This week at Rotary, we had two "main events." First, the Salem Rotary had the opportunity to attend the inauguration of this year's EarlyAct officers at The Phoenix School prior to this week's meeting. The officers then join us at lunch where steamed carrots were not a hit. Alfie (clerk), Mira (treasurer) Paul (VP), Audrey (President) all spoke about their plans this year which include cleaning up local beaches, helping in the fight against food insecurity, push the school to build on past accomplishments, and focus on the impact of global climate change. The officers each received a four way test coin.
Following the introduction of the officers, we heard from our own Fred deNapoli on his adventures Regatta racing in beautiful Sint Maarten. Over 100 teams gathered from over 20 countries for four days of racing, in an event that’s now in its 43rd running. Fred was helmsman on a chartered Solana 44 at the “Heineken”. He went over the process the crew went through to participate in the races, including sourcing the boat from a company in Canada, assembling a team, financing the effort, managing the logistics, and how they prevailed with a group of sailors mostly from Massachusetts, many of whom have never sailed together. Gary Swain was on the team, only 18 months after open heart surgery. Hap Keating of Hamilton organized and fronted the money for the project. Hap used the experience in inspire Gary to recover from surgery. They won their Class and come in 6th over all in Fleet. Fred's presentation included many action shots from the competition.
Fred’s background includes sailing for roughly 60 years growing up in Marblehead, MA. He spent roughly 12 years in the industry, has won 11 New England Championships and five National, North American or World Championship podiums. You can see the promotional video for next year's race here.
WANTED: BOOK BUDDY VOLUNTEERS
We are still looking for a few more Book Buddy volunteers for the year.
If you would like to participate, please reach out to Tim Clarke or Ryan Guilmartin. And if you can speak/write in Spanish or any other language, please let me know as we have students in the dual language (English/Spanish) program, and others with different language needs. Feel free to ask friends and neighbors if they would like to participate as well. Our target is to deliver books in November, February, and May.
PLEASE SUBMIT GRANT IDEAS TO CAROLYN SHAPIRO
CALENDAR WINNER!
Nicole Cameron sold by Diane Pabich
50:50 RAFFLE
Pot: $1325
Players: A Phoenix School Student and Tim Clarke
No winner this week!
Jokes of the Week:
What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo?
A pouch potato
What is a cheetah's favorite meal?
Fast food
They can't all be winners. Actually, none of them are winners.
VISITING ROTARIANS & GUESTS
EarlyAct officers were in attendance along with Tina, who came to see Fred speak.
The three bedrocks of Rotary are our members, our Foundation that benefits the World, and spreading the word of all the good things we do to positive impact our communities.
Join us October 8, 2024, at the Four Points Sheraton in Wakefield, for an interactive session focused on these three important Rotary topics with information you can take back to your Club and use immediately, dinner with fellowship, and a keynote speech from PDG Tom Gump from Rotary District 5950 in Minnesota.
Tom has founded multiple innovative Rotary Clubs, is a member of RI's Membership Growth Committee, has spearheaded local and large international grants, and is currently Aide to our Rotary International President Stephanie Urchick.
Calling all Heroes! Save the date of Thursday, November 14, 2024, for the return of our Heroes Celebration.
As in past years, Clubs will nominate a person in their community who isn't always recognized for their extraordinary service to others.
Our event will be held at Danversport Yacht Club. Watch for more info to follow -- but be on the lookout for a deserving nominee. I encourage each Club to honor a Hero in your community.
Let's celebrate some great people, be astonished by their contributions, and celebrate the Magic of our Rotary Foundation.
Michael McLaughlin is hoping to nominate Tom Furey and described his biography as a "Mr. Salem" of sorts. He left biographies on our lunch tables.
ROTARIAN NEWS...
Randy Burba will soon be headed back to Jamaica. He left donation forms on the tables this week. 100% of the donations go to patient care. His office walked in the parade.
Jason Consalvo missed two weeks. One week was due to jury duty (heh heh). He unsurprisingly did not get selected to be on the jury. Last week he was out of town for a dinner for 25 years of service. He was excited to see Mira as he's been trying to get her father to come to Rotary.
Leslie Levesque is excited for the coming year working with the EarlyAct officers. Her two kids at the University of Tampa are living their best lives. Her daughter went to Miami and her son stayed in a hotel during Hurricane Helene. She represented the Pheonix School at the parade.
Rinus Oosthoek expects 25,000 people in town for the parade. If you want to participate, he says you can just walk. On Friday, he reminded us that we are at Beverly Depot for Dutch Drinks. This is an official Dutch Drinks.
Club Announcements
Service Opportunities
Salem Pantry
Saturday, November 9
10am-12pm
Shetland Park
We will be heading down to our friends at the Salem Pantry to prepare bags of food for home delivery.
Lifebridge
November 13
56 Margin Street
Our next Lifebridge dinner is coming up on November 13. We are looking for a Salem Rotarian to take a leading role in this volunteer opportunity.
Fun and Fellowship
Dutch Drinks
October 4 at 5 pm
Beverly Depot
The Dutch part: Everyone is responsible for their own drink/food bill, which is very different from a Dutch oven. I will continue to use this joke until someone emails me about the fact that it's been used for the entire Rotary year.
18 Washington Square
Salem, MA 01970 United States of America
NOTE: The fourth Tuesday of the month is an evening meeting, beginning at 5:15 p.m.
If you are interested in learning more about Salem Rotary, please email president@salemrotary.com.
Lifebridge
Dutch Drinks
.png)
