Newsletter for Meeting on 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!