Called to order by: Pres. Don
Opening Song: R-O-T-A-R-Y
Patriotic Song: O beautiful for spacious skies
Invocation: John Yacavone
Induction: Evan Leary was inducted into the club. Evan's sponsor was Paul Boucher. Evan is from Enfield, and works with Family Financial Strategies in Lebanon.
Song Leader: Ron Carr Song: A Policeman’s Lot Is Not a Happy One
Visiting Rotarians:
JoAnn Lemieux
Guests:
Linn Kisslebach
Evan Leary **
Martha and Jerry – support team for Nancy Liston
Raffle: Ron Carr won the chance to win, but drew the seven of diamonds-no joy
Announcements:
Steve Whitman gave a brief presentation of his trip to the Australian Gold Coast, 14 hours from LA! He visited in Rotary District 9640. He was part of a group including Rotarians from Hanover, Lebanon Riverside, Burlington and more. He brought back banners from Mullenberg(sp?), Tanterfield, and Surfer’s Sunrise clubs. Surfer’s Sunrise club and created 8000 wheelchairs made by Rotarians from bicycle frames!
Saturday, April 2 district training at Lyndon State College
April 29 will be the district conference at Jay Peak
our club has received a thank you letter for the Windows which we financed for the missionary in Pommerin, Tanzania
we were reminded that there is a district grant available: Phil Rentz will pursue in 2015, Nate Miller for 2016.
Brags:
Jane Mason mentioned that her father Pete, former Rotary member, turns 87. This is also James 21st anniversary for joining Rotary.
Rich Wallace mentioned that Valley news is celebrating the publishing of the new website.
Forrest Cole has received a thank you from the Ava gallery for the donation from the Mollica fund.
Rotary Minute: Westin Greene described a wide range of Rotary club activities: focused on Martha’s Vineyard Alzheimer’s project.
Speaker: Nancy Liston of Plainfield, NH
Nancy was introduced by Jane Mason, since Nancy used to work at CRREL, and was Jane’s supervisor. Nancy is widely traveled, and spoke to us about her recent trip to Cuba with Elderhostel.
There Was a Technical Problem with Nancy’s flash drive, but she carried through brilliantly without the use of PowerPoint technology.
Havana Cuba is a 48 minute flight from Miami: entry into Cuba was very simple as long as one have a Cuban these up. It is worth noting that the United States is the only country that has not been frequently visiting Cuba: the rest of the world has been represented they are often.
Cuba has a 50s atmosphere, as evidenced by the automobiles, most of which are American and from that era. Evidently spare parts for American cars are readily available from China, but most of the V8 engines have been replaced with six-cylinder engines.
There are a large number of restaurants, as growth of business and entrepreneurship is encouraged, particularly as evidenced by the requirement of a coin to use the bathroom.
She visited a modern dance troupe, which will perform in Boston in May: this is not unusual as many Cuban groups have performed in the United States. Later, when discussing the dance group with her daughter, she realized that they had seen this group perform years before at Jacobs Pillow.
They visited the Cologne Cemetery: this was full of very large headstones, multiple mausoleums and an acropolis. The guide said that there were 40 funerals a day. Given the approximately 40 acres available, a brief calculation reveals that the cemetery should run out of room very quickly. It does not, however, because it is a regular practice to dig up the deceased after two years and we bury them at other facilities. This is the family’s responsibility, and is generally accepted.
One more a was particularly interesting, since it was decorated with martini glasses around the edge.
The person in mausoleums was person who invented Daiquiris, and served Earnest Hemingway!
The bus was inspected upon leaving the cemetery, to ensure that there had been no theft of objects from the was leaves and headstones.
The group also visited a Meyer Lansky Museum: a was a mob boss who had financed a number of casinos in the old Havana: all of these casinos were burned down when Castro took over.
A speaker was present every day during their tour, and they were impressed with is generally honest presentations. There were a few topics, of course, that he was somewhat careful with. He pointed out that the agricultural base in Cuba used in to be sugarcane. Russia was the primary customer. In recent years, due to the Russian economic situation, sugarcane sales have decreased markedly, so that the agricultural emphasis is now shifting to more generalized uses. There is also a growing Chinese influence in Cuba.
Internet and cell phone service is very poor: in fact the cable system exists, but needs the communication industry to make it all work. There is significant hope that the United States will now provide the ability.
In talking with local businessman, Nancy was impressed with the fact that there seem to be little bitterness toward Castro, even though their businesses had been wiped out. There is an area along the beach which has a very long wall: in fact the United States embassy backs up against that wall. The group was impressed by the number of fishermen fishing on the edge of the beach, but noticed that there were no joggers as one might find in the United States. They were informed that Cubans are too busy for jogging.
There are no Marines guarding US Embassy: rather it is protected by Cubans. It is hoped that when an ambassador takes up residence, that Marines will indeed be allowed.
The capital building about was built in 1926, purposefully 6 inches higher than the United States. Housing is on the average 75 years old: average pay is $20 per month. Havana Is a World Heritage Site. Citizens are however provided the ability to build houses with 20 years of financing from the government: with no mortgage and no interest. 80% of their food is imported from South America.
Men are required to spend two years in the military: women are required to spend three years in education. Streets are largely paved with stones and brick carried as ballast in the ship’s from the 19th century.
Even though three quotes have visited Cuba in the last 15 years, Cuba does not want to be known as a Catholic country. More common is an Afro-Cuban religion. Nancy’s group swim in the Bay of Pigs. Marilla Castro (Fidel Castro’s daughter) runs a Masters and Johnson sex education facility!
