March 17 Cogitator

     Dressed in his best Irish attaire, President MacKenzie called our meeting to order and invited Sgt. At Arms Jim Essex to lead us in a rousing rendition of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling".   As it turned out, no one knew the second line of the song and it deteriorated into an enthusiastic "humming" of something that resembled the St. Patrick's Day Classic.   The French, Germans, Scotch, English, Dutch and Albanians in the room were convulsed with laughter and no one was fined as everyone seemed equally to blame.   Jim has been ordered to do some research in advance of Swedish Independence Day.

      Taking some of the sting off the embarassment of not being able to sing the Irish National Anthem was a fine meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage, that was enjoyed by all.


     The Baptists are back from the Dominican Republic.  Jonathon Malone offered up a happy buck, thankful that he had the good luck to be born in the USA.  Some of the group went into Haiti, and will be reporting on what they saw at an upcoming meeting.  Don Anderson told us there are many tents in place from the Rotary Shelterbox effort and they a literally a life-saving device.



    Jane has an invitation.  And so should you.  The invitations to the Wine Tasting on May 20th were e-mailed to everyone, after a fine design job by Beth DeGerlia.   The invitation can be e-mailed and will also be designed as a ticket for sale to the general public.  When you sell someone a ticket, or pay for a guest, give Jane the names, as this will be the real method of keeing track of who is attending.  The "ticket" is somewhat symbolic.    There are already 3 groups of 6 signed up and Jane asks that you convince four of your friends to attend.  Tickets are $30 a person, $160 for a party of 6.   The big event will be held at Crestar, 51 Liberty Street, right behind Centreville Bank.  


Judy, Judy, Judy is getting the ALS Race flyers out to 4,800 of her closest friends and wrapping up details for this event, which is not that far away.   If you want to be a sponsor with your name on the T-Shirt you need to let her know by March 30th.  After that day all we will be able to do is rubber stamp your company name on each runner's forehead.  The April EG Magazine Cover will feature the race and the story of the little girl who grew up on a farm in Kansas, always dreaming of being the Chairperson of a race through Goddard Park.


Ed Neff, who ascends to the seat of power on June 14th in a colorful ceremony at the Post Office Cafe, is inviting anyone interested to be part of the District Assembly on April 10th from 8 am - 1 pm.  See him if interested.  He recently attended a President Elect Training Session where he learned how to gavel and also picked up some fund raising ideas.   The new theme is "every member active".   Several club members were awakened and asked their opinion.  The responses varied.


Betsy is in charge of the installation, and is looking for a red carpet and a throne.  Anyone who could loan her their carpet for an evening should make contact.  She would also like to find one of them chairs you carry people in.

Ed is also putting together a committee for our 50th anniversary celebration in 2013.  Most members aren't concerned about it, as the Mayan Calendar has everything pretty much wrapped up in 2012.   If you are on some other calendar, let Ed know if you have a burning desire to be on any existing committee, or committee you would like to make up.

Andy Erickson reports the Smithfield Club is actually happening and invites anyone interested in attending their installation ceremony to see him for details.

Our friend in the Lions club are celebrating their anniversary this year.  I believe it is their 50th.  They have a big doings coming up later, but festivitites start with a pancake breakfast this Sunday at the Firemen's Hall on Queen Street.   $5.00 in advance and $7.00 at the door.   Serving from 8:30 to 11:30 am.   On the menu -- pancakes.


Bob MacKenzie came up with a happy buck for his son, who participated in an Indoor Track Championship event, placed fourth in his event and was named an All-American.   Bob named the event, but I don't know anything about track, so can only tell you it was a thing where you had to run real fast.


Welcome to Trevor Cobain, a new member who gave us his classification talk.  Trevor and his wife have a 7 year old son and Trevor, among other things, is a Cub Scout Leader.  His early life directed him to his current calling, working for Northwestern Mutual.  The path was set when his Father died at an early age with no insurance, causing a very difficult time for him, his mother and two sisters.  Later, his grandfather developed alzheimers and required care for years, decimating his estate.  Trevor says those events changed his life and put him on his current path.






At the recent Board meeting Chuck Sauer reported on distribution of $500 to the Sargeant Rehabilitation Center and REAP allocations totaling $2150 to help families in dire need.    Due to recent large allocations to the Shelterbox project for Haiti and the assistance for Trafalgar East Victims, the Board has approved a transfer of of surplus funds.  This leaves a $5,000 surplus over budgeted items, and repleneshes the REAP  account.  Again this year our dollars have made a big difference in people's lives.

A Rotary memory.   This is a picture of Arthur Silverman.  Arthur was a member of the prominent Silverman family, and an enthusiastic Rotarian, along with his brother Howard.   In spite of challenges, Arthur was an  East Greenwich fixture.  The community nurtured him and he was involved in many groups and activities.  Long time Rotarians remember being sold a Rotary Hat by Arthur, or rather - being told they were buying a hat.   If you were a Rotarian, you were going to have a hat.  That was Athur's job.



And finally, my brother in law has been disappointed in the lack of coverage of the spring storm season in Tucson.  Their area has been especially hard hit.  Below is a picture of some of the typical damage at a Tuscon home.