Scituate Rotary - Member News

Attendance: President Suzanne, Dietrich, Janice (acting SAA), Walter, Mary, Mike, Joe, Alden and Connie, Bart, Judy, Chris, Robert, Sandy, Janet, Donn and Carol, Ben and Renee (speaker) and Lisa; “visiting Rotarian” Lew Burridge.

This newsletter, the 4^th this month, is prepared by Bart as stand-in for the official author BEATRICE (This is also the secret word in this newsletter, to be used by the SAA when he does fines this coming Wednesday. Remember it!)

President Suzanne opened the meeting asking Ben to lead in the Pledge of Allegiance and Robert to do the Invocation.

Then she asked Ben to introduce our speaker, poet Renee Summers. Ben mentioned that Renee has been writing poetry since 1985 and since then her poems have been published in the West Crooke Review, the Boston Poet, the Ibbetson Street Press, Max Magazine, the Aurorean and the Unrorean, The Senior Times and the poetry edition of Spare Change News. She also has authored three art books: “Lexzi’s, Princess and the Pen”; “A Book only Whispers, its pages must sing”; and “Waves”.

Then last year some of her poems were collected in the book “If the Potter’s hands shake”, produced by Publisher Converpage which is run by Pam Mc Callum, well known by the older members of our Club and twin sister of our former member Paula Lind. The book was available for all to see.

Renee explained how she had started to do poetry in 1985, mentioning the movie “Dead Poet Society” with Robin Williams acting in it. And how she works, seeking a nice place to stimulate inspiration (“I especially like to sit near the Lighthouse”) and how she then plays with words. Then she read from her collection of her poems, some of which are in her book. We her audience were quiet as a mouse, hung on her lips and were visibly moved by her poems.

President Suzanne then asked the acting Sergeant at Arms Janice to collect the Happy Bucks and do the “Queen of Hearts” (won by Donn again, but no luck), which netted a cup overflowing with bills.

Finally President Suzanne mentioned the TWO articles about us in the Mariner (with picture of our “Bike Rack statue”) and in the Boston Globe (with TWO pictures, one of which in color, of Alden Janet and herself)!!! She proposed some of us send articles to these papers on a regular basis and proposed that both Ben and Bill do this. As Bill was not present, he was volunteered to preside over this Publicity Committee of course.

Then she mentioned the “Cambodia Night” on Saturday March 24, at 17.00 in the “Johnson and Wales Inn ”, 213 Taunton Avenue, Seekonk, Mass. It supports the Children’s Hospital in Angkor , Cambodia , a place our Club has supported since July 2003 by paying the salary of its dentist. The central figure in this effort of our District is Mr. Gunther Hausen of the Middletown Club, who since then has increased this project to include clean water and literature for the area and has received support from clubs abroad, i.e. Edinburgh, Lyon , New York and Tokyo .

This is the third such fundraising evening and should be as interesting and pleasant as the ones before. President Suzanne attended one and spoke enthusiastically about the food and the entertainment. Several members of our Club have already decided to attend on the 24^th. Apart from our President, Dietrich, Lisa & David, Walter, Janet and Bart will be going. It would be nice if we could fill one (or two?) table(s) of 10 there. Please make a note of it and try to join us.

We had a fine Chinese dinner this time, as the kitchen in The Scituate Country Club is still being refurbished.

CLUB NEWSLETTER for February 21, 2007

Note: The story on women in Rotary will run this Thursday (Feb 22nd) in Globe South.

Note: Attached Articles on Health & Hunger- District invites contribution

Attendance: President Suzanne Kavanagh, Judy, Lew, Ben, Janet, Bart, Bob S., Sandi, Dietrich, Alden, Janice, Loic, speaker: Tim Kelley -
Janice led us in the Pledge. Bob followed with the invocation. Janice introduced our speaker Tim Kelley, Chief Meteorologist for NECN( New England Cable News)

Tim dove immediately into a most fascinating talk touching on beach erosion, climate development and weather forecasting. As a boy Tim had already been fascinated by the ever changing coastline due to weather and currents. His science projects throughout his school years reflected that interest. Now he enjoys his hobby as Chief Meteorologist for NECN and gets satisfaction that he is being paid for it.

Commenting on the ever changing shape of Scituate’s beaches due to storms and water currents which affect them greatly, despite human efforts to control the shifting of sand by building walls, as all Scituate beaches from 1st Cliff to 4th Cliff are breaker beaches and thus subject to changes, Tim could hardly contain his excitement of being a Meteorologist in New England. Weather patterns in New England get their energy from weather forming in the Gulf of Mexico, traveling North up the US East Coast, getting impacted by the Gulf Stream and then colliding with weather patterns that formed in the Polar regions traveling South to East. In such a collision humid hot air from the South tries to balance itself out with cold dry air from the North and the typical result is the infamous North Eastern – well known to New Englanders.

Before getting into actual weather forecasting Tim presented us with interesting thoughts about the relentless debate about global warming. Weather patterns continuously change and have been doing so since ages with periods of colder patterns being followed by warmer ones, the most recent (over a 17,000 year period) freeing New England slowly from the grip of the glaciers. Much of the public debate on this issue is driven by emotion and alarmism which makes good news and stirs up people. It is also fueling research with private grants being given to prove desired outcomes. Tim trusts more the un biased source of research that comes from State Meteorologists who can afford to take a more rationalist approach. Their concerns zero in more on concerns resulting from pollution which affects the quality of the air we breathe in and the water we drink.

Tim’s main challenge to get the weather forecast right, is “to get the wind right”. Computers are a great help to calculate the patterns from a bird’s eye view and come up with a precise prediction. While 20 years ago forecasters could only predict weather to the day, today’s technology allows them to be precise to the hour. The flipside to the computer help is that if the input is flawed the resulting prediction scissors away from the actual pattern developing much faster than in the olden days. Constant adjusting and vigilance seems to be the name of the game.

What has not changed is that “the weatherman” still has to face the wrath of mothers who “e-vent” to him their frustration from crisis in a New England home when the “snow-day” predicted in the evening does not happen in the morning and the School bus is on its way against all hope.

–Dietrich-

The following announcements and notes come from President Suzanne as part of the Newsletter:

1.) The District is featuring a story about "health and hunger" activities for the next issue of the DG newsletter and would be interested in featuring some of the projects and activities of clubs in our district. If we would like to be included, please send information as soon as possible. - Any ideas - please coordinate with Suzanne

2.) Ed McCarthy, a member of the Warwick Rotary Club, is a free-lance writer for the Rotarian magazine. You may not have noticed or recognized his byline – however, his most recent article appeared on page 11 of the January issue (the one with Mia Farrow on the cover).
He has permission from the magazine to propose articles about community service events. Please contact Ed if you have suggestions. Perhaps your club is planning an interesting local service project or event? I am guessing that Ed will be overwhelmed with responses – please give him time to sort through your ideas and get back to you.
The Rotarian magazine's editorial staff is very professional and carefully selects only those stories with the widest interest to its readers. Ed will obviously give his attention to the stories that the magazine feels best meet its criteria.

The service project that our club is doing on March 10 w/ the Eagle Scout Candidate to construct the Sargeant Michael Kelley Path, would be a great article. It would bring PR for our club.
- Please coordinate with Suzanne

3.) The story on women in Rotary will run this Thursday (Feb. 22nd) in Globe South.

4.) For those of you who are interested to get in touch with Tim Kelley with weather stories or questions, his e-mail is TKelley@necn.com. His phone number there is 617 630 5028

Attendance was: Janet (Presiding), Walter (SAA), Dietrich, Candace, Joe, Karen, Alden, Bart, Robert, Sandy, Dennis and Ben. Dennis spoke.

It was an even dozen Rotarians that braved the icy roads on Valentine’s night to be warmed by the inspiring work of our own fellow Rotarian speaker, Dr. Dennis Snyder. Not only does he run his own medical practice, but Dennis currently chairs Medical Missions for Children (MMFC). Medical Missions for Children is instrumental in transforming the lives of children in underprivileged foreign countries that are afflicted with congenital face deformities including cleft lip, cleft palate, related dental problems, deformities of the ear (microtia), hearing problems and severe burns. What wonderful work is done to restore these children!

Dennis accomplishes all of this with less than 2 employees and hundreds of volunteers (himself included) by organizing and shipping 40 foot medical containers to destinations in over 13 countries. The latest stops have been in

Peru

Ecuador

Tanzania

Cameroon

and the

Ukraine

. These containers hold donated and used hospital items: wheelchairs, respirators, IV poles, EKG monitors, OR tables and new syringes, medications, anesthesia and bandages. A container is due in the

Philippines

in a few weeks, so Dennis will be leaving to be on site with this delivery and healing mission. He is excited to assist with the next project in

Rwanda

and hopes that much future work can be done there. There is a great need in

Rwanda

and a wonderful reception for MMFC’s help.

The average mission cost is $40,000 with $8,000 just to rent, load and ship a single container. Our Rotary Club is proud to be a sponsor for Dr. Dennis Snyder and will continue to support his outstanding work. It was agreed that our members need to advocate this mission to all the surrounding clubs, as 98% of every donated dollar goes directly to the children.

Meanwhile Janet Schmitz graciously stepped in to fill Prez. Suzanne’s shoes on a moment’s notice due to weather related delays in Suzanne’s return to Scituate ! It was a great segue to ask for help with the Rotary Phone Book so it can go to print early next week. We need EVERYONE’S HELP, ASAP – PLEASE CALL JANET TO DO SOME EVENING EDITING!

Janet requested a SEARCH COMMITTEE to be formed to contact and encourage delinquent members to renew their presence and involvement. It is a good idea, so join the forces. Also, Carol Sladen will be undergoing ankle surgery on Feb. 26th and we are reminded to offer Carol and Don our help with meals, cards and any assistance they may need.

Joe Kelley urgently requested that we voice our choice of service projects to him in the next few weeks. Some of our current projects and proposals:

Kid’s Tents for the South Shore Art’s Festival
Clean Water for

Kenya
Personal and Financial Support for Interact Club
Michael J. Kelley Freedom Trail
Capstone Ministries in Kisumu
Dr. Snyder’s MMFC
Cambodian Hospital Doctor’s Fund
Life Care Center
Jaws of Life for Fire Dept.
Disabled Veterans

Please be prepared to give a confirmation of the above or your own requests to Joe Kelley.

February 7, 2007

The attendance was: President Suzanne, Dietrich, Linda Borror, Candace, Eric & Cheryl, Walter, Mike, Joe, Karen, Loic, Alden & Connie, Bart, Donna, Janet, Donn & Carol, Dennis and Lisa, “visiting” Rotarian Lew Burridge, State Representative Frank Hynes, Mr. Jason Foote and the President of the Mansfield Rotary Club David Dinneen.

Great to see so many of us out on this cold night!!

You can be sure it was our speaker that was the attraction. Frank Hynes was elected by the 4^th Plymouth District in 1983 for the first time, serving Scituate and Marshfield. His main committee involvement over the years has been with Natural Resources and Agriculture, Transportation, and Health Care. He was recently honored as “Legislator of the Year” by the Mass. Nurses’ Association and three times by the Mass. Municipal Association. Frank Hynes can be seen often and everywhere that matters and makes himself available to the public – he listens to and care about each of us! And he is a good friend of Rotary.

The State of the State sounds something like this:

What any new administration promises has little to do with the reality of state finances. We do not yet know how things will change under Mr. Patrick. The state budget is dependent on and rather at the mercy of the federal budget. Donna can probably not expect any additional money from the state. Scituate is too affluent.
We can expect 12-18 months of a sluggish economy with a 4% growth this year and 3 next. This is related to the housing slow-down and spikes in heating oil and gasoline.
The burst of the high tech bubble in 2001-02 lost more than 200,000 jobs in the Commonwealth in only 12 months. This contributed to a loss of $2.5 billion of a $16 billion income budget to the state.
With the return to work (at lower paying jobs, however) the economy is expected to get back to $19 billion income by 2008.
Our income to the state is also affected by internet shopping and loss of related sales tax. This is being discussed at a national level.
The new health care law will be more costly than anticipated. (“DAHHH”, I am inclined to say. I have lived in Massachusetts since 1976 and there has never been a year that that was not true!) No ideas on what will happen here.
Bio-tech is the new high-tech of Massachusetts. It is a more stable future for product and economy and puts Massachusetts at the forefront of tomorrows in the world.
So, we are not in recession, we will not see revenue growth immediately, and not all roads will be paved anytime soon. But there will be an investment in people and education and in the long run we will be in a better place.

Our second speaker was Jason Foote, Eric’s son who is an Eagle Scout candidate. Jason came to tell us about his project because we said we wanted to participate in it for our “Service Above Self Day.” On March 10, 2007, District 7950 (ours) and District 5030 (Seattle, WA.) will challenge each other to get the most clubs participating in a day project to benefit the local community. Our district has every intention of winning. Our president has to register us (or our community service chair [secret phrase] – Joe Kelley).

Anyway, we decided to work on the project with Jason that day and he came to describe the project and tell us about Eagle Scouts – or how to be come one, rather.

There have been some 1.7 million Boy Scouts since 1912. Only 5 % of Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts. All must advance through the ranks of Tenderfoot, 2^nd and 1^st class, Star, Life and finally Eagle Scout. Each rank has requirements and tasks to perform. All have community service pieces after 1^st class. To meet requirements for Eagle, the scout must lead a community service project after he has earned certain badges. This includes proposing a project, creating a portfolio of the plans and implementation, collecting letters of approval as necessary, giving to the community and and lasting at least 100 hours.

Jason described his “Freedom Trail” in honor of Michael Kelley on the property of Christ Lutheran Church on 3A. It will be a walking trail open to the public and a part of a larger nature path and picnic area in the same area. Jason has done his homework and this is a great way for us to participate in the “Service Above Self” Day activity on March 10^th. Hope we see you there!

Happy bucks was a bust as no one listened to anyone but we did have some generous contributions. We had 2 birthday cakes for Dennis and Walter for dessert and their fines were collected as well. Nice cake! Someone won the ticket draw but I did not hear about the queen…Lisa was a brilliant first time S-A-R! We look forward to the rest of your month, Lisa.

I am off to pick up the phonebook for proofing with Chris. We will be working on it at my house on Monday night. I expect Dietrich and Candace to be joining me! If we do not complete our assignment, expect a call……..

Keep warm.

Until next month, I am yours in Rotary,
Janet

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