President Gina Pattison welcomed all to the July 27, 2023 meeting of the Brattleboro Rotary www.brattlebororotaryclub.org held at the Retreat Farm complex.

Call to Order by Acting President Bill was given.

Invocation - Roger Allbee – an invocation on how fortunate we are to be living in this area at this time

President Gina Pattison led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance .

18 members and 4 guests attended

Guests:

Cathy Coonan introduced Cindy Jerome as a guest

Nina Wilson was introduced- she is a prospective member who has been talking to Carla about joining

Josh Traeger - President from Sunrise Rotary was also welcomed

Years of Service in our Club for July:

7/22 – Ruben Garza – 2 years

7/23 – Tom French – 31 years

7/26 – George Anthes – 11 years

On Behalf of our Club and all Rotarians, thank you for your Service Above Self

Birthday greetings -

BIRTHDAYS FROM RUBIN - none present.

Special messages

Welcome Center July 22 – need food and volunteers

Groundworks Meal - Wednesday, August 16th

Announcements

- Greg – Thank you to everyone for the support for the Welcome Center – it raised almost $1300
  
  Reminder for Stan -we have a Groundworks dinner on August 16^th
  
  Dues are due – See Rhonda if you have not paid
  
  Gina-Lunches going forward: Betsy has been working on finding a new location. Big thanks to Jenny and the Retreat Farm for accommodating us. Another big thanks to Ally West for the amazing food. We are also trying to find a location where we can deal with both food and location in one location. Progress will be shared in the future. At this point, we plan to be back to the Retreat Farm the next two weeks at least – check your email to RSVP for your meal each week so we can order the right amount of food. If you are here today- let Regina know before leaving if you plan to be with us eating lunch next week.
- Events coming up:
  Car show
- Welcome center July 22
- Almost Oktoberfest, Sept 30

ED NOTE: Weekly assignments for the invocation or motivational thought can be found on the club website.>

JOKE OF THE WEEK

For our joke or song of the week:

ED NOTE: 2022-23 weekly assignments are posted on the club website.

ROTARY MINUTE

For the Rotary Minute -

President Gina discussed the Rotary Theme “Create Hope in the World” – At the President-elect training they showed a clip re mental health and how Rotary can make an impact.

Note for future presenters; The Rotary Minute could also have the speaker talk about their personal involvement in Rotary or personal background.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Jim Haine announced:
8/3/23 – IM Project

8/10/23- Club Assembly

8/24/23 -Peter Alwell from Groundworks

NOTE: 2022-23 weekly assignments, are posted on the club website.

REMINDERS

Please bring your bottles and cans to the Putney Road redemption center to benefit Pure Water for the World. Please remember to inform the staff that the bottles and cans should be credited to the club.
“Like” the club’s Facebook page

FINES & Happy Dollars

FINES – everyone behaving today.

Happy Dollars:

Cathy – 2 brags – youth services 38^th annual tournament – Thank you Gina for the ice; thank you Tami for winning the golf ball challenge for a second year in a row. 94 balls of 100 sold

Tami – $20 brag for the youth services event – and for winning a second year in a row much to her astonishment

Cindy Jerome – couple brags – first for the club happy to be back with us; also brag for herself by taking a step back for senior living and will be consulting; and finally she would like to find the people trying to help our new Afghan community members as she has a donation.

Josh – brag – loves coming back here it feels like coming back to family; he wants to thank us in advance for the partnership with the Sunrise club and the disc golf tournament and for Rhonda’s help as treasurer. Disc Golf tournament is 9/30 and 10/1 this year

Roger Allbee – feeling blessed from camping and having all his family back home with him and safe travels

Greg – thank you to everyone for great participation for the welcome center event

Gina - $5 brag for the Welcome Center participants helping and Greg and another for her daughter –Gina and her daughter went to a basketball tournament – staying in a house of 20 people and it was really hot and really fun-the team played great for their final basketball tournament.

Cyndi Ferrante – brag for having Jesse being with us from Wild Carrot Farm.

Frank – a brag for Jesse and his wife Cailtin as inspiration for his son and plenty of other young people interested in farming; they are a great testament to perseverance

PROGRAM

Guest Speaker:

PROGRAM

Speaker: Jesse Kayan-Wild Carrot Farm – Cyndi introduced our speaker Jesse – he and his wife Caitlin have been running their farm for over 10 years. They have connections to the community including soup kitchens, a farm store, a CSA. The farm has horse drawn equipment; 4 year round employees, and he and his wife and others run it together on land shared. Jesse discussed the connectedness of farmers locally and the flooding relief. Their own land was spared from any impact from the rain. Gave an example of mutual aid between local farmers – sharing seedlings and carrot seeds. Jesse shared the connectedness and mutual support system of the farming community and the relationship with the local community. NOFAVT.com came up in response to a question about where one could donate because it helps supports local farmers – they support and network for the farming community.

Scribe of the Day: Regina Stefanelli

REMINDERS

FINES & Happy Dollars

DISCLAIMER