It's another beautiful autumn day today as we enjoy the leaves starting to turn in the valley! A nice crowd of 19 gathered at the Redwood, with 7 guests.
Jack opened the meeting with the Pledge and we sang America the Beautiful beautifully! The inspiration was: "What is Life? They say it's from B to D - from Birth to Death. But what's between B and D? It's a C. So what is a C? It is a CHOICE. Our life is a matter of Choices. Live well and it will never go wrong!"
Our guests today were David's mom and stepdad - Connie and Gene from Jacksonville FL, Ken Poole from the Canandaigua Rotary, Chip Weismiller from Vero Beach FL Rotary, exchange students Romane from Belgium and Hikaru from Japan and our speaker Morgan Preston from Canandaigua.
Jack gave a review of this morning's Board Meeting:
The budget is being reviewed for approval next month.
* The Board Meeting will be moved to the second Monday at 4:30pm starting on October 13th. * There will an induction of 3 new members next Monday, 9/22! * The Peace Pole project was discussed at length and we decided we need two poles to accommodate all the languages we want to include! The first one is in process now. * Seven memorial benches were purchased and will be labelled and installed soon. * The District Golf Tournament last Friday was a great success with 68 golfing and a profit of $3300 going to District Governor Jim Crane's fund. * Light Up Naples will take place on December 13th.
Announcements: The Pickleball Tournament on Saturday had eight teams of two and raised over $560! * Naples Grape Festival is 12 days away! Presale tickets to the Beverage Garden are available today. If you haven't signed up to volunteer, get in touch with JoAnne. Encourage visitors to park at Hazlitt. Presale festival shirts and hats are available at Morgan Hose Building on Thursdays, 1-3 pm. * September is Rotary Education and Literacy Month. * Frank handed out raffle tickets for the Camp O fundraiser. The dinner is October 24th. See Micah's email for details. * The art of Ira Randall will be displayed and discussed at Bristol Hills Historical Grange Hall this weekend. Ken Poole will give a talk Thursday at 7 pm. See Naples Historical Society FB for info.
We sang "Congratulations" for our September birthdays: Alan, Micah, Denise, Tony and Blanche; and anniversaries: Skip and Judy and Liz and Clyde.
Morgan Preston is the founder of Finger Lakes Outdoor Explorers, a program for 2-6 year olds that encourages confidence, curiosity and a love of the outdoors. She grew up in Cheshire, attended Canandaigua schools and taught primary grades there for four years. After her first son was born, she was inspired to create this program. He is now 3 with a 1 year old brother. It takes place weekly in the summer with events in spring and fall. Lasting about an hour, each session includes a welcome activity and a themed exploration in all kinds of weather. The events take place in a park in Cheshire. Parents take part too and the cost is $15. Her website is fingerlakesoutdoorexplorers.com.
Morgan has a passion for Cheshire as well and is on the board of a group who are restoring the historic Cheshire Theatre and Meeting House on Rt 21. It was built in 1898 and had been vacant for 50 years. She believes that "the community needs a gathering place". So far, they have hosted theatre, meetings, holiday gatherings and dinners in the building. It has a new roof, windows, doors, beams and electric. The original theatre is in the works and they hope to begin programming in 2027. A capital campaign will begin next spring. Watch for more info from the Cheshire Community Action Team (CCAT) coming soon!
The Ace of Hearts was $131 today. The lucky ticket was #9201. Sue drew the 10 of Spades.
Happy Bills went to the great golf tournament, Morgan's enlightening program, Skip and Judy's 57th anniversary family celebration, Hospeace's Fall Fest, David's family's visit and hopes for great weather for the Naples Grape Festival!
Chip expressed his enjoyment of spending the summer with us. He's been to Rotary meetings in city, suburban and small towns and believes small town clubs are the most effective and heartwarming groups. He looks forward to joining us again next summer.
Jack's Rotary moment was over the weekend. He and Sharon went to see the benches near Penn Yan and continued south, enjoying the fall colors to Weis Vineyards. There, they saw Nancy Latour, a Bath Rotarian, who hosts tastings. After chatting with her, a nearby patron introduced himself as a Rotarian from the coast of Oregon! What a great way to meet people from near and far!
We repeated the Four Way Test and Jack rang the bell at 1:09 pm. Have a great week!
