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Cogitator March 5, 2014
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Lisa Sussman, Director, Cultural Organization of the Arts
Thanks to Treasurer Ed Neff for pinch hitting today at the podium. Meanwhile, our thoughts and prayers remain with our fearless leader President Jodi Gladstone as she recovers from recent surgery.
VISITING ROTARIANS/GUESTS
None this week.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO…
…Jane Boynton on March 9th! The club offered Jane a nice Jim-Essex-led serenade as well.
ROTARACT/NEW GENERATIONS
-Wednesday, March 26th will be a ‘Brown Bag Lunch’ day at New England Tech, with a twist. We will still pay $15, and those funds will go to club operations. However, get ready for a treat, as the New England Tech Rotaract Club will prepare for us delicious Caribbean food to celebrate their incoming club officers. So mark your calendars, and be on hand for the Rotaract Officer Installation, and, a great meal!
-Recent guest speakers Tim Chase and Pat Page will also be invited to this March 26th lunch. They’ll be able to give us an update on their successful Choose to Matter event at the High School last month.
-Lastly, the Rotaract Club is putting together ‘culture boxes’ to exchange with other clubs in both St. Martin and Tortola. Local contributions will include Del’s Lemonade and coffee milk!
FEINSTEIN HUNGER CHALLENGE
-Sue Dorne provided the WalMart blue bags for food items to be collected in the months of March and April. It’s time for the annual Feinstein Hunger Challenge. Alan Shawn Feinstein will match food donations from all over RI, dollar for dollar, up to $1 million, and our food will again be donated to our friends at the East Greenwich Food Pantry (St. Luke’s).
‘WINE AND WONDERFUL’ EVENT
Jane Boynton is fired up and ready to help make this year’s wine tasting event ‘Wine and Wonderful’ a great success. Jane and her committee have commitments from fine local restaurants, including Siena. Make it a special date night, bring your appetite, and invite your neighbors and friends to the Swift Community Center on Friday evening (6pm) on May 2nd. ‘Invite everyone!’
NEW MEMBER INSTALLATION
Jonathan Whaley became our newest member today. He was installed by Ed Neff, with assistance from past presidents Bob Sloan, yours truly, and Janet Essex who also serves as Club Membership Chair. Jonathan is an attorney with the Providence firm Whaley Bowie and Bagley. He actually comes to the club in a unique way—by discovering our club via the East Greenwich Rotary Phonebook! Each year, the Phonebook advertises to the world around us the good works and good people of the Rotary Club of East Greenwich. Jonathan was impressed, volunteered for service, came to several lunch meetings, and voila—today’s induction!
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Welcome, Jonathan!
HAPPY BUCKS
-Judy Pratt reminded everyone that the Scott Carlson Memorial ALS 5K race will be held at Goddard Park on Saturday, April 19th, at 10am. It’s not too late to be a 2014 sponsor, so please visit WWW.TeamALS.org and join this year’s team as we seek to proudly break through the $500,000 mark in total donations to the local ALSA Chapter of RI.
-Judy was also elated about her daughter Sami’s Lady Titans, who advanced to the Division 1 State Finals hockey championship!
-Jane Boynton welcomed Jon Whaley to the club, and was very happy to have had a great dinner at Bouchard’s Restaurant in Newport.
-Bill TenEyck also welcomed Jon Whaley into East Greenwich Rotary, and he gave a ‘go Toll Gate’ buck for the Lady Titans hockey team. The Lady Titan hoopsters didn’t fare quite so well this year, but it was a great season anyway for Bill’s daughter.
-Kathy McMahon is happily now seven days into her new job: ‘So far so good…my brother in law hasn’t fired me yet!’
-Anne Marie Charland was happy that her parents will be back in town next week.
-Bob Sloan had a great week traveling through the Florida Keys.
-Yours truly seconded Jane Boynton’s motion that Bouchard’s in Newport is a fantastic French Restaurant, and a must for fellow RI natives. Also, my little guy Griffin wrapped up a good first season of instructional basketball at OLM, having been coached by my fellow OLM classmate of ’79, Steve Basler. Steve’s son Jacoby was also on the squad.
-Pat Lenihan welcomed Jon to the club, and she added that she was thrilled to finally not have snow falling on a Wednesday!
-Ken Colaluca also welcomed Jon, and, Ken was very happy about Providence College’s incredible double-overtime victory last night.
PROGRAM/SPEAKER
Lisa Sussman, Director, Cultural Organization of the Arts
Lisa Sussman is a passionate advocate for the arts. Declining funds for arts in society, never mind the East Greenwich High School, has her worried. ‘We need to promote arts as a compliment to math and science, rather than making it a one-or-the-other proposition,’ said Lisa.
Lisa told us that a Guggenheim Museum study recently showed that kids involved in arts do much better in critical thinking. Her mission is to make sure arts remain part of the East Greenwich Public School agenda. She promotes art assemblies, field trips, and art workshops.
The Cultural Organization of the Arts (COA) was founded in 1979 and is today run by an all-volunteer board of directors. The East Greenwich School District has been very supportive, as have been the various local parent-teacher groups. Private donations are both welcome and necessary.
Some events coming up for the COA include a string quartet concert, a poets’ workshop, and a ‘healthy choices’ play.
Lisa was very excited to announce that Rhode Islander Chris Poulos, a BMX world champion stunt cyclist and youth motivational speaker, has volunteered to produce an anti-bullying program with COA next year. Lisa’s hope is that local charitable organizations like Rotary can help with this production.