President Carol Sullivan began our March 16, 2017, meeting by revealing our brand new podium! The students at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School (BP) did an excellent job. The podium is beautiful and we are very happy to have it.
President Carol also shared two Taunton Daily Gazette articles featuring Bridgewater Savings Bank charitable contributions and the TASC Spelling Bee.
President Carol reminded the club that the Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting with be March 21. She will be there and hopes to see several other Rotarians as well.
A reminder that we have an invitation for Rotarians to attend a Kiwanis luncheon meeting April 18th at La Familia. This will be Tuesday lunch instead of our regular Thursday meeting that week.
Our next fundraiser is under way! We are selling raffle tickets and all Rotarians are encouraged to pick up some tickets from the Sergeant-at-Arms desk and start selling. This fundraiser will run through Pancake and Family Fun Day in June.
President Carol attended the most recent meeting of the Taunton High School Interact Club. The students are finalizing a head count for our joint dinner in April. They are organizing a breakfast fundraiser at the High School. Their next board meeting with be 3/23 for anyone interested in attending.
In our club's administration news, the latest Rotary Board meeting was 3/16 and President-Elect Joe Livingston attended PETS training this past weekend in New York.
Barbara Hunt, Bob Hunt's guest Natalie Oliveira, Bill Corbett's guest Christine Lennon, member of the Wildfire Girls, Bill Corbett's guest Chelsea Silmon, member of the Wildfire Girls, Bill Corbett's guest Amy Daniels, member of the Wildfire Girls, Bill Corbett's guest Hailey DuPont, member of the Wildfire Girls, Bill Corbett's guest
Did you know that your happy and sad bucks help the club make a donation to the Rotary Foundation?
Bill Corbett had 2 announcement bucks and a late fee of 3 dollars. His announcements were that he is retiring from Co-Op on June 30. At that time he will also be resigning from the Club. His late fee is for missing meetings lately, which has been gnawing at him. He regrets not being able to be more involved and will miss the club. Carol expressed our sadness to lose Bill, but offered him a standing invitation to come to lunch any time. Best wishes, Bill and we will miss you too!
Dan L. had 3 happy bucks. He appreciates the coverage in the Gazette and the interest shown by new Gazette reporter Sarah Cline in the event. He had a dollar for Carol chairing the Spelling Bee yet again. And finally a happy buck to be here today and for getting a chance to catch up with Christine.
Johnny B. had 5 happy bucks. The first was for Dan and the TASC Spelling Bee. The other four were happy bucks that despite being a proud French Canadian, he has never had to go to a curling match.
Ed F. had two bucks. The first seemed a little sad that his car is still in the shop, but a little happy that he is driving a plow. The second is for recently attending Monster Jam with his two granddaughters and realizing that the world is full of opportunities as Gravedigger is now driven by a women!
At our most recent meeting, Thursday, March 16, 2017, Bill Corbett was the Program Chair. Bill arranged for Natalie Oliveira and the Wildfire Girls to present to the club. The Wildfire Girls are a part of Music 4 CO-OP, a unique and distinctive experience within CO-OP’s community-based day program services. Building on activities that encourage enjoyment, self-expression and skill development, it creates a pathway for people of all abilities to discover their musical talents and share them with others. Music 4 CO-OP offers the opportunity to participate in musical performances, audio engineering, team building through music, song writing forums, and a variety of music appreciation opportunities. Currently, Music 4 CO-OP supports a number of musical groups and a variety of individuals learning the skills of song-writing and audio engineering. They create, rehearse, and perform for the love of making music. The Wildfire Girls are a group of young women who write and perform original songs, and have even released an album and created a music video. The group has performed a number of times since their formation a year ago, playing the 100th of the Lighting of the Green last December, the Focus on Vision Impairment and Blindness Conference in March, and at other Co-Ops in the area. A video about the making of their 2016 Holiday Album can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrbTwqMGaDI&feature=youtu.be.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, March 23,2017. Our speaker will be Sarah Bruce presenting "Boston Town New England."
