President Rob opened the meeting at the meeting site: Holiday Inn Express of Brattleboro, VT. Rob welcomed all to the June 19, 2025 meeting of the Brattleboro Rotary www.brattlebororotaryclub.org

Invocation:

was shared by Greg Warden

Rob lead the club with the Pledge of Allegiance

President Rob presented the Rotary Motto Service Above Self

Rotarian Cindy lead the club in reciting the Rotary four way test.

Four Way Test -

Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

26 Members, 0 Student Rotarians and 1 guests attended the meeting.

Guests:

Jim Haines introduced his guest Joshua from the Morning Rotary Club

JOKE OF THE WEEK - For our joke or song of the week:

Betsey Gentile shared the Rotary Joke with members.

ED NOTE: 2023-24 weekly assignments are posted on the club website.

Rotarians for Rotarians:

New Members:

Rudy completed his third posting to join the Club, Rob presented him the Rotary book for member signature and noted fines to be levied if members do not sign and welcome him to the club. Rudy provided some of his background which included; He completed his undergraduate work in Canton NY medical school and focused on obstetrics. He has three children, one recently married. His route to rotary was in part attributed to his daughter’s exchange program in Poland. Rudy joined the , Keene Rotary Club in 2010 and served as president in 2015. He helped establish a robust student Rotarian program. Rudy closed by sharing he was happy to be married to fellow Rotarian

ROTARY MINUTE

Frank Rucker presented the Rotary Minute Frank. He reflected on his induction into the Brattleboro Rotary Club in the mid-1990s as are result of David Parker Sr. inviting him to join. There was discussion about David’s interests and contributions to club fellowship and functions including David’s student Rotarian support by transporting kids back to Leland and Gray High School in his red Mercedes convertible. George Weir and Mara also shared endearing comments on David’s character and impact on our community.

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

Years of Service in our Club for March:

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

Student Rotarian updates:

Birthday greetings -

BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM RUBEN -

none

Announcements

Mike M –Wheels Sept 27 at Park Place.
Stan asked for a show of hands on which members are planning on attending the Change Over Event to be held at the Saxton’s River Distillery on June 26 at 5pm.

Betsy; Student Rotarians were very happy to receive complementary maple syrup from the Vermont Country Deli as a thank you for their rotary service.

Annual Disc Golf Tournament October 4th and 5th.

Happy Dollars and Brags

Mara; be sure to drop bottles at redemption, money goes to successor to Rotary’s Pure Water for the World organization, which continues to supports programs in Honduras.
Rhonda is wrapping up the golf fundraising event results from June 5.
Ron: shared happy dollars, thanked John Mabie for coordinating the scholarship award committee’s work. Over $15k was distributed to students this year. Ron will share names next year
Chris Hart; $5 brag for Rob’s great service to the club as president
Betsy also bragged for Rob’s service to the club
Stan; asked for show of hands on who intends to attend next week’s change over event at Saxton River Distillery. There will be great orderves from Ally West of the Guilford Country Store. He encouraged members to Invite friends
Joshua, from the morning club, also bragged for Rob as a close friend inspirational community leader
Tom franks bragged for Stan for all he does in service to the Club and Community
Cindy Jerome shared a dramatic landing sequence while visiting their daughter in Boulder, Rudy indicated it was exciting but not as exciting as flying a jet at Mach 2
Mora; bragged for their neighbor who have been supportive. She shared that Tom will be coming to change over event and encouraged members to give him a warm welcome in the hopes that he may be a prospective new member.

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

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Jim announced the upcoming programs as follows:

Jim shared upcoming program topics will include: Brattleboro Retreat, and a Rotary Club history lesson. At this point the program for 1st meeting in July is to be determined.

REMINDERS

Please bring your bottles and cans to the Putney Road redemption center to benefit APPN. Pure Water for the World is no longer operating in the USA; it continues in Honduras as APPN.
Maria Inestroza, the PWW country director for Honduras is continuing the work in that country under the name APPM, acronym for Agua Pura para El Mundo, or Pure Water for the World in Spanish 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

PROGRAM

President Rob turned the meeting over to Mara to address topics for consideration at the Club Assembly portion of the meeting;

Mara provided an update on the Fund Raising Committee’s work which was formed to replace Christmas tree sales which had declined to $2k profit. She reminded members that the goal was to retain community visibility that had been achieved through the Christmas tree sales and benefits of fellowship working together. The Ski jump fund raiser has been successful , “Dollar and a Dream” raffle sales was hard to reach $1k alone but experience has found the garden cleanup offer to be well received. The Committee proposed placing block adds to engage club members in 4 to 6 garden fund raising service events per year. Mara willing to be the crew chief to get idea of what recipient wants. Offer service for approximately $40/hour x 4 to 5 people = 200 with intent of raising over $1,000 per year. She shared examples such as a Mother’s Day promotion - gift of a garden spring startup. Discussion ensued around how to monetize the service to assure successful fund raising. The Committee will move ahead at a target of $400 per event and encourage members to share the service and will experiment with various formats.

The second topic was focused on the Peace Builders project, Mara noted that Frank LaGrande is the chair of a committee formed from Brattleboro Rotary Club members and they have their own website and due’s structure. The Committee felt taking a stake in building peace in civil society is an important Rotary commitment. A Vision, Mission, Goals, Strategies and Tactics document was reviewed by Mara and distributed to members.

Democracy was one of several topics considered. Discussion ensued regarding tactics, contacts, logistics.

Opinions were shared on ways to structure group discussion that promotes peace builders, civility, democracy, need for education in civics. George Karabakakis commented on how the initiative would be very helpful in navigating diversity in opinion in a respectful way. “One Brattleboro” could be a helpful organized group that participants may partner with.

Big tactical issues, how to engage diverse opinion, Tristan Talino was mentioned as another very useful local resource to reach out to.

Tom franks; The Rotary Peace Action group has officially accepted the Brattleboro Rotary Club’s application.

Scribe: Frank Rucker

DISCLAIMER

Weekly changing scribes and questionable IT may have resulted in oversights and errors. We regret any mistakes.