Charlotte-Shelburne Rotary - Newsletter

It is called the Paul Harris Memorial Road, a half mile long concrete walkway which helps the villagers of Nabapally, India keep from being isolated during the rainy season. It is also one of the many infrastructure projects supported by a Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Grant that has brought prosperity to a rural corner of India. Sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Calcutta Metropolitan, India and Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada the grant has supported schools, micro credit loans, wells, toilets, and a health clinic for several communities.

The road is not just a way out of isolation it is a road to a brighter future - thanks to Rotary.

Calendar

8/12 – speaker Alec Hopkins from CVU
8/15 – Shelburne Day – we’ll have a Hands to Honduras and Rotary booth, serving food as a fund raiser for H2H and a publicity opportunity for Rotary with signage detailing our community good works.
8/19 – Nancy Kerr, marketing professor at Champlain College

Announcements

We will be doing a pancake breakfast at Shelburne Community School on Labor Day weekend as a fundraiser for the Wind Ensemble, and will also have a beverage tent at the Balloon Festival at Shelburne Museum that weekend.
Bill Root will lead the parking team at Shelburne Farms Harvest Festival, promising to create ‘parking chaos.’ Rotary handles parking for the big event in exchange for use of the Coach Barn for our Car Raffle fund raiser in the fall. Bill needs volunteers beginning at 8 a.m. with five people in the morning shift and five in the afternoon. Volunteers are invited to the chili supper that follows the Festival.
Jim Spadaccini explained that a last-minute appeal for a host club for an exchange student from Argentina had prompted him to say yes, pending club approval of the expense which will probably be about $2,000. Approved unanimously. The student is Alexis Jagner and he will spend the first couple of months with Jim and Paula and then move to other host families. If you are interested in hosting, call Jim for details.

Sergeant at Arms

Kris Engstrom substituted for Don Condon. She levied an anniversary fine on Denny Bowen.

Happy fines:

Robert Maynes – happy to have his wife Bobbe at the meeting – and had a great week on the lake last week
Ric Flood – an excellent visit to Whistler, British Columbia – Tina’s birthday
John Hammer – Mozart Festival season drawing to a close – Saturday’s concert will be at the Farm Barn at Shelburne Farms
Linda Gilbert – a great family reunion in Colorado with 23 family members present
Pat Sokolowski – a happy family reunion and a great testimonial for Will and Cucina Antica catering who catered the reunion so that Pat could relax and enjoy.
Denny Bowen – Vacation in Nantucket – 48^th anniversary celebration in Booth Bay, Me.
Don Maynard – a great family reunion
Dennis Webster – two weeks of fog in Maine
Jim Spadaccini – Alex Jagner coming as an exchange student
Roz Graham – a great weekend in Williamstown visiting her daughter and going to Williamstown Summer Festival plays
Bob Sanders – in Florida visiting his mother
Tom Glaser – his 39^th anniversary
Terry Kennaugh – time on the lake on the sailboat
Joan Lenes – heading for Hawaii for a family vacation
Michael Lash – welcome for Bobbe
Kris Engstrom – Max and Erica are coming to visit for several days
George Ewins – quoted his father who said – money is flat – it was mean to pile up.
Elaine Dates – the Woodsy Owl awards in Washington – with eight-year-olds who are studying marketing and the stock marketing
Sue McLellan – her visit to Maine was sunny – and welcome to Bobbe

Lucky draw: Bobbe drew Bill Root’s number, but he chose the wrong card and didn’t win the pot.

Guest Speaker

Bobbe Maybes and John Beal

Bobbe Maynes, Director of Communications and Development at United Way, has an impressive resume. She was the first Secretary of Tourism in Vermont, Executive Director of Make A Wish, and owner of Heart of the Village and Lang House. For 19 years she and her husband Robert were residents of Shelburne before moving to South Burlington.

She explained the mission of United Way of Chittenden County as advancing the common good by:

Coordinating volunteers (a service that provides people-power valued at $1.8 million for local non-profits)
Facilitating community improvements
Convening partnerships to make things happen
Raising money to invest in community priorities.

The process United Way uses to ensure that its energies are having the greatest impact in the community is by starting with community-determined priorities – gathering community people together to identify priority needs. The priorities are:

Basic needs – safety, security, education
Nurture and care for children, youth and elders
Health and well being
Community engagement

United Way only invests in programs that connect to these four areas, working through agencies and also doing community initiatives that target direct service.

They also work on capacity building for agencies, providing technical assistance and data management.

Their Community Change Initiatives help youth and adults to gain skills to have job stability. They provide leadership, support and training for Employer Bridges. They have been successful in building skills in money management by making same day emergency cash loans which have had a very high pay back record and have encouraged saving.

Why should we support United Way:

They work in targeted and strategic ways on community-determined priorities
They are like a general contracot for human services

Services provided in our towns in the last year (through the Help Fund, emergency responses to families who need assistance in keeping families in their homes):

974 – Charlotte
917 – Hinesburg
1,096 – Shelburne
And referrals to SCHIP