A reminder to all that our meetings start at noon and end at 1 p.m, and are via Zoom for the foreseeable future. If you know of someone you haven't seen at a meeting, President Dan asks that you reach out and see if we can help them join the virtual meetings.
Weekly club invoices have been sent--mostly by email. We have a new Venmo account which you can use for Happy Bucks, Dues, of the weekly dues- please include a note for all payments so we know what you are paying for!
All 2,000 masks that were our part of the Rotary Million Mask Challenge have been donated to 12 local organizations.
Members are encouraged to sign up for (or double-check that you have signed up for) a My Rotary account at https://my.rotary.org/en/. This is a great resource and the district is making a push to have everyone make an account, so please do your part.
The Interact Club will be running a food drive around Thanksgiving. More info coming soon.
Also, the Head Start Christmas party is going to be different this year, so stay tuned for how you can help out.
Joe Mitchell shared a Foundation Minute about Rotary Global grants which are made in support of large-scale sustainable activities aligned with Rotary's areas of focus.
Welcome to our guests: Mayor Shaunna O'Connell and Bill Roth
Virtual Flyer
Please take a moment and check out AHS's December Calendar Raffle. YOU HAVE 23 CHANCES TO WIN!!! Print out the calendar, if you would like to write a check and mail it, send to AHS, Inc., 68 Allison Avenue, Taunton, MA 02780, ATTN: Debbie Howland. If you choose Venmo (774-406-8836) or Paypal (dhowland@ahsinc.org), please list your name and telephone number in the notes upon payment and a calendar will be filled out for you. We appreciate your support. If you prefer to just pay by credit card, visit www.ahsinc.org/donate and select "Donate Amount" and then "Pay by Credit Card" Please contact dhowland@ahsinc.org with any questions.
At our most recent meeting...
At our most recent meeting, we were joined by Mayor Shaunna O'Connell. Mayor O'Connell gave an update on her administration, which began in January and then was quickly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Taunton's response included regular update videos from the mayor, a dedicated webpage on the city's website, the establishment of a COVID-19 hotline, the formation of a task force of local medical organizations and public services, an emergency fund for individuals and families, an emergency fund for businesses raised from private donors, back-to-business kits once things reopened, and community messaging to fight COVID fatigue that is ongoing.
Despite the challenges of 2020, there has been some positive news too. There has been a good expansion in the industrial park, efforts have been reignited on revitalization projects in various neighborhoods throughout the city, and the recent re-opening of the refurbished City Hall!.
Moving forward, a new fund has been created that will reserve 50% of revenue from marijuana retailers for needed repairs/replacements of public safety facilities. There won't be a festival, but there will be a beautiful Christmas display in Downtown for the holidays. And the UNITE task force was created to address social issues. They have a survey that you can find online, and they would like to get about 800 more responses do all are encouraged to share their opinions on the survey.
Our Venmo account is live! PLEASE: Include a note as to the purpose of your payment/funds, whenever using our new Venmo account!! The account is @Rotary-Taunton, but the visible name shows up as “Rotary Taunton Rotary Taunton.”
A happy buck that Jody's 98 year-old left the hospital after recovering from Covid-19.
Cam shared that he had some slight back pain recently, but attributes it to his old age. Cam turns 28 next week--Happy Birthday!
John D. had a happy buck that his oldest son is recently engaged. Congrats!
Ed had a buck for Cam's future which may include a metal knee being forced to bend under the watchful eye of a physical therapist. And he shared a buck that the Mayor's Deputy Chief of Staff recently bought a relative's home in Lakeville--small world!
Will had 5 happy bucks. He was happy for our guest today. He was happy for Dan LeBrun playing at St. Jude's 7 o'clock mass. And he shared that this month's Rotary magazine had an informative article about hunger and food insecurity as a result of the current pandemic, and offered his support for our club getting involved in the Interact's food drive.
Bob R. added that every second Thursday of the month, Bristol has a mobile food market. They had record numbers this month, and he supported the idea that we assist the Interact club's initiative.
Dick was happy to have attended the 47th Annual Meeting of the TDC with speaker Mayor Shaunna O'Connell. He shared there are now 116 companies in the park, 8,400 employees, and $10 million in local taxes to the city generated annually.
Joe M. had three happy bucks for seeing the mask donations on Facebook, for then seeing the new City Hall posts, and also for figuring out how to send happy bucks on Venmo!
Birthdays
Member Birthdays
Cameron Lail
November 5
Joseph Crespi
November 14
Debbie Howland
November 22
Katie Dawkins
November 23
Beth Teixeira Ferraro
November 24
Michael Goldstein
November 25
Our Club
To learn more or join us for a meeting: tauntonrotary@gmail.com
Service Above Self
Thursdays at 12:00 PM
Stoneforge Public House
90 Paramount Drive
Raynham, MA 02767 United States of America
Meetings will be via Zoom for the foreseeable future.
