Stories

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Amherst Rotary and Pure Water for the World Bring Safe Water to the People of Cité Soleil, Haiti.

 

The Sixth Annual Amherst Rotary Club Auction was televised live on  Friday and Saturday November 15 and 16 was a great success netting over $27,700.00 to be donated by the club to non-profits serving the community, college scholarships for local graduating high school seniors, and international projects that support Rotary’s international study and global humanitarian programs.

Wildwood Cafeteria

 

 The Amherst Rotary Club will be meeting until further notice at ABC (Amherst Brewing Company), 10 University Drive. (ABC is located in the same plaza as Greenfield Savings Bank and UPS.), starting this Thursday January 26.

Service Above Self

The Amherst Reminder

 

Volume 86  Issue 12                               November 17, 2011

 

President Irv opened the meeting and Arthur Quinton lead us in singing “America”.

 

Invocation:  The invocation was given by Ellen McKay.  Arthur Quinton recited the poem “Flanders Field” from memory in honor of Veteran’s Day.

 

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:  There were no visiting Rotarians.  We welcomed Happi Cramer who came as a guest of Thad Dabrowski and Trevor Baptiste and President Irv’s guest.

 

Rotary Minute:  President Irv (replacing John Barbaro) Announced that each Rotary club was supposed to do a hands-on project for veterans. As we were involved with the upcoming auction, we didn’t do it but thanked Arthur for his honor to veterans.

 

Acquaintance to Friendship:  Gwen Briere told us about here involved with BONES (Beagles of New England States) through which she has fostered over twenty beagles over the last fifteen years and about her adoption of the two current canine members of her family.

 

Announcements and Reports:  Ed Severance announced it is auction time.  The set up is tonight from 6-7 with the moction and tomorrow from noon on.  Monday and Tuesday will be checkout.  We currently have 376 articles, $ 16,409 bid on-line from 1,136 bids and 58 bidders (only 9 Rotarians!)  The total approximate value of our items is $ 50,000.

 

President Irv announced that Greg Boisseau isn’t here since he is attending the memorial service for his grandmother who died recently.  He also announced that we will be having a joint meeting with the UMass Rotaract Club on Wednesday, November 30 at 7 PM at Hickory Ridge.  The cost will be the same as our regular luncheon price ($ 13.00).  On December 1, we will be having a round table.

 

Linda Rotti said she attended the Rotaract Club and urged us to try to attend the meeting on

November 30.  She indicated 17 Rotaract members will be attending and they will be honoring their first president at that time.

 

President Irv reminded us that the Giving Committee has voted to match our Rotary Foundations donations up to $ 2,500.  George Moore and President Irv will be pushing the donations for the next few weeks.  He announced the Foundation dinner was cancelled by the snowstorm and has been moved to March.  Checks for the Foundation donation should be made out to The Rotary Foundation.

 

Robin Brown announced that the Rotaract is selling t-shirts with today being the deadline for purchase.  Since no representative of Rotaract was in attendance to take the money, President Irv volunteered to do so.

 

 

Good News:  None

 

 

Sergeant-At-Arms:  Sergeant-At-Arms Ziomek fined latecomers, President Irv for being in the Greenfield newspaper and the tables for their inability to answer obscure questions.  He also found a reason to fine both our guests.

 

Speaker:  None

 

Raffle:  The raffle was won by

 

Reminder written by Ellen McKay.

 

 

Service Above Self

The Amherst Reminder

 

Volume 86  Issue 4                                 September 22, 2011

 

President Irv opened the meeting and Arthur Quinton led us in singing “You’re a Grand Ole Flag”.

 

Invocation:  Dick Kraus gave an invocation whose message was to pay more attention to being thankful for this club and all it stands for.

 

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:   Ellen Cary reported no visiting Rotarian.  The following guests were introduced:  Adele Mack , Dan Feldman and Sue Clark.

 

Rotary Minute:  Dam Melley told us about our Club’s annual picnic on Mount Sugarloaf and urged us to try to resurrect the “Day on the Mountain”.

 

Acquaintance to Friendship:  John Barbaro told us about his experiences and adventures with his motorcycles. 

 

Announcements and Reports:  There were no reports.

Marge Roy announced that she and Ron Archer will be hosting a cocktail party for Representative (and Rotarian) Ellen Story at Marge’s condo on September 25 from 3-5 PM.  Steve Kravetz reminded us that we have two weeks until the deadline for the auction.  In response to questions, he told us it was acceptable to accept the paperwork if the item is not coming in until after the deadline.  Otherwise we should wait until both are in to submit them.  If the donation is the same as last year, there is no need to write the text, just indicate that on the submission.

 

Ed Severance indicated that the absolute deadline for the auction is three weeks.  He also indicated that we still need sponsors and underwriters for our auction. He reminded us that the AmherstMedia auction is currently ongoing.

 

Thad Dabrowski announced that Carlton Brose has tasked him with writing a history of the social/sports experiences in our club’s history and asked us to e-mail him with reminiscences.

 

President Irv announced that the 40^th annual ABC  Fall Coliage Walk will be October 22.  He urged us to support the annual fund-raising for the Rotary Foundation.  Our Good Works Fund will match our donations up to $ 2,500.  Polio Plus will also be asking for our donations to match the Gates Foundation challenge grant.  He announced the we had received a thank you from the Amherst schools for the 100 backpacks we have students from our backpack project.

 

Good News:  Steve Kratetz announced his lost money in Las Vegas and told us that, on his return plane flight, he sat next to Mark May who currently works for ESPN and whose boss is Stan Ziomek’s son.  Justine Holdsworth announced that her son, Jeffrey, has been cleared for XO duty in the US Navy and will report to Hawaii for training after which he will be the second in command aboard the USS Rhode Island.

 

Sargeant-At-Arms:  Sargeant-At-Arms Ziomek assessed his usual fines for our failure to answer obscure questions.  However Thad Dabrowski was awarded $ 1.00 for currectly answering a question.

 

Speaker:  Bill Gillen introduced Phil Shaver, President of the Amherst Historic Society who spoke on “What’s New in Amherst History”.  He told us about the lastest work to preserve some of the old buildings in Town and the work of the Local Historic District Study Group appointed by the Selectboard as well as gave us a history of his Society and the Strong House Museum they manage.

 

Raffle:  The raffle was won by

 

Reminder written by Ellen McKay.

 

 

Crocker Farm Partners with Junior Achievement

 

Service Above Self

The Amherst Reminder

Volume 86 Issue 3                                           September 15, 2011

President Irv opened the meeting and John Barbaro led us in singing God Bless America.

 

Invocation:  Edith Hunsberger read the following excerpt from the Amish Work, The Rules of a Godly Life

 

“Finally, be friendly to all and a burden to no one.  Live holy before God… your forgiveness willing, your promises true, your speech wise, and share gladly the bounties you receive.”

 

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:  Ellen Carey reported we had neither visitors nor guests.

 

Rotary Minute:  Inspired by Pres. Irv’s recent e-mail, Justine Holdsworth spoke on the Fifth Avenue of Service which is new generations service involving young adults from 18-30.

 

Announcements and Reports:  Sandy Perron thanked everyone for their help on the COVAC ride.  There were 213 riders (135 preregistered and 78 walk-ins) and the receipts were approximately $ 9,500.

 

President-Elect Georgia announced that the Giving Committee had allocated the following funds:

                $ 200 - Literacy Project

                   175 -  Crocker Farm School Entrepreneurship project

                   175 -  Sponsor a team in the Trivia Bee

                   250 - NEADS – to support a dog for a combat veteran

                   200 – Pure Water for the World

           and to match member donations to the Rotary Foundation up to $ 2,500.

 

Greg Boisseau announced that last night’s Rotaract meeting at UMass had approximately 30 people in attendance including 1 international student, 1 student who was an exchange student overseas last year and several RYLA graduates and former Interact members.

 

Bob Biaggi, speaking for Ed Severance reminded us that the Amerstmedia.org auction is currently ongoing.

 

Steve Kravatz reminded us that the paperwork for the auction was on the back table and to be sure to contact those people you contacted last year.

 

John Barbaro announced the Archive Committee will meet next Thursday, Sept. 22 at 2:00 in the Jones Library Special Collections.

 

Jim Smith announced that there will be an event next Sunday at the West Cemetery commemorating black veterans.

 

Chad O’Rourke announced he’s back and everything at this home (which was flooded during the recent tropical storm) is fine and he is dealing with the mud.  He thanked everyone for their concern and offers of help.  He announced his Sun for Survival picnic raised $ 500 for the Amherst Survival Center which will fund $ 4,500 meals at the center.

 

Arthur Kinney announced that the Renaissance Center Newsletter was available on the back table.

 

President Irv announced that there is a member who likes getting auction donations but doesn’t like to write them up and would like to partner with someone who likes to write but not collect. He also announced that he will be attending the Foundation dinner on November 3 at Chez Josef in Agawam and to see him if anyone would like to go.

 

He spoke about the Junior Achievement program coming to Crocker Farm School for students in 4-6 grades.  It will be taught by Donna Kelly and will be entitled “My Business”.  Yankee Candle will be partnering with the students and desires to do more so the program may be extended to additional schools.

 

President Irv is grateful for the number of members wanting to attend the Facebook Training next month.  He announced that we hope to have an Interact club in place at Amherst Regional High School by November. 

 

He also read a very nice letter from the Survival Center thanking us for the $ 25,000 award.  He announced ACTV is running a promo showing the awarding of the grant.  The family of Gerry Grady thanked us for the memorial donation to the George Parks Memorial Band Building at UMass.

 

Good News:  Bob Biaggi announced that Greta LaMountain celebrated her wedding on Saturday.

Robin Brown told us that she is looking forward to walking her dog this evening after her pet spent 26 days at Tufts Veterinary Center for multiple surgeries.  Her love of her pet showed when she said she drove to Tufts (in Grafton) every evening to spend time with him/her.  Ellen McKay thanked everyone for wishing good weather for the COVAC ride because it extended over to her daughter’s wedding.  Ellen Carey announced that her daughter was one of the first 10 finishers in a 1.5 mile ocean swim in the Swim for Life.  Sandy Perron announced her husband has been working on the Extreme Home Makeover house in Springfield.

 

Sargeant-At-Arms Ziomek had us sing Happy Birthday to April  .  He fined all the tables for not answering his questions and was especially rigorous with James Tripplett for using his “computer” to get the answer to the question.  Stan asked one table a second question “What year did the bicycle come to Amherst” and promised to have the answer next week.  We sang Happy Birthday to Arthur Kinney who announced he had had a birthday.

 

New Business:  The planned vote on two by-law amendments had to be postponed pending the mailing of written notification to all our members.  Thad Dabrowski explained the amendments.

 

 

The Rotary Club of Amherst announces its Holiday Giving Party scheduled to take place in December.  Please mark your calendars.  -

Monday, December 5, 2011 5:00-7:00 pm (Snow Date Tuesday, 12/6/2011)

 

Service Above Self

The Amherst Reminder

 

Volume 86  Issue 1                                  September 1, 2011

 

President Irv opened the meeting and Arthur Quinton led us in singing God Bless America.

 

Invocation:  Arthur Quinton (with the assistance of President Irv who gave the last line for emphasis) recited a section of the poem “If” from memory.

 

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:   Ellen Cary reported no visiting Rotarians.  Andrew Bullak introduced his oldest son, Theo and his father George as his guests.  Ron Archer introduced Sue Clark and Kathy Rice presented Robin Brown who will be inducted next week.

 

Rotary Minute:  President Irv asked us to reach out to Chad O’Rouke whose home and property on the Connecticut River was flooded during Tropical Storm Irene. 

 

We will, once again be having a Rotary Foundation drive led by President Irv and  President Elect Georgia Moore.

 

Announcements and Reports:  Sandy Perron reported for the COVAC ride  that there was still a position open for someone to work at the rest area in Vernon, Vermont.  She told us that the recent flooding has caused a road closure that may affect both the route and the location of the rest stop in the Deerfield area.  The people working at the rest stops will be contacted next week. There are currently 40 riders signed up for the ride.  President Irv announced that the  pick-up location for rest stop supplies will be the Amherst Regional Middle School at a time to be announced.

 

Ed severance announced the all the auction forms were on the back table and that information on the ACTV auction is on our tables.

 

Carlton Brose asked for assistance from those members who have many years in our club in putting together a pamphlet of the history of the club for our anniversary.

 

Good News:  John Barbaro is back from vacation and has power back.  President Irv announced his wife, Penny, completed a 20 mile cancer benefit walk in Montreal but was delayed in returning to Amherst by the tropical storm.  Bill Gillan announced his vegetables are coming in very well but, as the result, his stand has been vandalized twice.  After having the lock broken the first time, he installed a heavy duty lock.  The creative vandals broke the hasps on the door the second time.

 

Sargent-At-Arms Ziomek made his rounds and collected money from each table as no one could answer his questions.  He warned us that fines may be going up as a result of his recent visit to another club where the person introducing him paid dearly for announcing he was from the Amherst, NH club and that we should make ourselves familiar with the article “Charity Without Boarders” (p. 31) in this month’s Rotary Magazine  as that will be the subject of next week’s quiz. The Sargent was questioned on the accuracy of the answers to one of his questions (What tennis player has won the US Open the most times?) and promised he would pay a fine if his answer was wrong (Jimmy Connors).  He also asked Bill Gillan what he had lost.  Bill didn’t know.

 

Dick Kraus introduced our speaker, Professor Neil Forbes, an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts who is studying why standard cancer treatments fail in patients with breast cancer through his alliance with Bay State Medical Systems.  He spoke about the failure of  chemotherapy in getting to  parts of solid tumors due to the lack of blood vessels and his work with genetically engineered bacteria as transport agents for a toxic (to the cancer cells) protein which kills the cancer cells.

 

Raffle:  The raffle was won by Sargeant-At-Arms Stan Ziomek.

 

Reminder written by Ellen McKay.

 

 

 

85th Anniversary Celebration: Founding of Amherst’s Rotary Club

 

Reception 5:00 PM     Dinner 6:00 PM

$35.00 per person  

 

SAVE THE DATE!       OCTOBER 27, 2011

 

Please join us to celebrate 85 years of community service.

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.

An optimist is the human personification of spring.

 

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