Stephen Stearns bragged for his granddaughter, Ella B. Stearns, who turned sixteen at the end of January. She found out about a conference on women’s health, so she went down to Georgetown where there were about eight hundred people there and she was the only teenager. It was all college students. That inspired her so she went back and formed her own LBGTQ and cross gender and support of anybody bullying group and got five women and three guys to join. Then she went to the police department and took their course in combat training. Then she got eight of her friends to take the training. They finished about 6 weeks ago. Then she went out for a senior play in the spring and all of the auditioners for Amadeus were juniors and seniors, Ella is a sophomore, and she got the lead. She is in drama class, and she got the lead in that play too. Most importantly, she wants to go to Spain this summer. Her mom searched everywhere for a program where she could spend a month or so in Spain. She could not find anything until someone asked, “have you checked Rotary?.” So, she started sleuthing and got into the Fairfax Rotary, so now Ella is going to be a Rotary Scholar going to Spain this summer. An incredible and impressive young lady! Stephen ended his brag with singing the chorus lines from the song “Today.”
And then there were many brags for Betsy.
Tammy Purcell bragged $5 for Betsy for work she did and for Bill bringing the hot food was a big endeavor.
Rhonda bragged for Betsy for how hard she has worked on the Ski Jump and how much time she has put into this event…Rhonda is very happy that it was so successful for her.
Cindy Ferrante bragged for Betsy and Rob and what an amazing job they did. They worked so hard. The lines were phenomenal.
Mara bragged $5 for Betsy, and she told us about how this was the fundraiser that was organized at the time we stopped selling Christmas trees. It has accomplished the goal of working together as Rotarians and having a presence in the community. She bragged specifically for Betsy because she has now trumped the figures for the last few years of selling Christmas trees. Stephen asked if anyone knew how much we were raising from Christmas trees. Mara said that the year that she ran the Christmas Tree fundraiser, which was years ago and before local competition, it netted $17,000. The last year that we sold Christmas trees, we netted $2,800.
Bill McKim bragged for Betsy and Rob. The lines were long, but they were only two minutes long. They were putting out hot dogs so fast. They had a team of four doing the hot dogs. Everyone was happy even with long lines. Bill also made an announcement and an apology. A month and a half ago he was scheduled to be the featured pianist at a concert in Guilford but he fell on the ice and was unable to do it. It was rescheduled for this coming Saturday, which is Sugar on Snow, so he does not expect any of us to be at his concert. He is very pleased that he is getting to do it again.
Nina also bragged for Betsy. Nina could not attend the Ski Jump because two of her kids were in a hockey tournament in Maine (they won the Championship!). Nina is impressed that Betsy was able to pull it off and do such a wonderful job.
Betsy bragged $5 for her husband Bill who is known as an unofficial Rotarian. There is no way in hell that she could have pulled if off without Bill. He was amazing and worked both days. Anytime there is a Rotary event he is always there.
Greg Worden also bragged for Betsy and the success of the Ski Jump.
