There was a nice crowd at today's meeting, with a strong showing from members, a few visiting Rotarians, a few prospective members, a family member and a guest or two. It was nice to be back to a meeting after being away for two weeks on vacation. Many thanks to Bob Murphy for writing the bulletin in my absence!
Ed.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests:
Elias Mackey joined us from the Danvers club and High Bogosian from the Haverhill club. Ron Gannett's guest was fellow banker (small business loan officer), Joe Scurio. Eden Hutt brought Dave Barker and Dave West as his guests. Susan Moore brought Leah Magnifico as her guest, while Peter McAllister brought his hockey star son, Kevin, as his guest.
Announcements:
Partners for a Greater Voice sent a thank you for the donation we gave (You're welcome, Joanne!)
Erin Murphy, recipient of the $1,000 Orden Owen Scholarship, sent a thank you.
The Marblehead Club sent a thank you for our having sold raffle tickets for the M'head club for their annual lobster raffle. The proceeds are earmarked for the club's Campership program, which sends one or possibly two kids off to camp next summer. Jack Attridge is very appreciative of our efforts.
Sign-ups are now available for the Oct 31-Nov 2 District Conference in Montreal. Sign-up this month and save $50! See President Joe.
The next Board of Directors meeting follows the regular meeting on September 10.
Rotary Golf Shirts (gray, short sleeve) are still available at $20 each. 2002 Road Race t-shirts (white with logo) are available at $3 each, three for $5, a handful for $10, or a whole bunch for $15... your choice.
Raffle:
Sergeant-at-Arms Bob introduced a guest Sergeant-at-Arms, High Bogosian from the Haverhill Club. Hy turned out to be very entertaining, asking several trivia questions and fining for wrong answers. Happy dollars were collected from many in the room... notably, Joe Carroll who was happy that his latest medical tests showed him to be cancer-free. Way to go, Joe!! Ron Gannett distinguished himself by giving a happy dollar for High Bogosian's name, which allowed us to say "Hi, High when he was introduced. Bernie Creeden gave a "happy" dollar that school is starting... does that meet the 4-way test, Superintendent Bernie? Kevin McAllister, being inherently honest, gave a sad dollar that school was starting. Gary gave a dollar each for Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Jan gave a dollar in relief that Gary managed to navigate through the treacherous Woods Hole.
Program:
The always well-organized Linda Parker expressed relief that Gale Hull was able to fill in as a speaker today, as she didn't have anyone else lined up!
Gale gave another inspirational account of the work her organization, Partners in Development, is doing in Haiti. There are now 15 families living in houses built by PID, with more waiting in the wings.
The medical prescreening program has begun. 550 people have been prescreened so far! The average income for these families is $10 per month.
The makeshift prescreening clinic...
The nurses get organized...
Gale is asking club members to go to Haiti in January to help build the actual clinic (see Linda Parker or Jan Sinclair for details or to sign up for the trip). Gale was especially thankful for our club's contribution of $17,000 to build the clinic.
The purchase of land in Haiti for the clinic is complete!
Gale told us that the student who we have sponsored for several years, Jean Eddie Pierre, has graduated high school and is training to become an electrician!
Upcoming Programs:
September 3, 2003: - Not scheduled as of yet.
September 10, 2003: - Jim Harris North Shore Medical Center,
Mary Jane Costa, nurse who heads up open-heart surgery.
September 17, 2003: - Harry Martin, AG, Co-Chair, RF Sustaining Member Task Force
September24, 2003: - Nate Levenson, Habitat for Humanity
Calendar:
September 23, 2003:VIP (Very Important Prospects) Night: A district sponsored special evening that includes a social hour, cocktails, food and a dynamic Rotary informational session. To be held at Spinelli's Function Facility.
October 19, 2003:
October 31, 2003 - November 2, 2003:
, Canada... see President Joe for details.
May 23-26, 2004: Rotary International Convention, Osaka, Japan
Membership News:
Poor Peter McAllister has joined Gretchen's "Sling Club" with a broken right arm. Unlike Gretchen who worked through the pain, Peter has decided to take a six week vacation to recuperate! That means none of us can get a tooth ache until sometime in mid October! (Hope they had to "drill" his arm to fix it... give him a "bone canal"!)
Dave West, one of Eden's two guests this week named Dave, quipped that in order to keep Eden from becoming confused, all of his friends' names are either Dave or John.
Remember: Everyone is on the Membership Committee!! Please do you part in bringing in new members. Just think of how strong the club will be if we all bring in just one new member apiece this year!
If you want to be a part of the Fall Foliage Classic Road Race committee, talk with Ira Singer, Gary Sinclair, or President Joe.
