President Bill Vermouth welcomed all to the April 4th meeting of the Brattleboro Rotary Club held at the American Legion in Brattleboro. Members of the club’s Board of Directors welcomed members and guests in perfect unison. Phil George offered the following meaningful invocation:
Heavenly Father,
we thank You for this food and for all Your goodness to us. Give us grace to do Your will and serve above self. For family and friends,
for health and strength,
for love and joy, we thank You
and pray that we may so use these gifts as to increase the happiness of all those around us Amen.
This was followed by the pledge of allegiance. Birthday greetings were extended to Student Rotarian Greg.
As a luncheon of brisket, kilbasa pasta and cheese, tofu pasta and cheese, green beans, salad, rolls and cake with blueberries and custard for dessert was being digested, the meeting continued.
GUESTS: Visiting Rotarian Ali Barry (Sunrise), Steve Hime, Mike Capra, and Marion Major (speaker).
TRIVIA QUESTION
When was the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) designated as the state tree of Vermont?
(Answer below.)
JOKE OF THE WEEK
For the joke of the week, Sandy Rouse told the following:
Juan comes up to the Mexican border on his bicycle. He has two large bags over his shoulders. The guard stops him and says, "What's in the bags?"
"Sand," answered Juan.
The guard says, "We'll just see about that. Get off the bike." The guard takes the bags and rips them apart; he empties them out and finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Juan overnight and has the sand analyzed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in the bags The guard releases Juan, puts the sand into new bags, hefts them onto the man's shoulders, and lets him cross the border.
A week later, the same thing happens. The guard asks, "What have you got?"
"Sand," says Juan.
The guard does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Juan, and Juan crosses the border on his bicycle.
This sequence of events if repeated every day for three years. Finally, Juan doesn't show up one day and the guard meets him in a Cantina in Mexico.
"Hey, Buddy," says the guard, "I know you are smuggling something. It's driving me crazy. It's all I think about..... I can't sleep. Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?"
Juan sips his beer and says, "Bicycles."
At our April 11th meeting, Frank Rucker will tell a joke or lead us in song and Phil Steckler will offer a Rotary Minute.
NOTE: 2018-19 weekly assignments are posted on club website.
ROTARY MINUTE
For the Rotary Minute: Ron Stahley reminded us that the club’s Gateway Foundation provides $18,000 a year in scholarships to local high school graduates and the club’s Gift Giving Committee donates money to 30 local non-profits each year. Also, he encouraged us to learn about Rotary’s Youth Exchange by viewing the latest episode of Rotary Cares.
At our April 11th meeting, Frank Rucker will tell a joke or lead us in song and Phil Steckler will offer a Rotary Minute.
NOTE: 2018-19 weekly assignments are posted on club website.
06/13 – Sophia Howlett, Challenges of NE higher education
06/20 – Club Assembly
06/27 – Changeover Dinne
NOTE: 2018-19 weekly assignments are posted on club website.
REMINDERS
Bottles and cans can be brought 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.
Rotary Cares, Episode 16 – Rotary Youth Exchange Program
Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club past president Kevin Yager discusses Rotary’s Youth Exchange program with Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary member Mona Williams who is the club contact to the youth exchange and Lucija Gacic, an exchange student from Croatia. Produced by Brattleboro Rotary Club past president Martin Cohn 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
The sugar maple (Acer saccharum) was designated the state tree of Vermont in 1949; also called hard maple or rock maple, one of the largest of the hardwoods.
