Today’s Rotary meeting was held at the York Branch of the Aldrich Public Library, located in beautiful downtown East Barre.  President Jim had a bell and flag handy, so we sang and pledged, and Joe gave one of his more eloquent graces.  Boy, he’s good! 
  
Lunch was sandwiches and salads catered by The Hilltop, and seating was at tables scattered throughout the library’s main room.  Right after everyone got their food and a seat, a neighbor stopped in to tell us about a tree that fell on her car during the recent storms.  The point of the story was to say a crane was on its way to remove the tree, but three cars were parked in the way.  After announcing the license plate numbers, Sue, Joe & George boogied out to move their cars. 
  
Bill N. noted a photo taped to a column and asked people to identify the Club member included in the pix.  The identity will be revealed later. 
  
Claire proposed a fine of 1+9 on Mario – when the neighbor was sharing her woes about the tree and her car, Mario tried to capitalize on her misfortunes by selling her a vehicle.  Bob offered an amendment of 1+9 on Claire, cuz he heard her offer the woman an opportunity to buy a house in a safer neighborhood.  Bob’s amendment was ruled out of order in accordance with the 5 minute rule and Prez Jim said the original fine on Claire passed, though the voice vote SEEMED to go the other way. 
  
Karen gave a Happy Dollar for having this week’s meeting in the library. 
  
Roy asked P. Jim to pass the gavel to Bill N, then proceeded to fine the President 1+9 for confusing the words “painting” and “printing”, causing Roy to lose sleep.  Prez Jim said his confusion was due to the scary way Roy drives.  Karl tried to amend the fine to include Todd because paint has something to do with the original fine.  Neither the amendment nor the fine passed. 
  
Sue gave (some of ) the secretary’s report, and guests were introduced: 


   • Hans Asoera, member of library board 
   • Luanne Preddy, member of board 
   • Nancy Pope, chair of board 
   • Nancy Martin, member of board 
   • Sarah Field, member of board 
   • Mark Alexander, member of board 
   • Lee Bonamico, library staff and computer whizz 
   • Shane Mispel, store manager for TD Bank’s Barre branch 


  
Joe said next week’s meeting will be another field trip when the Club will be Tess’s guest at the Vermont History Center to visit the new Barre gallery and view recent restorations.  He introduced Karen to open the program.  Karen welcomed the Club to the expanded East Barre library and introduced library board chair Nancy Pope. 
  
Nancy thanked the Club for its support of the library over the years, most notably through the annual breakfast (this coming Saturday!).  The East Barre library started about 100 years ago, and merged with the Aldrich Library about 30 years ago.  The building that houses the library used to have an apartment that was rented out to help support the library, but between less-than-desirable tenants, frozen and broken water pipes and flooding, the building was in danger of being closed down for good.  With the Aldrich’s receipt of a significant bequest from the Ron York estate, the board made the decision to not only renovate the building, but also to expand the library into the section previously occupied by the apartment.  The newly restored building will be dedicated at a special event this coming Sunday, and has been re-named the York Branch of the Aldrich Library. 
  
Nancy asked Rotary members to spread the word about supporting the library, and to encourage the Barre City Council and Barre Town Selectboard to increase the annual appropriations to the library. 
  
The Club thanked Karen, Nancy and the rest of the library board for the tour, lunch and program. 
  
Ron gave a short update on this coming Saturday’s Rotary breakfast, 7:30 – 10:00 AM on the library lawn.  Helpers are needed Friday afternoon to set up tables & chairs, and early Saturday morning (6:00 AM) to get ready to serve the 100’s of people who attend each year. 
  
Sue remembered the rest of her secretary’s report, an announced two proposed new members.  If you have any feedback on the proposals, please contact a member of the board: 


   • Dr. Marvin Malek 
   • Rev. Daniel Laconga 


  
There were no raffle tickets this week, so no winners – and no losers!