Scituate Rotary - Member News

ROTARY NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 31, 2007

ATTENDANCE: President M. Johnson, D. Bilger, L. Burridge, B. Coulter, C. Cramer, W. Heller, A. Mitchell, B. Nuboer, R. Schipul, S. Schipul, J. Schmitz, B. Summers, Lisa Tompson, D. Waterfield

GUESTS: Lauren Miller, Connie Mitchell, David Tompson

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We thank our hosts, Janet and Bart, for opening up their home on Halloween evening when the Country Club was closed for tricks or treats!

It was a first time visit from Lauren Miller, who came as a guest of Dietrich. Connie was Alden’s lovely guest and David came at Lisa’s invitation.

Opening pledge was given by Alden and invocation by Bob.

Speaking on behalf of the South Shore Arts Association, Candace updated us on the fourth and culminating event in the series of “Immigration on the South Shore ”. This delightfully interactive program gave the fourth grade classes at Wampatuck School the chance to explore Irish heritage through field trips to local historical sites, being guided by local Irish artists to create colorful watercolor pallets, and to experience uniquely Celtic music, dance and cuisine.

Candace invited all to attend the special closing celebration tomorrow at Wampatuck School . The event is free of charge and open to the public from 6:30 to 8:00. Come to experience Step-dancers, the O’Reilly Band, displays by SSAC artists, student watercolors, Irish mossing, Celtic ballads and cuisine. This program was funded in part by our own Scituate Rotary Club! We treasure the scope of interaction within the community and thank Candace for these most interesting links.

Links to Russia ’s Health Care services are on the agenda next week as the Russian “Open Door” program gets under way next with Bart and Janet scheduling these Rotary guests to appropriate sites in the Boston area.

Ben gave highlights of peace/conflict resolution in Sri Lanka that came about through the Rotary World Peace Symposium in Salt Lake City and proves that if you bring even two people into close proximity with each other for a period of time, differences can be softened and civil words exchanged and the problem can be addressed and resolved.

The Halloween’s Eve meeting did not turn out frightful, but fun as Bill gave us a musical version of WOW on the keyboard. He serenaded us with “Basin St. Blues”, “Boogie Woogie”, and “Up A Lazy River”

Make your Christmas plans early and plan to support a Cushing student on Tues. Dec. 4th at the Barker Tavern for the annual Cushing Christmas Party.

Respectfully submitted,
Sandra Schipul, Secretary
Scituate Rotary Club

The following addendum should have been added to last week's (Oct 17th) newsletter, but it arrived after the newsletter was posted. You will find the 10/24 meeting minutes immediately following this report.

Chris Ryan gave an update on the bulb planting fundraiser and community service project honoring Michael J. Kelley

459 bulbs sold-goal exceeded
$688.50 taken in
$298.35 owned to Kennedy's
Proceeds to Rotary: $390.15

Chris started planting on 10/20, will continue on 10/22. Marked planted areas with string.
She will plant 5 peoples bulbs. Others should speak to her about how to plant and where on the Michael J. Kelley Freedom Trail. Thank you Bob and Sandi for use of the bulb planting tool.

Thank you.
Chris Ryan

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1. Joan Powers presenting on Habitat for Humanity.
2. Maureen presenting the buffet.
3. Sandi Schipul, Queen of Hearts!
4. Steve Silverman, District Governor Elect and Terry Humfreys, District Governor
5. Walter and Bart collecting happy and sad bucks!

ATTENDANCE: President M. Johnson, D. Bilger, J. Brown, L. Burridge, W. Heller, B. Hurwitch, J. Kelley, A. Mitchell, B. Nuboer, B. Price, J. Rego, B. Schipul, S. Schipul, J. Schmitz, B. Summers, D. Waterfield

GUESTS: Speaker, Joan Powers, Steve Silverman, Terry Humfreys and Connie Mitchell

It was a dynamic evening, packed with a powerhouse of guests and the meeting was filled with breaking news of upcoming events!

Walter led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Bob invoked blessings for our food, fellowship and outreach.

Tonight our gracious Captain Mike had to admit that he was outranked by the District Governor Elect, Steve Silverman and District Governor Nominee Terry Humfreys. However Captain Mike was at the helm to open our meeting and to welcome all of our guests.

Breaking news was that our own Dietrich Bilger has accepted the role of Assistant District Governor for the new term and will give Janet a reprieve from her duties. Congrats, Dietrich and many good wishes as a new District Officer. This acceptance prompted the visit of our auspicious guests, Steve and Terry.

Also mark your calendars now for an unprecedented event on June 26th, 2008! A new venue is in the making for the installation of all incoming Rotary Officers district wide. It is predicted that over 4,000 members will be on hand for the ceremonies at the Providence , RI Convention Center with Rotary International President, Wilfrid Wilkinson presiding.

Phone Book Chair, Bob S. gave us the update that now ½ of the advertising renewals are in and approximately $24,000 is raised to date. So check with Bob’s master list to see which patrons you have to follow up on ASAP to finish up by November!

Our speaker Joan Powers is well known in the community for her tireless volunteerism in Meals on Wheels, The Senior Center and Habitat for Humanity. She shared with us that the S.S. Habitat is set to transfer the house currently being built on Route 3A by Christmas, to a wonderful local family. What a long way they have come, after being granted the property from the township and utilizing 800 volunteer hours to complete. We are all invited to pitch in with the challenge of building a second home in Scituate , which is breaking news to be announced soon!

As our world shrinks through communication, we see a new awareness of World Peace Resolution Conflict as it was presented in our club last week through the films of John Michalczyk. This event led to our President’s contact with Ray Helmick, teacher of Conflict Studies at Boston College who is eager to use Mr. Michalczyk’s initial film screenings for further study and may lead into a connection with the world wide Rotary Center in Bangkok , Thailand .

It is incredible to see the evolution of Rotarian involvement in the world, one club at a time.

Respectfully submitted,
Sandra Schipul, Secretary

ROTARY NEWSLETTER: OCTOBER 17, 2007

ATTENDANCE: President M. Johnson, J. Brown, L. Burridge, M. Cohan, B. Coulter, C. Cramer, W. Heller, B. Hurwitch, J. Kelley, K. Kelley, A. Mitchell, B. Nuboer, B. Price, C. Ryan, B. Schipul, S. Schipul, B. Summers, L. Tompson, D. Waterfield

GUESTS: John Michalczyk, Father Brian Manning, Connie Mitchell, Pat Baker, Heather Collins, Joan Powers and Barbara Heldman

What a great crew to have on board for our special presentation of Celtic Waves! Joan Powers was Beatrice’s guest and will be our presenter next week with her topic of Scituate ’s Habitat Program. We were so glad that Alden brought his wife, Connie. Lisa invited her friend, Pat Baker who had enjoyed a previous film last year as a part of our Rotary Conflict Resolution series. Candace brought guest Heather Collins, from the South Shore Art Center and Barbara Heldman from Cincinnati . After Lew Burridge opened with the Pledge, guest Father Manning gave our meeting’s convocation.

Bart reminded us that the Russian Delegation for Open World will be arriving in Boston SOON. He urgently asks for club Rotarians to be host for one visitor for a week from November 2-10. It is a fun and rewarding opportunity to learn about Russian culture from these talented Russian doctors and health professionals. These guests of Rotary only need an evening’s lodging and continental breakfast as they are picked up by Bart and taken early for their daily schedules and arrive home, usually after dinner. So please consider quickly and call Bart ASAP to make his Rotary commitment easier!

Captain Mike introduced our speaker, John Michalczyk who is Chair of Fine Arts at Boston College and well as the Director of Film Studies. His presentation of the Irish Immigration from 1845 to present gave the club a perfect segue to Conflict Resolution insight.

His film Celtic Waves was a dramatic eyewitness of the reality of the one of the greatest exoduses of proportion to such a small country as Ireland . The homeland suffered the loss of over 4 and a half million people to relocation in the last 150 years. The Great Potato Famine was the reason for the first wave of immigration and the fact that the Irish diet in the 1800’s consisted of 12-15 pounds of potatoes to feed the daily needs of the rural families was a compelling factor.

The upswing of all of these events is now called the Celtic Tiger and is the prosperity of Ireland is mainly due to the return of the American Irish and their introduction of technology to a very rural country. It was uplifting to see tangible resolution by the return of Ireland ’s economy and population, which is even a magnet to other national groups now coming to Ireland !

Many of the themes that were woven through Mr. Michalcyzk’s film remind us of the present conflicts in countries such as the Balkans, Africa, and the Mideast . As Scituate Rotary Club and part of Rotary International, it is humbling to know that our pledges and support continue to go to places of need and conflict.

Respectfully submitted in the Spirit of Rotary,
Sandra Schipul
Club Secretary

Rotary Newsletter: October 10, 2007

Attendance: Judy Rego, Bob Schipul, Maryann Cohan, Walter Heller, Lew Burridge,Joe Kelley,
Karen Kelley, Ben Summers, Mike Johnson, Alden Mitchell, Lisa Tompson. and Bill Coulter.

Guests: George Hamacher, Wayne Ross

President Mike brought the meeting to order

Alden lead the Pledge

Bob gave the Invocation

The people in Scituate open their hearts and pocketbooks for the town's disabled.

This was the program's theme for the regular meeting of the Scituate Rotary Club Wednesday night.

George Hamacher, chairman of the Friends of the Scituate Commission on Disabilities said Scituate people are both sympathetic and generous. "We collected upwards of $2,000 at the town's Heritage Days", he told the club.

Wayne Ross, a disabled person who also serves as Friend of the Commission said: "Ninety nine point nine per cent of the people of this town are helpful. Sure there is always the one percent which can cause problems, but most people are wonderful."

The Commission sponsored the ninth Annual Fling recently at St. Mary's Grand Hall. The event included musical entertainment including a sing along before the meal. The Commission also sponsors a raffle to raise funds. A dozen local businesses donated prizes for the winners.

Contributions from the Friends include:

Three scholarships for Scituate High students, special assistance to a person with a disability, special Olympics banquet awards, senior Olympics, a summer program "life Skills", Pre-K summer camp, softball team, newsletter and three awards to special students finishing their education and more. These contributions cost $4,035.00.

Capt. Mike announced details on "Leuk's Walk" a fund raiser to cure leukemia and Bill Coulter added some jokes for older people as the WOW for the day.

Joe Kelley said money in the amount of $1,000 has yet to come in for ads printed on the place mats at the pancake breakfast. Bob Schipul said 60 advertisements are in already for the phone book and added the ads are coming in at the rate of about 10 a week.

Karen Kelley drew the ticket and Judy Regi was the winner BUT no queen yet. Ben Summer told a story about Tom Schaafsma, 58, a Rotarian from Sequin Sunrise, Washington and his adventures helping people in an organization called Shelterbox. The full story can be seen in this month's Rotarian magazine.

Next week's meeting will be a film with John Michalczk, professor of Fine Arts at Boston College, a film producer and director.

Respectfully Submitted,
Bill Coulter
Secretary pro tem

ROTARY NEWSLETTER: OCTOBER 3, 2007

ATTENDANCE: D. Bilger, L. Burridge, B. Coulter, W. Heller, M. Johnson, S. Kavanagh, J. Kelley, K. Kelley, A. Mitchell, B. Price, J. Rego, C. Ryan, B. Schipul, S. Schipul, D. Sladen, B. Summers, L. Thompson, D. Waterfield

GUESTS: Officer Dom D’Arcangelo, Dave Bernardi

Ben Summers opened the evening meeting with our Pledge and Dietrich gave a very special invocation, encouraging us to be strong in deeds to be the new seeds that will become “The Tree of Life”.

Captain Mike welcomed on board our guests, speaker Officer Dom D’Arcangelo and SHS History teacher, Dave Bernardi

Before our meal, Ben gave us food for thought with his presentation of an unusual

Rotary article on an Israeli student, Shai Tamari, a Rotary Fellow from Jerusalem, who came to study Peace and Conflict Resolution at University of N. Carolina. Ironically he found himself in a class that taught and spoke only Arabic. He had to unlearn all that he had formerly been taught to believe about his Palestinian neighbors. He said he had to tear down all the mental walls that were built inside of his head while growing up in Israel. He then went on to study as a Peace Fellow at Duke Univ. and became an advisor to government officials persuading them to make efforts of recognition with neighboring Palestine . Shai hopes to continue his work in peaceful resolution. It is his desire to make one small change at a time in his corner of the world and a step toward peace, through his training in Rotary values.

Lisa read a wonderful letter from a young female soldier stationed in Iraq in the unit of her nephew, Jarat Ford. She is from Ohio and sincerely thanked Lisa for her initial postcard from Scituate . Lisa has a list of other soldiers, in the Apache Helicopter Unit that we can uplift with letters and small gifts. Talk to Lisa next week for her list of items that we can supply to this unit, such a DVD’s, magazines, drink mixes, etc.

We all welcomed Officer Dom back to our club to update us on the activities of the

Scituate DARE program. Dom runs an amazing instructional and functional agenda for our students. His devotion to this avocation of teaching the awareness to the dangers of drugs, alcohol, vandalism, bullying, and stealing, has become one of the most popular programs in the system. Besides teaching the curriculum, Dom has added his own touches, a personal airplane ride with him for the twelve winners of the annual DARE essays. So far he has airlifted 140 students! Also he assists in a variety of extracurricular programs, a talent night, band jams, outings to the Pawtucket Red Sox games, and an Open Gym, after school, two days a week. He keeps a full schedule that shows how much he cares for kids. Our gratitude was shown tonight as Lisa Tompson presented our Rotary gift of $2,000 to the DARE program.

Officer Dom thanked us deeply and told us “The sky is the limit when working with his kids”. He also told us that we are his largest supporter. We are more than happy to see the Spirit of Rotary reflected in the community.

Respectfully submitted,
Sandra Schipul
Club Secretary