter**
Rotary of Needham
Tuesday: December 15, 2015
Pledge of Allegiance: Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America; Led By: Bob Cocks
Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich
Guests: - Michelle Buyer, Bill Domings, Debbie
Announcements:
. Our holiday Yankee Swap Christmas party was held at the Bond’s home last Thursday. All reports say it was terrific! Someone received a ‘thigh master’ as a gift, but did not want to demonstrate it at Rotary! Thanks again to Erica and her family who hosted a terrific party with wonderful food, fun and frivolity!!
. Bill gave us an update on the Music Award event on Jan. 13, 2016. He has several great musicians lined up but still has 2 open spots. Greg and Rachel have many interested sponsors including: Needham Bank, AdVantage, and Capron Lighting to name a very few. Our music charity will be helping Needham high school students with their trip to Italy. Bill challenged Rick Davis’ comment about how bad we are at selling tickets. Are we up to the challenge to sell the most tickets ever??? Bill also thanked Greg and Rachel for coming up with the fund raising concept.
. Rich distributed a request to members to locate past scholarship members. He plans on asking them to try to locate 3-4 names from a list of about 100.
. Jim Brown reported that the Club raised $740 this year for the Salvation Army, and, that brings our total to some $7000 since we started this event. Thanks to:
Kathy Whitney
Marty Lindemann
Chuck Buyer
Charles and his 2 daughters and a friend who actually sang Christmas Carols!
Erica Bond
Ted Shaughnessy
Holly Brown
Lyn Brown
For all of their selfless work for staffing the bells!!!
. It was noted that Murry Liverman, a Brookline Rotarian, and former advisor to our club, passed away last week. Murry was a true Rotarian, and friend to all, and he will be missed.
Happy dollars: Many members thanked Erica and Frank Bond for their wonderful hospitality in hosting this years Holiday Extravaganza! Roz and Debbie, HTBH; Chuck for having his daughter with him for lunch; Bill Paulson for the Patriots win; Libby, Louise, Happy Holidays to all! Rick Davis for our guests; Glen-thanks to Bill domings for being here; Darell $2 for the upcoming Patriots game; Andy Wining hoping for the winning 50/50 ticket. Louise thanking the club for its donation for the Blue Tree.
50/50 drawing: $564 in pot; Lois had the right ticket but luck was not with her this week. The pot continues to grow!
Humor: Marty (our self appointed censor) delivered a joke whish is ‘..not suitable for sharing”!
Guest Speaker: Well, this week was a ‘family 2 pack’:
Rich Davis just updated us on the Scholarship Committee, that they must decide soon as to the number of scholarship recipients and the dollar amount. We know the trustees will be wise in their choice.
Glen Davis gave us a recap on our ‘Visioning’ night earlier this year. A lot of time was spent by the club on that night determining what our clubs priorities should be. Now comes the time to implement these decisions. For instance, the majority of people thought our club should grow to 60 members over the next 3 years. The easiest way to do this os for every member to ‘clone’ themselves, and bring in a new Rotarian. East to say…
The club also wants to be known as ‘exemplary’ in its Community Service projects, and wants to continue in its support of gift of Life.
More details will be forthcoming as plans are developed by the steering committee.
Next meeting: Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton. But, there will be no meeting on 12-29.
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Newsletter 11-17-15**Rotary Club of Needham**
Tuesday: November 17, 2015
Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America
Led By: Bob Cox
Invocation: Karen Whetmore
Announcements:
Guests:
.
Happy $$$:
Bob-GTBH
Bill-Fun Pats win!
Roz-HTBH!
Karen – Great to be part of the meal packaging event this past weekend which packaged over 48,000 meals!
Ken-Great to see Carl!
Rick Davis-HTBH
Darrell-Happy to be back home after spending time with son and family in Thailand
Ryan-Great Pat’s win!
Jim-HTBH and to see Carl
Tom-Happy Thanksgiving!
50:50: Looking for Ten of Spades: Number:606. Ryan had the right number, but drew the wrong card. $501 in the pot!!
Rotary Minute: Paula Kahr educated us on Rotary..
.jpg) Guest Speaker: Past District Governor Carl was DG in the 2004/2005 year. He came to inform us about the wonderful projects of The Rotary Foundation.
The RFs biggest project has been ‘Polio Plus’ which started in 1986. Initially is was designed to raise $120 million to eradicate Polio and 5 other childhood diseases. As of this date, it has been successful in all but 2 countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where they are down to only a total of 51 cases. It is required that they reach zero cases for 3 years to be certified ‘polio free’, and that is what they are aiming for. We can’t stop now!
While the RI Foundation has been subject to the loss of investment funds in the 2008 market decline, RF is still going forward financially with this project, and more!
Rotary has been given a 96.31 ranking from www.charitynavigator.org, showing how effective a dollar spent with the RF is versus others. Good work; good people: we should be proud to be affiliated with their great work!!!
Get the latest info on the Rotary Foundation at https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/rotary-foundation
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Newsletter 11-17-15**Rotary Club of Needham**
Tuesday: November 17, 2015
Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America
Led By: Bob Cox
Invocation: Karen Whetmore
Announcements:
Guests:
.
Happy $$$:
Bob-GTBH
Bill-Fun Pats win!
Roz-HTBH!
Karen – Great to be part of the meal packaging event this past weekend which packaged over 48,000 meals!
Ken-Great to see Carl!
Rick Davis-HTBH
Darrell-Happy to be back home after spending time with son and family in Thailand
Ryan-Great Pat’s win!
Jim-HTBH and to see Carl
Tom-Happy Thanksgiving!
50:50: Looking for Ten of Spades: Number:606. Ryan had the right number, but drew the wrong card. $501 in the pot!!
Rotary Minute: Paula Kahr educated us on Rotary.
.jpg) Guest Speaker: Past District Governor Carl was DG in the 2004/2005 year. He came to inform us about the wonderful projects of The Rotary Foundation.
The RFs biggest project has been ‘Polio Plus’ which started in 1986. Initially is was designed to raise $120 million to eradicate Polio and 5 other childhood diseases. As of this date, it has been successful in all but 2 countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where they are down to only a total of 51 cases. It is required that they reach zero cases for 3 years to be certified ‘polio free’, and that is what they are aiming for. We can’t stop now!
While the RI Foundation has been subject to the loss of investment funds in the 2008 market decline, RF is still going forward financially with this project, and more!
Rotary has been given a 96.31 ranking from www.charitynavigator.org, showing how effective a dollar spent with the RF is versus others. Good work; good people: we should be proud to be affiliated with their great work!!!
Get the latest info on the Rotary Foundation at https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/rotary-foundation
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Newsletter 11-3-15**Rotary Club of Needham**
Tuesday: November 2, 2015
Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America
Led By: Bob Cox
Invocation: Karen Wetmore
Announcements:
Guests:
Happy $$$:
Kathy – Glad my husband made it to Miami with the boat
Louise – The BID Gala is sold out
Karen – Darrell’s backpack grant has been approved
Glen – Happy birthday to my parents
Jim – Great visioning event
Charles – Looking forward to the Pancake Breakfast
Greg – Hello from Deb Donovan to her favorite Rotary Club
50:50: Looking for Ten of Spades: Number:457 Person: Steve Gilman. The pot is over $400!
Rotary Minute Rich gave a brief history of how the Rotary Foundation began.
Guest Speaker: Sharon Gilman of DARE Family Services. DARE is the oldest foster care agency in the state. DARE recruits, trains and supervises foster parents to care for children who need a higher level of care – medical, emotional, sibling groups. DARE needs more foster parents. The organization is also looking for donations of suitcases, scrapbooking materials and CO2 detectors.
More details about the good work they do: www.Darefamily.org
Submitted by Rosalind Fisher
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Newsletter 11-3-15**Rotary Club of Needham**
Tuesday: November 3, 2015
Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America
Led By: Bob Cox
Invocation: Karen Wetmore
Announcements:
Guests:
Happy $$$:
Kathy – Glad my husband made it to Miami with the boat
Louise – The BID Gala is sold out
Karen – Darrell’s backpack grant has been approved
Glen – Happy birthday to my parents
Jim – Great visioning event
Charles – Looking forward to the Pancake Breakfast
Greg – Hello from Deb Donovan to her favorite Rotary Club
50:50: Looking for Ten of Spades: Number: 457 Person: Steve Gilman. The pot is over $400!
Rotary Minute Rich gave a brief history of how the Rotary Foundation began.
Guest Speaker: Sharon Gilman of DARE Family Services. DARE is the oldest foster care agency in the state. DARE recruits, trains and supervises foster parents to care for children who need a higher level of care – medical, emotional, sibling groups. DARE needs more foster parents. The organization is also looking for donations of suitcases, scrapbooking materials and CO2 detectors.
More details about the good work they do: www.Darefamily.org
Submitted by Rosalind Fisher
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NEWSLETTER FOR OCT 20, 2015FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
NO LUNCH MEETING TODAY! TONIGHT IS THE "MEMBERS ONLY" VISIONING EVENT LED BY THE DISTRICT TEAM!
Come at 5pm at the Sheraton even if you never turned in the meeting questionaire or even if you doubt you have "vision."
In Other News . . .
• The pancake breakfast is on Sat, November 7th from 7-noon at the Needham High School cafeteria. Now is the time for every Needham Rotarian to sell the 20 tickets they were given, or else buy the tickets as a donation and give them away to clients and friends. Ryan Damaso has yard signs at his office at 105 Chestnut Street that need to get out asap! Every member should plan on being present on the 7th to help! This is our major fund raiser for the year!
• Support Our Returning Troops
Our meeting on October 20th gave us an opportunity to hear about the special counseling
and mental health needs of our returning troops and their families.
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Special Notes About Needham Rotary's 'Visioning' Meeting*NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER**
Tuesday October 27, 2015
--Special Visioning Meeting at The Needham Sheraton--
 Our club had it’s much anticipated ‘Visioning’ meeting on Tuesday night. All customary formalities were put aside, and the District leaders of the ‘Visioning’ exercise took us forward to the month of October in 2018 and said “The President of RI is personally inviting our club to submit our Club for prospective receipt of the ‘Distinguished Club Medallion”. Only 3 such medallions will be awarded worldwide.
Now, tell us why our club should be considered for this exceptional award.
So, in the year 2018, Look back at the last 3 years and tell us the goals that your club strived for and achieved based on the following questions:
For each question and answer, the leaders wrote on a 2’ x 3’ sticky sheet of paper, each answer given by any member of our club. At the end, there were 32 sheets of ‘answers’, which were then pasted on the wall. There must have been 150 to 200 answers on all the sheets. Everyone present was heard, and every answer listed.
The club members then went around putting sticky dots on the goals that each person liked the most. This had the effect of narrowing down the relevant from 15 possible to probably 30 ‘most lliked’ answers.
This was the easy part. Now our club must further review and rank the answers, then implement them, as we see fit.
This was a wonderful exercise to quickly distill what our club wants to do. Some answers were really simple to implement, others will take years.
Rajesh has agreed to transcribe the results of this survey, and to have them for the next Board Meeting on Tuesday November 10. In addition to going to the Board, they will be printed and handed out to all members.
Next, our Needham Visioning team (Consisting of Charles Nelson, Andy Winig, Ryan Damaso, Lois Sockol, Jim Brown) will assist in implementing them, and Glen Davis has volunteered to be the ‘Implementation Czar’).
We are all grateful to the District provided team of facilitators, as they worked very hard with us. They were:
Lynn Faust lynn.faust@verizon.net
Ed King eking@rotary7910.org
Laura Spear laura@spear.net
Kathy Wilfert kathy.wilfert@yahoo.com
(All Pictured Below)
 It was a very productive and insightful meeting. We all look forward to implementing the changes the membership wants. Stay tuned……
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Newsletter 10-13-15Rotary Club of Needham
Tuesday: October 13, 2015
Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America, led by Bob Cox
Invocation: Karen Wetmore
Announcements:
Guests:
Happy $$$: George H is happy that his house is sold and he is moving into a condo.
-Bob Cox is celebrating his 43rd wedding anniversary
-Andy W is happy to have participated in the dictionary project
-Kathy W had a great weekend with the Bandy Hefler visitors
-Libby was happy to meet Amadu and his mom
-Roz gave a happy $ for Ted and Marilyn
50:50: Looking for Ace of Spades: Number:499 Person: Charles Nelson. $397 in the pot!
Joke of the day: George H told a (true) story about Ron Sockol putting a stuffed owl in the rafters of his house when he did renovations for George many years ago. George rediscovered the owl a few days ago during a house inspection – he had completely forgotten about Ron’s practical joke. George will leave the owl for the new owner of his home. The owl looks real and is sure to surprise the next owner!
Guest Speaker: Andy Winnik presented “Who are you? What do you do?”
The key to successful networking is starting a conversation. A good trick is to respond “Awesome” when you are asked how you are. A conversation is the start of building a relationship. Be specific and wrap a success story into your elevator pitch.
Andy did a terrific job in his presentation, and was offering his book at a discounted price of $20, of which $2 is being given back to Rotary. Thanks Andy!
Andy maintains 4 web sites, which provides tons more info on his work:
Future Meetings: Next week tickets will be distributed for the Pancake Breakfast! Be there.
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Pancake Breakfast and Carnival Nov 7thBuy your tickets today to the Rotary Club of Needham's Pancake Breakfast and Carnival: http:/needhampancakes.eventbrite.com. Pancakes, kids games, pancake eating contest, all for a great cause. Hope to see you there. |
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Newsletter 10-6-15Rotary Club of Needham
Newsletter
Tuesday: October 6, 2015
Pledge of Allegiance: Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America; Led By: Karen Wetmore
Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich
Guests: - Patrick and Felicity Fairbrother, Bandy Hefler Rotarians from England
Announcements:
. Rich thanked everyone for their help at the NBA Harvest Fair on Saturday. We sold 20 tickets to our Pancake Breakfast and many signed up for our drawing. Alan Hammond was winner of basket. Thanks to Libby for making the basket!
. Rich also told us that over 400 students attended the High School Reality Fair. Our guests from the UK helped man tables which included a Rotary information table this year.
. Our Visionary meeting will be October 27th at 5:00pm at the Sheraton – no lunch meeting that day. We will need 20-25 attendees.
. We need ads for the placemats as well as help putting up posters around town.
. We are targeting January 30, 2016 for the Music festival in Powers Hall of the Needham Town Hall from 6:00-9:00pm. Let Greg or Bill know if you can help.
. There was a thank you in the St. Joseph’s Church bulletin for the Dictionaries and they mentioned our Pancake Breakfast.
. 2 Rotary dinners coming up – Oct. 14, 6:00pm in Boxboro, cost $25; Oct. 30 from 7:30-3:30.
. Deb Kazarian has been doing a great job selling tickets and ads for the Pancake Breakfast.
.Ted updated us on 2 Gift of Life recipients. Both were able to get necessary VISA’s and their surgeries have been scheduled.
. Louise told us that Briarwood was the winner of the NBA Souper Bowl contest and that BID Needham is having their annual gala on Nov. 7th at the Marriott in Boston. She is selling raffle tickets. You can contact her at the office if interested - $10 for 1 and $25 for 3.
. There will be a meeting Wednesday at 7:30am at Darrell’s for the Thanksgiving dinner with Community Council.
Happy dollars: Ted was happy for successful open heart surgery for Amadu Danso from Ghana; many were happy for our British guests, Reality Fair and Harvest Fair; Tom was happy for a good day at the Southwick Zoo; Roz thought the Souper Bowl last Saturday was fun; Libby was happy for her diet; Bill was happy for kick off of music awards; Louise happy for sunshine; Scott happy for his uncle who passed away last weekend.
50/50 drawing: $382 in pot; Felicity Fairbrother had number but no luck pulling right card.
Humor: None today
Presidential minute: None today
5 minute Rotarian: None today
Guest Speaker: Nate Kursite from Mass DOT Needham-Wellesley I-95 Add a Lane Project was speaker today. Barletta Heavy Division won project for Bridge 6 contract; they are currently working on stage 1 of 5; Kendrick St. is impacted by bicyclists; there will be a new bridge at Highland Ave. They goal of this segment of the project is to insure safety and functionality of I-95 and restore breakdown lanes in the area. We were able to sign up for weekly “ look ahead” of project with a shutdown of Kendrick St. scheduled for the end of Oct.-early Nov.
We can contact they at: Nathaniel Curtis, 617-482-7080 x236; ncabral-curtis@hshassoc.com
Next meeting: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton
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Newsletter 9-29-15Needham Rotary Newsletter
Tuesday September 29, 2015
The meeting was opened by President Rich Forte with the Pledge of Allegiance, Bob Cocks and Ron Sockol led us in God Bless America, and Rev. Darrell offered a prayer.
GUESTS: Our guests today were Jim Brown’s wife Susana, a Boston Rotarian, and our guest speaker, Ms. Steffi Karp. Plus, Anthony Guardia from BID Hospital in Needham: we wer trying to figure out if this is his last meeting as a member, or, if he is a guest. Either way, he is always welcome!
DICTIONARY UPDATE: Three schools were presented with dictionaries last week: St. Joseph’s (First time a private school in Needham has been included), Mitchell and Broadmeadow elementary schools.
ILf you have any pictures of these book givings, send them to Jim Brown hjbown@dictronics.com who will assemble a photo album on our web site of this years dictionary giving.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Louise spoke the fund raiser for VNA which was held at the Needham Golf Club. It was a success, and as usual, Louise was the key!
-Rich talked about the coming Harvest Fair at the Town Hall on Saturday. He passed around sign up sheets.
-Rich updated us on the Reality Fair on Monday October 5 at Needham High School.
-Rich also reminded us regarding the visioning meeting we will have on Tuesday October 27. in the evening in lieu of a luncheon meeting at he Sheraton. Get it on your calendar!!
-On 9/29 our guests will arrive from England per Karen and will attend the Reality Fair.
-Pancake Breakfast will be on 11/7 with shortened hours.
-District Meetings will be:
-10/14 Membership Forum at the Holiday Inn Boxboro
-10/31 A leadership meeting also at the same Holiday Inn
-11/14 There will be a giving Gala.
-Darrell announced an early October Thanksgiving committee meeting – date later at his church
HAPPY DOLLARS:
While there was much to be happy for, the envelopes went missing.
50/50: For the second week in a row, Chuck bought the lucky ticket but couldn’t pick the ten of spades. $369 in the pot.
Presidential Moment: Lois about the President who was born on 10-1-24. His Presidency was known for ‘Three Mile Island’ and for the Iranian hostage crisis. Yes, the ‘Peanut Farmer’ and Sunday School teacher, Jimmy Carter.
GUEST SPEAKER: Our speaker, Stefi Aronson Karp, gave us the history of LimmudBoston started. The first Limmud was organized in England in 1980. It is an all-day event which is ‘A Jewish Learningfest of Culture and Identity’. This event to be held on Sunday December 6 had 800 participants last year, and had 85 different class offerings.
Steffi attended her first Limmud in Atlanta, and decided she wanted to organize one in Boston, and has. It focues on Jewish culture and knowledge.
This is an event for folks of all ages, and will be at Temple Mishkan Tefila, 300 Hammond Pond Parkway in Chestnut Hill. See www.limmudboston.org for more details.
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Newsletter 9-22-15Needham Rotary Newsletter
Tuesday September 22, 2015
The meeting was opened by President Rich Forte with the Pledge of Allegiance, George Hoffmeister led us in America the Beautiful, and Rev. Darrell offered a prayer.
GUESTS: Our guests today were our speaker, Ms. Janet Britcher, her assistant, Marcia Kimm and Mercedes Long.
  DICTIONARIES: Before the meeting we married the dictionaries with the appropriate student labels and assembled the books by teacher and school. Bill gave us an update on their distribution and presentation to the students in the third grade around town. For the first time we are also including St. Joseph’s school.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Louise spoke regarding the Harvest Fair, October 3, at the Town Hall.
-Rich updated us on the Reality Fair on Monday October 5 at Needham High School.
-Rich also reminded us regarding the visioning meeting we will have on Tuesday October 27. in the evening in lieu of a luncheon meeting at he Sheraton. Get it on your calendar!!
-On 9/29 our guests will arrive from England per Karen and will attend the Reality Fair.
-Pancake Breakfast will be on 11/7 with shortened hours.
-District Meetings will be:
-10/14 Membership Forum at the Holiday Inn Boxboro
-10/31 A leadership meeting also at the same Holiday Inn
-11/14 There will be a giving Gala.
-Darrell announced an early October Thanksgiving committee meeting – date later at his church
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Darrell: Kudos to Bill Paulson and Go Pats,Doug: The pope’s visit, Bill Paulson: Thanks for the help with the dictionaries, Louise: Dana Farber Cancer walk in which her granddaughter, a cancer survivor participated, Scott Mc.: Glad to be back in Needham and his son moved back here also 2 houses away,
Deb and Mercedes: Happy to help out with the Dictionaries, Ken Davis: Happy New Year, help with the dictionaries and for the speakers, George H.: Looking for a refund of last week’s HD’s as his house is back on the market, Chuck Buyer and Jim Brown: HTBH, Paula: Welcome to our guests, Tom: Happy for a great beginning of Fall after a nice summer.
50/50: Chuck bought the lucky ticket but couldn’t pick the ten of spades. $351 in the pot.
Humor:
The crime boss and his attorney meet with his accountant.
"Where's the $3 million you embezzled from me?" demands the gangster. The accountant is silent. "Where's my $3 million?" the crime boss shouts. The lawyer explains, "Sir, the man is deaf. Allow me to translate." So using sign language, the attorney asks the accountant about the money, and the message is relayed back that the accountant knows nothing about it. Furious, the crime boss pulls out a revolver and puts it to the deaf accountant's head, screaming at the lawyer, "Ask him again where my money is!" "Okay! Okay!" the deaf accountant signs back. "The money's hidden behind the old toolshed in my back yard." "What did he say?" demands the enraged crime boss. The attorney replies, "He says you don't have the guts to pull the trigger." Doug dedicated this to Anthony Guardia for his last day, but he didn’t show up.
 GUEST SPEAKER: Our speaker, Ms. Janet Britcher, led us on a discussion on Transformational Management. Business owners need to provide for smooth, successful transitions in management changes. Her three bullet points for this are Self Reflection, Role Clarity and the Time Line. We broke up into small groups and discussed some issues we might have had an then discussed them with the entire assembly. See Janet’s web site at www.transformationmanagement.com
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Newsletter 9-15-15Rotary Club of Needham
Newsletter
Tuesday: September 15, 2015
Pledge of Allegiance: Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America; Led By: Karen Wetmore
Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich
Guests: - John Kitchen, speaker
Announcements:
. Rich showed us the new banners which will be put up on Chapel St during the month of October. GREAT JOB!! He also passed around the stickers that will be going into the Dictionaries prior to next Tuesday’s meeting at 11:30.
. Darrell’s backpack project raised $603 directly from members; board funding the balance; Karen and Darrell are working on rebate from the District.
. Marty agreed to host a couple for Bandy Heffler.
. Visionary event will be Tuesday, Oct. 27 – there will be no lunch meeting that day
. No one responded to Rich’s request for a chairperson for the Pancake Breakfast. However, Ryan stepped up to be Point Person and will contact us for our involvement.
. Ted gave update on two Gift of Life recipients. 21 year old, Dom, from Jamaica has been placed at MGH for CAT scan. He needs visas for himself and his mother. 21 month old, Amadu, is also due if she and mother can get their visas.
. Karen’s Bandy Heffler guests will be joining us at the Reality Fair; she will also ask them to tell us about Rotary in England at Oct. 6th meeting
.Reminder, come early Tuesday at 11:30am so we can put the stickers in the Dictionaries, so they can be distributed!!!
 . Anthony Guardia may not be here much longer – he worked himself out of his fund raising job at BID Needham. He hopes to transfer to Wakefield Rotary and will transfer to a corporate attorney. We will need a new speaker chairman. Ted will get speakers for Nov.; we will need someone to take over after that.
Happy dollars: Louise: happy to see some Rotarians at VNA fund raiser on Sept. 25th; George: for weekend, lunch with John Kitchen and looks like our house sold; Andy: happy for speaker, bike ride and beautiful day; Roz: vacation; Kathy: family cruise/honeymoon next week; Erica: beautiful weather; John: Pats and invitation to speak; Chuck, Charles and Paula: to be here; Darrell: thanks to Rotary members; Doug: only $1 left; Ron/Lois, Tom: happy new year; Libby: Rotary; Jim: delighted Roz has joined Newsletter committee; Ted: hoping visas granted for Amadu and Habin from Ghana trying to come into Boston for GOUNE open heart surgery; ?: happy Rich got moved and can now focus on Rotary and thanks Dan, a great Rotarian.
50/50 drawing: $338 in pot; Marty had number (third time in a month!) but did not pull the lucky 10 of spades
Humor:
A blind guy on a bar stool shouts to the bartender, "Wanna hear a blonde joke?" In a hushed voice, the guy next to him says, “Before you tell that joke, you should know something. Our bartender is blonde, the bouncer is blonde. I’m a six foot tall, 200 lb black belt. The guy sitting next to me is six foot two, weighs 225, and he’s a rugby player. The fella to your right is six foot five, pushing 300, and he’s a wrestler. Each one of us is blonde. Think about it, Mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?" The blind guy says, “Nah, not if I’m gonna have to explain it five times."
Presidential minute: Person is a current presidential candidate; born Sept. 15, 1951; an author who was brought up in poverty by single parent; graduated from Yale and Johns Hopkins; successfully operated on conjoined twins, joined at head. Answer: Ben Carson
5 minute Rotarian: None today
 Guest Speaker: John Kitchen, Three Squares New England. This is an all-volunteer group that provides funding for 14 non-profit food centered agencies. This is the largest single source of funds for many of these agencies. They will hold bike rides of various lengths on Sept. 20th; this is the 4th year with 300 riders and plans on collecting $300,000. The Needham Community Council/Food Pantry is one of the recipients of the funds. The solvable problem is to end hunger and food uncertainly; distribution and organization is the biggest dilemma. They strive to provide “good food” not just food. John also stressed that businesses should be involved in “Cause” marketing where your business takes part in doing good things. This also gives you content for social media. John also reminded us that it is not too late to donate for this year’s ride – threesquaresne.org.
Next meeting: Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 11:30 at Needham Sheraton so we can prepare Dictionaries!
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Newsletter 9-8-15**Rotary Update After Meeting on September 8, 2015**
The meeting was opened by Pres. Rich with the Pledge of Allegiance; Bob Cocks led us in a great rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’, and, Rev. Darrell led us in the Blessing.
Visitors: Carl Good, our guest speaker, from the Merrimac Valley Rotary Club.
Announcements:
-Pres. Rich is seeking two volunteers to chair the Pancake Breakfast event this November. If he does not find one, he will appoint two people. So, give it some thought….
-Karen repeated that the Bandy-Heffler exchange is still looking for hosts. Contact Karen if you can host. This year it starts Sept. 29. See:
-Gift of Life is trying to get two children into the U.S. Looks like they will be successful with the 22 month old, after working through the State Department. The case of the 21 year old is so severe, they have been unable to find a Doctor who is willing to perform the huge amount of work required. Not as optimistic a view.
-Darrell went to Maine last weekend to distribute the backpacks our club has funded. He says it was a tremendous event. These children are from primarily Congo and Angola. They have refugee status and will be on Maine welfare for 3 months. This church needs to speak 7 languages!
  -Bill Paulson says the dictionaries are on order, and that soon enough we will have an event to ‘stick and stack’ the labels into the dictionaries and stick them into boxes, before a Rotary meeting. This event is being funded by 4 sponsors:
-Louise Condon Realty
-Needham Bank
-Family Federal Bank
-Waddel and Reed
50/50: Marty drew the correct number (421), but drew the wrong card. $322 in the pot.
Presidential Minute: This President was born on 9-15-1858; He was first Pres., then Chief Justice of the Supreme Count (which he enjoyed more); He weighed 355 pounds, to the point that one of the platforms he was on actually collapsed! President Taft.
Happy Dollars: Great to be here-Bob Cocks, Erica Bond, Jim Brown; Great to work with all the wonderful Rotarians!-Marty; Great Labor Day Weekend-Ken Davis, Tom Savino, Chuck Buyer, Doug George; Happy to be here-our guest speaker Carl Good; ‘Welcome Back’-Kathy Whitney; ‘grateful for names in the ‘Happy Dollars’ section of the bulletin-Ted Shaughnessy; Loving the work of Polio Plus, and the hot weather-Andy Winig; Thanks to all who contributed towards the ‘backpack’ project-Darrell; Libby hoping to be the successful bidder on a home inNH; Good luck to the Patriots-Bill Paulson, Charles Nelson.
Joke of The Week: A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute. "Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $500,000, you did not give a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?" The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, "First, did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?" Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Um, no." The lawyer interrupts, "Or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?" The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was interrupted again. "Or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident," the lawyer's voice rising in indignation, "leaving her penniless with three children?!" The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no idea." On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, "So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to you?"
Speaker: Our guest speaker was Dr. Carl Good, A retired molecular geneticist, with studies in virology and disease detection, and who has been on polio immunization trips to Nigeria and Bangladesh. Clearly he knows and understands polio, eradication of it, and Rotary has been spearheading this program for 30 years. Most of the world is now ‘Polio Free’ (meaning no reported cases in a country for 3 years), with Afghanistan and Pakistan being the remaining 2 countries which still need our help.
 Dr. Good has been on several immunizing trips and actually worked to immunize and educate both the children and parents.
Our club has given thousands of dollars to this program over the years.
Rotary began fighting polio 30 years ago, and although our work has reduced the number of cases of the disease by 99 percent worldwide, new outbreaks and dangerous conditions make the total eradication of polio a constant challenge.
For example, in Côte d'Ivoire it's been over two years since the disease last surfaced. But with polio-endemic in nearby Nigeria, the possibility of a fresh outbreak looms over the country. The only way to keep the poliovirus at bay is to continue administering regular immunizations to all children under the age of five.
During National Immunization Days last year, 7.5 million children in Côte d'lvoire received two drops of oral polio vaccine, along with vitamin A supplements and de-worming tablets.
This accomplishment is underscored by our volunteers' willingness to put their lives at risk. Just last year, 20 polio vaccinators were killed in Pakistan.
 "Polio eradication is not an option, it's an obligation," says Richmond-Ahoua, chair of Rotary's PolioPlus Committee in Côte d'lvoire. "When you consider what's been done in Côte d'lvoire, despite the many obstacles we've faced, you are deeply convinced that polio will soon be eradicated."
For more info go to: http://www.endpolio.org/
To donate to this program, just give a check to Ryan Damasso.
This also led to the fact that some Rotary Clubs have donated to the ‘Wheelchair Foundation’ where $75 will fund a wheelchair to a person in need in another country. This is especially useful for polio patients, and other folks in other countries. See:
Perhaps this is a project we can donate to !
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Newsletter 8-18-15**Rotary Notes for Meeting held on August 18, 2015**
The meeting was opened by President Pro Tem Jim Brown with the Pledge of Allegiance; Bob Cocks led us in a great rendition of America the Beautiful; Karen led us in the Blessing.
Visitors: Our many guests today included the speakers:
- Skip Doyle and Bill Domings,
-Steve Stern who owns First Light, a home care company
-Eileen Porras who is a commercial banker with Salem 5. Eileen has just moved to Boston from New Jersey, and she is busy looking for a Rotary Club to join up here.
-Bill Paulson’s daughter, Sarah
-Chuck Buyers daughters Michelle and Julie.
George Hoffmeister led us in the Welcome song. Welcome back George!
Announcements:
-The reality fair has two dates upcoming. October 5, 2015 and May 23, 2016.
-Lois tried to trick us with Bill Clinton as our mystery president.
50/50 winning ticket was held by our guest, Eileen Porras but she didn’t pick the ten of spades. The pot is up to $264.00
School Backpacks for Students from the Congo and Angola: Darrell has approached the Board asking for $1167 to be used to pay for backpacks and new school supplies for children from Angola and the Congo, who are living in Portland Maine. Jim Brown pointed out that this came down to $32.00 per member, and it might be easier just to donate to the club $32 for a backpack complete with school supplies. So, bring a check with you Tuesday for $32, made out to Needham Rotary!! Below are the children involved:
 Happy Dollars for our guests, visioning, remembrance for General Leader, Africa being Polio free, vacations, a night at Fenway and the ever popular HTBH.
Doug’s humor:
A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.” The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?” The boy takes the quarters and leaves. “What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!” Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?” The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over!”
He replied: “Yeah, once I was driving along and came upon a person who was being harassed by a group of thugs. So I pulled over, got out a bat, and went up to the leader of the thugs. He was a big, muscular man with a ring pierced through his lip. Well, I tore out the ring and told him he and his gang had better stop bothering this guy or they would have to deal with me!”
Speaker: Bill Domings from the Northboro club, and District Governor Nominee Skip Doyle talked about visioning for Rotary Clubs and ours in particular which will be scheduled for a Tuesday night in mid October. This will be in lieu of a Tuesday lunch meeting. Their presentation described how we will discuss and get consensus around plans, goals, and a vision of where we want to be in three years, at the October meeting. There will be a survey coming to each of us via email soon. Fill it out and return it.
They stressed the importance of member involvement, and how that the big test is how our club goes about implementing each of the changes that this meeting will shows that our club wants.
We are looking forward to Bill and Skip’s return in mid-October!
This link will take to you to a sample of thePowerPoint Presentation which Bill and Skip delivered:
www.rotary.ie/ClubVisioningPPTPEPS2014.pptx
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Rotary Bulletin 8-11-15**ROTARY CLUB OF NEEDHAM **
Rotary of Needham
Tuesday: August 11, 2015
Pledge of Allegiance: Rich Forte
Song: God Bless America; Led By: Bob Cocks and Ron Sockol
Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich
Guests: - None
Announcements:
. Board approved Bill and Chuck’s 12 subject banner designs for Chapel St. Rich will check with Lara Spear for branding confirmation
. At August 18th meeting we will discuss our vision plans for the future of our club. We will have a Visionary meeting on an October Tuesday evening from 5:00-9:00pm at the Sheraton. Rich will ask a member to be chair of this group to establish and follow up on our goals for the upcoming years.
. Ryan will form a nominating committee for a successor plan. See Ryan is interested in being on the committee.
. Dictionary order has been placed. Distribution will include St. Joseph School this year. If you are interested in being a sponsor for all or part of cost let Rich know. (number of books – 23x24=552) We plan on including a bookmark with logo of sponsors on one side and the Rotary 4 way test on the other.
. Rich’s goal is to have all events revenue neutral.
. Bill received an email from a Needham resident whose niece is in Myanmar Rotary. They are looking for help after floods in the area. Bill asked if we could join with other clubs to help. He will get further information and report back.
Happy dollars: 5 year old who loves the dentist; GTBH; one request for rain between 1-4 am; proud father whose daughter has an apartment and a job with AmeriCorps but who also qualifies for food stamps; weekend trip with grandkids to Hopkinton State Park – great place.
Birthday: None today
50/50 drawing: $247 in pot; Kathy had lucky ticket. Still looking for the 10 of spades
Joke of the Day: Three very inebriated men hailed a cab and got in. The driver, seeing the state that they were in, started up the cab and then turned it off. The first man opened the door while handling the driver some money. The second man said “Thank you” on the way out. The third man slapped the driver, “Why did you slap me?” the driver asked. The third man answered, “You drove so fast you almost killed us.”
Presidential minute: He was 22nd president; an officer in the Civil War; instituted tariff and the Sherman Trust Act; he also made sure we have state forests today. Benjamin Harrison.
Great golfer born in August: Ben Hogan
Great tennis player born in August: Pete Sampras
Guest Speaker: None today
5 minute Rotarian: None today
Rich proposes preparing a calendar of events for the coming year that will need sponsors so it will be easier to approach the donors.
Dictionaries – Family Federal and Condon Realty interested
Thanksgiving dinner
Reality Fair
4th of July float
Pancake breakfast
Music festival
Spelling Bee
Chris Teachout at Needham Bank has been approached. We should also approach current and former scholarship recipients for both sponsorship possibilities and donations to the fund. We need volunteers to help collect names, addresses and emails for the winners. Ryan will work will Bill on this and start creating a solicitation letter. We should begin a “Pay It Forward” campaign and invite them to lunch.
501 (c) 3 statuses was again discussed and tabled until needed.
Next meeting: Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at 12:00 at Needham Sheraton
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Auust 4th Newsletter**Rotary Minutes for meeting held on August 4th, 2015**
The meeting was opened by President Rich Forte with the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’, Bob Cocks led us in ‘God Bless America’ , and Reverend Darrell Minnich led us in prayer.
GUESTS: Our guest speaker and District Gov. Jim Fusco; our Asst. District Governor and District Governor Nominee, Karen Gaffney.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-August 18th will be our preview of what the ‘Rotary Visioning Program’ will be all about. Rich is in the process of selecting a Tuesday night date in October for our 5:00pm to 9:00 pm actual ‘Visioning’ event.
-Thanks to Bill Paulson, Dan Tibma, Greg Cronin and Roz for moving the 6 ft tall Rotary Wheel for the parade to Avery Manor for safe keeping.
-The club is looking for a company to spend $1500 to sponsor our fall Dictionary handout to all Needham 3rd Graders.
-Our newest member Anthony Guardia, is jumping right in and is heading up the ‘Speakers’ Committee. If you want to join him, or, have ideas for guest speakers, please let him know.
-Bill Paulson received the plaque/picture or our Rotary Little League team. They are a 3rd and 4th grade travel team known as the ‘Navy Heat’.
-Ted mentioned that 3 year old Eliot returned to his home in Panama after his GOL surgery. Pictured below is Eliot and his family and friends welcoming him home.
 On the flight home, they got bumped up to first class, where they sat next to the former President of Panama, Mireya Mosoco!: What a thrill!! Pictured above are Eliot, jis parents, grandparents, and a new fried who helped them on the flight.
PRESIDENTAL MOMENT: Lois talked about the 31st President of the U.S. who is the only Quaker to be elected President, on August 10th, 1874: Herbert Hoover.
50/50: Winning ticket was held by Ted but didn’t pick the ten of spades.
Pot is at $235. He would have donated it all to the Gift of Life.
HAPPY DOLLARS: The ‘Happy happy table’ all pitched in $5 for a total of 238 years of marriage at the table. This includes Chuck, Bill, Tom, Lois and Ron! Ted Shaughnessy for GOL success with Eliot; Kathy for being back from sailing; Andy because he loves the heat; Rick Davis welcoming Anthony as a new member; Many HTBH and welcoming the DG and ADG.
DOUG’S HUMOR: A lawyer runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a sheriff. He thinks he's smarter being a big shot lawyer from New York and has a better education than an sheriff from West Virginia. The sheriff asks for license and registration. The lawyer asks, "What for?" The sheriff responds, "You didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign." The lawyer says, "I slowed down and no one was coming." "You still didn't come to a complete stop. License and registration please," say the sheriff impatiently. The lawyer says, "If you can show me the legal difference between slow down and stop, I'll give you my license and registration and you can give me the ticket. If not, you let me go and don't give me the ticket." The sheriff says, "That sounds fair, please exit your vehicle." The lawyer steps out and the sheriff takes out his nightstick and starts beating the lawyer with it. The sheriff says, "Do you want me to stop or just slow down?"
GUEST SPEAKER:
 ADG Karen Gaffney introduced our District Governor Jim Fusco. Jim has been in Rotary for 13 years, and his wife Karen has been a member even longer ! They are known in the District as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Rotary”!
Jim talked about the goals for Rotary International, including hopefully completing the Polio Plus program of eradicating Polio and 5 other childhood disease from the face of the earth. This program was started in 1985, and only two countries remain: Pakistan and Afghanistan. It will be wonderful when this is complete.
The President of RI’s theme this year is ‘Be a gift to the world!”. That is quite an assignment, one we should strive for every day.
Jim detailed how while Rotary membership continues to climb outside the United States, it is diminishing in the U.S. Our goal at Needham Rotary is to add a net of 3 new members. Who can you bring as a guest/potential member?
Jim’s final message was about the District Conference which will be held in Plymouth MA this year at the Radisson hotel. So, lock in the dates of Friday May 20 thru Sunday May 22 as the dates. At a minimum, we should all try to attend at least one event.
After such a great presentation, we know that our District is in good hands! The District website is www.rotary7910.org.
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Anthony Induction and DG VisitAnthony Guardia
We were delighted to welcome Anthony Guardia into our club last Tuesday. Anthony is a local guy at heart, having gone through the Wakefield MA school system, and from there went on to Suffolk University for his undergraduate work where he majored in Economics, and then to the Suffolk University Law School.
Anthony is the Major Gifts Officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham. This follows his work for other non-profits development, and his work for political candidates in the eastern Mass. Area.
Anthony just got married this month to Theresa Graves, and the newlyweds live in a condo in Wakefield.
In addition to work and family, Anthony enjoys hiking, outdoor sports, is a history buff and an avid Patriots fan. He was even a wrestler in high school!
Anthony has agreed to be on the club’s Social Committee and on the Speaker Committee, and is looking forward to being an active Rotarian.
If you have not met Anthony, go out of your way to greet him and to welcome him to Needham Rotary.
 DG JIM FUSCO TO VISIT TOMORROW!
Our Rotary District Jim Fusco will be visiting our club tomorrow, Tuesday. This is the required visit where Jim will lay out his plans for the year, and is our opportunity to ask questions of him. He is a great guy, and this will be a lively meeting. Don't miss it!
The BOD is asked to meet with him at 11:30 in the morning.
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Newslettr 7-28-15**Rotary Minutes for July 28, 2015 Meeting**
The meeting was opened by President Rich Forte with the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’, Bob Cocks led us in ‘God Bless America’ , and Karen Wetmore delivered the invocation.
GUESTS: Alan Wheelock, our guest speaker, Anthony Guardia, and the Rotarian couple from India who are staying with their daughter in Needham. Bob Cocks led us in the Welcome song.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-The District Governor, Jim DeFusco, is our guest speaker next week,. He would like to meet with the Board at 11:30am.
-Tom Savino read a thank you note from a 2013 Needham Rotary Scholar, thanking us 2 years in a row for her scholarship.
During the month of October, look up on Chapel St. and see 5 Rotary banners overhead. Thanks Bill Paulson.
-The reality fair has two dates upcoming. October 5, 2015 for the current seniors and May 23, 2016 for the current Juniors.
-Andy Winig has completed his first book: “Elevator Pitch Handbook”. I am sure this is a book we would all enjoy reading, and need! It can be purchased at: www.elevatorpitchhandbook.com
PRESIDENTIAL MOMENT: Lois talked about the wife of a President who was born on this day in 1929. Jackie Kennedy!
50/50: Winning ticket was held by Libby but didn’t pick the ten of spades.
Pot is at $220.
HAPPY DOLLARS: Louise, sorry to leave early; Lots of Happy dollars for the induction of Anthony; Lots of HTBH; Libby ‘Happy for Life”; Tom Savino for seeing Greg play at Jordan Hall; Scott for boating to Long island; Lois for the achievements of the New Horizon space shot to Pluto; Andy for his book.
DOUG’S HUMOR: Two campers are hiking in woods when all of a sudden in the bottom by a rattle snake. The friend kills the snake, cares for the 1st hiker and says “I’ll go to town for a doctor”, and he runs 10 miles to town. In town, he locates the towns only doctor who is in the midst of delivering a baby and says “I can’t leave, but here is what to do. Take a knife, cut a little X where the bite is,, suck it out and spit it on the ground.” The hiker runs back to his friend, who is in agony. “What did the doctor say?” the victim asks. His ‘friend says “He says you’re gonna die!!”
GUEST SPEAKER:
Alan Wheelock, President of Jones River Consulting, of Plympton MA, last spoke to us on January 7, 2014. This time, he spoke to us about his experiences in mentoring others. This is a very important part of any job. It has been said:
Tell me, and I forget.
Teach me and I may remember.
Involve me and I learn.
Ben Franklin
Alan said his biggest mentor was his Dad.
Only 13% of people say they are engaged at work, and mentoring can play an important part in increasing job engagement and satisfaction.
Alan was very complimentary of Rotary saying he has spoken to many Rotary clubs, and finds them all ‘..positive, proactive and fun!”. Thanks Alan. Visit Alan’s web site at www.jonesriverconsulting.com.
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Newsletter 7-21-15**Rotary Notes for Meeting Held on July 21, 2015**
The meeting was opened by President Rich Forte with the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’, Bob Cocks led us in ‘God Bless America’ , and Rev. Darrell led us in the Blessing.
GUESTS: Our guests today included: the speaker, Emily Spencer of Heartillerygroup.com, our guest speaker, and Anthony Guardia (Does he need a diversion after being married for only 15 days?). George Hoffmeister led us in the Welcome song. Welcome back George!!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
-Dues are going up by $25 per year. Look for the increase on the next billing.
-During the month of October, look up on Chapel St. and see 5 Rotary banners overhead. Thanks Bill Paulson.
-The reality fair has two dates upcoming. October 5, 2015 for the current seniors and May 23, 2016 for the current Juniors.
-We are looking for local businesses to underwrite the cost of some of our projects.
PRESIDENTAL MOMENT: Lois ran out of presidents born in July so she tried to trick us with Amelia Erheart. Good try! She also had a bit of humor: A police officer called in an unusual situation. A lady had just shot her husband for walking on her newly cleaned and still wet kitchen floor. The officer was asked by the station if entered the premises and was she was placed under arrest. He replied no. The floor was still wet.
50/50: Winning ticket was held by Dan Tibma but didn’t pick the ten of spades.
HAPP DOLLARS: for our guests, vacations, love for the victims and their families of the Tennessee violence, our vets, our speaker, Anthony’s and Theresa’s marriage, and the ever popular HTBH.
DOUG’S HUMOR: A man died and went to St. Peter. He was asked about his record, which wasn’t particularly good or bad. St. Peter then asked if there was any way the soul could help with the decision.
He replied: “Yeah, once I was driving along and came upon a person who was being harassed by a group of thugs. So I pulled over, got out a bat, and went up to the leader of the thugs. He was a big, muscular man with a ring pierced through his lip. Well, I tore out the ring and told him he and his gang had better stop bothering this guy or they would have to deal with me!”
Wow that’s impressive replied St. Peter. But it’s not on your record. When did this happen?
The soul replied: “About three minutes ago.”
GUEST SPEAKER:
Emily Spencer, a newlywed and military spouse whose husband was recently deployed. She spoke about her charity to send cards to the thousands of military personnel overseas to let them know of our appreciation for their efforts. In a year and a half she has sent over 300,000 cards in addition to “Care” packages. She can be contacted at Love@heartillerygroup.com or by mail to PO Box 612 in Norwood, MA 02062
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BOSTON OLYMPICS 2024 COMES TO NEEDHAM ROTARY!NEEDHAM ROTARY BULLETIN
July 14, 2024
We started this Tuesday's meeting with Pres. Rich leading us in the Pledge of Alegiance, Bob Cocks leading us in 'God Bless America', and Darrell providing the invocation.
GUESTS: Our guests were Mike Dowling, Brian Ashmankas and Thisha Morse (a Cohasset Rotarian), all from Boston Olympics 2024, and Ross Atkin, a Needham resident who is a retired sports writer from The Christian Science Monitor, and guest of Jim Brown, who was attracted to this week's Rotary meeting through an article in the newspaper. Ryan led us in a our 'Welcoming Song', which everyone enjoyed.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Louise passed around a picture of the Condon Realty float, which won the Grand Prize at the 4th of July parade! Congratulation Louise!!
JOKE: Louise also shared a jok entitled: "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam 3:(): Jerry was very concerned about his wife as he thought she was loosing her hearing due to aging. So, one day he stood behind her and said "Mary, can I get you anything?" Noticing no reaction from her, he moved a little closer and repeated a little louder "Mary, can I get you anything?" Still no answer. so, Jerry moved mush closer and said in a much louder voice "Mary, can I get you anything?" Turning towards Jerry and looking annoyed, Mary replied "Jerry, I've said NO three times!!".
PRESIDENTIAL MINUTE: Lois told us about the only President who was born on July 14th, and was the only President who had served as VP and President without the benefit of election by the Electoral College. Who was it? The 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford!
HAPPY DOLLARS: Erica was delighted to drop off two of her children at camp, and can't wait for the third child to go to camp in several weeks! Ryan gave a Happy Dollar for Mike Dowling, who was his bowling partner at a benefit one time.
BOSTON OLYMPICS 2024: Brian Mike and Trish all addressed the club about the upcoming Boston 2024 Olympics. This has been a very exciting time for Boston and the Olympics, but, if there is not more support, then the Olympic Organizing Committee here in Boston will not go forward with their bid. So, they are out drumming up support for the games. Mike delivered a wonderful slide show (which can be seen at www.boston2024.org ), detailing the changes which will occur.
 Mike said this is now known as the 'Transit Games' versus 'The Waling Games' when first presented. There will be venues all over the state, but the majority in Boston and close suburbs. The basketball event will be held in New York City.
They also noted that the Paralympics will follow the Olympics by some 2 weeks, using the same facilities as the Olympics.
Boston Olympics 2024 is really working to raise public awareness and if your group wants representatives to speak, just contact them.
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Bulletin 6-23-15Rotary Club of Needham
Sheraton Hotel
Tuesday: June 23, 2015
Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Davis
Song: God Bless America; Led By: Karen Wetmore
Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich
Welcome Karin Gaffney, Governor Nominee Designate from the Nashoba Valley Rotary Club
Guests: -
Happy dollars: Summer; upcoming wedding in 12 days; congratulations to incoming officers and Rich’s next 3 years as president; congratulations to Glen for his 2 years of service to us; son, James, wedding last Saturday; HTBH; see you in August – down east sailing in July; welcome Karin Gaffney; welcome scholarship guests and 2 weeks vacation.
Announcements:
. Thank you Ken Davis for going to Eagle Scout ceremony. He made the presentation representing Needham Rotary.
. REMINDER – there will be no lunch meeting at the Sheraton next Tuesday. We will have a picnic at Rich Forte’s house in Dover at 6:00 pm. Please let him know if you will be attending.
. Greg needs people for the 4th of July float in the Needham parade. Contact Rachel if you are available.
. Chaz returned from Rotary Exchange in Russia.
.RETURN OF 2014 HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS:
 . Sara and Nate told about their first year in school. Nate attended Providence College; declared finance and math as his majors and recently ran a marathon in honor of his dad suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Sara completed her first year at Georgetown with a major in government and 2 minors. She interned on Capitol Hill and plays the flute.
ROTARIAN OF THE YEAR:
Glen has started a new tradition at Needham Rotary by selecting one member who he awarded the 'Rotarian Of The Year' to. This first year, it is Bill Paulson, who we all know totally deserves! Bill is one of the most creative people we know, and is a 'doer' instead of a 'talker'.
Congratulations Bill: well deserved!!!
 OUTGOING PRESIDENT GLEN:
Glen had a few words before he was presented with a 'Past President's Pin' and Celebratory Gavel. He wanted to thank all Rotarians for their help and assistance during his 2 years as President. The changes he instituted wil help guide the Club forward. Glen said he is donating $250 to the scholarship fund in honor of his parents 50th anniversary and as a thank you for the past 104 weeks.
Finally, Glen was presented with his Paul Harris pin today, for his contribution during this past year.
Glen was thanked with a standing ovation from all members and guests for his great contribution and guidance to Rotary over the last 2 year. Great job Glen!!!.
 INDUCTION OF NEW PRESIDENT:
We were fortunate to have with us Karin Gaffney, District Governor Designate for the 2017/2018 Rotary year, to perform our inductions. Most important is Rich Forte, who is our incoming President:
 INDUCTION OF NEW BOD MEMBERS:
Karin then installed the new 2015-2016 Board of Directors:
 The new BOD members are as folows:
President: Rich Forte
Treasurer: Ryan Damaso
Secretary: Kathy Whitney
Director: Charles Nelson
Director: Ted Shaughnessy
Director: Jim Brown
Director: Libby Pero
Director: Marty Lindeman
Sergeant at Arms: Greg Cronin
Immediate Past President: Glen Davis
(Not all were present).
COMMENTS BY NEW PRESIDENT:
Rich started by thanking the retiring BOD members Karen Wetmore, Ken Davis and Dan Tibma. They had helped bring the club to where it is today: in very good shape!
Rich has 2 focuses for his year:
1. To try to build a realistic budget for the year, which will maximize our efficiency in doing good.
2. to establish some 'branding' for the club in an effort to publicize the club more which will create more new members.
So, our club is off to a great start! New President, new BOD, and a direction which can only help us to grow!!!
NOTE: Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at 6:00 pm at Rich Forte’s house, Dover, MA. Directions to follow.....
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Needham Rotary Bulletin 6-9-15Rotary Club of Needham
Sheraton Needham Hotel
June 9, 2015
 The meeting was opened by President Glen Davis with the Pledge of Allegiance, Bob Cocks led us in God Bless America and Darrell led us in the Blessing
Guests: Today, we welcomed our guests including the 2015 Needham High School Scholarship winners Regina Longley and Liam Walsh! Their parents were present as well as the Acting Principal of Needham High, John Bourne.
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50/50 Drawing: The 50/50 pot is $132. Liam got the winning ticket but picked the 9 of clubs, not the ten of spades as needed.
Announcements:
-We will have our cookout on June 30th at Rich Forte’s home in Dover.
-Our next meeting is a breakfast affair at 7:30 am tomorrow at the Sheraton
Ted updated us on the Gift of Life’s latest child, a 2 ½ year old from Panama who is at MGH facing open heart surgery. All the best.
-We have a slot approved for the fourth of July parade.
Happy Dollars: For the scholarship winners, Needham Cable for always being there for us, Bob Cocks for his daughter getting a job, Andy for all his recitals (and that they are over with).
Guest Speakers: Lois introduced Regina Longley and Liam Walsh, this year’s scholarship winners. Lois detailed how these students are the finest out of 50 applicants, and all applicants were really great. It made for a difficult decision but these winners just naturally rose to the top of the bunch!
Each of the two recipients gave us a brief overview of which activities they had been involved with as seniors, and what their aspirations are going forward.
Acting Principal John Bourne thanked the club for its continuous support of the High School and its students for more than 60 years!
Tom Savino then gave each of them an initial check for $2500 for the first of 4 checks, for each year of college. Over 4 years, this is a total of $10,000 for each student.
With recipients like this, we have nothing to worry about for the future of this country!
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Babson SpeakerBulletin of Kerry Healey's visit to Needham Rotary
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Newsletter 3-24-15 |
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Newsletter 3-17-15 |
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Meeting Notes from March 10, 2015Meeting Minutes Rotary of Needham Tuesday: March 10, 2015
Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Davis Song: America the Beautiful; Led By: Karen Wetmore Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich Welcome back Ron and Lois Sockol. Guests: • Rose Doherty, speaker • Faith Clooney, Medfield Rotary • Paula Kahr, Salem Five, prospective new member who submitted her application Guest Speaker:
Our speaker was Rose Doherty, of Needham. She wrote “Katharine Gibbs: Beyond White Gloves”. This famous school’s philosophy was: To produce quality work on demand.” Katharine was born in 1863 near Galena, Illinois and educated at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. She met and married William Gibbs and had 2 sons. Her husband died when she was 46, intestate. She went to work and established the most successful secretarial school in the world at 48. She was the CEO of 3 schools 2 years before women had the right to vote. She had schools in Rhode Island, Boston and New York. She was considered a marketing genius and opened a campus in Bermuda. Many famous people were graduates of this school including Meredith Viera. They were also secretaries of many famous employers such as Arthur Fiedler and the Kennedys. The schools were sold in 1960 to McMillan Publishing and ultimately closed in 2011. She was certainly a woman of character, courage and commitment. All her papers are at Brown University. Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 17, (St. Patrick’s Day) 2015 at Sheraton Needham Hotel Our speaker will be the Executive Director of Razzia's Ray of Hope, Patti Quigley. Our club has joined fifteen other clubs in our district this year in putting together a major District and Rotary International grant for Razzia Jan's school for girls in Afghanistan.
Announcements: • Glen reminded us of the NEF breakfast this weekend, Saturday, March 14th from 8-12 am. • NEF Spelling Bee will be this Saturday, March 15th at high school. Kathy, Lois and Marty will be our team. • Louise has arranged with Roche Bros. for flowers to be delivered to nursing homes on March 31st. We will meet at the Sheraton to label pots and assign deliveries. • There will be a combined meeting with Newton at Brae Burn Country Club in Newton on May 12th Happy dollars: Ken and Rich enjoyed great trip to Edward Kennedy Institute; Karen visited Rosie’s Place in Boston with Carter Church Women’s Group on Saturday; Greg, Jim, Rich and Doug glad to see and hear Rose Doherty speak about Katharine Gibbs School; George glad not to have to wear an overcoat and for his son’s 44th birthday tomorrow; Ron happy to be married to Lois; Andy and Roz glad for warmth; Bill happy for innkeeper selling inn in a lottery, seeing Erica again and warm weather; Kathy looking forward for Paula joining us; Bob for no freezing weather; Paula for longer days; Lois glad to be back; Marty happy basement not flooded; Birthday: Happy day to Tom Sovino who got a birthday kiss from Lois. 50/50 drawing: $34 in new pot; king of diamonds new card but Andy was not lucky today Joke of the Day: 2 jokes from Doug: #1. A crow was sitting on top of a ladder doing nothing all day. A rabbit asked him: “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?” The crow answered: “Sure, why not?” So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow and rested. A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it. Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up.
#2. Here is a Florida woman’s story against an alligator attack: ‘While out walking along the edge of a pond just outside of The Villages with my son and soon to be ex-husband discussing property settlement and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 12 ft. alligator which suddenly emerged from the murky water and began charging us with its large jaws wide open. She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive. If I had not had my little Beretta Jetfire .25 caliber pistol with me, I would not be here today! Just one shot to my estranged husband’s knee cap was all it took. The ‘gator got him easily and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brink pace. It’s one of the best pistols in my collection! Plus the amount I saved in lawyer’s fees was really incredible.” |
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Club News and Events for March 3, 2015Let the Music Flow in Needham!The wonderful sounds of music in Needham surrounded us at our meeting of March 3rd as we welcomed the winners of the Rotary Music Competition held in January of 2015 at Powers Concert Hall in Needham! The Needham High School male a capella group, The Subway Dwarfs, and twelve year old singer and keyboardist, Mackenzie Clement, serenaded us. Our weekly singing of "America the Beautiful" and our "Welcome Song" for guests has NEVER sounded so melodious!
  As winners of our Music Competition, The Subway Dwarfs and Mackenzie Clement, each received a cash prize presented by Rachel, Greg and Bill, and were treated to a great luncheon at the Sheraton. We also got to hear a little about the future plans of the graduating senior singers from Needham High School.
Mackenzie was joined by her father, who is also her manager, photographer and sound technician! As a bonus, Needham Rotarian Bob Dunning, who is a life-long friend of Mackenzie's family, enthusiastically joined in the music and celebration! Thanks to Greg, Rachel and Bill for their leadership in the Music Competition Program!
Bill also presented a check to Ms. Kate Findlen of the Needham "Friends of Music" to help support music education and performance programs at Needham High School.
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NEWSLETTER FOR FEBRUARY 24, 2015COME APPRECIATE OUR WINNERS FROM THE MUSIC COMPETITION IN JANUARY! WE WILL BE HONORING OUR WINNERS AT OUR LUNCHEON ON TUESDAY, MARCH 3RD AT THE SHERATON.
Student Category: Subway Dwarves - Needham High School's male A Capella group.
Professional Category - Mackenzie Clement, 12 year old singer-songwriter who has performed in Gillette Stadium.
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Newsletter for February 17, 2015The continuing effects of the cold and snow resulted in our speaker for the February 17th, Massachusetts Salvation Army Commander David Davis, cancelling.When will this end, this Snowmegeddon?
Spring is just around the corner (according to Louise Condon), and now all we have to do is make sure that this doesn't happen!
So put your cares away and come our club meeting on February 24th! Come and hear Ms. Lori van Dam, Executive Director of One Fund Boston!
One Fund Boston was founded to raise money for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. Lori is the first executive director to oversee the "evolution of the organization." Begun by Governor Patrick Deval and Mayor Thomas Menino on April 16, 2013, the One Fund Boston was intended to heal the wounds of a great city and region by helping the survivors and families of the bombing victims. "The greatest message we have received is that nothing can stop the generosity, courage, and unconditional love we have for one another."
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Newsletter for February 10, 2015Needham Rotary ClubTuesday: February 10, 2015 Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Davis Song: God Bless America; Led by Bob Cocks Prayer: Led by Reverend Darrell Minnich Today’s Speaker: Our speakers today were from ‘School the World’, a Boston based group who works with high school students in Central America to build and equip schools, with the understanding that: “171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills.”
The 4 NHS students who were with us today will all travel to Guatemala during April vacation with the plans to: -Help them construct a new school -Equip that school -Teach the teachers how to engage the students -Engage the parents in how to be actively involved with and the importance of their participation in their children’s education. A total of 11 NHS students will be going to Guatemala, and working in this school. School the World matches $5 to $1 donated from the Guatemala government and parents, to build this school and equip it. (during the first year). Second year it is a 4 to 1 match; 3rd year 3 to 1, etc. though 5 years. They are a wonderful group of students, all excited and enthusiastic about going there during vacation. Each student is required to raise $3500. When asked why this group of students wanted to go, they said: “Because of the importance of education, and to share the opportunity.” “I value parents participation in their children’s education.” “Education will help these students lift themselves out of poverty.” “To help that community.” A very sincere and enthusiastic group of students. Go to www.sharetheworld.org to learn more. Announcements:
•Ted Shaughnessy reported that Gift of Life’s child has just arrived from Central America and will be operated on in the Maine Medical Center. •Roberta Seligman has submitted her resignation. •NEF will be hosting a pancake breakfast the first Saturday in March, and Needham Rotary will assist! If you can spend some hours there, please alert Glen and sign up. •HELP THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED US! Buy a couple of tickets to dinner and Beatles music on Sat, March 7th to help PluggedIn, the Needham youth band program. Our music event was greatly aided by the sponsors of PluggedIn!
Guests: Paula, second time visitor who works for Salem 5 Bank, friend of Bill Paulson. From our guest speaker group, ‘School the World’, Alana Flanagan, Communications and Outreach Manager; Mrs. Ronnie Schauer, mother of Tori Schauer, one of the NHS students; Olivia Curran; Grace Ward; Meghan Stevens. Happy dollars: Rich Forte for the snow(???); Greg Cronin celebrating the return of our President from sick call; Jim Brown GTBH; Doug for the smiley faces and sun; Ken Davis for our guests; Libby for our guests; Andy for GTBH; Chuck who is looking forward to more snow; Kathy looking forward to a good safe trip to Spain; Guest Paul for not having to shovel; Bob Cocks and Darrell for GTBH; Darrel added $10 for more snow; Guest Ronnie for us all to be safe in the snow. Birthday: We sang Happy Birthday for Bob Cocks and (in abstentia) George Hoffmeister, who both share Valentine’s Day as their birthday. 50/50 drawing: $978 in the pot with now 4 cards only left. No winner this week despite Darrell having the right number! Joke of the day: Some actual Al Gore statements from Ken Davis: “I am not part of the problem, I am a Democrat.” “We’re going to have the best educated American people in the world.” “I stand by all the misstatements that I’ve made.” “A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.”
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Needham Rotary Newsletter for Feb 3, 2015SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW is the theme for February!
Get your gaiters, tall boots and snowshoes out! We're up to our hips in the white stuff and it's being piled in Needham over our heads! In spite of the snow, we WILL meet on Tuesday, Feb 10th according to a now healthy President Glen! Our program will be presented by a group of Needham High School folks who had created a project in Guatemala to construct a new school for a very needy community. Our Meeting on Feb 3rd: In spite of the snow, our luncheon on Feb 3rd was held at the Sheraton and was hosted by Rich Forte (due to Glen's illness). As a special treat, we had the Rotary Club of Newton join us for lunch. They gave a special presentation on a new international project they are sponsoring in Agra, India, near the world heritage site of the Taj Mahal. They are attempting to work with local Agra residents to help create on-going clean up projects to help make Agra a more inviting tourist destination. The project was started by Erin White, the daughter of a Newton Rotarian. Erin was murdered in the streets of Agra last year by a deranged man. Her father has pledged to continue her work there.
We also witnessed the pay off of the Superbowl bet between Marty and Rich! The LOSING Seahawk fan got down on one knee giving tribute to the Patriots and gave Rich his green beads and handed over a $20 bill to Rich to be donated to the Needham Rotary Club service fund. But Marty claims the Seahawks now own one "Superbowl record." They will be known forever for the "worse play call in the history of the Superbowl."
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Newsletter 1-13-15Needham Rotary Club Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Davis Announcements: Guests: None. Happy dollars: The Pats, Gary Zeller going to Florida, Lois for the NHS Math team, Ken Davis for a Happy New Year, and others HTBH!! Presidential Moment: Lois gave us hints for the President of the day who was FDR. Birthday: None admitted 50/50 drawing: $925 in the pot with 7 cards only left. Rachel finally had the correct number, but did not pull the right card. Now it get’s interesting!!! Joke of the day: Courtesy of Doug George: A crusty old Marine Corps Colonel found himself at a gala event downtown, hosted by a local liberal arts college. There was no shortage of extremely young, idealistic ladies in attendance, one of whom approached the colonel for conversation. She said, "Excuse me, sir, but you seem to be a very serious man. Are you this way all the time, or is something bothering you?" "No," the colonel said, "just serious by nature." The young lady looked at his awards and decorations and said, "It looks like you have seen a lot of action." The colonel's short reply was, "Yes, a lot of action." The young lady, tiring of trying to start up a conversation, said, "You know, you should lighten up a little - relax and enjoy yourself." The colonel just stared at her in his serious manner. Finally the young lady said, "You know, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but when is the last time you had sex?" The colonel looked at her and replied, "1955." She said, "Well there you go; you really need to chill out and quit taking everything so seriously - I mean, no sex since 1955, isn't that a little extreme?" The colonel, glancing at his watch, said in his matter-of-fact voice, "Oh, I don't know. It's only 2130 now!" Guest Speaker: Our scheduled speaker, State Reo. Denise Garlick, was delayed in Boston, and could not get to Rotary. She will be rescheduled. |
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Newsletter for Tuesday, 6 January 2015 Meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in NeedhamOur guest speaker for Tuesday, January 13th will be State Representative Denise Garlick (13th District)
Come and listen to our newly reelected state representative as she briefs us on the work of the state house of representatives and the challenges of funding a state deficit of about $500 million. She'll also be working with the new Republican Governor, Charlie Baker! That's an experience Democrats don't get to have very often. News for All Rotarians To celebrate the milestone of India being polio free, 40,000 people in Chennai, India were mobilized by Rotary in December and were formed into the world's largest flag. They set a Guinness world record by breaking the previous record of 30,000 people in Lahore, Pakistan!
District 3230 Rotarians first formed a blue wheel for the inside center of the flag. They were joined by RI President Gary C.K. Huang and his wife.
Another 50,000 people came to watch, and the whole group practiced on the day before. The participants had to hold their colored placards over their heads for five minutes before the event became official.
Congratulations to Needham Rotarian Ted Shaunghnessy and Gift of Life New England! The Dedham Rotary Club recently gave $500 to GOLNE! Since last summer, Dedham Rotarian Carmen Nazario, has been volunteering her Spanish language skills to aid in translations for four families who traveled from Latin America to Boston to receive life-saving heart surgeries.
Needham Rotary 2nd Annual Music Competition on Saturday, January 31, 2015 We need every club member to promote and buy tickets this week for the 2nd Annual Needham Rotary Music Competition on Sat, Jan 31st at the Needham Town Hall. If you buy tickets with cash this Tuesday, we save the on-line (Eventbright) ticket fees. We also need help putting out yard signs in the next two days. The Music Event committee will be meeting on Tuesday right after the end of the luncheon meeting.
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2nd Annual Music Competition - Jan 31st
Rotary Club of Needham's 2nd Annual Music Competition, January 31st Tickets are now on sale for the Rotary Club of Needham's Music Awards Night. There will be student musicians as well as professional musicians. With your tickets you will receive a discount at many of the wonderful Needham restaurants. Enjoy a nice meal and then come see friends and enjoy a great night of music in a wonderful setting. The proceeds from the night will help us fund the many service projects we will do in 2015 including flowers for the elderly, the NHS Reality Fair, NHS scholarships, dictionaries for 3rd graders, the Thanksgiving Dinner, smoke detector battery replacements, etc. You can buy tickets through any of Needham's Rotarians or online at http://needhammusic.eventbrite.com When: January 31st, 6:30pm - 9:30pm Where: Powers Hall in Needham's Town Hall Meal Deals: Area restaurants will be providing discounts for people that are attending the event. Cost: $15 for tickets bought online or through one of the Needham Rotarians. $20 if bought at the door. Awards will be given to the best act from the student division and the best act from the open division. |
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New Years Eve Eve Newsletter |
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Our Holiday Newsletter 12-23-13 |
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Newsletter 12-9-14 |
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Newsletter for December 2, 2014 |
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Newsletter for Nov. 25-Needham Wellesley Football DinnerAnnual Needham Wellesley Football Dinner held at the Needham Sheraton Hotel. Pres. Glen led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Bob Cocks conducted 'God Bless America' and Karen Wetmore delivered the invocation. Every year, the Needham and Wellesley Rotary Clubs get together to host each other to celebrate the nation's oldest H=High Scholl football Rotary. This was the 127th year of this match up. Present were the Seniors from the Needham and Wellesley football teams, the Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Athletic Trainers, Director and Assistant Athletic Directors, High School Principals and Superintendents of both schools. CLUB CHALLENGE:This year, for the first year, Superintend Dr. David Lussier of the Wellesley School system challenged Dr. Dan Gutekanst of Needham as follows: if Needham wins, he will deliver a platter of sandwiches from the 'Linden St. Deli' in Wellesley to Needham's central staff. Not to be outdone, Dr. Gutekanst said if Wellesley wins, he will deliver bagels from Bagel's Best in Needham to the Wellesley School central office for breakfast. (Well, looks like Dr. Lussier will be visiting Needham!!!). GUEST SPEAKER: The guest speaker was Gary Gillis, former sports broadcaster in Boston, and son of Don Gillis, another former sports broadcaster who was on Channel 5 for years. Gary played in 'The Game' in 1973, and went on to play football at Harvard. His most famous appearance at Harvard was when the were playing Yale in the fourth quarter of the final game of the season when the famous coach Joe Restik turned to the bench, his eyes locked on Gary, and the coach said "Yale is ahead by a score of 39 to zero. Is there anyone else who hasn't played?" That's when Gary went in. Gary went on to say how wonderful it was to play team sports, and the relationships with teammates and competitors last a life time. To this day, he still sees guys he played with and against around town, and there is an immediate bond. with them. Sports are important, they teach you to strive for a goal, and teach one the humility which is so necessary.
FUTURE WELLESLEY EVENT: Wellesley Rotary member Tory de Fazio told us about a May 2015 event they are planning for the musical event with Sol Y Canto in Concert. Tickets are $30 each. See their web site.
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Newsletter for Nov. 18, 2014 |
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Newsletter 11-4-14Our meeting this past Tuesday, November 4th, was a good one!
Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Davis
Announcements: -Kudos to all for a great Rotary Pancake Breakfast! -Remember, Nov. 18th is our appreciation lunch for advertisers. -No meeting next week: Veteran’s Day! -Ted gave us an update on 2 Gift of Life children. Guests: Tom Nutile; Dave Caruso, and his assistanr. Happy dollars: Many for the pancake breakfast: what a win-win-win this was! Great job everyone. Some for no more political ads (couldn’t have come soon enough!):, Scott on another vacation. 50/50 drawing: $756 in pot; Marty Lindemann number was pulled, but no luck. Stay tuned for next week.
Guest Speaker: Dave Caruso, wealth manager at Coastal Capital Group LLC, created a talk for our meeting on November 4th around what turned out to be a “straw man” argument. That is, should we continue to invest our money into a stock market that many say has reached its maximum level of value? Dave showed us graphs, statistics and lots of math that said on the surface, “DON’T.” Then, he gave us ten minutes of data and charts that took us from a limited current market perspective to a fifty year perspective of the up and downs of the market that has continued to move upward. Conclusion: We may pause a bit, but look for the market to grow substantially more over the months ahead! Put your money in and be patient. Website: http://www.coastalcapitalwealth.com/ Joke of the Day: Later that night the little girl says to her mother, 'I know how old you are. You are 32.' |
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NEWSLETTER FOR 10-28-14 AND THE WEEK OF PANCAKES!PANCAKES FOR ALL WAS THE FOCUS OF THIS PAST WEEK! The 2014 Needham Rotary Annual Pancake Breakfast was the subject of our meeting on October 28th! After reading a very large thank you for dictionaries from one third grade class, Bill Paulson and Glen Davis led a roomful of volunteers in getting the final details organized and the tasks distributed for November 1st!
FINALLY, ON NOVEMBER 1st, THE BIG DAY ARRIVED! Needham Rotarians were creeping around in the early morning darkness around 5:45 trying to find the open door to the Needham High School cafeteria. The set-up began! President Glen barked out orders! Ted fired up the grill with his name emblazoned on the front! Charles rolled in the big tanks of helium. Erica, Bob and Ryan set up the ticket table. Bill, Andy, Jim and Libby set up the games. Others pitched the Shelterbox tent and began inflating balloons. Placemats were laid out by Ryan. Coffee was made by Chuck. It was an incredible outburst of energy from 6:00-7:00 am! HERE'S SOME OF THE ROTARIANS AND VOLUNTEERS THAT MADE THE EVENT POSSIBLE:
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Newsletter 10-21-14, Including Bowling Results!!STOP THE PRESS!! Candlestick pin bowling is alive and well in Needham!The new Social Committee of the Needham Rotary Club held it's first event on Wednesday, October 22nd. The event was a bowling party at the Needham Bowlaway, complete with pizza, prizes, and lots of personality. Thirty-two people attended, including spouses and children of eighteen Rotarians. After a hectic start, teams of six took over five lanes and the competition began. For native New Englanders, candlestick pin bowling came more naturally, but for "regular" pin bowlers, this was definitely a "cross cultural" experience. What's with that little ball without any finger holes? How can you hit the head pin and only knock down two pins? Here's the form that every participant should have exhibited:
It soon became apparent, however, that our Rotarians hadn't studied the desired form and should probably stick to "Service Above Self" and forget about "Bowling Against Others." A Bowlaway record was set for most gutter balls in one evening! Jim Brown went home early rather than resort to loud swearing! Ken Davis muttered lots but finally figured out how to operate the "time capsule" electronic score machine! Regardless of the final scores, a fun time was had by all! Libby Pero, Kathie Lindemann, and Gary Zeller were the high scorers, and each took home a lovely prize of Rotary apparel, courtesy of Greg Cronin (contact Greg for orders over a dozen). Thank you to the entire social committee, led by Chairman Chuck Buyer! Our next event will be the Holiday Party in December at Erica Bond's house. |
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NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER FOR 10-14-14Our guest speaker for October 14th was State Senator Richard Ross of Wrentham.
The Senate Districts have been realigned, but Senator Ross still has precincts of Needham in his district, as well as eleven more towns. He was elected to the Senate in 2010, and served as a State Representative since 2005. Senator Ross was active in town politics prior to that in his home town of Wrentham. He owns and operates the R.J. Ross Funeral Home in Wrentham. His family arrived in the U.S. in 1609, and has been active in politics since their arrival.
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NEWSLETTER FOR OCTOBER 7, 2014
NEEDHAM ROTARIANS IN ACTION THIS WEEK: DICTIONARIES DELIVERED TO THIRD GRADERS AT ELIOT SCHOOL IN NEEDHAM!
STATE SENATOR RICHARD ROSS OF WRENTHEN WILL BE OUR GUEST SPEAKER ON OCTOBER 14TH AT THE SHERATON:
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NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER 9-30-14THIS IS A BIG WEEK IN NEEDHAM as the Needham Rotary Club continues the delivery of 456 new dictionaries; one to each 3rd grade student at each of five Needham elementary schools. The latest school receiving free dictionaries was Hillside Elementary, and Rotarians Roz Fisher, Erica Bond and Bill Paulson had fun delivering the goods to the kids!
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NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER 9-23-14Needham Rotary welcomed District 7910 Governor Val Callahan who is in the midst of the DG's annual visitation of each Rotary club in the district. DG Callahan, a warm and gracious person, presented club president, Glen Davis, the 2014-15 Rotary banner which is a symbol of our current RI leader, President Gary C.K. Huang of Taipei, Taiwan. This year's emphasis or focus is found in the slogan, "Light Up Rotary!" His favorite quote is from Confucius: "It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness."
What does "Light Up Rotary" mean? Gary C.K. Huang believes that we Rotarians go around doing good, helping people in need and building better communities around the world but "Shhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone!" Rotary is one of the best kept secrets in the world! If we are to "build our brand," increase our membership, and generate more donations we can use to help more people, we need to publicize our efforts and tell our story in every community we operate.
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Newsletter 9-16-14: Learn about the committees!Rotary Club of Needham
Guests: Announcements: Happy Dollars: George and Kris Hoffmeister are about to start a 3 week trip to Spain! Have fun George! Marty’s son has been chosen to be the kicker on his 8th grade football team. Not bad for a boy who had not played football before! Bill Paulson for his daughter Sara, and, a dollar for the opening of the Dog Park in Needham, which he was instrumental in putting together! Louise ‘Happy Dollar’ trying to generate support for the Stanley Tippet fundraising dinner. Louise has tickets. Let her know if you can go! A number of ‘HTBH’s (Happy to be here). 50/50 drawing: Andy Wining had the winning number, but not the winning card. The pot stands at $581!! 5 minute Rotarian: no one today. Joke of the day: no joke Birthday: No one fessed up today Guest Speaker: We had committee updates from the: -Social Committee: October 22 bowling event. |
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Needham Rotary Newsletter 9-9-14Rotary Club of Needham
Our guest speaker this week was Bob Steele from Ledyard, Connecticut. Bob is Chairman of Connecticut-based NLC Insurance Company and has been a director of numerous other companies, including the American Stock Exchange. A graduate of Amherst College and Columbia University, he served in the CIA and Congress, and was a nominee for Governor of Connecticut. Certainly a well-informed and accomplished person, Bob has been very disappointed how casinos have worked out in Connecticut. Despite their great promise of "economic improvement" and an abundance of good jobs, Bob found just the opposite in his state. He found that the jobs which were created were primarily low paying jobs, and instead of economic development, he found moral destruction. Connecticut has since been labeled the "Embezzlement Capital of the United States" with the Ledyard Tax Collector being indicted for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay her gambling debts. Studies have found that almost half of his state's gamblers are ‘addicted’ to gambling. Increases in the number of people addicted to gambling is hardly a good thing. What started as the 1988 Indian Gaming Act in Congress has resulted in 1,000 casinos in the U.S., in 39 states, with Massachusetts and Kentucky scheduled to be next. Half of the casinos are Indian-owned; the other half are commercial ventures. Bob got so concerned about the deterioration of his region from the byproducts of big-time gambling that he wrote a novel entitled The Curse: Big-Time Gambling’s Seduction of a Small New England Town. He believed that telling the story of gambling's many ills was better shown as a good story rather than a dry documentary or non-fiction work. Bob gave a clear and very compelling presentation and sold a number of copies of his book at our lunch meeting.
With "Referendum Question 3" on Massachusetts ballots on November 4, 2014, the time may be right to vote against this concept for Massachusetts. What do you think? You can see more of Bob Steele on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4P-w2k4GxU Meeting Minutes: Pledge of Allegiance: President Glen Davis Guests: Announcements:
Happy Dollars: Ken and others for great weather! Chuck for having lunch with such excellent company as us (watch out; he may want to borrow money next week!) Lois and others for being able to vote in the Commonwealth’s Primary election on this day! Bill Paulson for the opening of the Dog Park, and for his good meeting with the folks at the Newman School who offered to loan us games for the Pancake Breakfast! Ron Sockol just glad to be here! Doug George for being able to present the Eagle Scout Award from Needham Rotary this week to Needham’s most recent Eagle Scout, Brenden Albertson of St. Sebastian’s school! Andy for his youngest daughter going off to pre-school today! Bob Cocks for two weeks in Hilton Head! Roz for vacation! Roberta for HTBH!! Lois’s Presidential Minute Quiz: This President was the 27th President of our country; he was the only President born in September; he served only one term; he was the only President to then become the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; President William Howard Taft, President from 1909 to 1913. (He was also the only President whose weight once collapsed the speaker's platform)! 50/50 drawing: The great Needham card scandal was finally overcome by the purchase of a card deck that actually had the queen of hearts included! Thanks to Greg for restoring the integrity of the weekly drawing and demonstrating the first of the four Rotary tests; "Is it the truth?" Unfortunately, Marty had lucky number 441, but he drew the Jack of Spades. 5 minute Rotarian: no one today Paraprosdokians (Winston Churchill loved them) are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected and is frequently humorous: 1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it. 2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you ... but it's still on my list. 3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak. 4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. 5. We never really grow up -- we only learn how to act in public. 6. War does not determine who is right, only who is left. 7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. 8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research. 9. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you. 10. In filling out an application, where it says, "In case of emergency notify ... " I answered "a doctor." Birthday: No one today
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PANCAKE BREAKFAST, APRIL 1st IN NEWMAN CAFETERIA
Well, it's that time again. The leaves are changing, the soccer fields are full. Must be time for the Annual Needham Rotary Pancake Breakfast! This year's pancake breakfast will be on Saturday, April 1 from 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Needham High School. Buy your tickets today at: https://needhampancakes.eventbrite.com. |
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Newsletter 9-2-14**Rotary Club of Needham** Tuesday: September 2, 2014 Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Jim Brown, President pro tem Song: America the Beautiful; Led By: Karen Wetmore Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich
Announcements: . Bob Dunning broke his leg about 6 weeks ago. A ‘Get Well’ card was passed around and mailed. . Bill Paulson updated us on Bill Rosenberg’s brother who passed away recently. . Bill Paulson told us that the dictionaries are due this week, and a ‘labeling attaching session” may be called. Keep your eyes open for the email! . Bill Paulson also told us that we will have a table at the NBA Harvest Fair. He still needs people to sign up for the 1-3 shift in the afternoon. . Roz Fisher is working on the Pancake Breakfast on Nov. 1st at the high school. . Jim Brown reminded us that there will be a speaker next week. The topic will be Impact on Casinos’ on Towns. Meeting the following week will be a review of our committee assignments and duties. . Louise Condon let us know about the NBA involvement in the Ice Bucket Challenge. It will take place tomorrow, 9/3 at 5:30 pm at the Needham Town Hall. It has also been decided that the businesses involved will donate 10% of their proceeds to ALS on Sat Sept. 6th. . Fund raising committee will meet on Thurs., Sept. 4th at 7:30 am at Ryan Damaso’s office. . Rotary District meeting will be held on Sept. 18th. Ken Davis would like a couple of representatives to attend. The meeting is at 5:30pm at the Best Western in Marlboro. . Darrell Minnich reminded us that the Thanksgiving lunch with Community Council will be held again this year. Bill Paulson agrees to be the Master Chef again this year. Darrell needs a mashed potato masher this year. Set up usually takes place on Wed. at 4:30 pm; cooking starts at 7:30 am on Thanksgiving Day and take out sets at 10:30. Guests: Slim and none Happy Dollars: Good Labor Day; great weekend beating my son at Boy Scout camp on Lake Winnipesauke; great vacation with family; great end of summer weekend sailing Newport Bay, St. Anthony’s Festival and golf at Millis; many happy to be here; daughter, Alexandra, moving into BU as sophomore; for 41 years of married bliss; another great weekend sojourn to St. Anthony’s Festival in North End; football; great sail in Gloucester on board Schooner Adventure who came in 2nd in race; great weekend in Chatham; sorry to be at another meeting next week and Go Pats!Lois’ presidential minute: none 50/50 drawing: $520 in pot; Bill Paulson had lucky number but not the right card. Well, come to find out, with all the money in the pot, after today’s drawing it was discovered that the card we are seeking (the Queen of Spades) is missing. A reward has been posted, and search dogs have been sent out on the trails. So, we will look to replace the entire deck with a new deck, including the missing card. Stay tuned….. Joke of the day: Courtesy of Louise Condon: An Italian Mama Mrs. Ravioli comes to visit her son Frankie for dinner. He lives with a female roommate, Maria . During the course of the meal, his mother couldn't help but notice how pretty Frankie 's roommate is. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Frankie and his roommate than met the eye. Reading his mom's thoughts, Frankie volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Maria and I are just roommates.'' We have separate rooms and sleep in separate beds. About a week later, Maria came to Frankie saying, "Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the silver sugar bowl. You don't suppose she took it, do you?" "Well, I doubt it, but I'll email her, just to be sure." So he sat down and wrote an email: “Dear MaMa, I'm not saying that you "did" take the sugar bowl from my house; I'm not saying that you "did not" take it. But the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner. Your Loving Son,, Anthony” Several days later, Frankie received a response email from his MaMa which read: “Dear son, I'm not saying that you "do" sleep with Maria , and I'm not saying that you "do not" sleep with her. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the sugar bowl by now. Your Loving MaMa” Moral of the story: Never Bulla Shita you MaMa! 5 minute Rotarian: Darrell had the honor this week. He was born in Harrisburg, VA; his parents were missionaries in Brazil where he lived until he was 7 when the family returned to the US so he could have heart surgery. In 1984 he moved to Needham with his wife and 2 children, after living in Ohio and Connecticut where he worked with refugees from Laos. He has 3 grandchildren who live nearby. His other son lives in Laos as an ‘underground’ missionary who also works for an inexpensive water filter company. His parish in Needham is the Good Shepherd Christian Fellowship at 754 Greendale Ave. The building is shared with 4 other congregations. Darrell is an evangelical preacher – Be in the World not of the World. We are all welcome to attend any of this services which begin at 9:30.
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Needham Rotary Newsletter 8/26/14Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday, August 26, 2014 Location: Needham Sheraton Pledge of Allegiance: Rick Forte Song: God Bless America; Led By: Ron Sokol Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich Announcements: - Bob Dunning broke his leg and is convalescing at home. Give him a call at 781-444-8390 or drop him a card to 123 Elder Rd. Needham Heights. - Fund Raising Committee will meet next week at the office of Ryan Damaso. - Louise reminded us of the VNA 20th anniversary of the Stanley Tippett Hospice House. She also displayed the beautiful necklace donated by Susan Warnick for the silent auction. The event will be held at the Needham Golf Club on Sept. 26 th at 5:30 pm with light hors d'oeuvres and cash bar. Entertainment will be provided by the Longwood Opera. - Bill Paulson has ordered 422 dictionaries for the 3 rd graders. He will let us know when he is ready for us to insert the Rotary stickers. - Mariah Cronin told us about her exchange trip to France. Guests: Mariah Cronin, Rotary exchange student. Ron Cronin, Mariah's father. Katie Paulson, Bill's daughter, who bound for Bates College. Sarah Paulson, Bill's daughter, who is heading to Africa. Happy Dollars: Welcome Katie, Sarah, Mariah and Ron; many happy to be here; happy for granddaughter going off to Barnard; happy for good meal since wife is away for the summer; happy for peace here and happy to be married for 60 years; thank you to Charles and Stacy for great advice on our trip to Puerto Rico; quality of good new buildings in CA that withstood the recent earthquake so well; son in good school and son in youth symphony orchestra and glad to meet the good Cronin family. Lois' presidential minute: Who was the President who graduated from Georgetown; was Rhodes Scholar; 42nd president and impeached by grand jury but was cleared. Answer: Bill Clinton. 50/50 drawing: Darrell had lucky number but heaven was not on his side. $502 in the pot. 5 minute Rotarian: no one today Joke of the day: no joke Birthday: No one today Guest Speaker: Allison Churilla from our soon-to-be new neighbors, Trip Advisors. They are currently located in Newton, but started in Needham over a pizza shop (Kostas on Chestnut Street). They plan move into a new building mid-2015. Their objective is to help consumers plan their trips by seeking comments from other users about their own experiences. The company makes donations through their charitable division. They are currently hiring software engineers to build the website with 500 people hired so far this year. Allison was asked if the company would be interested in joining Rotary. She will look into the possibility. |
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Needham Rotary Newsletter 8-19-14
Pledge of Allegiance: President Glen Announcements:
Happy Dollars: Lots of ‘Happy to be here’; Scotti for a trip to Iceland; George for visiting his Mom in Virginia Beach; Andy for going to see the Sox tonight; Marty $5 for a great vacation at his summer home in Washington State, and for surviving the ‘breaking up the fighting dogs routine; Kathy for the great summer weather; Louise Condon reminds all ‘to smile!!!’. Great advice!! Guests: Michelle Buyer, again visiting with her Dad. 50/50: Scotti had the number, but not the card. Pot is at $480! Birthdays: None anyone would admit to. Humor: While a joke was attempted, it was not funny! Guest Speaker: President Glen revealed to us the committee assignments for the year. He will publish them by email. Thanks for all willing to serve on these committees. If everyone works hard on these committees, our club will make great progress. If you want to be added to another committee or do not want to be one you are assigned to, please let Glen know. |
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Rotary Newsletter 8-12-14
Rotary Club of Needham Pledge of Allegiance: President Glen
Announcements:
Happy Dollars: Lots of ‘Happy to be here’; Andy for 3 more weeks of summer; Ted for a great family weekend; Louise for being happy she was wearing a seat belt, and she hopes you do too; Kathy-enjoyed her annual NE boating, but happy to be home; Darrell go Pat’s; Greg for his son’s 30th Birthday. Guests: Michelle Buyer, again visiting with her Dad.
50/50: Risk Davis, in his close to 30 years in Rotary has never won the 50/50. Today his record is unbroken, despite having the correct ticket!
Birthdays: Kathy Whitney was the lucky one. Congratulations! Roz led us in ‘Happy Birthday’.
Humor: It's game 7 of the NBA finals and a man makes his way to his seat at center court. He sits down and notices that the seat next to him is empty. He leans over and asks his neighbor if someone is sitting there. He responds, "No, the seat's empty." "The first man exclaims, "What?!? Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the NBA finals and not use it?" The neighbor responds, "Well the seat is mine, but my wife passed away and this is the first NBA finals we haven't been together." The first man responds," I'm sorry to hear that. Wasn't there anyone else, a friend or relative, that could've taken that seat?" The neighbor responds, "No, they're all at the funeral."
Guest Speaker: Our guest speaker for ‘Five minutes of Rotary Fame’ was Ryan Damaso. Ryan grew up in North Providence RI, where he played football and basketball in High School. He graduated from Northeastern University where he majored in accounting and interned at Heald Hoffmeister. He also interned at Titleist in addition to Walpole Prison (a/k/a Cedar Junction), and they even let him out! But, he did graduate and go to work at Heald Hoffmeister. In 2004, he was named a Partner at HH, and just this summer, Ryan and 2 other CPAs spun off from the old firm to form Treeful, Domaso and Aniceto, which also has an office in Bourne Mass. In addition to Chestnut St. Being from north Providence, Ryan forecast the re-election of Former Mayor turned criminal Buddy Cianci this fall! Ryan married his wife Krista 11 years ago, and they have 2 children Mia age 9, and Aliana age 6. Ryan was inducted into Rotary in 2005, and has been very active member ever since, having risen to be President, and currently serving on the Board of Directors, and as Treasurer. He enjoys ‘getting his hands dirty’ on Rotary projects and seeing his money go to work. One of his goals is to go to an RI International Convention. Great guy, great Rotarian! |
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Newsletter 8-5-14Rotary Club of Needham
Pledge of Allegiance: Rich Announcements:
Happy Dollars: A whole bunch of Happy to be Here! Ted for Daniela safely returning to Panama tomorrow post open heart surgery at BCH, Erica for her kids returning home from camp, Ken for time down the Cape, Bill for a great weekend in Maine, George for a GREAT Day! Doug hoping Lester returns, Darrell for the Pats, Chuck for a great day yesterday playing in the 1st Annual Red Sox Foundation golf tournament at Belmont CC, Scott for his upcoming trip to Iceland, Tom for his great hiking trip. WOW!!! Guests: Evan and Andy Saks 50/50: Chuck had the lucky number but pulled the queen of clubs. Too bad! Pot stands at $453! Humor: Doug shared a beautiful story about an aging Cinderella who was granted three wishes and after having her youth back, enough gold to last a lifetime and her pet cat turned into a beautiful young man to spend the rest of her life with lamented the fact that she had previously neutered her cat… Guest Speaker: Mr. Andy Saks of Spark Presentations led the group through an understanding of why we get nervous about public speaking and what we can do to reduce the anxiety and be a more effective presenter. Our own Tom Savino aided in the demonstration! Andy talked about our instinct to Fight-or-Flight. Andy helps to coach folks on presentation skills, trade show presenters, he is keynote speaker and on camera and voice talent. He is the author of “The Presentation Playbook”. To learn more, contact Andy at 781.454.7600, andy@SparkPresentations.com , www.SparkPresentations.com
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Newsletter 7-29-14
**NEEDHAM ROTARY CLUB** 7-29-14 This weeks meeting of Rotary was opened by President Glen, who led us in the Pledge VISITORS: Justine Paula, a guest of Bill Paulson, and Gary Zeller. George then led us in the Welcome Song!
ANNOUNCEMENTS: HAPPY DOLLARS: A number of Happy Dollars for the incoming officers; a lot of HTBH; 50/50: The 50/50 pot is $434. Justine picked the lucky number of 347, which was her number (oops).Anyway Presidential Minute: Lois was on vacation. GUEST SPEAKER: Our scheduled speaker has rescheduled for this fall, so, President Glen gave us a He and his fiancee Diane own a home in Andover and a home in Chatham. We have been fortunate to have 3 generations of Davis's as members, and we are so thankful that Glen has
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Newsletter 7-22-14
This weeks meeting of Rotary was opened by President Glen, who led us in the Pledge VISITORS: We welcomed Jillian Vorce, a Natick Rotarian and our Assistant District Governor, ANNOUNCEMENTS:: ham is celebrating their 20th year with a fund- HAPPY DOLLARS: A number of Happy Dollars for the incoming officers; a lot of HTBH; 50/50: Libby Pero had the correct number, but did not pull the winning card. Presidential Minute: Lois detailed George W. Bush! Her reference to the Texas Rangers HUMOR: Presented by Doug George on the jokes of Bob Hope who commented: ON PRESIDENTS ON RECEIVING THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL ON HIS FAMILY'S EARLY POVERTY ON HIS SIX BROTHERS ON HIS EARLY FAILURES ON GOING TO HEAVEN On his death bed they asked him where he wanted to be buried. Then Jim Brown took his chance at Huor and failed: My guess is that Eric no longer uses his cell phone in public.
this past year, the hope is to induct more new members and to have more new projects, Chris Teachout Then Glen inducted the new officers for 2014/2015 as follows: Glen was thanked for a great year, and even a better one to come!
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Newsletter 7-15-14
This weeks meeting of Rotary was opened by President Glen, who led us in the Pleadge VISITORS: We welcomed the return of Chas Eberley, Marion Buyer (Chuck's sister),and HAPPY DOLLARS: Doug glad the Social Security Admin can still pay him; Ted Shaughnessy for ANNOUNCEMENTS: Many thanks to our 4th of July Floaters:
Presidential Minute: Lois detailed John Quincy Adams, our 6th Prsident, and George was HUMOR: Doug George presented the following list of 'Only in America':: AND DO YOU EVER WONDER... : Our guest speaker today was Francine Kollias from the Social Security The closest office is in Norwood, and they provide great service!
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Newsletter of Cookout on July 8, 2014**ROTARY COOKOUT ON JULY 8 AT CLAXTON FIELD**
 It was quite a pleasure to have Micky Welling (wife of recently deceased Past President 'Mr. Rotary' Bob Welling) come and join us for our Annual Cookout started back when Bob was President. Micky brought with her her son John Stone, and her grandson Blake. Once again 'It never rains on a Needham Rotary Cookout' as Bob used to say.
Pictured are all the participants at the cookout, but not the food. Dan Tibma was the Thief Chef, with everyone pitching in. A fun and filling time was had by everyone, and we look forward to doing it next year!
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Newsletter for June 10 Meeting |
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Newsletter for Meeting of Tuesday, June 3, 2014Meeting Notes for June 3, 2014 at the Sheraton Hotel in Needham Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Song: "America" Led by Bob Invocation: Darrell Glen welcomed everyone to celebrate the two 2014 Needham High School senior scholarship recipients. Announcements: Ted informed the group of three children being treated in Boston through the Gift of Life New England:
Gift of Life New England works with some of the leading Hospitals in the Boston area to treat children from developing countries who would not be able to receive the life-saving treatment in their home country. The care is free and housing is provided to the family from area Rotarians. Awesome program! Thanks for the update, Ted! It makes us proud to be Rotarians!
Happy Dollars: The Happy dollars collected today were in memory of Rotarian Bob Welling and will go to the Scholarship Fund. Total contributed today totaled $655!!! Thanks to our members for their generosity! Many dedications were on behalf of the High School Scholarship winners; George gave thanks for his many years as scholarship trustee (proud of the current and past recipients and fellow Rotarians!). Ryan had the lucky number for a chance to draw the queen of hearts to split the $308 pot. Too bad, pot will grow next week! Scholarship Winners: Glen invited Lois Sockol to introduce our scholarship recipients. Lois thanked fellow committee members Dan Tibma and Rick Davis. There were 53 Needham High School seniors who applied. Of the 53, it was narrowed to 36 and then to 6 to be interviewed and finally to the two selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship. The criteria for selection is based on three elements; academics, involvement in the school and community, and financial need. These scholarships are among the largest given each year at Needham High School.
This year’s recipients are Ms. Sara Castiglia and Mr. Aiden O’Connor. Sara was a member of the track team, debate and speech team, student council member and played flute in the band. Sara will be attending Georgetown in the fall and plans to study government. Aiden also was a member of the band and played rugby and was a wide receiver on the football team. Aiden plans to study finance at Providence College.
Mr. Tom Savino, trustee of the Needham Rotary Scholarship Fund reminded those present of the inception of the Scholarship Fund. It was originally funded through the tips (pennies and nickels) left by the members as thanks to the other members who served the meal on the day. The Fund was created in 1952 and has been funded through contributions from Needham Rotarians. Mr. Savino invited both recipients up to receive the first of their four scholarship checks (four annual checks of $2,500 each). All members stood and offered very warm applause to the winners!
Our scholarship recipients were joined by their parents who looked on with admiration as their children were praised for their achievenments in school and the community!
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Newsletter for Meeting on Tuesday, May 27, 2014Bulletin of the Meeting on May 27, 2014 by Doug George
Louise Condon helped welcome our speaker for the week, Bill Wilmot, Head of the Tremont School in Weston. He's guiding the development of this new private school that's now in its second year. The school began with middle school and eventually will be expanding into a high school. Presently there are 32 students with about 8 full time staff. The tuition is $22,000 annually. The focus is to give the students a hands-on education program built around projects that integrate "disciplines" and that are more individualized than the public schools offer. The school builds curriculum around Albert Einstein's saying, "Learning is experience. Everything else is just information." Our Meeting Notes: Rich Forte ably substituted for our absent President Glen and let the Pledge, Ron Sokol gustily led the singing of "God Bless America" and Lois Sokol prayed. She then led the "Vice Presidential Minute" (did we run out of presidents already?), with the guest VP being Humbert Humphrey. It was a mostly Lois day, as she won the 50-50 draw but failed to get the queen of hearts, leaving at least $282 on the table for next week. Happy Bucks Mentioned: Guests, Great Memorial Day Program, nice weekends away, the Reality Fair, Great Article on Paul Burke and David Borelli, In Memory of Bob Welling and Evelyn Derenzo, Hope for a 15 day old boy from Panama coming to BCH for open heart surgery and for time with families. The guest of the day was Doug Spink, a former Rotary Club Scholarship winner from 2011 at Needham High School.
Doug has just finished his third year at the University of Indiana where he is majoring in business and accounting. Putting his education to work, he recently aided in a major university fund raising effort that secured more than $2 million. We can hardly wait for him to become a Rotarian somewhere and put all that skill to work for service to others! NEXT WEEK: Our meeting will present the 2014 Needham Rotary Scholarship winners at our luncheon meeting. Please make sure you attend and bring your checkbook, not your $1 bills. Why? Because the happy bucks for the week are going into our scholarship kitty. Give often, give generously! We are in the business of producing more Doug Spink's! Finally, some jokes (laughter optional): Humor by Doug: Two ninety year old men, Moe and Sam, have been friends all their lives. It seems that Sam is dying of cancer, and Moe comes to visit him daily. "Sam," says Moe, "You know how we have both loved baseball all our lives, and how we played minor league ball together for so many years. Sam, you have to do me a favor. When you get to Heaven, and I know you will go to Heaven, somehow you've got to let me know if there's baseball in Heaven." Sam looks up at Moe from his death bed, and says, "Moe, you've been my best friend for years........of course, I'll tell you." And shortly after, Sam passes on. It is midnight a couple of nights later. Moe is sound asleep when he is awakened by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calls out to him, "Moe.... Moe...." "Who is it?" says Moe sitting up suddenly. "Who is it?" "Moe, it's me, Sam." "Come on. You're not Sam. Sam just died." "I'm telling you," "It's me, Sam!" "Sam? Is that you? Where are you?" "I'm in heaven," says Sam, "and I've got to tell you, I've got good news and a little bad news." "So, tell me the good news first," says Moe. "The good news," says Sam "is that there is baseball in heaven. Better yet, all our old buddies who've gone before us are there. Better yet, we're all young men again. Better yet, it's always spring time and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play baseball all we want, and we never get tired!" "Really?" says Moe, "That's great, but what's the bad news?" "Ahhh -- Sam, you're pitching next Tuesday." A man was stranded on a desert island for 10 years. One day a beautiful girl swims to shore in a wetsuit.... Man: "Hi! Am I ever happy to see you." Girl: "Hi! It seems like you've been here a long time. How long has it been since you've had a cigarette?" Man: "It's been ten years!" With this information the girl unzips a slot on the arm of her wet suit and gives the man cigarette. Man: "Oh thank you so much!" Girl: "So tell me how long its been since you had a drink?" Man: "It's been ten years" The girl unzips a little longer zipper on her wet suit and comes out with a flask of whiskey and gives the man a drink. Man: "Oh... thank you so much. You are like a miracle!" Girl: [Starting to unzip the front of her wet suit.] "So tell me then, how long has it been since you played around?" Man: "Oh, my God, don't tell me you've got a set of golf clubs in there too?!" Humor from Jim: At breakfast, the wife says to her husband, “What would you do if I won the Lotto?” “I’d take half and leave you,” he says. “Great” she says. “Here's $6. I won $12 yesterday! Stay in touch.” |
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Newsletter 5-20-14 |
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Newsletter for Meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 2014Newsletter for Meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 2014, at the Needham Sheraton Hotel
He skillfully presented Needham Rotarians with two case studies and invited us to "be the editor" and make decisions on what story details should be printed and what should be ignored. Would you tell the public just before the big Thanksgiving day game that the star player wouldn't be playing because he had flunked shop because he didn't go to class? Would you tell the public that in a polarized dispute between playground advocates versus dog park supporters, the head of the dog park group was making unsupported allegations that one of the playground group's supoorters had been charged as a youth as a class 3 sex offender? One of the great things about being in Rotary is that weekly meetings and speakers give one a chance to turn one's brain on to things you don't usually think about! Sometimes "all the news that's fit to print" has to be weighed against "what's the 'right' thing for a moral person to do? Weekly Club News Ex-President Charles ably substituted for President Glen, Darrell prayed inspirationally, we sang beautifully, and (most) tunefully honored Ted's birthday. Lois changed it up. No "Presidental Minute" and she tried to stump us with a mystery sports figure. But, we got it easily! It was none other than Joe Lewis, whose most memorable moment was his 1938 rematch defeat of German Max Schmeling, a hero of the Nazi party and Adolph Hitler. This symbolic defeat of racist Nazism on the eve of WWII took place in front of 70,000 people in Yankee Stadium and a world-wide radio audience of millions. Did you know that Max and Joe later became friends and Max was a pallbearer at Joe's 1981 Arlington National Cemetery burial, after which he helped pay for Joe's funeral expenses? Happy Bucks time revealed that Scott liked his weekend taking care of his grandson when his son took his daughter-in-law to Italy for a quick trip. Lois honored her grandson who is President of Westboro Interact Club; Ted had a great trip with Marilyn to the China (and the great wall); Rich's daughter returned home after a successful year at college; Bill got to see Katie over the weekend; Marty reported on being at his 50th H.S. reunion (who are all these old people?) and his father's 101st birthday celebration; and member-to-be Steve Schauer led cheers for the Bruins (condolences Steve).
Needham Rotary Biography Karen Wetmore treated us to some insights into her life. She was born in Needham, graduated from Needham H.S., trained as an executive secretary at Baypath J.C., and went on to get her BA (accounting) and MBA from Babson. She worked for a decade for an engineering company that made safe underground lighting for coal mines (no explosions please!). Karen switched to non-profit accounting at Reverend Ike's Organization, then founded her own accounting firm, Falcon Accounting, where she has worked for 25 years. She sees her future focus and passion being on helping seniors and their caregivers. She got her public service outlook from her father who was a Needham Rotarian. She loves quilting, traveling and horses. Humor? Doug offered the following:
Barbara Walters had done a story on gender roles in Kuwait several years before the Gulf War and she noted that Kuwaiti women customarily walked about 10 feet behind their husbands. When she returned after the war, she observed that the men now walked 10 feet behind the women.
She approached one of the women for an explanation. "This is great progress," Barbara said. "What enabled women here to achieve this wonderful reversal of roles?"
The woman replied, "Land mines!"
Needham Rotarians in Action This Past Week
Congratulations to Rich Forte for leading our club's sponsorship of the Needham H.S. "Reality Fair" on Friday, May 16th. More than 350 students participated in the simulation of life (called reality vs. life as a high school student) as they learned in detail how tough it is after high school and college to match income with expenses. Thanks to all Needham Rotarians (and their friends and associates) who participated so enthusiastically and helped make the morning both fun and informative. Here's some pictures:
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Newsletter 5-6-14
Needham Rotary Club Tuesday: May 4, 2014 Location: Needham Sheraton
Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Davis Song: God Bless America; Led By: Ron Sockol Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich Announcements:
Guests:
Happy Dollars: Go Bruins; many happy to be here; Roberta was proud grandma, happy to hear her granddaughter solo in school musical; Erica for a wonderful week in Kauai – Aloha; proud father, Tom, for son John’s college graduation; Lois wishing Ron a happy birthday today; Greg reminding us that America’s business is business; Bill for daughter, Sarah’s, 18th birthday; Ken for son coming home this weekend; in memory of Maria McTiernan, Development DIirector of the Charles River Center, who passed away last weekend; and Charles happy for the good weather.
Lois’s Presidential Minute: What president was born on Beale St., Brookline; prevented nuclear conflagration and said “Forgive your enemies, just don’t forget who they are”? John F. Kennedy. Our 2nd president has a birthday today. He was president of Needham Little League and Needham Rotary – Ron, of course. 50:50: Ron Sockol has lucky number but no luck drawing queen of hearts. $228 still in pot. 5 Minute Rotarian of the Day: Tom Savino joined Needham Rotary in 1995; president from 1998-1999; treasurer from 1999-2012. Currently he is trustee of scholarship fund and trustee of District Charity fund. He is very proud of 20 year perfect attendance. Tom was born in Connecticut; lived in Worcester and moved around quite a bit. Went to Rutgers and graduated in 3yrs, 1 mo. He is 6th of 8 children. He returned to MA and has been here for the last 26 yrs. Has 2 children who are both Eagle Scouts and musicians. Tom also updated us on the state of our scholarship fund which is in very good shape. Thank you Tom and Erica for good job.
Birthday: Ron Sockol Guest Speaker: None Future Meeting: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at Sheraton Needham |
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Newsletter 4-29-14Rotary Club of Needham Tuesday April 29, 2014 Location: Sheraton, Needham
Pledge of Allegiance: Glen Song: America Led by Bob Invocation: Darrell
Glen asked for introductions of guests present. Our guests included Andy Winig of the Arlington Rotary, Ed Mullens, new assistant Branch Manager of Family Federal Savings, as a guest of Debra Kazarian
Lois provided the group with our Presidential Moment. Lois provided clues to the group, with the answer being President Truman.
Happy Dollars: A whole bunch of “Happy to be Here”, Deb for her guest: Ed, Bill for successful move to new home, Darrell for the storm victims, Andrew for a great family vacation to Florida and Disney, Charles for spring skiing at Jay Peak, Ken is waiting for spring, Rich for his two daughters safe return from their school trips, Scott is happy winter is almost over, Marty threw in $20 to celebrate his Dad’s 101st birthday and his 50th High School graduation reunion, George for his mother-in-law, Barbara’s 93 birthday, Roz for Frugal Fanny shopping and Roberta for sharing the afternoon with all of us!
Our Humor of the day was presented by Doug George and Jim Brown: Southern Law Joke Questions asked in a courtroom can be very revealing... especially in the South. Even of an old, sweet lady many would be happy to call grandma. In a trial in the heart of the South, a prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly woman he had known since childhood, to the stand. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Whitaker, do you know me?" She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Coolidge. I've known you since you were a young boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, cheat, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit lawyer. Yes, I know you." Continuing our “Get to Know Me” segment, Mr. Marty Lindemann was invited to share with the group some interesting facts about his life that we may not know about him. Marty was born in St. Louis Missouri 67 years ago and with his Dad’s military service moved every three years, traveling the world and a good part of the USA. He is one of four boys. He spent two years in the army and when through spent some time working to help families with re-location services, eventually moving on to Silicon Valley where he met his wife of 24 years. He took his liberal arts education and became involved in Human Resources and that led to process management. He and his wife adopted two boys (now age 12) from Kazakhstan about 11 years ago. He has been a Rotarian for over 25 years and looks forward to continuing as a Rotarian with the Needham chapter (officially now that he has his badge!).
Charles had the lucky number for a chance to draw the queen of hearts to split the $213 pot. Too bad, Charles pulled the ace of spades! Announcements:
Guest Speaker: None
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Newsletter 4-22-14**Needham Rotary Club** April 22, 2014 Location: Needham Sheraton Hotel Pledge of Allegiance: President Glen led us Song: God Bless America; Led By: Roberta Prayer: Led by Darrell Minnich
Announcement: · The Realty Fair will on held on Friday May 16th – looking for help. · Mae Hardenback spoke of the NHS program to donate 20,000 meals to countries around the world with starvation. She was soliciting cash donations and manpower to assist in packing these meals on May 14th at the high school. · Ted reported on two gift of life recipients upcoming: 2 year old Valeria from El Salvador and 16 year old Daniela from Panama. Guests:
Happy Dollars: Lots for the weather, our guests, HTBH and the marathon. Doug for a new grandson and Ted for the two new gift of life recipients. . 50:50: $198 is now in the pot, but Scott picked the 4 of hearts; sorry Scott!
Birthdays: None
Presidential minute: None this week.
5 Minute Rotarian of the Day: Bob Cocks told us of his experiences from Bates College, to the Navy, to a successful career as a banker, and now in later years a Real Estate agent. He has two children, both of whom are married with children. Bob’s passion is music. He sings in the church choir, as well he has sung with the ‘Center Streeters’ in Dover, and that is what he really enjoys. We are fortunate to have him as a member!
Guest Speaker: Our speaker, Jason Hartz is a Sandler sales trainer who held an open forum with us in getting us out of our comfort zone to improve our businesses. His business is in Waltham.
Joke of the day: First, from Louise… An airplane was about to crash; there were 5 passengers on board, but only 4 parachutes. The first passenger, Holly Madison, said, ‘I have my own reality show and I am the smartest and prettiest woman at Playboy, so Americans don’t want me to die”. She took the first pack and jumped out of the plane.
The second passenger, John McCain, said, “I’m a Senator, and a decorated war hero from an elite Navy unit from the United States of America.” So he grabbed the second pack and jumped.
The third passenger, Barack Obama said, “I am the President of the United States and I am the smartest ever in the history of our country, some even call me the “Anointed One”. So he grabbed the pack next to him and jumped out. The fourth passenger, Billy Graham, said to the fifth passenger, a 10 year old schoolgirl,“I have lived a full life and served my God the best I could. I will sacrifice my life and let you have the last parachute.
The little girl said, “ That’s okay, Dr. Graham. There’s a parachute left for you. America’s smartest President took my school backpack.
Next is Doug’s contribution… Francis Norton woke up Sunday morning and realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just had to play golf. So... he told the Associate Pastor that he was feeling sick and convinced him to say Mass for him that day. As soon as the Associate Pastor left the room, Father Norton headed out of town to a golf course about forty miles away. This way he knew he wouldn't accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish. Setting up on the first tee, he was alone. After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church! At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, "You're not going to let him get away with this, are you?" The Lord sighed, and said, "No, I guess not." Just then Father Norton hit the ball and it shot straight towards the pin, dropping just short of it, rolled up and fell into the hole. It WAS A 420 YARD HOLE IN ONE! St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked, "Why did you let him do that?" The Lord smiled and replied, "Who's he going to tell?" Neither received standing ovations. Better luck next week. |
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Rotary Newsletter for March 25, 2014
BRAZILIAN ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENT PEDRO GARCIA LOPES GAVE NEEDHAM ROTARIANS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DYNAMIC AND EXOTIC COUNTRY OF BRAZIL
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Rotary Newsletter for March 18, 2014 |
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Rotary Newsletter of March 11th |
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Newsletter for Meeting on March 4, 2014
CLUB NEWSLETTER
FOR MARCH 4, 2014
President Glenn Davis welcomed our speakers for the day who are visiting Rotarians from Kathmandu, Nepal. Mangala Shrestha and her husband, Jagan Nath Shrestha, presented a picture of a local Rotary club “on fire” with the Rotarian spirit of serving others.
Their Chandragiri Rotary club is busy with literacy programs (especially for young women who traditionally are not educated equally with men in their society), vocational technical training, career counseling, and sponsoring an orphanage, old age homes and housing for the physically disabled. Because Kathmandu only has eight hours a day of electricity, their club has put up solar powered streetlights and trained people in sustainable energy development (Jagan Nath is a professor of energy studies and President of the Nepal Solar Energy Society).
They are in the Boston area visiting their son and his wife and their grandkids, and they plan to be here for several weeks. Their smiles, optimism, and stories of the needs of people in their community and the ways that Rotary and Rotarians meet those needs, provided our members with tangible and compelling insight into the global “connections” that we enjoy as Rotarians with 1.2 million other men and women members!
NEEDHAM ROTARY CLUB BUSINESS DISCUSSION
The program was the perfect finishing touch on a discussion about whether the club wants to “take it to the next level” in increasing our involvement with needs in our community of Needham, around the district and around the world. Rich Forte, even though hobbled with his foot injury, led a positive discussion by members around the topic of “what’s next for us?”
This discussion is timely given the fact that no member has stepped up to take the role of club president for next year. Our succession plan was broken by the sudden resignation of our designated new president due to business transfer. Even though this week the district training program is being conducted for new presidents, we have not yet sent a person. If YOU want to serve, please tell President Glen immediately.
Listeners to the discussion heard a commitment by a majority of those present to a reinvigorated effort to add new projects (such as the Music Awards Program done by Rachel, Greg and others), recommit to and perhaps redesign long standing programs (such as the Pancake Breakfast), and to redouble our efforts in membership, fund raising and weekly programs. Those who spoke praised the spirit of the club, the enjoyable camaraderie of members and our reputation for community service in the town.
Clearly, we need to tell our story, add new members, increase our revenues (money allows more service) and be willing to change some of our habits and ways. Interestingly, our Rotarian guests from Nepal said that many of the things we were going through are regularly faced by their club many thousands of miles away!
The discussion was challenging, interesting and positive, and most were expressively committed to “taking it to the next level.”
OTHER TIDBITS
We skipped humor for the day (with apologies to Doug George, who no doubt had a couple of really good ones for us). There were plenty of “glad to be here” happy thoughts, Ron and Lois were back with us after several weeks away in “sunny, warm Florida” (they had to rub it in), and (perhaps the biggest news) Bill Paulson is happy with his new job at Keller Williams Realty. Bill also volunteered to begin a new feature of our weekly club meetings, a five-minute verbal biography. What an interesting guy he is and sitting right next to us!
COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF NEEDHAM PROJECT ON MARCH 8TH
Hey, Needham Rotary, pat yourselves (collectively) on the back for an outstanding day of service to the community. On Saturday, March 8th, about fifteen members, family and friends gathered at the nonprofit Needham Community Council Building at 570 Hillside Avenue, to lay about 600 square feet of carpet tiles in the newly refurbished second floor storeroom (next to the clothing thrift store). It was a great “hands-on” project for the club and thanks to all those who gave up their Saturday to help. We got paid with free donuts and coffee and a whole lot of satisfaction that comes from volunteering!
Special thanks for leadership and technical help (and tools) go to Dan Tibma and Doug George without whom most of us would have been either standing around or making really BIG mistakes!
The pictures show intense concentration, hard work and a whole lot of fun that was had by all. But, it took several days to get all of the carpet glue and fibers from under our nails!
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Newsletter for Meeting on February 11, 2014
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New OfficersSworn In!
Charles Nelson, President for next year, and his slate of officers, were sworn in on Tuesday June 26, by PDG Mike Ellis.
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Needham Rotary Collect Crutches 4 Africa
Needham Rotary Club is collecting used crutches, canes, collapsible wheelchairs and walkers for the Crutches 4 Africa program. |
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Our first meeting of the year!
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Newsletter 12-20-11: No meeting next week!!! |
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Newsletter 11-29-11 (1st of 3!) |
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Historic Needham-Wellesley Football Dinner
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Brian Tetrault Presents Digital Production Brian Tetrault, one of the industry's leading digital imaging creators, presents the technology behind his work.
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Rotarian Rick Davis awarded George A. Dennett Distinguished Career Award
Needham Rotarian Rick Davis this week was awarded the George A. Dennett Distinguished Career Award. This award was established to recognize former Needham High School students who have gone on to distinguished careers in their chosen fields. By making a significant contribution to our society, these alumni bring honor to their school and community, and serve as inspirations and role models to the students of Needham. Congrats Rick! (shown in picture with wife Gail) |
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Newsletter 7-1-14
This weeks meeting of Rotary was opened by President Glen, who led us in the Pleadge VISITORS: We welcomed Ben Sockol, grandson of Lois and Sockol. Bob Cocks let us in HAPPY DOLLARS: Bill Paulson-Ellen off to camp; Chuck for Ben Sockol visiting; Lois for ANNOUNCEMENTS: -Annual Rotary Cookout on Tuesday July 8th at Claxton field at 6 pm Tuesday
INDUCTION OF 2 NEW MEMBERS: Libby Pero and Andy Wining were both dutifully inducted into
50/50: Scotti had the correct number 297, but did not pull the winning card. $379 in the pot! GUEST SPEAKER: Our guest speaker today was Chris Hartzell, General Manager of the Sheraton Chris talked about how the hotel just underwent a $14 million upgrade here in Needham, Sheraton started with their first hotel in Springfield MA in 1938, and now has 470 hotels, Chris had a gift of a keychain for everyone and cooupons for a drink and appetizer for
Roger works at Babson College, Lisa works at the Needham Driving School, and Libby works Libby became involved in Girl Scouts as a leader after having been a girl scout for many ANDY WINIG'S BIO: About 12 years ago, Andrew, who is trained as a software engineer, got laid off from his last Andrew has had a rich experience in Rotary, and we are delighted to be able to welcome
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Newsletter 6-24-14 |
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50 Year History of Needham Rotary (1929 to 1979)/historyofrotarycover.png)
Now available for your review, by Walter G. Patterson. You can download the 90 page booklet online here on the Needham Rotary Club web site by clicking the link above or by going to the Club History page and clicking on the link on the left. |
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Newsletter for Meeting of Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Erica Bond welcomed the Robotics Club members and faculty sponsors, Hans Batra (math and CS) and Dan Smalley (physics), to our meeting! Hans Batra gave an overview of robotics program at Needham High School and announced that he will be leading a group in establishing a program to teach and encourage innovation. The school has set aside a classroom for this purpose and the program will be called the "Da Vinci Workshop for Interdisciplinary Innovation." Hans is pursuing grants from area businesses, Olin College and the Needham Educational Association for equipment and other assistance.
The members of the girl's robotics team, "The Hackers" and the members of the boy's team, "T-10" gave a summary of the year's efforts and competitions attended. They qualified for State Competition and T-10 won 8th place, T-10 received the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, and the Hackers won the "Connect Award" and the "Promote Award."
The high point of the meeting was the demonstration of the two robots that each team designed, built and controlled in the various competitions for the year. Each robot can cost up to $2,000! Sponsors such as Olin College, Needham Education Foundation, Computer Loft, Home Depot, Veryst Engineeringf, Bose and Needham Rotary support the robotics program. We appreciate the team members coming to lunch and showing off their skills! The Hackers were feeling very generous and offered Jim Brown a shot at running their robot. He promptly crashed the unit, requiring a tow and some time in the repair shop! It's not easy to move these big machines around!
We are very proud to be associated with this highly motivated and talented students and their faculty mentors! DON'T MISS THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM
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Newsletter for Meeting on April 8, 2014Needham Rotary Club News for April 8, 2014
The highlight of our weekly meeting was clearly the presence of Henry Hicks, and his engaging wife, Amy Hicks. Henry, now retired from being the long-time anchor of the history department at Needham High School, and the former head of the Needham Historical Society, presented a program filled with early Needham historical facts. He opened with a scene from 1856 at the now long-gone Fremont Street Railroad Station where five to ten thousand Needham residents greeted presidential candidate John C. Fremont, pathfinder of the West and the first Republican candidate for president. Needham was a fiercely independent place, strongly anti-slavery and disgusted with Democrats who had extended the boundaries of slavery and installed the hated Fugitive Slave Act in the famous Compromise of 1850. Henry's stories were fascinating snapshots of Needham history. In a visit in 1789 George Washington (he must have slept somewhere in Needham) pronounced the roads of Needham to be the worst he had encountered in America (we're doing a bit better today). In 1849 the Town of Needham voted (meaninglessly) to impeach Massachusetts senator and long time hero, Daniel Webster, because he was a Mason (Needham opposed and voted against the Massachusetts Masonic Party). Throughout the 19th century, Needham battled hated enemy Boston as it fought annexation by securing its own water supply by digging what were then the deepest wells in America. The water wars of those years helped found Norfolk County and shape today's towns and water supplies to the west of Boston. 
We wanted our "classroom time" with Henry to go on for the whole semester, even though a couple of members remembered being lucky to get a "C" in Henry's classes at Needham HS! He was a demanding grader and the kind of teacher people fondly remember for life! We also learned that his wife, Amy, is still a synchronized swimmer and an athlete who still "throws the hammer." ROTARY PROFILE Rotary Club business for the day included an autobiographical talk by Needham Rotary Club member Kathy Whitney. She and her husband, Bill, shared his 20-year plus radar career in the Navy, moving to Massachusetts for his second career in electronics at Raytheon. She recently retired from more than 30 years at Cox and Cox as a legal secretary. Perhaps most interesting about Kathy is her heart for volunteering to help others. She manages to find time for what seems like every Rotary project, at her church, at the Community Council, the spelling bee, library, the Charles River Gala, and other Needham events. She is the go-to person if you want your event to succeed, and along the way "connects" people across our community! She also cross-stitches, recently completing 50 vests for a boy's school in Uganda. She and her husband restored a 1982 Jarvis sailboat, she's the co-commodore of friendship sloops, she boats to Maine regularly and has an email tag, "bigboatmama."
Many of us other Rotarians are still striving to achieve the level of volunteerism that Kathy so ably demonstrates! She is a role model for us to follow! PS: She needs auction item donations for the Charles River Gala next week! Other meeting notes: One of the roles of club presidents is to keep the membership happy. This past week President Glen Davis got an "A" grade from at least one member, Lois Sockol, who has been "complaining" lately about the lack of whipped cream at our luncheon buffet. Glen ceremoniously delivered the whipped cream to Lois as a demonstration of his presidential responsiveness.
NEXT MEETING: Finally, the club meeting on April 15th, tax day for those of you not paying attention, is a day for important club business. The leadership team has been busy thinking about how to improve club structures and improve club participation in projects and event planning. President Glen will be leading our vital discussion of Board proposals.
OUR HARD AT WORK BOARD COMMITTEE WORKING ON HOW TO EFFECTIVELY DELIVER MORE SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY AND WORLD! |
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IT WAS A BLIZZARD OF FOOD AND FUN FOR THANKSGIVING
Once again, the Rotary Club of Needham and the Needham Community Council came together to share a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with our community
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Newsletter 6-7-11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G05OKVkZkDw
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Newsletter 9-23-08
NEWSLETTER
September 23, 2008
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The Value of a Driver's License
**Needham Rotary Club**
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Upton Bell was our guest speaker for the Needham Wellesley Football Dinner!
NEEDHAM ROTARY NEWSLETTER 7-1-14
SA
This week we will be hearing from Harvey Leonard, Channel 5 (abc) meteorologist, winner of several awards for broadcast excellence. He is a fellow of the American Meteorologist Society and perhaps most famous in weather circles for having correctly predicted the ferocity of the great 1978 Boston Blizzard. He often helps in non-profit fundraising, most notably for the Huntington's Disease Society of America. He is a graduate of City College of New York and has a Master of Science degree in meteorology from New York University. He lives in Natick and enjoys hiking.
