Also in attendance were: John Germ of the Rotary Club of Chattanooga, who will be president of Rotary International for 2016-'17; and Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino, who was the keynote speaker. Skip Doyle took all of the photos, except the ones with him in them. Click here to view the photos.
WPI Rotaract Takes Part In Humanitarian And Social-Awareness Event
By Rita Newman
On October 2, the Rotaract Club of Worcester Polytechnic Institute participated in a campus-wide humanitarian and social-awareness event. The club represented three non-government organizations from the local area with interactive activities.
Yoga sessions open to students represented Ivy Child International, an edible-plant-potting session represented the Community Harvest Project, and Thai food sampling represented the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP). These events were mixed in with activities from other humanitarian and social-awareness clubs on campus, including Engineers Without Borders, Global Humanitarian Alliance, Habitat for Humanity, Promotion of Animal Welfare Society, and Students Impacting Growth in Member Activities. Due to rain, the event was shortened in length and lasted five hours.
Although WPI’s students are highly involved in campus activities, volunteer organizations are always searching for more participation. The goal of this event was to make students more aware of such clubs by getting students involved and asking questions. Other activities included doghouse building, social-awareness speakers, and a barbecue. Stay posted for more event photos in the coming weeks!
Shown, are WPI students, including members of WPI Rotaract, enjoying food from the event in support of WRAP, while talking with three refugees from Burma.
Rita Newman, 2015-2016 president of the Rotaract Club of WPI, may be reached at rpnewman@wpi.edu.
Newton Rotary Presents Scholarships
By Indira Desai
The Rotary Club of Newton presented scholarships to three local students at this year’s Newton Mayor’s Community Prayer Breakfast, held at Boston College. The event, in its 41styear, brings together a wide audience, including elected officials, religious congregations, education, health and human-service organizations, the business community, and private citizens. Five-hundred-sixty individuals joined in to break bread and celebrate the diversity of the community.
A major part of this event is the presentation of three college scholarships, one each to a student at Newton North High School, Newton South High School, and the Newton METCO Program. Each recipient selected has achieved a superior academic standing, demonstrated leadership and tireless energy in all that they are participants, and are strong advocates of social justice for all.
The Newton Rotary Anthony J. Bibbo Scholarships honor the rich legacy brought to Newton and beyond by this 45-year member of the Newton club. This marked the 34th consecutive year for the Newton club being a benefactor and organizer for this event. As club president, I joined the school superintendent, Mayor Setti Warren, and Anthony "Tony" Bibbo in the presentation of the Scholarships.
Shown posing with Tony Bibbo (far right), are award recipients Mathena Abramson (far left) of Smith College, Andrew DeNucci of MIT (second from left), and Hyunnew Choi (second from right) of Princeton University.
Indira Desai, president of the Rotary Club of Newton, may be reached at newtonrotaryclub@aol.com.
Inaugural D7910 Rotarian Wine Appreciation Fellowship Event Set For October 21
By Carl Gomes and Steve Jones-D'Agostino
Hello, fun-loving Rotarians! It is with great pleasure that we announce the formation of a new Fellowship in our district. Don't worry, be happy! It is called the District 7910 Rotarian Wine Appreciation Fellowship. We are sponsoring our inaugural event on Wednesday, October 21 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a a wine-dinner event at Tomasso Ristorante on Route 9 in Southborough.
We will enjoy a delicious four-course meal with a total of four wine pairings. The cost is $65 per person, including tax and tip. Payment must be made by no later than Friday, October 2. Because of space limits, this event is limited to the first 30 registered people.
Only online payments will be accepted. To make a payment via PayPal, click here.
This will be an open event, including both members and non-members of the D7910 Rotarian Wine Appreciation Fellowship. We encourage you to bring family, friends and co-workers who may be future Rotarians.
To learn more about Rotarian Wine Appreciation Fellowships, click here. For more information about membership in our district's Fellowship, contact Carl Gomes of the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley at carlcgomes56@icloud.com or Steve Jones-D'Agostino of the Rotary Club of Auburn at srdagostino@icloud.com. If you would like a short presentation on this Fellowship at your club meeting, please contact either Carl or Steve.
Click here to view, download and/or print the event flyer.
Littleton and Acton-Boxborough RotaryTeam Up To End Local Hunger
By Corinne Braciska
On November 7, the Rotary Club of Littleton and the Rotary Club of Acton Boxborough will host their 3rd Annual Rotary Masquerade Ball. This event benefit two local food pantries: Loaves & Fishes in Devens; and The Acton Community Supper & Food Pantry in Boxborough. These pantries serve 12 towns within our district, providing a source of food and personal-hygiene products to more than 100,000 members of those communities. Every year, the two food pantries combined spend more than $500,000 on these items to help those in need. Most of the money spent is from donations given or raised by events like this.
This year, the Rotary Masquerade Ball Committee extends a special invitation to each of the clubs in our district to become a sponsor, with hopes that someday we will be able to grow the number of food pantries benefiting from the annual event to end local hunger. There is a Special Sponsor Level just for the Rotary clubs of District 7910. Each club sponsor will receive a page in the program book to highlight their club and activities as well as get a table for 10 to the event. What better way to combine the strengths of fellowship and membership into one by participating as a Rotary Club Sponsor. The cost of this Special Sponsor Level is $550 - a flat- fee cost of 10 tickets, with the advertisement piece at your disposal to promote your club and events. And by doing this, you will have 10 tickets to join the event with friends, family and possibly potential new members to show what it means to be a Rotarian.
Final call for this Rotary Club Sponsor Level will be no later than Monday, October 19, so we can make sure your ad is ready for print and your meals are chosen. For further information, please reach out to Club Committee chairs Corinne Braciska of Littleton at ccbraciska@gmail.com or Joseph Badenhoff of Acton-Boxborough at jbadenhoff@hotmail.com. For more information on the Masquerade Ball Event, please visit www.Masqueradetickets.org.
In the true fashion of this year’s Rotary theme, let’s Be A Gift to our communities and help end local hunger!
Corinne Braciska is president-elect of the Rotary Club of Littleton for 2016-2017.
Marlborough Rotary Published 20-Page Newspaper
By Peggie Thorsen
The Rotary Club of Marlborough recently published our 12th promotional newspaper, Marlborough Rotary Club News, which ran in the September 19 edition of the Main Street Journal. In addition to the Journal’s circulation, additional copies were distributed at local hotels, restaurants, and newsstands.
Although our club made a modest profit over costs from advertising sales, the chief reason for the newspaper section was to publicize the club’s service and events to the community in which it serves, and to use for club information and membership recruitment. The stories included in the publication were:
- A list of members and honorary members
- District Conference held in Marlborough
- What is a Rotary Club?
- President’s message to the community
- Listing of our club officers and directors
- Rotarians in the community
- Rotarians around the world
- Exchange program offers mutual benefit
- The Rotary experience
- Our club’s biggest event of the year – Turkey Shoot
- Rotarian Profile: Dr. Nick Kofos
- For many, a Rotary Club is a family affair
- Highly regarded youth program: Rotary Youth Leadership Exchange
- “Conversations” aim to promote awareness: our club’s mental-health initiative
- Financial-literacy program for high schools: Reality Fair at Marlborough High School; and Reality Check at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School
- Seven scholarships awarded
“We are very pleased with this year’s club newspaper, Club President Michael Lashua notes. “We had an extra 200 copies printed to use as an informational piece for prospective members as well as having it available at events like Marlborough's upcoming Heritage Weekend, the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo, and, of course, at club events and fundraisers.”
Peggy Thorsen, chair of the Rotary Club of Marlborough’s Publicity Committee, may be reached at mathorsen@verizon.net.
Retired Judge Mel Greenberg Addresses Worcester Rotary on Market Basket Case
The Honorable Mel Greenberg, a retired state Appeals Court judge, shared the key legal lessons to be learned from the now-famous Market Basket employee walkout, when he spoke to the Rotary Club of Worcester on September 24.
Click here to view video of his presentation, which was recorded by Worcester Rotarian Rich Prager.