This week Francesca Little completed her Classification Speech. She began with her childhood growing up in Beverly near Dane Street Beach. While she was able to attend Marblehead High School because her mother taught there, Francesca decided to drop out and later enroll in North Shore Community College. After she completed most of her prerequisites, Francesca transferred to Suffolk University and moved to the North End. She ended up switching her major to Physics. Around this time, Mass General started a new program in dosimetry that matched her interests. She completed her Masters and jumped right into a job at Mass General. Francesca met her future husband during her time in Boston, and the couple decided to move to San Diego. After three years, she became a little disillusioned with her work and missed home, so they moved back to Massachusetts. Francesca joined her father in commercial real estate, which he has been practicing in Salem for 65 years! She does enjoy the math involved in the profession (Francesca minored in math in college), such as calculating cap rates and return on investment. She does still practice some remote dosimetry for Rhode Island Hospital which brings balance to her life. She comes from a very large family and currently lives in Salem with her husband and their two adorable French bulldogs.
Hopefully you have sold your Calendars! Gerrit Bradley asked for members to bring their Calendar stubs back next week so that we can begin pulling Calendar winners. A reminder that he would prefer payment in ONE check from each Rotarian.
At the Hawthorne Hotel, Claire Kallelis wants to remind all Rotarians that Salem's vaccine mandate goes into effect on January 15. Beginning next week, bring one form of proof of vaccination. We will continue with plated meals with some alterations going forward.
The Lifebridge dinner is coming up! Liz Bradt announced that the Lifebridge dinner has been lined up to provide pizza, salad, and dessert. She appreciated the support and guidance she received.
The Board of Directors is meeting next Tuesday at 11 am.
Service for Dick Lutts
Dick Lutts' Celebration of Life was recorded and is on the Tabernacle Church website. You can also see it by clicking the link below. Joe Amico's favorite story came from Dick's granddaughter, who noted that she could always count on Dick to lend a helping hand... except during Rotary meetings!
Liz Bradt has been very busy in Rotary since returning from her trip! This week she spoke about the Four Way Test. She began by citing an article she found on the subject in Rotary Magazine. The author noted that without the first two tenets, Truth and Fairness, we would not have the rest of the tenets. The article then went on to discuss a prominent philosopher who believes in very little, with the notable exceptions of compassion and the arts, especially music. The author noted that he would make a great Rotarian! Jacob Segal will discuss his thoughts next week.
Obviously Jack the A/V Guru was in attendance. Martha Mauser, our Assistant Governor, also attended, as did Jane Stirgwolt's husband James.
YOURS IN SERVICE
We have volunteered to help at Lifebridge dinners once every other month. The next event is on January 12. Contact Liz Bradt to volunteer. Volunteers are needed!
ROTARIAN NEWS
Jason Consalvo pondered how next year Claire would be able to preside over Rotary meetings while also running around during the lunch portion. He also expressed his gratitude to Scott Grover for his sage advice on a zoning issue and helping him calm down, though his table mates at Rotary did their best to make him nervous again!
Bruce Whear was excited to attend Dick Lutts' celebration of life. He said that Joe did a great job with the ceremony, and that Dick was a great man. This was reinforced by the many wonderful stories that were shared.
Leslie Levesque shared a funny picture of a misspelled, funny, and inappropriate word. This encouraged Martha Mauser to share a story about a gift her brother bought with an inappropriate (and funny) saying on it. And this led Joe Amico to recount how his young son yelled out about a hurt part of his anatomy while being carried on his father's shoulders. Do you wish to know the inappropriate and funny words that were shared? Go to Rotary!
Upcoming events
Fun and Fellowship
February 4 at 6 pm (ish)
More details to follow
Click the link below to log into the weekly club meeting via Zoom.
At Rotary, we understand that cultivating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture is essential to realizing our vision of a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change.
We value diversity and celebrate the contributions of people of all backgrounds, across age, ethnicity, race, color, disability, learning style, religion, faith, socioeconomic status, culture, marital status, languages spoken, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity as well as differences in ideas, thoughts, values, and beliefs.
Recognizing that individuals from certain groups have historically experienced barriers to membership, participation, and leadership, we commit to advancing equity in all aspects of Rotary, including in our community partnerships, so that each person has the necessary access to resources, opportunities, networks, and support to thrive.
We believe that all people hold visible and invisible qualities that inherently make them unique, and we strive to create an inclusive culture where each person knows they are valued and belong.
In line with our value of integrity, we are committed to being honest and transparent about where we are in our DEI journey as an organization, and to continuing to learn and do better.
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