President George Weir welcomed all to the May 10th meeting of the Brattleboro Rotary Club held at the American Legion in Brattleboro. John Kohler offered the following meaningful invocation from Mother Teresa:
“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.”
This was followed by the pledge of allegiance. Birthday greetings were extended to Phil George, Jeff Hagstrom, Steve Gordon and Bill Vermouth.
As a luncheon of baked chicken thighs, chickpeas, boiled potatoes, broccoli/carrot medley, salad, bread, and apple cobbler for dessert was being digested, the meeting continued.
GUEST: Jesse Jerome Wrenn, Ann Reagan, and Bob Tortolani (speaker)
TRIVIA QUESTION
In which country was the newest Rotary club established?
(answer below)
JOKE OF THE WEEK
For our Rotary joke, Marty Cohn told the following:
A guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog For Sale.'
He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.
The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador Retriever sitting there.
"You talk?" he asks.
"Yep" the Lab replies.
After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says, "So, what's your story?"
The Lab looks up and says, "Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping, I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running... but the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired."
The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
"Ten dollars" the guy says.
"Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on Earth are you selling him so cheap?"
"Because he's a liar. He's never been out of the yard."
ROTARY MINUTE
For our Rotary minute, Jeremy Coleman told us about the history of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the focus of our international project for the past seven years. To learn more, click here.
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At our May 17th meeting, Rich Carroll will tell a joke or sing a song while Jeremy Coleman will offer a Rotary Minute.
NOTE: Weekly assignments are posted on club website.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
05/17 – Club Assembly
05/24 – Cindy Jerome: Celebrating 125 years at Holton Home (the video)
05/31 – Dr. Jilisa Snyder: Hand Held Device Addiction
If you like this newsletter, brag at next Club meeting.
So far only NINE members have acknowledged this rag.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
If you can help with the Welcome Center club fundraiser on June 8 from 8-5, contact Greg Worden .<ED NOTE: This is an important fundraiser to help the club with its expenses.>
If you can help with the Island Cleanup project on May 12th, contact George Weir.
If you can help identify sponsors and/or players for Rotary Golf Tournament, contact Gina Pattison.
If you can help with Brattleboro on Wheels on July 14, contact Greg Worden.
Dues notices have been distributed. You can always pay more than your dues! Please pay by June 1.
There will be a meeting of Gift Giving Committee following today’s club meeting.
There will be a club mixer on 5/24 at the Kiwanis Shelter from 5:30 – 7:30PM. If you plan to attend, contact Dave Twombly.
Raffle tickets for the Rotary Golf Tournament are on sale. Tickets are $5 each or five for $20. Last year set a record for raffle sales. Let's beat the record this year!
The last Little Free Library was sold to Brattleboro Retreat to benefit Brooks Memorial Library. Little Free Libraries are springing up all over Brattleboro. Check out the one on Belmont Avenue. You can find a list of all Little Free Libraries by clicking here.
FINES
NONE ;-(
BRAGS
Joe Little – for all the painters who participated at the Turning Point project.
Steve Gordon – for Dr. Robert Tortolani.
Mara Williams – for cleaning out her garage and finding a lot of bottles to bring to redemption center.
John Kohler – for Marty Cohn producing the club’s informative newsletter each week. <ED NOTE: Wow! Two weeks in a row.>
John Kohler – for Jim Haine’s coordination of weekly programs.
Cindy Jerome – for her son, Jesse, completing AP History.
Tom French - for his grandson winning the Bronze Competition in Squash.
photo by PHOTOS BY KRISTOPHER RADDER — BRATTLEBORO REFORMER
Regina Stefanelli– for her children, Leo and Lucy appearing on page one of today’s Reformer.
Rob Szpila– for Joe Little helping him build a Little Free Library for Academy School.
Al Jerard presentedBob Tortoloni who showed us a fascinating home movie he created that recounted his Vietnam experience.
Rotary Cares, Episode 7 – Local Scholarships
Brattleboro Rotary Club past president Marty Cohn hosts this episode discussing local scholarships, featuring guests Brattleboro Rotary Scholarship Chair John Mabie and Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club Scholarship Chair Toni Ciampaglione. Produced in the studio of Brattleboro Community Television.
Past President Martin Cohn who attempts to give a gist of the meeting respectfully submitted this bulletin. However, it is always better to attend. If you have any complaints about the contents of this bulletin...
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION
Members of the first Rotary club in the island nation of Kiribati spent a week in August, 2008 celebrating its charter. To learn more, click here.
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