President Carol began the meeting by passing around a number of issues of the Taunton Daily Gazette, featuring the good work of club members. Barbara and Bob Hunt made it onto the front page as they worked on Berkley's Earth Day. Another article features the AHS Legislative Breakfast and an announcement for the Chamber's Business After Hours on 4/27. Bethany House also held an Open House on 4/27. The PRIDE clam boil and the TACC Annual Legislative Breakfast will be held on May 12th. The Chamber's Teacher Recognition Breakfast will be held on May 19th.
Carol offered a final reminder for the Earth Day cleanup on Saturday, April 29th from 9 to noon. The Interact Club and Debbie Logan have been assigned an area and are happy to take on additional team members if anyone is free.
Also, don't forget that our raffle fundraiser is underway. We are selling $10.00 raffle tickets for a chance to win one hundred $10.00 scratch tickets. All Rotarians are encouraged to pick up at least 10 tickets from the Sergeant-at-Arms desk and begin selling them. Our raffle fundraiser will run through Pancake and Family Fun Day on June 17, 2017.
Pancake and Family Day is getting closer! President Carol passed around a sign-up sheet for day-of activities. There are a lot of things to do between now and June 17th, so as soon as we set up the teams we can really get moving.
Rich added a Pancake and Family Fun Day announcement. He shared that Dave C. is doing great on the corporate ads. Rich is looking to put together the program booklet. If everyone can ask five contacts to contribute an ad, we should be in good shape. Please keep Rich in the loop as you make asks and get commitments so that we don't duplicate efforts. Thanks for everyone's help!
Finally, after being introduced as a guest for the last time, President Carol invited Sponsor Dick Shafer and Al Mendes for a pinning ceremony. We are pleased to welcome Al as our newest Rotarian!
Did you know that your happy and sad bucks help the club make a donation to the Rotary Foundation?
Jackie T. had three happy bucks. The first is for being just about 2 years removed from her last cigarette! The second is for the bank account that she contributes her cigarette money to each week. The third is for the new classic car she just bought with that cigarette money! Congrats Jackie!
Bob Hunt shared a sad buck for our friend Dr. Goran who recently broke his arm. He passed around a card for the club members to sign and we send him all of our best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Dick Shafer had an information buck for the May Arts Collaborative Taunton (ACT) flyer which he left copies of for people to take and share.
Dave T. had five bucks, that are all happy. He is happy that though he recently lost his mother and then discovered a melanoma on his back, he is sure that she is looking out for him, he caught the melanoma, early, he is having surgery to remove it. Though he'll be out of commission for a bit he'll be back and healthy as soon as he can.
Carol had a happy buck for all the guests, but a sad buck that she didn't have money with her and still has an IOU!
Joanne had a happy buck for Carol being a great President. She also was happy that the PRIDE clam boil is sold out!
Joe L. was happy for a successful ($14,000) fundraiser this morning for the Boy Scouts!
Ed Fowler had a buck to share with the group that the two visitors from Taunton, England will be here July 1 through July 13.
Jack Leddy had a buck for being here and for being alive after someone mistakenly thought he had died!
I am sorry if I missed anyone this week--slight technical difficulties!
Recent news from the Rotary Foundation: At our most recent meeting, Phil shared some sobering numbers about the current crisis in Syria:
--It is the worst humanitarian crisis since the end of WWII --500,000 people have lost their lives --Nearly 5 million refugees have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraqi Kurdistan -- Another 6.6 million are displaced internally within the country
At our most recent meeting, Thursday, April 27, 2017, George Mendros was the Program Chair. He introduced Mark Karsner as our Guest Speaker. Mark Karsner has represented thousands of people in personal injury cases since he became a lawyer in 1979. Until the mid1990s, Mark worked on behalf of injured people as well as defended cases for Insurance Companies. Since then, Mark has been able to draw on his experience representing victims of accidents.
With Jim Meehan, Mark founded the firm of Karsner & Meehan, P.C., in 1995. Since that time, Mark has developed an extensive alternative dispute resolution practice. Both Insurance Companies and Attorneys have selected him time and again to help them resolve their cases as either a Mediator or Arbitrator. Mark has lectured to other Attorneys through the Massachusetts Bar Association and Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education on such topics as trial practice, insurance law, and mediation.
Mark treated those present to a retelling of one of the many interesting cases he has encountered throughout his career. Taking legal guidance from Sharon Stone, Mark shared how the decisions of a jury to find legality and also value can be strained in certain instances. Mark is always an entertaining and engaging presenter and we thank him for visiting our club once again.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, May 4, 2017, where will all be treated to a Rotary District Update from Charlie Murphy. Charlie comes to us from District and the Fairhaven Rotary Club. He is a Triple Paul Harris and he will tell us about his District leadership which has made a difference in the lives of many individuals in his community and internationally.
