President Carla Lineback welcomed all to the April 16th meeting of the Brattleboro Rotary Club held via ZOOM. <ED NOTE: 31 Rotarians attended.> Jeremy Coleman offered the following meaningful invocation:
Let us give the deepest possible thanks to the men and women on the front lines of this crisis, who at their peril and the peril of their families provide the services essential to the functioning of our world – the doctors, nurses, EMT's, drivers, policemen, grocers, those in the fields harvesting and in the factories processing our food, and in the factories producing essential and desperately needed equipment, and to so many others bravely and with devotion doing all that needs to be done.
Let us pray and not forget the victims of COVID and those they are close to - friends, and children, and parents, and all their loved ones.
Let us be mindful that we are privileged, and fortunate, and shielded from this crisis in ways that so much of the world is not. So let us find ways that we can help, however, we can, to do something to mitigate this catastrophe, and especially to help those who, by virtue of their profession or only of their lot in life, are in the thick of it.
And lastly, let us pray for wisdom and real leadership from those at the head of all the chains of command, that we may weather this storm, keeping damage to a minimum, one day to emerge stronger, and wiser, and more compassionate than we were before.
Amen.
This was followed by the pledge of allegiance. Birthday greetings were extended to John Mabie, Rich Carroll, and Rick Manson. <ED NOTE: only Rick was on call>
Since this was a virtual meeting, everyone was on their own for lunch.
TRIVIA QUESTION
How much were annual dues at the first Rotary Club?
(Answer below.)
JOKE OF THE WEEK
For the joke of the week, Marty Cohn told the following:
A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.
After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."
The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet.
"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."
The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.
The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.
The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."
The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"
The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."
At our April 23rd meeting, Roger Miller will tell a joke or lead us in song and Dave Neumeister will offer a Rotary Minute. 2019-20 weekly assignments are posted on the club website.
ROTARY MINUTE
For today’s Rotary Minute, President Carla Lineback read the following email from 7870 District Governor Nancy Russell:
Date: April 14, 2020
Subject: Rotary - URGENT: District 7870 COVID19 Action Needed. Opportunities to serve via Volunteer Surge
I have an exceptional and extraordinary request of you, and all members in our district, to join the fight against COVID19. What if there was a way to help, from the safety of our homes, and make a real difference?
Our district is one of several leading in an extraordinary new effort, and your immediate participation is critical to its success. This program will be announced via a press release soon (CNN, NYT, and other major coverage), and will be adopted by Rotary Clubs across the nation in the next few days.
The background is this: Two weeks ago, Rotarians in a local club engaged Rotary International to recruit 1 million volunteers in two weeks to sign up with Volunteer Surge, a new program that allows us to train online, for free, to become a Telehealth Worker, or a Community Health Worker. These volunteers will provide basic assistance and will reduce suffering and save lives, locally and across the nation. How? By helping our health care providers to focus more of their attention where it is most needed.
TIME IS CRITICAL.
Please go to www.tgig.org to learn more and decide how you, your friends, and your family can participate. And share this link with others on Facebook, email, and other social media.
The world is watching, and we, as Rotarians, people of action, are now truly defined by our actions in this crisis.
At our April 23rd meeting, Roger Miller will tell a joke or lead us in song and Dave Neumeister will offer a Rotary Minute. 2019-20 weekly assignments are posted on the club website.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
04/23 – Peter Eden, president, Landmark College
04/30 – Randy Holhut, editor, Commons: "How COVID-19 impacts local journalism"
05/21 – John Willis, author/photographer, “Mni Wiconi/Water Is Life: Honoring the Water Protectors at Standing Rock and Everywhere in the Ongoing Struggle for Indigenous Sovereignty”
NOTE: 2019-20 weekly assignments are posted on the club website.
REMINDERS
Please save your bottles and cans for whenever this Coronavirus crisis is over. Whenever it is all clear, bring them 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.
This is the 38thnewsletter of the new club year.
If you like this newsletter, please brag at next Club meeting.
So far, there has been only 7 brags!
Since everyone is home, there should be increase in readership and subsequent brags!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Please think of area nonprofits in your charitable giving.
Please support local restaurants that have curbside pick up.
The VFW and American Legion are providing grocery deliveries. Please consider supporting these organizations. For more information, click here.
The Vermont Historical Society wants to hear COVID-19 stories! Visit covid-19.digitalvermont.org to share photographs, anecdotes, memories and creative expressions of the impact quarantine has on your life. Add your contributions to the shared archive and help VHS preserve the history they are creating now for future historians.
BRAGS / HAPPY DOLLARS
<ED NOTE: Yes, we are keeping track of these happy dollars and brags.>
George Anthes - for the wonderful contributions of his neighbor Dan Cummings who recently passed.
Ana Saavedra – for her family staying connected with virtual cocktail meetings twice a week.
Ron Stahley ($10) – for the support staff and food service personnel who are delivering needed meals to children.
Bill Vermouth – for his wife returning to the ICU.
Bill Vermouth – for Dave Neumeister attending more Rotary meetings since they became virtual.
Marcy Jones – for the Brattleboro Food Coop’s curbside pick up program.
Cheri Ann Brodhurst – for seeing Bill Bedard at this meeting.
Cheri Ann Brodhurst – for producing high-quality masks for Vernon Green. <ED NOTE: CAB needs pipe cleaners and paracord.>
Frank Rucker – for the meals being delivered every day and online learning.
Carla Lineback – for the support her daughter is getting from teachers.
Chris Hart – for buying a Chromebook for a young man her husband is mentoring.
Bill McKim ($5) – for his daughter Jennifer’s investigative reporting on the penal system during the Coronavirus.
Ana Saavedra – for a young neighbor doing a science project on chickens. To see a video about the project, click here.
Sandy Rouse – for Stephanie Bonin being interviewed on CNN about the impact of COVID-10 on small towns.
Sandy Rouse – for one of the Brattleboro Literary Festival authors, Ezekiel Jonathan "Zeke" Emanuel, being interviewed on many national shows.
Had time not run out, Marty Cohn would have bragged for his granddaughter Talia who loves showing off how she can touch her toes.
PROGRAM
For the club assembly, President Carla Lineback posed some questions about the future of the club.
How much interest is there in a virtual club?
How can we do projects to benefit the community?
Should we record speaker presentations and post online?
How often can we collect birthday, fines, and happy dollars?
Should we charge $5 for attending a virtual meeting?
Please send your comments to contact Carla by clicking here.
<ED NOTE: The third virtual meeting was another success. All attendees had their audio muted. If they would like to speak, they typed a message in the chatbox. Once recognized, they unmuted their audio.>
Rotary Cares - TV Show
Rotary Cares, Episode 25 – Rotary Takes a Bite Out of Hunger
In episode 25 of the award-winning, monthly show, Rotary Cares, Brattleboro Rotary Club past president Marty Cohn discusses two Rotary community nutrition projects with Gayle Ottmann, Community Service Chair of the Rotary Club of White River and Lorelei Morrissette, Resident Wellness & Services Manager for the Brattleboro Housing Partnership. Directed by Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club past president Kevin Yager in the studio of Brattleboro Community Television.
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
There were no dues at the first Rotary Club. The group voted there would be no dues and all club expenses would be paid from 50-cent fines.
