Good morning, Rotarians! I hope you are enjoying the sweet fruits and loads of fresh vegetables of the bountiful season. Blueberries are stocked in my freezer and now I await the corn and tomatoes soon to be abundant.
Recently we enjoyed a well-attended Changeover Dinner at American Flatbread. Once again, thank you, Jane Macan, for organizing this. Food was delicious. Thank you, Ed McDonough, for your leadership the past year and a big welcome to Bill Barnes, our new President. We are all here to help as you take the lead for the next year. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU also to new members Bobby and Kolleen Kintz who photographed our Changeover Dinner and shared some of the amazing photos below. We are so grateful that you both are part of our community!
At the recent Board meeting, Board members nominated Emily Shea and Dara Torre to join the Board. These nominations must be voted on by the general membership and that will take place at the next meeting. A great big thank you to both of these women who are relatively new members! Please remember that Board meetings are open to all members to attend. They are on Zoom the first Tuesday of the month and are a wonderful way for members to stay connected to all that is going on. A link to the Zoom should be on the calendar but if for some reason it is not, just reach out to a Board member who will send it to you. Seats were made available on the Board as both Peter Colgan and Tom Emory are stepping down. Thank you so much for your service!
Also at the Board meeting, members agreed to expand our focus areas which have been families, seniors and food insecurity. We will now include education in the list of focus areas.
A very special Memorial service to celebrate the life of Rotarian Bob Holden was held on August 5 at 2 p.m. at the Waterbury Methodist Church. Thank you to Peter Colgan for speaking and some folks for contributing to his words. The service was a lovely celebration of Bob's life. Family and friends shared inspiring stories and I certainly feel fortunate to have known Bob even for a short while. We are grateful for all he did for MRV Rotary and his thoughtful contributions on the Board.
Volunteer opportunities abound right now. Being a Greeter at a meeting is always a great way to meet people. Delivering food for the Community Pantry takes very little time and is so appreciated. . You can sign up for either of those by copying and pasting this link in your browser. https://www.mrvrotary.org/page/members-only.
Thank you to all who have volunteered to Sell Duck Race tickets or check in folks at the Von Trapp Garden. When I last checked, there are a few spots still open. You can use the same link to sign up. But wait!... There are more volunteer opportunities coming up as well! This Saturday morning from 9 - 12 a few folks are needed to help move heavy items at Neck of the Woods because space is needed for new fencing materials to be delivered for the September building project. Soon you will be hearing more details about that. Please let Gordon Hoare or me if you can help with this.
President Bill Barnes celebrating his taking over! 😉
Outgoing President Ed Mcdonough sad that it is the end of his tenure. 🙂
A hard working flock of Duck Race Ticket sales folks.
A reminder that we will be offering newly designed MRV Rotary t shirts very soon. Thank you, Rob Perry and Amy for your help with this. They are in the design and production stages at the moment. It is not too late to let me know if you would like one or a great MRV Rotary baseball cap to proudly announce your support.
To steal a line from one of my favorite NY Times cooking writers, Sam Sifton, "now this has nothing to do with..." Duck tickets or Volunteer Opportunities, but if you have some extra time to catch this adorable Duck video, you won't regret it. Just copy and paste the below link into your browser.
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