Rotary Club of Barre meeting on Wed, Aug 21
Aldrich Public Library Milne meeting room.
Club President Caroline Earle presiding.
Rotarians in attendance: Dan Barlow, Doug Bullett, Patrick Gardner, Ted Goulette, George Milne, Joe Preddy, Ed Rousse, Jan Spargo, and guest Rotarian Linda Milne.
Scribe: Patrick Gardner
Meeting Minutes
With Tasty Bites lunches available to Rotarians as they gathered in the Aldrich Public Library’s Milne Room, Club President Earle convened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and leading the club in reciting each of the four tenets of Rotary’s 4-way test.
President Earle welcomed guest Rotarian Linda Milne of the Montpelier Rotary Club and wife of Barre Rotary Club member George Milne. Linda reported that she was serving as George’s driver in the absence of Club Secretary Jim Catone. Jim’s absence also necessitated the assignment of a “scribe” to take minutes. Unfortunately, Patrick Gardner already had a pad of paper out on which to take notes and was summarily assigned the duty.
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The meeting agenda called for announcements, and President Earle begin with several of them related to upcoming club and Rotary affiliated events: a service project social on Thursday, September 5 at the bowling alley for pizza and bowling ($20 per person); a special “spooky themed” club assembly on Wednesday, October 30 (12:00-1:30) with author and storyteller Willem Lange to read Poe’s 1843 short story The Tell-Tale Heart to club members. These were followed by two administrative announcements: the first related to two upcoming membership events that support the strategic goal of increasing club membership to 35; and the second announcing dates and locations for district training (from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 2 in Montpelier) and the district conference (May 31, 2025 in Conway, NH). President Earle reported that next year’s Rotary International Conference would be held in Calgary, Alberta and opined that it would be nice if a club member could attend. The suggestion did not elicit a stampede, though Doug Bullett did say that he is interested in attending (though it was noted the trip would have to be self-funded).
Eddie Rousse announced that the Granite City Garden club service project in the Reynold’s House pollinator plot was rained out and would be rescheduled. He hopes that 5 or 6 fellow Rotarians would be available to assist with the cleanup project.
[Now scheduled for Tuesday, August 27th at 7 am. They intend to work until 10 am, but more hands would make quicker results!]
On a sad note, it was reported that former Vermont State Senator William “Bill” Doyle had passed away at the age of 98. With a tenure spanning from 1969 to 2017, he is the longest-serving state legislator in Vermont history.
Dan Barlow, Chair of the Service Projects Committee, announced that he planned a breakfast meeting with committee members to create
processes and metrics related to club service projects. President Earle interjected that it would be beneficial if additional club members are assigned to that committee. President Earle reported on the mural project at the halfway point of the club’s 10-year commitment to maintain the mural. Details were provided of the “mid-life boost” to stabilize the mural panels and replace rusting hardware. In the early fall, the local artist club Paletteers will touch up and repair the actual mural paintwork.
For Happy Dollars, George is happy for his 32nd wedding anniversary to Linda (August 22nd); Ted is happy for his two daughters earning spots on the Essex field hockey team; Eddie is happy to have delivered his daughter to college for her senior year; Dan is happy for the Mad Hatter women’s frisbee competition that supports the Peoples Health & Wellness Clinic; and Caroline is happy with the collaboration on mural maintenance.
Finally, it was time to introduce club member Doug Bullett as guest speaker, beginning with an overview of Doug’s CV and previewing his topic “Wage Peace.” Before Doug began, however, President Earle presented Doug with a ruby adorned pin to denote his seventh Paul Harris award, to which Doug received a rousing round of applause from club members.
Doug’s talk centered on the mission of the Rotary Action Group for Peace and the strategic goal of transitioning from “negative peace” to “positive peace” through the actions of peace builder clubs, peace fellows, and providing resources to districts, clubs, and individual Rotarians for service projects related to ‘waging peace.’ Doug noted that September 22nd was the United Nations Day of Peace.
After reminding club members that next week’s club assembly features District Governor Kelly Drew, President Earle had Doug pull the winning raffle ticket (Joe Preddy won, then promptly donated the winning back to the club) and then adjourned the meeting.
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