Stories

 

Scholarship opportunity:Rotary Peace Scholarships for those who are already in the workforce with at least 3 years’ experience in the relevant community service area.

 

The Rotary Foundation awards 100 fully paid one year and two-year graduate level scholarships for specialized studies in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in one of the seven Universities selected by the Rotary Foundation in the US and around the rotary world. District Sponsorship is required. Application deadline is July 1^st.

 

For details go to: www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/peace-fellowships-masters-degree-programs

 

For questions, please email Prasad Menon at: menon7890@gmail.com      or Eileen Rau at: ebrau@comcast.net

Candidates related Rotarians (as defined by the Rotary Foundation) are not eligible to apply.

The Drive for Scholarships continues to receive business sponsorships for the Golf Tournament which takes place on July 25. To date we have $20,050 in hand with additional pledges awaiting payment. The business sponsorship component forms the base of the money we raise.

A second component of the Drive for Scholarships is the restaurant raffle. Tickets will be available at Rotary on June 26th and the cost is $5 per ticket and 20 for a book of 5. There will be 24+ restaurants included for the two drawings which will take place at the Golf Tournament. A list of the participating restaurants will be available at the Rotary meeting as well. Selling restaurant raffle tickets is not required, but it is hoped that you will want to sell some.  Cheryl and I will be at the Great Barrington Farmer’s Market on July 13th selling tickets and we will also have Rotary materials at the table.

A third component of the Drive for Scholarships is the Circle of Friends through which we send out letters to individuals asking for donations to Rotary’s Student Assistance Fund. This will begin early July and this year we will be writing notes on the requests with the hopes of receiving a larger number of donations.

The Golf Tournament at the Wyantenuck Country Club is the climax of the Drive for Scholarships which attracts a full number of teams. The golf fees, on course games and raffles pay for the Tournament. The money for scholarships is primarily earned through the three other components of the Drive for Scholarships. 

Thank you for all the support you give to raising funds for much needed scholarships!

Barbara

 

 

 

This is just a friendly reminder of our remaining raffle basket -

 

Date Night which will be raffled off at Bike N' Fly  - Dinner Gift Certificates - Board Games - Candles - Theatre Tickets (Richard Gave Tri-Plex already)

 

Again, please use your imagination here too.

 

Thank you for helping with this !!!

 

Louann

 

 

Reminder:  The "Food of the Month" is canned beans.  If you were at last week's meeting and brought in beans or made a donation, I thank you very much.  Otherwise, you have another chance tomorrow. Bring in the beans or give me a check made out to "People's Pantry".  See you then.​

 

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We are no longer having weekly food collection drives.  So once you have made your donation, of food or cash, you are done for October!

 

 

As for community support, the People's Pantry is a natural activity for Rotary. It fits right in to our program.

 

 

See you on the third.

Thanks to those Rotarians who supported the People's Pantry last Wednesday with their donations of peanut butter, checks and currency.  If you were not present or did not donate for some other reason please consider donating on Wednesday, August 22.  The item of the month is peanut butter.  Make checks payable to The People's Pantry and give them to me.  Thanks in advance.

 

George

This week our speakers will be Zufan Bazzano, Weyessa McAlister, Masho McAlister and Moses Greenspan who will speak about their trip and doing volunteer work at orphanages in Ethiopia which is their homeland.  The ClubRunner bulletin tools would not allow enough characters to display their full names in the speakers list - our apologies!  We're anticipating a wonderful presentation about their trip.

We served over 70 dinners last evening. Menu was: Chicken Marsala,Noodles,Broccoli /Bread,Salad and Stawberry Cream Cake

Many thanks to Maggie DelGrande and Dona Segalla, my cohorts from Fairview Hospital.. Maggie cooked and Dona helped us serve.

Also many thanks to:  Steve Agar ,Vito and Maria Vitrano,Bobbie Halig, Oskar Halig and Mike Zippel, Richard Stanley,Janet Dohoney,Julie Hannon,Dave Isby,Michael Wise!!

  A great team effort!

 

Thank you

 

 

The Club needs some storage space. Does anyone have an empty garage or barn or corner of a basement? First, we need to find a place for the stuff that is in the basement of the house that John Benedict is moving out of. Second, while we’re at it we should collect into one place all the of the odds and ends, the banners and pancake breakfast supplies and shelters and logo merchandise and who knows what else that is lurking in other basements and garages and attics. If you have Rotary stuff stashed away, let me know; we’ll try to put it all in one place. If no member has a place for it all, we’ll rent a storage locker.

 

We’re looking for volunteers to attend a couple of Rotary events coming up. Our District assembly is May 9, in Enfield, Connecticut. In the morning is a training session, which could be valuable for newer members or those who want to learn more about how the club connects with the District and Rotary International. At the noon business meeting – where you’d get a free lunch! --  our club has two votes. The agenda is mostly to change the district bylaws to make it easier to form a quorum at these meetings.

The other upcoming event is more exotic: Is anyone going to Canada in June? The annual Rotary International convention is in Toronto June 26-27. You could be our representative and vote for the next RI Governor.

 

One of the pieces of business that we did not get to at last week’s Wednesday meeting of the club was a recommendation from the Membership Committee to make more time available at our regular Wednesday meetings for talking about club business. Ironic, yes? It’s a good idea, so we’re going to try to make about one meeting per month a club assembly or business session. The next one will probably be in early May. One topic for a general meeting will be the Membership Committee’s proposals about attendance and corporate membership, which they had planned to discuss last week. Another possibility is to use a Wednesday session for committees to get together and in some cases to get themselves organized: a few still don’t have chairs or vice-chairs. We start a new fiscal year in July, with a new slate of officers and directors, and it would be good to help them hit the ground running, with people and plans and a budget lined up and ready to go.

 

 

 

We served a spaghetti/meat sauce dinner to between 40 and 50 folks last night at Breaking Bread!  I want to thank non-Rotarian Denny Whitcomb for assisting with the main meal, and big thanks to Oskar & Mike for the great setup and for providing dessert.  Thanks Pam Pescosolido for assisting in setup as well.  Thanks also to Terry Whitcomb and Anne Hutchinson (along with her sharp knifes) who assisted with salad prep, John Benedict & Michael Wise for dishwashing and cleanup, Bob Norris for bringing the bread, Mary White, Steve Agar, Alice Naylor and Stephanie Carlson for serving and cleanup.  If I’ve forgotten anyone, my apologies.

 

Thanks again!

 

Dave

Youth is in the news. The media are full of admiration for the energetic, photogenic, confidently well-spoken and media-savvy kids from Florida who have seized the moment and claimed a cause. One conclusion that nearly everyone has reached, regardless of position about the cause the kids have taken up, is that their willingness, indeed insistence, on getting involved to try to make a difference bodes well for the future of our civil society.

 

Closer to home, and at a smaller scale, the kids are giving us hope too. Our Club’s Youth Exchange program is attracting interest again; we have an applicant for summer program and we are likely to have an incoming student again, if we can line up host families. The Interact club we support at Mount Everett is doing well. On March 24, the same day that the kids in Florida are organizing nationwide demonstrations, our District is bringing Rotary youth together for its annual Interact conference in Wethersfield. That program too is being organized and led by the kids themselves. I’ll be interested to learn what they decide to put on their agenda.

 

The kids will be all right.

Thank you all. 

Vito Vitrano

DEC 21 : LISA  HENRIQUES - $50.00

DEC 22: SABRINA  RIGGIERO - $50.00             

DEC 23: ROBERT KRUPSKI - $50.00

DEC 24: STEVE  AGAR - $50.00

DEC 25: GARRETT  HAPP - $500.00

DEC 26: JAMES TRUDEN - $50.00

DEC 27: NUCOLE  KROUZ - $100.00

DEC 28: PAT  SALVI - $50.00

DEC 29: DAVID   PEARLSON - $50.00

DEC 30: BENES   GLACKMAN - $50.00

DEC 31: ELIZABETH CARTER

The Breaking Bread dinner on December 7th was a great success.  The dinner was led by Oskar Hallig and Mike Zipel.  Oskar, the current vice-chairperson of the Great Barrington Rotary Club also serves as the chairperson for the Breaking Bread Committee.  On December 7th, we served beef stew with pasta, salad, bread, and cookies and fruit. The other wonderful volunteers who made the evening possible were Rotarians Barbara Manring, Bobbie Hallig, Suzanne Arre, Stephanie Carlson, John Benedict, Michael Wise, Alice Naylor.  The Rotarians were joined by Dottie Bonbrake our great Mt. Washington helper.  We served about 50 people!

 

Last Week:  We had a very entertaining presentation by Charlie Burger, Chief of the Great Barrington Fire Department.

 

Crissey Farm:  For those members who pay for their lunch with a check,  Gary has asked that checks be made payable to “The Brewery,” rather than to Crissey Farm.

    

Breaking Bread:  As reported last week, Rotary's date for Breaking Bread is March 10^th.  Oskar Hallig is leading this one up and doing the main dish.  Jessica Spear Holmes has prepared a Sign Up Genius for the dinner.  The link is as follows:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d48aaa629abf49-breaking2.    Our next date will be May 5^th.  If you are able to lead the team for that date, please contact Oskar at oskar@onlyinmydreamsevents.com.  As soon as we get the updated schedule for the entire year, I will share that information with the Club.

 

Rotary After Hours:  Jess Krupski is organizing a social hour for the Club on Thursday, March 16^th at Castle Street.  We hope you can stop by for a drink and a few laughs.

 

People’s Pantry:  Peanut Butter - We are down to 6 cards.  Increase your odds of winning, and bring some peanut butter to the meeting!