On December 9, when many of you were wrapping Christmas presents for the families we support, I had the opportunity and privilege to attend a reception for one of the 75 remaining living recipients of the Medal of Honor. The recipient was former Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Pitts who is from New Hampshire. Sgt. Pitts is an impressive 30 year old man who reluctantly wears the Medal of Honor, but does so nonetheless for the nine men who died in the fire fight for which he received the medal. He humbly made it clear that the real heroes that day were the “nine men who made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us could come home.”
The reception featured a video with small segments of interviews with about 120 Medal of Honor recipients some of who have since died. To a man (there has been only one female recipient because the award is a combat related honor), they all acknowledged that they were doing what they were trained to do and they fought as they did to protect their brothers in arms for whom there is a distinct bound that most of us will never know. What struck me, however, was that so many of them used the term “service above self”. While that has been the motto and theme of Rotary for a century it meant so much more in the context of individuals who were willing to give up their lives to protect our freedoms and to protect their fellow soldiers.
Interestingly, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society has established a foundation to, in part, go into our schools and promote selfless service. They are not there to promote the military per se. They are there to ask students to give of themselves to help others exactly like Rotary does every day.
I personally cannot fathom the level of courage and commitment that our military personnel must have to do their job, but I certainly appreciated the opportunity to see “service above self” taken to a level that is hard to imagine. I know that service above self is not just a group of buzz words for Rotary but for the military it is way more than a motto. If you ever have the opportunity to listen to a Medal of Honor recipient take it. It will give you a whole new perspective on your own life.
President Bill Kany led us in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the 4-way test led by Denis Elie and Joe Bassett gave the invocation. President-Elect Lucie Kay introduced visiting Rotarian Lisa Campbell and visiting guests Sabine McElrath and Mayor Don Pillon. Second posting for Conrad Weizel from the Turnpike Authority. The 50/50 was won by Ken Farley who donating 100% of it to the Red Ribbon Committee Fund.
Thank You! – Bill wanted to do a special thanks to the following Rotarians this week:
Bernice Wood for updating the Past Presidents Plaque so it is now up-to-date and Bill can feel accomplished this year.
Heather, Bernice, Paul and Julie for coordinating the holiday family shopping and staying within budget;
Fausto Pifferrer for coordinating the Friendsgiving event which was so much fun and the food was great! We also collected 27 toys for Toys for Tots at this gathering;
Jim Godbout for his physical work and Keith Jacques for his mental work on the Rotary House; and
Jackson Brown, Ken Farley and Karen Chasse for proposing new members to come.
Bell Ringing – Mark your calendar for the Salvation Army Bell Ringing on December 18 at Walmart (both doors). The sign-up sheet was passed around and will be again at the next meeting.
Fun Fact – Please send along a fun fact to Bill that no one knows about you. We will be playing some fun trivia at a future meeting.
Red Ribbon Committee– We are currently collecting donations and to date we have received $8,520! We will be meeting with the School Administrators soon and developing a curriculum.
Bill’s Major Community Project – Bill shared that the Board has voted on his major community project for the year. Each President is allocated $5,000 to do a project that is meaningful to them and relevant to those in our community. Bill chose the TA Machinest training program, the only one in the country. It will help two of the 40 students go through this program. The Rotary Club will be placed on the plaque in the STEM building and also recognized as a sponsor at their annual auction.
Rotary House – Jim reported that demo has officially started! If you are available to help, please reach out to him as more hands make light work.
Christmas Families – Bernice Wood reported we have 43 children this year (467 items to wrap and deliver). Delivery will be on December 23rd and a sign-up sheet will go around.
Speaker – Today’s speaker was our very own PP Roland Gagne. He had a nice slideshow with impactful videos from those we have helped internationally. He covered four major areas:
Our Lady of Perpetual Support in Kenya
Our club has helped secure $9,124 in grants to help orphans with school fees, nutrition and office equipment.
Our club worked on a $20,000 District-funded grant in 2004 to help with a microlending program assisting individuals to set up their own small businesses.
Our club helped with food and other basic needs during the post-election violence.
Antoinette and Judith’s School Fees
Anasthasia is our contact who has established this school for orphans. She is a former sister who left because they would not let her work with AIDS orphans. She sent a video thanking us for all we do.
Our club supports Antoinette (8 years old) and Judith (12 years old) to attend school through our Clynk bottle program; however, we have only raised $1188 since inception and it costs $1124 for term one, $800 for term 2 and $800 for term three. So…drink up!
Roland shared a story and video of Juventia, a girl his family has supported for years. She lost her parents three years apart and would not have been able to complete her education without help. She is now four months away from graduating nursing college and would like to be a doctor.
Lac Magantic
Roland passed around a book that showed the devastation of the disaster. Our club was extremely involved in the immediate efforts and on October 29th, $446 million was finally released to the communities – 50% to the Quebec government for clean-up efforts and 25% for families of those who lost loved ones ($118 million)
Iraqi and Syrian Refugees Grant
Roland showed a video of the sights and sounds around Jordan while the kids spoke of their fear. It was of one village in Jordan that had 200 refugee kids and allowed them to attend school. This grant is currently being developed because it has to be self-sustaining at some point. We are partnering with the Amman Cosmopolitan Club.
The below list of nominations were read. No nominations were heard from the floor. Paul Dechambault made a motion to accept the slate of nominations, Jeremy Ray seconded the motion and the club voted unanimous.
Peggy Bean needs more volunteers! Please let Sarah Neault know if you are available to serve as the Tack Reporter on October 14 and October 21. Thanks.
Invocation: Joe Bassett
PROGRAM IDEA???? PLEASE CONTACT Brian Dallaire, PROGRAM CHAIR or a member of the Program Committee. Remember it is the responsibility of every member to help get Programs for our meetings.
Fill up those green bags. If you need more bags and/or labels, just let Julie Villemaire know and she can hook you up…no charge!
Simple fill with returnables and drop off at any Hannaford.
Alternately, if you already have a CLYNK account of your own, you can designate you funds as a donation. Hit the Donate button and search for Rotary and you'll find our account.
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