A Pledge and a Test
Together with twelve Rotarians, President Caroline recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four Way Test.
Since Last We Met
Birthday: Brenda Waterhouse June 3
Anniversary: Doug and Lenis Bullett June 4
Club Anniversary: Joe Preddy June 1, 2002 23 years
On this day in history: In 1919 the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, was passed by the Senate, two weeks after being approved by the House of Representatives; the amendment was ratified the following year.
On this day in history: In 1942 Japan was repulsed by the United States at the Battle of Midway in World War II.
The Presidential Report
President Caroline attended the District Conference in North Conway, NH and reported that Hanna Dobrilovic, sponsored by our Club, was a finalist in the Rotary Speech Contest. Hanna came in second place and earned $1500 in scholarship prize money through her participation at various contest levels on her way to the finals. Barre Rotary Club is very proud of her accomplishment!
She also reported that the District Conference featured speaker was Mike McGovern, the current Chair of the RI Polio Eradication effort. His message was that we have to finish the job!
At the conference she reconnected with Steve Rand, founder of Common Man for Ukraine and a former speaker at one of our meetings. She hopes to connect her stepson, Xavier, with him to explore the possibility of serving as a volunteer for the organization.
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!Tony displayed the posters and tickets for the Annual Rotary Breakfast and hand-delivered Bob Pope’s specially-colored-coded tickets to him. He also reported that we need to purchase a new grill with a price tag of $4500. He is still working on food donations to lower costs. It was noted that the Library lost a $50,000 allocation from Barre City and Barre Town.
Eddie reminded us that the Berlin Elementary School picnic will take place on Friday, June 13th. Our Club is providing and staffing the grills. Three to four hundred are expected to be served. Bob Woodard is helping as is Dan Barlow.
My Reclassification Talk
President Caroline introduced me. I marched into the room in full academic regalia to the traditional Pomp and Circumstance. I opened my talk by recognizing Karl for launching a new protocol last week--wearing an outfit that represents an important part of one’s identity. It identifies me as a teacher or rather, I prefer, a facilitator of learning. My classes were not filled with sixty minute lectures, but instead I provided activities to engage my students in the learning process. I applied this at all levels of my teaching; undergraduate, graduate and corporate.
Since I helped write the Suggestions for Giving A Classification Talk, I thought I should follow them and so here we go.
1. You, where you were born, your family, your education and other activities while growing up.
I was born in Glens Falls,NY and grew up in Fort Edward. I’m the oldest of seven; I was an altar boy and sang in the choir; smoked cigarettes and drank beer at Warren Durkee’s because both his parents worked (a rarity in those days); played Tarzan with Mary Durkee as Jane; warred with other gangs with B-B guns; swam long distances; ice skated with my girlfriend Harriet; and graduated in a class of thirty-seven. Typical childhood, right?
From my childhood I realized as a young adult that I had learned valuable lessons that would become part of the “fabric” of my personality.
One lesson from my childhood is related to the first tenet of the Four Way Test: Is it the Truth?
My brother and I,with some other kids, thought it would be great fun to set the large field across the street on fire. So we did. It got out of control and a fire truck and firemen came to put it out. When we went home, my mother asked if we set the fire and said:”Tell me the truth.” And so we confessed and she said: “There will be no punishment because you told the truth. Now get upstairs and get in the tub.”
Another lesson that I learned was that labels did not define people: Pete the Greek. George the Russian; Murray Rosenberg; Mr. Shapiro; Dr. Feingold weren’t defined by their religion or ethnicity; but by the guy with the best steamed hot dogs and buns; the kind man who loved our country more than his native land; the owner of the 5 and 10; the clothier; our doctor.
I also realized that as a very young child I had begun developing empathy. When I was five years old I was in a race at Days at Sandy Beach on the Hudson River. I was winning and slowed up and came in second. My mother asked me when I was winning why did I slow down. I told her that I didn’t want the other kid to have hurt feelings. I learned later that it is not uncommon for empathy to develop at an early age.
Another beginning was my love of the theater--used to put on plays and organize circuses and parades. At the same time I developed a love of music; every Friday or Saturday night my parents would get together with friends, sing songs of the 30’s and 40’s and drink beer; in the 50’s a love affair with Rock and Roll emerged--Happy Days!
Onto college where I continued to increase my understanding of other cultures and religions; never dreamed that Diane Israel would be teaching me the horah while singing Hava Nagila; expanding horizons--hearing Risa Stephens of the Met sing, listening to a talk by Eleanor Roosevelt, watching a performance of the Tiger at the Gates and Eugene O’Neil’s The Ice Man Cometh.
I developed a thirst for more culturally enriching experiences and wanting to avail myself of opportunities to hear other luminaries.
Summers during college I worked at the Antlers Hotel in Lake George as a bellhop; I met people from other colleges-Syracuse, Yale, Ohio State, Penn State.
Besides work and play with fellow college students, I gained a reputation for being a good listener. I continued to develop empathic skills and learned that I could be helpful to others; that would be a factor in making a future career decision.
2. Your Rotary classification (your business/profession) and what your business does. After college I taught biology at Kenmore East Senior High School in Tonawanda, NY enjoyed it, but didn’t like disciplining; applied for a NDEA grant for guidance and counseling and was accepted; tuition, books and a stipend.
As a result of coursework and a practicum, I refined my empathic skills and could see the world from another’s perspective; and I continued to develop tolerance for others and appreciate differences.
After graduation with a master’s degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo I took a position as a guidance counselor at the Grand Island Junior-Senior High School, an island in the Niagara River between Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
It was in this position that I had my first experience with a Rotary club. A member came to the Guidance Department and wanted to help students make career choices by visiting area businesses and manufacturing facilities. I was given the assignment of working with the Rotary club to develop the program. I proposed that we identify the worst behaved kids in school and have them as the participants. The Rotarian was skeptical at first, but agreed. I put the group together with the help of the assistant principal, in charge of discipline. They asked if they could choose the first field trip and the Rotarian reluctantly agreed. He was not happy when the request came from the group that they wanted to go to a jail. He presented the request to the Rotary club and with a healthy amount of skepticism, arranged the field trip. In the morning of the field trip we went to Erie County Jail and in the afternoon to Attica. Little did I know that I had pioneered a future well-known program known as Scared Straight; and they were! Another aspect of the program was a group counseling session which took place once a week. After a few sessions the members instituted a fine system when sent to the “office,” could borrow the money (kept in a cigar box in my office) and pay it back with interest. After a few weeks the amount of money shrunk and I was receiving reports of improved behavior and fewer “office” visits. What’s the lesson: It isn’t what we did, but that we paid attention to them in a positive way.
While living in Western New York I learned to ski and then started skiing in Vermont. I decided to move and wrote to all the
colleges in Vermont and received responses from three. An offer was made and I accepted an assistant professorship at Norwich. At this point in my talk I did a quick review of the highlights of my resume’. For thirty-five years of my professional career was happily spent at Norwich. I also taught part-time at St. Michael’s and several other colleges and universities. My areas of expertise included organizational psychology/development/training, interpersonal communication, adolescent psychology and teacher education. I served in several administrative positions, the only full-time one as head of the Division of Education and General Studies. Over the years I conducted short courses which, among others, included team building, influencing skills, situational leadership, communication and performance appraisal for several organizations such as Novartis, Digital, the Canadian Export Development Corporation, State of Vermont Department of Social Welfare and the US Federal Court. I also served as an internal consultant for Norwich designing and conducting workshops for staff and administrators and coaching the president and his cabinet. I gave a number of presentations: the New England Psychological Association, the University of Chicago’s Institutes on Teaching and Learning,the University of Sherbrooke and the Eastern Research Association. I served as president of the Montpelier Theater Guild, a member of the Berlin Elementary School Board and president of the Vermont chapter of Phi Delta Kappa (a national educational society). I was also awarded the Sears Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award and Category I Dana Grant for Excellence in Scholarship and Service.
3. Your current family. Ginny and I have been married for fifty-three years, having met through my friend Bob, her twin, from Lake George days. We met occasionally during mutual visits at his and his wife Betty’s home; We became friends and enjoyed each other’s company. In the second year of my doctoral program, I supervised practice teachers in California and Ginny, who was working for the University of California Board of Regents, got together and started seeing each other on a regular basis; me flying from southern California to the Bay Area and her coming to the Los Angeles area for board meetings and visits to her aunt and a cousin. We had the best of both worlds! I proposed in January 1972 and we were married in Orinda, CA in December 1972.
We have a daughter, Elizabeth, who lives in Moretown with her husband Chuck with their two children-Emerson--13 and Charlotte--11. It’s a joy to have them so close. Holidays we are joined by Chuck’s parents from Bethel in the unique situation of four grandparents all being together in the same place at the same time. And we all get along and like each other.
4. Hobbies, interests and other activities.Past activities include skiing, sailing, power boating, playing the guitar, acting on stage in a variety of roles; favorites were Charlie Brown and Franklin Roosevelt in Annie. Also enjoyed being Elvis in a variety show at Vermont College and in the Bicentennial Show in Montpelier in 1976. I have been attending the theater, both locally and in the big cities off and on since I was in my twenties, having the privilege of enjoying the performances of some of the biggest names in the theater. I have enjoyed cooking most of my adult life and still do; like to read and most recently write--Granite Chips; have enjoyed traveling, mainly in Europe on land and on river cruises; our most unique trip was an African Safari in Kenya.
5. A Couple of Things Not on the Resume`.
I was a bodybuilding judge in the eighties and was a certified fitness trainer at First In Fitness for 30 years. I have been going to the gym for some 60 plus years.
To quote from Suggestions….”The Rotary Club members are interested in knowing you better and this is your chance to tell them.” I hope that I fulfilled that expectation.
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