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President Carl Lynde welcomed all to the September 17th meeting of the Brattleboro Rotary Club held via ZOOM. <ED NOTE: 32 Rotarians attended.> Sophia Howlett offered the following inspirational thought by William Butler Yeats:
The Wild Swans at Coole 
The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.
The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.
I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.
Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still. 
But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away.
 
<ED NOTE: Weekly assignments for the invocation or motivational thought can be found on the club website. The following would be the next people on the list: Jim Haine (10/1), Marcy Jones (10/8), Kevin Kilelee (10/15)>
 
This was followed by the pledge of allegiance. 
 
GUESTS: Marcia Steckler 
 

TRIVIA QUESTION

Who was the “Jackie Robinson of golf,” becoming the first African-American on the PGA Tour?
(Answer below)
 
JOKE OF THE WEEK
 
 
For the joke of the week, Roger Allbee told the following lessons learned from COVID 19.
 
  • 2020 has been stricter than my parents when I was 16.
  • This is like being 16 again, gas is cheap, but I am grounded
  • I sneezed in the bank today—most attention I got from the staff in years
  • I absorbed so much soap and sanitizer that when I pee it cleans the toilet
  • If there is a baby boom this winter, we will have a lot of quarantine’s by 2033
  • My hands are consuming more alcohol than my mouth
  • This has been a hippy’s dream: haircuts are forbidden and weed is legal
  • Congratulations to the astronauts who just left earth—good choice!
  • I was recently asked where I wanted to be in five years---I said alive!
 
At our September 17th meeting, George Anthes will tell a joke or lead us in song and Rhonda Calhoun will offer a Rotary Minute.  2020-21 weekly assignments are posted on the club website. <ED NOTE: There is no club meeting next week as it will be the Annual Club Golf Tournament.>
 
ROTARY MINUTE
 
For the Rotary Minute, George Anthes told us about what happened to Rotary clubs up and during World War 2.
 
Unsurprisingly, the values of Rotary are incompatible with the values of fascism and totalitarianism, whose only true value is domination.  So, what happened to Rotary in the lead up to and during World War II, as fascism advanced across the globe.
 
In Spain, the effect of the Civil War and eventual fascist victory was such that by January 1940, Rotary International determined that it had to terminate the 27 Rotary clubs in Spain and its territories.
In Germany, the Nazis decreed that membership of the party was not compatible with membership of a Rotary Club, and virtually all of the clubs in Germany and in Danzig Poland disbanded.  As the Nazis proceeded with their expansion across the continent, Rotary recognized the dissolution of the clubs in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania, and Hungary, as well as the seven Bulgarian clubs (following a 1941 restriction passed by the Bulgarian fascists). 
 
Similarly, Mussolini's Italian Fascists repressed Rotary, and by 1939, Rotary International had to recognize that the Italian district no longer had any active clubs.
 
Likewise, the Japanese fascist invasion of China led to the closure of forty-eight clubs.  In addition, as the war proceeded, Rotary International was forced to recognize that the clubs in Borneo, Celebes, Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, Sarawak, Thailand, the Philippines, Burma, Hong Kong, and Guam were no longer operative.
 
By the end of the war, about 4500 of 5500 clubs were in the Western Hemisphere.  In the 75 years that have followed, Rotary has spread back across the globe, and there are 35,000 clubs, distributed through all but a handful of countries.  After the war, Rotary's approach to the history of fascism was mixed -- some fascists and collaborators were prevented from joining (or re-joining), while in 1976, only last-minute action prevented the Austrian Wolfgang Wick, accused by Simon Wiesenthal of being an important Nazi, from ascending to the presidency of Rotary International.
 
To learn more, click here.
 
At our September 17th meeting, George Anthes will tell a joke or lead us in song and Rhonda Calhoun will offer a Rotary Minute.  2020-21 weekly assignments are posted on the club website. <ED NOTE: There is no club meeting next week as it will be the Annual Club Golf Tournament.>
 
 
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
  • 09/24 – 45th Annual Golf Tournament @ Brattleboro Country Club
  • 10/01 - Geoff Hatheway, President, Magic Mountain Ski Area 
  • 10/08 - Damian Costello, "How Lakota and Indigenous tradition is relevant for us (non-Natives)"
  • 10/22 - Professor Elizabeth Cascio, “A Century of the American Woman Voter”
 
NOTE: 2020-21 weekly assignments, are posted on the club website.

REMINDERS

  • Please bring your bottles and cans to 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.
                                                          
This is the 12th newsletter of the 2020-2021 club year. 
There has only been 2 brags so far????????
 
There will not be a club newsletter next week due to the club's 
45th Annual Golf Tournament.
 

FINES

NONE ;-(

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  1. The following members were recognized for their years of service: Phil George (26), Frank Rucker (25), Andy Rome (25), and Meg Donahue (2)
  2. The rebuilding of the cathedral at Living Memorial Park project will be rescheduled.
  3. The 45th Annual Rotary Golf Tournament will take place on 9/24. For more info, contact Gina Pattison.
  4. Raffle tickets are on sale for the Golf Tournament. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Contact Bill Vermouth to get your tickets.
  5. Source to Sea cleanup will take place on 9/26. For more info, contact George Weir.
  6. Three years ago, the club helped Pine Ridge Indian Reservation leader Canupa Gluha Mani buy a truck that is used to pick up and deliver much-needed food to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation residents. The truck is now in need of new tires (~$360). Donations can be made payable to Tristam Johnson and sent to Tristam Johnson, 19 Sears Road Newfane, VT 05345
  7. Carla Lineback is looking for volunteers to help with scheduling of this year’s Christmas Tree Sales (12/4-14/20). Contact Carla if you can help out.
  8. Please send the names of potential members to President Carl Lynde.
  9. The Brattleboro Rotary Club was established on May 15, 1950. Jenifer Ambler found some old club newsletters from 1989-91. Check them out by clicking here.
BRAGS / HAPPY DOLLARS
<ED NOTE: Yes, we are keeping track of these happy dollars and brags.
Unless noted, happy dollars and brags are $1>
 
  1. Rob Szpila  - for Rhonda Calhoun’s help in getting the disc golf tournament to accept online payments.
  2. Cheri Ann Brodhurst – for her birthday next week.
  3. Bill Vermouth – for discovering that after climbing Mt. Monadnock for the past ten years that it hasn’t changed much.
  4. Ron Stahley – for Sophia Howlett and SIT for being community partners with the Brattleboro school system.
Message from Rhonda Calhoun, Club Treasurer
The following are the unpaid brag / happy dollar commitments for the last fiscal year. Please send your checks made payable to the Brattleboro Rotary Club to Brattleboro Rotary Club, PO Box 336, Brattleboro, VT 05302-0336.
 
Allbee - $12                   George - $5                    Rouse - $13                               
Ambler - $4                    Haine - $2                      Rucker - $4       
Anthes - $3                     Hart - $13                      Saavedra - $5     
Brodhurst - $38               Mabie - $2                    Steckler - $11
Donahue - $15                Mendelsund - $3            Szpila - $8         
Everett - $13                   Miller - $3                      Theberge - $2          
Gentile - $21                                                          Worden - $7 
 
PROGRAM
 
Ron Stahley presented Sophia Howlett, president of the School for International Training, who told us about how SIT is surviving the pandemic. She announced a new, free program, Critical Conversations, a webinar series designed to inspire community-wide dialogue on global, interdisciplinary topics. You can learn more about it by clicking here.
 
<ED NOTE: On BCTV you can now watch the club’s new show, “Brattleboro Rotary Club Speaker Series” by clicking here.>
 
Rotary Cares - TV Show 
 
 
Rotary Cares, Episode 27 – Passing the Gavel
 
In episode 27 of the award-winning, monthly show, Rotary Cares, Brattleboro Rotary Club past president Marty Cohn discusses “passing the gavel”, a time when a club president steps down. Our guests are Brattleboro Rotary Club Past President Sandy Rouse and Brattleboro Sunrise Club Past President Kevin Yager. The show is produced by Brattleboro Community Television.
 
To watch the show, click here.
 
To listen to the podcast, click here.
 
<ED NOTE: The fourth season of Rotary Cares begins recording next week!>
 

DISCLAIMER

Past President Martin Cohn who attempts to give a gist of the meeting respectfully submitted this bulletin.  However, it is always better to attend.  If you have any complaints about the contents of this bulletin...
 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION

 
Charlie Sifford in 1960. To learn more, click here.
 
Russell Hampton
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