Good Morning MRV Rotarians, friends, community members and supporters. We wish a very special welcome to new MRV Rotary members, Madison Wood and Denis Vogel. Both of them attended the recent Info session held at Emily's Bar and Bistro. Keep your eyes peeled for them at upcoming meetings as well as dates at which they will present their intro speeches.
I am not sure where April went but nonetheless, here we are in May. In just a few short weeks the Farmer's Market will open followed by the farm-fresh produce you have been awaiting! Please make note that on June 24 we will move our regular breakfast meetings to the tent at Toast and Eggs. Thank you, Malcolm!
At the recent membership meeting, Susan Klein mentioned a gathering of MRV Rotary women scheduled for May 21. Please read on in Susan's President's Words below for details on this. We also saw and heard about some sweet bird houses available from Carol Hosford, made by none other than Charlie Hosford. Catch up with Carol if you would like one of these.
Thanks to Rob Perry, co-owner of Shirt Happens, we now have more really cool MRV Rotary baseball hats. The hats are a light denim blue, the same as the ones you have seen others wear. Please reach out to me, if you would like one. They are just $20 and you get the honor of promoting all the good work this club engages in.
Grants Approved
The following grants were approved at the recent membership meeting as the requests are above the current Board limit.
Everybody Wins: $3,000
Everybody Wins! Vermont requests $3000 to support ongoing mentor recruitment, screening and training to serve additional children. This year the MRV Rotary’s grant enabled an expansion at Waitsfield Elementary to 37 children served (from 30) and an increase to 3 days per week. There is now room to expand to up to 45 children in Waitsfield. Rotary’s grant would enable this expansion.
Interfaith Council: $5,000
The Mad River Valley Interfaith Council requests $5000: $1000 toward renovating the Community Pantry and $4000 toward food procurement. The renovation of the Pantry involves ceiling, floor, and wall paint, and plywood for reinforcing the backing for shelves, plus supplies. GMVS students will help with moving everything out and back in the pantry. Rotary members will put up the plywood and paint.
Summer FUNd/Interfaith Council: $3,000
The Summer FUNd camp program of the MRV Interfaith Council seeks $3000 to help combat learning loss during the summer break while nurturing the social, emotional, and intellectual growth of participants. The program offers opportunities for exploration, skill-building, and connection with nature. Funds granted will be in support of 10-12 Valley kids to attend the camp.
Thank you, Doug Stoehr, Shawn Sullivan, Gary Plewak and Tom Emory for your time and commitment to work on grants.
Upcoming Rotary meetings:
5/13, 7 a.m. Wednesday breakfast meeting at the Village Meeting House at Waitsfield UCC.
5/20, 11:15 a.m. - Wednesday lunch meeting at Lawson's Finest Liquids. Meeting will be first followed by lunch of your choice from the regular menu.
5/27, 7 a.m. Wednesday breakfast meeting at the Village Meeting House at Waitsfield UCC.
6/10, 7 a.m. Wednesday breakfast meeting at the Village Meeting House at Waitsfield UCC.
6/17, 5 p.m. Changeover Dinner at Knoll Farm - Stay tuned for sign up and reservation info.
6/24, 7 a.m. Wednesday breakfast meeting under the tent at Toast and Eggs.
A reminder to please sign up for breakfast meetings whether or not you will be eating. In addition, if you choose to not eat breakfast, please consider contributing $5 to help cover the cost of the venue. If this request in any way, reduces your ability to attend meetings, please reach out to Susan K. as we have a small fund to offer financial assistance for club activities for any member who requests it.
Volunteer opportunities
The Sponsorship Committee. led by Shawn Sullivan, is currently busy signing up sponsors and if you can help with that, I know that Shawn would appreciate it. In addition, Ben Olds is the lead on the 4th of July Parade. Please reach out to him for where you can lend a hand. Reach out to me if you might be able to take a lead on working with Good Samaritan Haven on the idea of providing a meal to the unhoused at the new Turret House facility in Montpelier. In addition, soon you will be hearing from Jane Macan about the opportunity to sign up for the von Trapp Garden Days. This opportunity allows you to enjoy some fascinating conversation with Sally von Trapp while checking attendees in for their stroll around the beautiful garden displays. The gardens will be open beginning Friday, July 3 and scheduled for 6 weekends throughout the summer through Labor Day.
Community Pantry delivery folks are always needed. Thank you, Doug Stoehr, for organizing. Click the link below to help. As a personal aside, when I was a new member 5 years ago, this volunteer opportunity was a wonderful way for me to jump into Rotary and gain insight into how Rotary works its magic. In addition, I met wonderful folks.
Being a greeter is a fabulous way to say hello to folks you have not seen in a while and, if you are new to MRV Rotary, a wonderful way to get acquainted.
Happy Spring - maybe it’s the real one this time. My snow tires are off, so I am done-done! I am looking forward to meeting with our newest club members at an upcoming “new member gathering”. Our newest members bring such an interesting and varied wealth of background and interests which rounds our club membership out nicely. Our club is an anomaly in the district in that it is strong, vibrant and membership is steadily increasing in a time when U.S. clubs as a whole are losing membership. Well done, all!
Jeni is a youth program leader, mentor, and educator with more than two decades of experience developing creative, hands-on learning opportunities for young people. She has designed and led arts, culinary, and STEAM programming for children and teens, including serving as Director of the Steel Chef culinary program where she mentored high school students and partnered with local chefs to teach practical skills and teamwork.
The Wellbeing Survey is now in its fourth year and helps us better understand how people, the environment, and the local economy are doing in our community. This survey is part of the larger MRV Community Dashboard project, which aims to make local data more useful and easier to access. By asking residents directly about their experiences, the survey fills in gaps and adds new information to what we already know from traditional data. This creates a valuable resource for our community, offering insight into important topics like social connectedness, education and culture, and material wellbeing. These areas are key to our health as individuals and as a community, but they are often hard to measure with standard data sources.
Nick Managan, Chief of Staff of Cabot Cheese, provided an update on the Co-op at a recent breakfast meeting.
New Member, Jeni Davison, presented her Introduction speech at a recent lunch meeting at Lawson's Finest Liquids.
Dr. Mike Leichliter along with Karen Winchell presented dictionaries to the third grade students at Warren, Waitsfield and Fayston Elementary schools during Dictionary Month. Students still love the plethora of information available in their very own dictionaries.
Frannie Hoag, Community Planner from the Mad River Valley Planning District, presented info about the 2026 MRV Wellbeing Survey at a recent breakfast meeting.
Enjoy your week and I hope you can get out and enjoy the beautiful spring ephemerals as they begin to peek through the leaves. See you at an upcoming meeting!
