Newsletter - Archive  Mar 17, 2010

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Charlotte Shelburne Rotary Club

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Trinity Episcopal Church Community Room

Welcome

Chef William's St Patrick's Day Special

In a salute to all the Irish and wanna-be Irish at the meeting, Chef William had created a special breakfast – corned beef and green eggs! Thanks Will – super.

President John Beal lead in the Pledge of Allegiance and Kris Engstrom gave the devotional. John introduced guest David Gladstone of Burlington Rotary.

Rotary Thought

The friendly and supportive relationship between Rotary and the Boy Scouts has existed since the earliest days of both organizations, and this year as the Boy Scouts celebrate their 100^th anniversary, there is an excellent article about that relationship in The Rotarian. Since the days when Rotary founder Paul Harris urged Rotary Clubs to assist Boy Scout troops in their communities, that has grown until today 1,438 Scout units are supported by Rotary Clubs. Charlotte Shelburne Rotary chartered the Shelburne and Charlotte Cubs and the Shelburne Scouts.

Coming Events

• 3/19 – Charlotte Senior Center Dinner – we are volunteering to help with clean up
• 3/24 – committee meetings
• 3/25 – board meeting

Announcements

• We have been asked to help as judges at the Future Business Leaders of America New Hampshire and Vermont Chapters annual meeting in Burlington on April 1 and 2. This might involve one to two hours as judges for business plan competitions and speaking contests. Contact John to volunteer.
• Best wishes to former club president Andrew Marks for a speedy recovery from quadruple bypass surgery.

PETS Report

President Elect Linda Gilbert attended the President Elect Training Session (PETS) last weekend in Nashua, as did Assistant District Governor Steve Dates. There were 350 to 400 Presidents Elect from eight Rotary Districts at the session, prompting Linda to comment that it makes you realize how powerful and influential Rotary is around the country and around the world. The training sessions, she said, were very insightful.

Bowling for the Community

Ric Flood is eager to get names from members so the letters can go out asking for support. If everyone asks 20 people we’ll have a successful event.

Sergeant at Arms

Don Condon levied some fines:

• George Schiavone to encourage him on his state-wide search for the ideal legislator
• John Beal for wearing green pants for St. Patrick’s Day
• Kris Engstrom for sharing her expertise in explaining what peat is

Happy fines:

• Kris Engstrom – a new grandchild on the way
• John Hammer – looking for green snow
• Alan Hathaway – just happy
• David Gladstone – for Jim Spadaccini’s sponsorship of a Burlington Rotary project
• Gary O’Bergeron – for his green shirt
• Dave Rice – just a little bit Irish
• Bob Maynes – for a trip to Maine to see grandchildren
• Ric Flood – for attending Larry Williams’ 75^th birthday party – a surprise
• Linda Gilbert – for seeing 56 baby lambs at Shelburne Farms
• Jim Spadaccini – for green shorts
• George Ewins – happy to be leaving for France
• Steve Dates – happy to have no green
• John Beal – the family trip to Jackson Hole

Lucky draw:  Guest Mark Nash drew Adam Bartsch’s number but Adam chose the wrong card and didn’t get the $259.50 pot.

Guest Speaker Mark Nash

Mark Nash and John Beal

Mark s the producing artistic director of Vermont Stage Company, a graduate of UVM and the University of Kansas and UC at Irvine who returned to Vermont in 1994 and in 2000 became the director of VSC. Vermont Stage Company was founded in 1994 by Blake Robison who asked Mark to succeed him in running the organization although Mark had not had any experience in running a theatre company. He took over the leadership in the first year VSC began presenting at the Flynn Space, and the first year they had membership subscriptions. The first play he produced was Midwives.

Mark said he quickly realized that the VSC needed a philosophy to guide it, and he wrote a mission statement that committed the organization to treating actors, staff and supporters well, to producing good theatre, and making the world a little better. This was a different approach than he had observed as a student and actor with companies that treated their actors and directors as a commodity with low pay and bad working conditions. The result of VSC’s commitment to treating actors with respect and compassion, he said, was that they make better art.

He also said that the scale of VSC and the size of its theatre means that the audience is engaged in the performance – “Professional theatre with a small town connection.”

In answer to a question about the timeline of a production, he said that planning begins a year and a half ahead of a production, the director and actors are chosen six months ahead and there are three weeks of 40-hour a week rehearsals leading up to opening night.