Newsletter - Archive  Jul 9, 2010

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Charlotte Shelburne Rotary Club

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Trinity Episcopal Church Community Room

Welcome

Norm Robinson and Linda Gilbert

President Linda Gilbert led the members in the pledge and Kris Engstrom gave the devotional. Linda introduced four guests: Gennifer Noble who is interested in learning about Rotary, and three non-Rotarian members of the Hands to Honduras Tela team, Dorrice Hammer, Norm Robinson and Al Gilbert.

Rotary Thought

Ambassadorial Scholarships, The Rotary Foundation's oldest and best-known program, was founded in 1947. Since then, nearly 38,000 men and women from about 100 nations have studied abroad under its auspices. Today it is the world's largest privately funded international scholarships program.

The purpose of the Ambassadorial Scholarships program is to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries and geographical areas. The program sponsors several types of scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as for qualified professionals pursuing vocational studies. While abroad, scholars serve as goodwill ambassadors to the host country and give presentations about their homelands to Rotary clubs and other groups.

Upon returning home, scholars share with Rotarians and others, the experiences that led to a greater understanding of their host country. Generous contributions from Rotarians worldwide represent a continued faith that today's Ambassadorial Scholars will be tomorrow's community and world leaders.

Ambassadorial Scholar as it pertains to CSR

John Beal reported that we had received an application to sponsor an Ambassadorial Scholar from our area, and that he had processed the application, a small committee of CSR members, Judy Christensen, John Dupee and Alan Hathaway, had conducted an interview with her, and the application has been submitted. The applicant, Caitlin Wingit from Shelburne, is a CVU graduate and graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in medical engineering. She is currently on her way to Ghana to study technology that is helping the survival of premature infants in a country where sophisticated life-support systems are not available, but relatively simple procedures are saving lives. Her goal is to work on developing life-saving technology adapted to third-world conditions. The CSR committee was extremely impressed with Caitlin and would like to see her win the RF Ambassadorial Scholarship.

President Linda thanked everyone who contributed to the Changing of the Guard party, its evening of good food and fun, and the chance to socialize.

Announcements

• 7/14 – Tiffany Bluemle will speak about Vermont Works program
• 7/21 – Club Assembly
• 7/28 – Rep. Joan Lenes with an update on the legislature

Club Projects

John Dupee, chair of the projects committee said that signups for the two projects we are volunteering for have been good.

• He has a crew for the Tuesday, Aug. 3 Camp Ta Kum Ta Breakfast in South Hero. He needs a couple more to help. Judy Christensen will lead the team.
• He needs 3 more for the Aug. 13 Charlotte Senior Center dinner from 5:00 to 9:00. This involves set-up, serving and clean-up. But it also includes having dinner with the seniors.

John invited anyone interested in contributing to participate in a project of the Lake Champlain Yacht Club to honor the late Don Rathbone and his wife, Mary, who were long-time enthusiasts of the youth sailing program of LCYC. The plan is to purchase two dinghies for the junior sailing program, one named Don and the other Mary. Any who would like to contribute can contact John for information.

Sergeant at Arms

We really needed a photo of Don Condon, Sergeant at Arms, dressed in suit and tie, declaring that a new day had dawned for Charlotte Shelburne Rotary with a more formal and business-like approach. No more jeans or sports shirt. No more t-shirts (except for the women). In recognition of this new more formal look for the club, Don asked that anyone without a tie pay a fine.

Happy fines:

• John Hammer – Dorrice was present – last day for reduced prices for Mozart Summer Concert tickets
• Colleen Haag – a very nice Changing of the Guard party – a reminder that the price of passports is going up after July 13, so get in to the Town Hall to get yours now.
• Michael Clapp – late fine – pin fine
• Trafton Crandall – yeah for air conditioning
• Kris Engstrom – pin fine – and thanks for the surprise as she received the Paul Harris Fellowship at the Changing of the Guard
• Rosalie Schneider – found her pin
• Roz Graham – for the great Changing of the Guard including the presentation of a Paul Harris Fellowship to her friend Terri Patrin – for the fun pictures of the party which will be posted on the website – for a visit by her niece and grand-nieces who had a great time at Shelburne Farms summer camp and the VSO concert – for hot weather which the state tourism marketing director said we should embrace and remember next February
• Tod Whitaker – a no-tie fine (even though he was wearing a handsome Hawaiian shirt
• Gary Bergeron –  no pin/no tie -- after 34 years with the Chittenden he is ready for People’s United Bank
• Bob Sanders – (the short version) George Schiavone borrowed money from him at the COG to buy Linda a glass of wine – and then spent it on a very long strip of 50/50 raffle tickets
• John Dupee – no pin/ no tie – and his 45^th anniversary
• Steve Dates – thanks for the sympathy card
• Fritz Horton – no pin
• Terry Kennaugh (his first meeting as ex-secretary) – being able to sit at the Anarchy table
• Robert Maynes—for winning the 50/50 raffle at the COG – and for successfully influencing Don Condon’s fashion statement after all these years
• Alan Hathaway – a hopeful fine – that our Ambassadorial candidate will be successful – an amazing young woman – and for our new president
• Russ Blodgett – no tie – his daughter his home – it’s a beautiful day
• Howard Seaver – a magical COG evening – Linda’s presidency – no tie
• Linda Barker – 36^th anniversary
• Ric Flood – heading for a health check
• Terrell Titus – thanks to John Beal for a wonderful year – a great time on vacation with her family in Maine
• Jim Spadaccini – his two granddaughters visiting from Oklahoma – doubts we’ll see Don so dressed up again – thanks to Tod Whitaker for the Farmers Market – it’s great – a place to shop for local produce and visit with your friends
• George Ewins – missed the COG because he was painting the tree house in red, yellow and blue to please his granddaughters

Two lucky draws:

1)       a pound of Honduras coffee (the sale of which benefits the Hands to Honduras Tela project – won by Kris Engstrom

2)       Norm Robinson drew Ric Flood’s number but Ric missed the joker in the pack and the $510 rolls over to next week.

Hands to Honduras Tela

The green-shirted H2H-Tela team was present to show pictures of their 2010 work and tell about their plans.

“We do it for the children,” explained Colleen Haag as she described the geography of Honduras, with the region of Tela at the northeastern section of the country on the eastern coast of Central America.

Linda Gilbert said their work can be broken into four types: health, maintenance, construction, infrastructure support. The variety of projects tackled by the H2H group is amazing, ranging from building a school in the town of Lancetella where access is via a swinging bridge over a river and all the construction material has to be hand carried up to the site. The structural work was done this year and the finishing work including painting, adding doors and windows, will be done next year.

At Camp Elvir a team led by Dave Jonah built a new kindergarten classroom, again carrying loads of rock and concrete blocks uphill to the site by hand. Next year, in addition to finishing the project by painting, they hope also to bring a nutritionist along to help the local people use the food they grow to make nutritious meals.

At Puerto Arturo John Hammer and his team were painting a health clinic following major renovation work.

At Las Palmas School construction work was done in 2009 and finishing happened in 2010. New windows and doors have made the school very safe and secure.

More painting and finishing at the IHNFA Child Care Center where classrooms were build in 2009. The center, in Tela, accommodates 120 children.

Another project was helping the local fire department learn to use the ambulance donated by St. Michael’s College and transported to Tela by a team of Rotary volunteers.

Health care is a key part of the H2H project. They conducted dental fluoride clinics for children at two locations, and taught local women to do the procedure so it can continue. They also did five clinics for women, providing breast and ovarian cancer screening. One of the clinics, on Rio Tinto, involved a two hour boat ride and further transportation in a horse-drawn cart.

The Rehabilitation Centers, built in 2005 and 2009, are treating adults and children who need physical therapy and training local people to provide treatment as well. They also built an outdoor therapy/exercise area for the use of the patients. A Skype link was set up to provide consultation by medical personnel at UVM for patients at the clinics in Tela. The Family Health Clinic saw 42 families in one day.

Linda said they also respond to specific requests such as a need for uniforms for children so they could attend school.

Fund raising goes on all year round, Linda said, and CSR has made a significant contribution to this valuable work.