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Happy Birthday Sunrise

Five years ago the Charlotte Shelburne Rotary Club was instrumental in the founding of a new Rotary Club in the area. On Friday, March 23, members of the Charlotte Shelburne club joined members of Burlington Sunrise Rotary Club as they celebrated their fifth birthday at their early morning meeting in UVM’s Waterman Building.

Clinton Reichert who was District Governor when Sunrise was founded, commented that the best way to “grow Rotary” is to found a new club and that he had recognized the need for a second club in Burlington for a long time. “It only takes 20 committed people to start a new club,” he said. He congratulated Charlotte Shelburne for their support of the effort. He also praised the Sunrise Club for taking on the challenge of organizing the annual Twin State Basketball Tournament and for their new project to benefit youth, a literacy program called Imagination Library that will provide books to very young children.

In addition to reminiscing and congratulations for the good work of the Sunrise Club, Charlotte Shelburne members announced that they had made a $500 contribution to the Rotary Foundation in the name of the new club. Among those attending were, left to right, former District Governor Clinton Reichert, Tracy Stolese and John Bock, co-Presidents of the Sunrise Club, Terrell Titus and John Hammer from Charlotte Shelburne who made the presentation, Dave Carleton, a charter member of Sunrise, and Rene Laporte of Drummondville, Quebec, current District Governor.

Photo by Rosalyn Graham

Contest Encourages Speaking Out

Three young women from Champlain Valley Union High School competed in the annual public speaking competition sponsored by the Charlotte Shelburne Rotary Club on Dec. 9. Kelly Byrne of Charlotte, center, a junior at CVU, took first place in the competition, speaking on the Four-Way Test that guides Rotary Clubs, and applying those tests to her own participation in the CVU Diversity movement. Kelly will give her speech at the Rotary Club meeting in early January and will represent Charlotte Shelburne in the next round of competition in Lyndon in late January.

Also competing were Libby Parent of Hinesburg, left, who applied the Four Way Test to her activities in the Future Business Leaders of Vermont, and Ariella Pasackow of Shelburne, right, whose speech was on the theme "Celebrate Rotary." Libby is a senior at CVU and Ariella is a sophomore.

Belize Group Study Exchange Students Visit Vermont

By Roz Graham

Four visitors from the Central American country of Belize toured some local points of interest, on Wednesday, Sept. 29, as guests of the Charlotte Shelburne Rotary Club. The visitors, Denise Palacio-Walker, Arnulfo Kantun, Leticia Eck and Paul Hunt, were in the last few days of a four-week visit to the Rotary Clubs of District 7850, and had spent time with Rotarians in Sherbrooke and Drummondville, Quebec, Littleton, N.H., Montpelier, Middlebury, Colchester, Grand Isle and Burlington.

The Group Study Exchange (GSE) program of The Rotary Foundation is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 and in the early years of their professional lives. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits between paired areas in different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

While visiting Shelburne and Charlotte, the three GSE team members and their team leader, Rotarian Hunt, spent time at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, Shelburne Museum and Shelburne Farms, and enjoying the fall foliage.