Robert Cassidy Pres. Elect

Rotary Club of Bedford June 25, 2013

Meeting Location: Bedford Glen Double-Tree Hotel Location:

Peter Colgan President 44 Middlesex Turnpike Robert Cassidy Pres. Elect Bedford, MA 01730 Victor Tom Pres. Elect Time: Margarita- Tuesday; 12:15 PM Kaliviotis Pres. Elect Melinda Nicholson Secretary Joel Berenson Treasurer

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Calendar: July 2 Laura Messing, Small Business Branding July 9 State Representative Ken Gordon July 16 Matt Ward, Social Media

Visiting Rotarian: John Lombard, Rotary Club of Concord

Member Milestone: Bill celebrated his alleged 35th birthday last week

Guests: We were happy to welcome an assemblage of guests today in anticipation of the upcoming RYLA weekend. Superintendent Jon Sills was with us, as was BHS Principal Henry Turner. Fifteen RYLANs were with us, many with family members, and each of them said a few words of introduction about themselves:  Madeleine Allen plays three sports and was here with her mom, Sally  Jacqueline Pinney is well known to us – not only was mom Christine with her but proud papa Tom was too –Jackie is running track & cross-country  Kristen Kuo was here with her mom (editorial apologies for not hearing her intro or mom’s name)  Collen Dunlea is a volleyball player and introduced her mom Pat  Julia Goding – daughter of former club member John, is an accomplished karate practitioner  Brendan Flynn plays hockey and was accompanied by his father Paul  Theresa Soldan is a volley ball player and was with her mom Martha  Stephanie Yan is an avid volunteer and photographer and her mom was with her  Junior and Group Facilitator Joe Towle is a 2-sport varsity captain and gives credit to his RYLA experience for his success  Holly Stygles likes writing, photography, and “artsy stuff”, and was with her mom  Gina Han is a photographer and her mom was with her  Chi Chi Nwodoh likes reading and science and was accompanied by her mom and sister  Andrea Ning is a volleyball player and was with her mom Toni  Jennifer Zhang practices ballet and was accompanied by her dad  Joshua Berenson, son of Joel and Jodi, plays hockey and both his parents were with us.

With only a sentence or two allowed each of them, we got only a glimpse of the talents of this next class of RYLANs. They’ve identified themselves as sportsmen and sportswomen, artists, scientists, photographers, karate practiioners and dancers. Add leaders to that that list!

Unfinished Installation business: Joe, Lynne and Susanna all received certificates of recognition for contributions to the club at today’s meeting. Lynne will get hers later but we all thank her for her high level of service; Joe received recognition for his and Flatbread’s contributions to the Kids PMC challenge, and Susanna was recognized for being part of Pay It Forward and for the bulletin.

Joe receives recognition from Pete Scholarship Luncheon:

June was quite a month for Bedford Students. The club welcomed its scholarship winners and their parents last week and, of course, this week was the RYLA luncheon. Collectively these two events display the quality and character of our younger generation and if their efforts are typical of the students in our school system indeed we have a lot to be proud of. Our congratulations to each and every one of them for their achievements!

This year’s recipients are

Rayford Wlliams Scholarship $6,000:

4th installment Briana Wiley Wheelock College 3rd installment Anne Dickinson Meltz Wellesley College 2nd installment Margaret Haey-Rhodes Davidson College 2013 winner Melina Morris Emerson College

Phil McGovern Scholarship $500 Kelley Williams Middlesex Community College Shawsheen Vocational Technical High School Craftsmanship Award $1,000 Shaquille McMickle Welding/Sheet Metal

The only student not able to attend the luncheon was Briana Wiley who is currently participating in a summer intern program in Memphis, TN at a “Youth Villages.”

ESSEX: (Eastern States Student Exchange). Pete hoped some of our attending RYLA families might be interested in learning about hosting a family. This year students will not be allowed to finalize plans to come if families are not lined up in time – if you know of someone who might want to experience the rewards of hosting, please let them know.

And speaking of ESSEX, Susanna had a short visit with Kimmo Kauppinen, our exchange student from Finland, on her way from central Finland to Helsinki on June 21. Kimmo is going into the Finnish army on July 8, where he will serve for either 6 or 12 months (as he says, the timing isn’t up to him. They’ll just let him know…). Right now he’s working at a very nice golf course in his hometown of Hämeenlinna and his plan for celebrating Midsummer Night’s Eve was to have a round of night-time golf with some friends (darkness was obviously not going to be a problem…the sun basically doesn’t set).

President Pete’s Rotary Moment: How we will miss these gems…President Pete observed that it may be a bit misleading to have a Rotary “Moment”; a Rotary moment doesn’t just pop up once a week. It’s a mindset that infuses the daily hours and moments of those who can call themselves Rotarians.

As President Pete welcomed our RYLANs and family members, and Superintendent Sills and Principal Turner, he took a moment to remind us of Rotary’s mission. [Editorial note: Your editor was not writing fast enough and figured the statement would be on the web and to her surprise found many variations of the RI mission statement. Here’s one of them: Rotary provides service to others, promotes integrity, and advances world understanding, goodwill and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.]

Program: An Introduction to Rotary for RYLANs. Victor put together a great overview of Rotary for our guests and it’s nice to be reminded that: . our club is engaged in both local and international service . Rotary is the world’s largest service organization . We are in about 200 countries or territories with almost 1.3 million members . We work in partnership with other clubs on international projects . Locally, we have a great relationship with the public schools o We have more RYLA scholarships than any other club in our district o We are the biggest scholarship giver to graduating seniors from BHS o Our connection to the Interact club is strong o Our connection to ESSEX continues – Melinda will be taking the lead, with Kevin assisting

. In other programs, Bedford has benefited from: . Group Study Exchange – recently a Lane School teacher went to India, and Kevin Sullivan led a GSE to India . Integrated Preschool Project (located at BHS) . Lane School playground . Destination Imagination . Welcome to Bedford sign . Bog Bridges project . Concord River map project . Springs Brook Park . 9/11 Memorial Park . Job Lane House . Bike Safety Day

Among International projects we ‘ve done or supported there are many to list, but some good examples are:

. The purchasing of a van for the Compass School/orphanage in Kenya. This van is used for school transporation and for food purchasing . Our support for Polio eradication.

Raffles and Happy Dollars: Art won the door prize; Bob C. tried for the King of Spades but found the Ace of Hearts instead.

In Happy Dollars, Joe was happy for our young guests and for a super day at the beach with his wife; Mark was happy for our guests and for vacation last week; Maureen was glad for our guests; Mike put in an I.O.U., saying he works for a non-profit…, Jim was glad for our guests, Bill announced he’d turned 35 last week and of course we all believed him – and, he’s looking forward to vacation in Florida this Friday, Nat was glad for the youth with us and for the future of Rotary, Bob C. was glad for the awesomeness of our guests and their counterweight to stereotypes; Joel and Diana put in for all the RYLAns, Margarita was counting the days (6) until vacation; Debi was super happy because central A.C. is coming to her soon; Linda was glad for our great guests and because daughter Jenny is arriving next week for some time at the lake and to hunt for the right bridal gown; Kevin was happy because he’s looking forward to the RYLA weekend; Melinda wished a happy birthday to Bill; Christine was glad for the volunteers who will be facilitating the RYLA weekend and for the students; Bob M. put in for the students; Ralph put out a volunteer call for an archaeological dig at the Job Lane House on July 8 – sod removal is the first step. And there’s another opportunity at the Job Lane House – on July 20 there will be an arts festival which will include making paper from natural materials; Art was looking forward to being a den mother at RYLA this weekend, Cliff was at B Good’s opening and got a free burger from John Goding; Pete was very happy for a great year; Victor is very glad to be at RYLA this year because he missed last year, and is super happy to have seen daughter Christine graduate from Stanford. The Four Way Let’s Make Up! Test Chelmsford 12:15 p.m. Radison Hotel; Acton-Boxborough 12:15 p.m. Holiday Inn, 1. Is it the Maynard 6:15 p.m. Payton’s River’s Edge; Boxborough; Restaurant; N. Reading 12:15 Hillview TRUTH? Reading 12:15 p.m. Peter Sanborn Place; Country Club; Waltham 12:15 p.m. The Chateau 2. Is it FAIR to all Lexington 12:15 p.m. Waxy O’Connors Restaurant; Wilmington 12:15 p.m. concerned? 3. Will it build Clinton 12:15 p.m. The old Timers Restaurant; Ayer 6:30 p.m. Bull Run Restaurant; Brookline 12:00 GOODWILL Hudson 6:00 p.m. Hudson Portuguese Club; Holiday Inn; Burlington 7:30 a.m. Bickfords; Concord and BETTER Wellesley 6:30 p.m. Wellesley Community 12:15 p.m. Colonial Inn; Marlboro 12:15 p.m. Coral FRIENDSHIPS Center; Woburn 12:15 Holiday Inn Select Hotel; Seafood; Westford 12:15 p.m. Westford Grille; ? Billerica 8:00 a.m. Billerica Marriott Courtyard Nashoba Valley 7:15 a.m. Houghton Building (1st & 4. Will it be 3rd) and Nancy’s Café (2nd and 4th) BENEFICIAL Locations verified 12/6/10 to all Burlington 12:15 p.m. American Legion Hall; Littleton concerned? 7:30 a.m. Ken’s Cafe

PAST PRESIDENTS 1956‐57 Glenn Sims 1975‐76 Ed Moore 1994‐95 Ralph M. Hammond 1957‐58 E. Gottschalk 1976‐77 Winston Bridge 1995‐96 Holly A. Chaney 1958‐59 Ron Davis 1977‐78 “Syke” Bumann 1996‐97 Milan W. Jackson 1959‐60 John Bowen 1978‐79 Matt Tomassian 1997‐98 Gregory S. Symko 1960‐61 George Doherty 1979‐80 Peter Kilmartin 1998‐99 Florence A. Rossi 1961‐62 Frank Hennessey 1980‐81 Lawrence Carlton 1999‐00 Robert M. Kennedy 1962‐63 Robert Mead 1981‐82 Paul C. Dick 2000‐01 Heidi A. Pusatere 1963‐64 Clifford Hughes 1982‐83 David Valdina 2001‐02 David R. Hannum 1964‐65 Fred Olson 1983‐84 Jack Wilson 2002‐03 Joel Berenson 1965‐66 J. Clive Enos 1984‐85 Peter Corea 2003‐04 William Waite 1966‐67 Nathaniel Brown 1985‐86 Robert A. Cassidy 2004‐05 Meg Packenham 1967‐68 Donald Drew 1986‐87 Ottfried Weisz 2005‐06 Susanna Natti 1968‐69 Joseph Bruno 1987‐88 Kenneth W. Luther 2006‐07 Terrence Parker 1969‐70 Ralph Collins 1988‐89 John B. Debaun 2007‐08 Lea Ann Knight 1970‐71 John Whalen 1989‐90 Kenneth R. Walcott 2008‐09 Virginia Clerkin 1971‐72 George Benson 1990‐91 David J. Rossi 2009‐10 Victor Tom 1972‐73 Maurice Nolan 1991‐92 James W. Harrill 2010‐11 Cliff Rober 1973‐74 Pat Sciaraffa 1992‐93 Peter Light 2011-12 Christine Pinney 1974‐75 Ed Moore 1993‐94 Norma A. Barton