Happy Thanksgiving 2023
Allegiance and Gratitude
After the Pledge of Allegiance, President Eddie asked Caroline to express gratitude and she did so: striving for peace in the world, a goal of Rotary International; thankful for providing coats and hats for those in need; and the energy to help in this endeavor and others.
Hear ye…Hear ye...
President Eddie recognized Nicole who provided details of the clothing Drop & Swap community service event that she has proposed for the
spring. It is a two day event which she has coordinated at Norwich for a number of years. She has even developed a “how to do” manual for the event. She has been in contract with Jeff Bergeron regarding the use of the BOR or the Auditorium and she has received rental fee quotes and times that the facilities are available in the spring. April 20 and 21 have been selected. Forty enthusiastic volunteers have already committed to the event. More to follow. President Eddie reminded us of the World Santa Wrap to be held on Saturday, December 9th at the Granite Museum. Participants should bring a tasty item for the potluck. Caroline asked Keith, head of the Salvation Army which distributes the coats, hats and mittens to those in need, if a survey had ever been conducted to determine the 
satisfaction of the recipients. He responded that no formal survey had been conducted, but the feedback is usually that the recipients are grateful. Caroline wondered about the quality of the items and how they would be received this year. Keith reported that in past years participants were taken shopping at Costco (this year’s coat vendor) and Walmart and were pleased with the items purchased. George lamented the fact that our club doesn’t do anything special for the holidays as it did in the past. His comments generated some talk about doing something special, but no definite plans were made for the December 20th meeting. (Since then, Caroline has picked up the “gauntlet” thrown down by George and organized a celebratory event for the December 20th meeting. Watch your email for an invitation.)
A Little Bit of Happiness
Tony gave a Happy Dollar in recognizing all the good work that is done by Keith’s organization, the Salvation Army.Nicole gave several Happy Dollars: welcoming Nick Allen back; Garrett giving his classification today; and for all Barre Rotary does in giving to the community.
President Eddie threw a buck in the basket, happy to attend the Glenn Miller Orchestra concert at the Barre Opera House.
Since Last We Met
No birthdays or anniversaries.
On this day in history: Meeting at Algiers, the Palestine National Council, at the urging of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, issued a declaration of independence for a state of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on this day in 1988.
On this day in history: In 1904 American inventor King Camp Gillette was granted a U.S. patent for the first razor with disposable blades.
Garrett Gives a Talk
President Eddie introduced Garrett Grant, newly named the Aldrich Public Library’s assistant director, who was here today to give his classification speech.
Garrett grew up in Westfield, a small town located in western New York. He began by telling us Westfield’s claims to fame. Concord grapes and Welch's Grape Juice are well known, but perhaps advice to a president of the United States garners more attention. It seems that Abraham Lincoln received a letter from Grace Bedell, an 11 year-old girl from Westfield who urged him to grow a beard to help him get elected. In Lincoln's response he gave no promises, but a month later allowed his beard to grow. As President, he visited Grace in Westfield. Statues depicting their meeting is a prominent feature in a small park in Westfield. The first Republican newspaper published in Westfield was another claim to fame. It began with the April 25, 1855 issue and is still published weekly.
Garrett’s path to the work among the stacks began when he was taking a course in journalism at SUNY Fredonia. After conducting an interview with a librarian, he was asked to take a part time position at the library. He worked between Christmas and New Year’s in the children’s section. He was majoring in public relations and marketing and completed an internship in York City, but had some doubts about his future. An
incident with a boy who asked Garrett a question about coding - and Garrett told him that he had no answer - caused him to think about the situation. After some reflection, it occurred to him that as a librarian he could connect the boy to resources to find an answer to his question and then Garrett was off to study library science. After graduation he started looking for
jobs and found one at Aldrich and so he moved to Barre five years ago. Part of Garrett’s work at Aldrich is engaging with teens. Each week they meet to engage in myriad activities including arts and crafts, video games and even hide-and-seek in the library. Recently he received a Lawson Grant which amounts to receiving 50% of the “tips” of the staff at Lawson’s Finest Liquids for two weeks. He plans to use the funds for art classes for children and youth. He also recently received his Master in Information degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
When asked about his family he said that they are all over: California, Florida, Greece, Washington State and Erie, PA. In answering the question how Vermont differs from Westfield, he responded that there are more opportunities for community involvement in Vermont. His answer to what was the greatest challenge that he has faced moving to Vermont was the isolation and the difficulty finding a job. Barre is lucky that he found one at Aldrich.
Garrett's Classification Talk was interesting, engaging and provided us with an opportunity to know him better. The Rotarians showed their appreciation with a warm round of applause.
Until next time, that's all Rotarians.....
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