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!
