Spoke ~ August 9, 2022 (Aug 09, 2022)

President

Claire Kallelis

President Elect

Jen Close

Vice President

Carolyn Shapiro

Immediate Past President

Joe Amico

Treasurer

Bill Henning

Secretary

Richard Eisner

Director

Kristen Armstrong

Director

Marie Cardillo

Director

Timothy Clarke

Director

Jason Consalvo

Director

Ryan Guilmartin

Director

Rick Jakious

Director

Leslie Levesque

Director

Francesca Little

Director

Rinus Oosthoek

Director

Jane Stirgwolt

This week at rotary...

President Elect Jen Close led the meeting as President Claire Kallelis is traveling. The meeting began with the crisp sound of a properly wrung bell that even Anita Ward would be proud of. There were twenty two members of Rotary in attendance, along with Mark Shaw who attended via Zoom and one guest. The meeting was short this week as there are no speakers during the summer months.

Of course, there several items to be handled despite the shortness of the meeting. The sign up sheet for the upcoming DCF Picnic at the Plummer Home was passed around. Liz Bradt noted that volunteers are always needed, especially to help set up for the event or to help break it down when the picnic concludes.

Adria Duijvesteijn encouraged all members to review the roster to ensure that all of the information is correct. Official rosters will be sent to the printer by the end of next week, so next Tuesday's Rotary meeting will likely be everyone's last chance to double check their entries.

The highlight of the meeting was the outfit sported by Gerrit Bradley, specifically the flamingo shorts that were surely inspired by this year's Polar Plunge. Given the heat, take a dip in the ocean after Rotary would not have been the worst idea in the world.

The Board of Directors met briefly after the meeting to approve the purchase of a new grill for Plummer Youth Promise to be used at the upcoming DCF Picnic. Rotarians will order, purchase, deliver, and potentially assemble the grill.

Please see the UPDATED Committee Assignments below, and notify Ryan Guilmartin if you have any issues with the link. Committee assignments will be sent to the printer very soon! Time will be set aside at the next Salem Rotary meeting for committees to get together.

This week at Rotary the Hawthorne Hotel served us a meal with some distinct Spanish flair that was greatly appreciated by your favorite Catalan writer, including a saffron infused rice dish. The highlight, though, was a watermelon salad that one table of six Rotarians apparently could not get enough of, to the point that the staff brought them an additional plate! The "Bob Anthony Featured Appetizer" was a stack of churros, highlighting the Iberian feel of the day.

VisIting Rotarians & Guests

Liz Bradt won the struggle against Joe Amico to claim James Giessler as her guest. James is the Executive Director at NAGLY, an amazing organization based here in Salem whose mission it is to "honor, respect, and empower our GLBTQ youth". Learn more about NAGLY here! James is aware that he would make a fantastic Salem Rotarian. A/V Jack might have been given a symbolic promotion to Honorary Salem Rotarian as well, though we are sure Doc is reviewing the bylaws.

ROTARIAN NEWS

Mike McLaughlin has been having a "good summer" in his own understated words. He had the entire McLaughlin clan, including his five siblings, come up to his Maine house. He has been blessed throughout the summer by the weekly visits from his two granddaughters, who have been coming up to visit with his son. The joy of the past weekend was having the extended family meet these two wonderful children. Mike also had a Zoom meeting with District AG Martha Mauser as she was passing through the Panama Canal as part of her trip around the world. He relayed her family's difficult decision to go on the trip despite the fact that her mother had passed away the night before. She would have wanted them to go.
Liz Bradt will be notably absent from Rotary for a while. She just returned from a camping trip in Truro and will be off again to Maine to camp some more. Due to the many weekends away she has started to AirBnB her property. No news on reduced rates for Salem Rotarians... yet.
Gerrit Bradley will be having travels of his own next week as he and his wife will be bringing Jake down to the Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida. This is part of Jake's triumphant return to the school where he hopes to gain the skills necessary to enter the very cool industry of video game creation. The reason why Gerrit is driving down is to ensure the safe travels of Jake's emotional support cat. Good luck!
Jason Consalvo was not in attendance. The Salem Rotary meeting concluded before 1 pm. This is not a coincidence.

Club Announcements

DCF PICNIC at The Plummer House

August 17 at 6 pm

Please note the time change. Several volunteers have signed up already to help cook the food and to interact with the kids. More volunteers are always needed for this great event. Contact Liz Bradt if you are interested.

Lifebridge Dinners

Rick Jakious will be taking over the planning of these events for this Rotary year. Volunteers are always needed. Reach out to Rick to volunteer, and we will have more details in the coming weeks about the next event.

Phoenix School Summer Splash

August 31, 2022 at 6 pm at Adriatic

Celebrate and enjoy an evening of sipping summer wines with delectable hors-d'oeuvres and friends. Supporting the financial aid and educational programs of The Phoenix School and 40 years of innovative education. Get your tickets here!

Burba Dental Partners and the Salvation Army are hosting an event on September 15 at 6:30 pm at the East Regiment Brewery. The Salvation Army North Shore is an incredible resource for individuals in need in the Salem community. The items that The Salvation Army needs the most are listed on the link below. Monetary donations are also always welcomed.

Click Here for more information.

The District is putting on a webinar for growing membership in today's world. The event will be held on August 17. For more information or to register, go to the event page here.

Citizens Inn sent a thank you note for the donation made by the Salem Rotary. As part of the fundraiser, there will be a Salem Rotary brick on the patio at the Haven for Hunger building. Citizens Inn is an amazing organization that we are proud to partner with. Read up on Citizens Inn on their website.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT

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.