Oooh, it was a cold one outside today! and more to come in the next week. Luckily the sun was shining and we were cozy and warm inside the Redwood. We had 20 Naples Rotarians and five guests with us today.

 

President Jack rang the bell at precisely 12:05pm. He led the Pledge and chose a song so appropriate for Martin Luther King Jr. day: Lift Every Voice and Sing. Albie quoted George Bernard Shaw "A life making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing". Jack added a couple MLK quotes: "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but you have to keep moving forward" and "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that". Words to live by for today and always!

 

Our guests today introduced by Frank were soon-to-be-inducted Alan Braun, Exchange Student Hikaru, our speaker Lorene Benson, and Stacey and Alliet Shearing.

 

Announcements: Dues are due. * We will have 5 new members inducted next Monday. Several District officers will be attending. * Reminder- we are still seeking a Vice President for 2026-2027 which starts in July. See Jack to learn more and volunteer. * Literacy Volunteers has a spelling bee coming up on Zoom. See John if interested. * January is Vocational Service month. Jack will have more info next week. * Hikaru spent time with other exchange students over the weekend. He had a fun time bowling and doing karaoke!  He is now living

with the Groves.

 

Today's speaker was Lorene Benson, founder and Executive Director of Cobblestone Arts Center in Farmington, NY.  Lorene grew up dancing with the Eastman Ballet. Her family always told her she could do anything she tried. In 1974, she started teaching dance at the Naples Mill School, an arts center on Academy St. After some time, she founded the Cobblestone Arts Center in Victor, where there was a lack of arts opportunities. The building is now the Starbucks across from Eastview Mall. At the time, it had been abandoned for many years and she was persistent in getting the owner to rent it to her. It took $70,000 and her husband, a carpenter, to get it ready for use. She held many arts and music classes there with up to 40 artists teaching. After 10 years of renting, the owner wanted it back. She found the brick house on Rt. 332 in Farmington, which also needed major renovations to become what it is today. In 1986, she founded a wheel chair dance company which has travelled all over the country. Lorene's passion is to show that people of all ages and abilities can participate in the arts. She has worked with NYS programs and the ARC, doing painting, drum circles, dancing and singing with handicapped people. In 1999, she started her own program with 10 students, which has now grown to 150 students, 17 buses to transport them, and 80 staff members. Her students are part of a day program with additional classes available after 2 pm. Alliet has been going to the program for 3 years, after he aged out of school. His mom, Stacey, firmly believes that it has been a phenomenal program for him. In addition, all the concerts and plays at Cobblestone's theater are great!  Recently, Lorene has just been awarded a grant to help bring a wellness center into the building. More info is at: CobblestoneArtsCenter.com.

 

The Ace of Hearts was $13 today. Karen's lucky ticket was #9322 but she picked the 10 of Hearts.

Many, many Happy Bills were for Lorene's presentation and the program at Cobblestone Arts. The progress Alliet has made there is greatly appreciated. The French's look forward to attending the A Capella Live concert there in Feb. Bill and Carrie were happy to have their college sons home, Bill was happy they went back!

The Rotary Moment from Jack was the number of Rotary signs he and Sharon saw on a country road trip to RIT. Sharon mentioned them as well as the speed limits in the towns they went through!

 

We closed the gathering with the Four Way Test and Jack adjourned at 12:45 pm.