Providence Rotary - Read Our Newsletter

OFFICERS
President
Richard B. Applebaum

President-elect
Cynthia Leonard

1st Vice President
Barry W. Fain

2nd Vice President
Barbara Harris

Secretary
Susan Johnson

Treasurer
Richard A. Kaplan

Asst. Treasurer
Peter M. Loescher

Sergeant-at-arms
Kevin M. Oates

Past-President
John A. Daluz

Directors to
June 30, 2010:
James Alexander
Richard P. Leone, Sr.
Jenny Miller
Arthur Norwalk
Kathleen A. Swann

Directors to
June 30, 2011:
Holly Applegate
Paul Borrelli
Patricia Germani
Steven M. Rotondo
James C. Scanlan

Proposed New Member:

The following individual has been proposed to membership in the Rotary Club of Providence. He has been reviewed by the membership committee and approved by the board of directors:

Rev. Richard H. Kremer (Rick)

Associate Pastor

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

15 Hayes Street, Providence, RI 02908

Residence: 28 Avon Avenue, Cumberland, RI

Proposed Classification: Religion

Sponsor: Tony Mendez

Any member in good standing who objects to the admission of the above must communicate in writing his or her objection and reason therefor to the Board of Directors, Rotary Club of Providence, 23 Dryden Lane, Providence, RI 02904 within seven (7) days of the date of this publication.

Don Saracen pointed out that 17 years ago there were only 2 or 3 women in the club and the smokers were asked to smoke in the back of the room.

Walter Adamowicz said he was back from Arizona and was so pleased that he was able to avoid the border patrol.

PP Paul Segal said that the St.Louis club, 11^th oldest club, increased its membership from 25 to 150 in just one week after opening. It was thought they must have had Stanley in charge with his excellent ability to strategize an effective plan.

Richard Leone was happy to report that one night last week everyone left the garage wide open with all the lights on and nothing happened. In the bays were police cars and an expensive antique car.

Pat Germani was happy because this is her 3^rd year in the club and her grandson received his 1^st Holy Communion.

PP John McGinn's niece will be joining him at the next Rotary meeting She has traveled extensively in foreign countries and sees a major health crisis growing in the third world countries.

PP Stanley Sorrentino pointed out a coincidence - in 2011 the Providence club will be 100 years old; Uncas Manufacturing, which his father founded, will be 100 years old. He said that after retiring he became more active in Rotary and it has been a great experience; he has met people he probably would never have otherwise.

Barry Fain said when returning from his visit to his son in DC the plane was extremely quiet. Then he realized it was probably because Boston had lost to Baltimore

Jerry Cannon just wanted to thank everyone!!! He also announced that his bowling team came in second. Then someone pointed out that there are only two teams.

Maury Ryan was happy he survived another year of the hectic but good Spring Beer Fest.

Barbara Harris has been practicing her Spanish in preparation for her trip to the Dominican Republic for the water project.

Wendy Marcus has discovered that Rev. Ralph Barlow is also an excellent writer; also announced that Barbara's husband was on with Al Roker.

Wascar Montilla is happy that his daughter celebrated her first communion and he shot a 77 playing golf.

PP Ken Conde said he also closed late one night and left everything open and nothing happened.

PP Bill DeBiasio had a meeting with the ShelterBox Project people in Florida and they were so pleased with the generosity of the Providence Club.

Margaret Kane complemented the singing by Phoebe Madden at Joan Cannon's funeral. Then she had the club laughing with her comment: "Tom Madden is starting a by-laws committee - now there's a fun time."

Pres. Richard Applebaum had a busy good weekend.

reported by Terri Adelman

Abednego Dahn introduced Jeffrey Deckman who is the president and founder of Capability Accelerators. The company believes that small business and individuals can solve their own problems and contribute to solutions. As a consultant he specializes in first identifying and maximizing the hidden capabilities within organizations.

With that expertise he has been retained by RISC (the RI Statewide Coalition) the voice of taxpayer and business. Its mission is to serve as an advocate for quality of life issues affecting Rhode Island residents and property owners, including, but not limited to: sound government policy; issues of ethics and conflict of interest; fair and equitable taxation; fiscal and government data transparency; education.

Jeffrey was brought on board to make RISC more relevant at the state level. Even though most of the businesses in Rhode Island are small businesses, they are not involved in the conversation at the state level. Recently there is energy starting to grow. The strategy for being seen as more politically relevant is that RISC will begin to work at identifying and getting elected good candidates and getting others out of office.

To accomplish that, RISC plans to raise $300,000 to be used to get people elected from either party as long as they are good. They will also give to philosophy not regionally. RISC is asking all small businesses to give towards the $300,000 war chest. The money will stay in pledges, it doesn't go to RISC.

I am happy to report that I am now all shot up (vaccinations) and revved up for the mission to Esperanza (Hope) D.R. May 19-23. Despite being president, this will be my first participation in an international Rotary trip or convention, and I am appreciative that members of our contingent have welcomed my involvement. The blogs and reports on our adventure should prove most interesting and gratifying for us all.

It's not too late to purchase tickets for the Barker Playhouse show "A Little Night Music" (Steven Sondheim) May 13 at 8:00 pm, featuring Holly Applegate, Liz Messier and Walter Cotter. I'll bet it will rival the current Broadway production with Angela Lansbury.

It's also not too late to commit to going to the District 7950 Annual Conference May 14-16, or part thereof, at the Cape Codder in Hyannis. Not only for fun and sun, but to reacquaint yourself with district friends and/or make new ones, and to help celebrate Dist Gov Humphreys successful year at the helm.

A few words about last Monday's speaker. The seeming pitch for contributions was unexpected and unintended. That said, the idea of rallying around and supporting political candidates based on "philosophy, not just biography" is intriguing. Solid candidates of any party (or not) affiliation with a pro-business, pro-job, fiscally responsible vision are needed in RI now more than ever, in my view. It is said that politics is the RI version of professional sports. Although it has proven very difficult to win statewide office in RI as other than a Democratic (with notable exceptions, especially in the executive), this year's gubernatorial campaign may mark the beginning of a new paradigm. The British may find that out for themselves tonight (Thursday). Just my thoughts.

See you Monday,

Richard

One more meeting to buy tickets for "A Little Night Music" Thursday, May 13at Barker Playhouse on Benefit St. Preferably tickets are bought at the next meeting but they can be bought at the door. The costumes came from NY and are magnificent and the music is wonderful. Plus Rotarians Walter Cotter, Liz Messier and Holly Applegate are staring. Baker Playhouse is the oldest continuously running playhouse in the US

A thanks to all those Rotarians who hosted or helped in some other way with the Group Study Exchange Team from Uruguay. They thanked us for the friendliness and wonderful time.

Rotary Club of Woonsocket is inviting members of our club to join them for their 50^th Anniversary in June which is a black tie optional event. Cost is $75.

In the fall, Stanley Sorrentino again invites everyone to join him for one of the televised Patriots away games at Gilette Stadium. Date is to be announced.

Get Well Committee reports that Kathy Swann has contracted Lyme Disease. The good news is that it was caught early so the treatment is working well. Also, John Clarke is being tested to determine a cancer treatment.

Guest: Don Saracen introduced Huiting Zhuang, who is in the United States representing Crebbers LLC, a company that is looking to purchase small businesses in the one million to 5 million range.

June 3^rd is the installation of the new District Governor Charlie Murphy in Acushnet.

June 9^th is the Club's trip to the Boston Pops.

June 27^th celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Million Dollar Meal at White's.

Rotary Supports Global Economic Growth

Canadian diplomat Donald Bobiash believes international relations is in the midst of a major shift given the tremendous rise of living standards in developing countries in Asia, South America, and parts of Africa.

As wealthier nations work to accommodate a growing global middle class, Bobiash, a former Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, says Rotary has the experience and structure in place for effective development assistance.

"Rotary is an incredibly international organization. It bridges race, religion, rich, poor, East, and West," says Bobiash, director-general for Africa at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. "For decades, thousands of wealthy clubs have partnered with clubs in developing countries on projects to increase literacy rates, improve health, and promote peace. It's a great example of how Rotary improves lives."

Learn more here.

Ads will soon be returning to the newsletter, and opportunities will be offered for members to support the club by advertising on the web site as well. Current newsletter advertisers will get makeup appearances for all the weeks that were missed while we were going through the learning curve on the new format. Stay tuned for details.

Have you uploaded your information and photo to the online member directory? If not, Art Norwalk or Jeff Cavanaugh will be happy to help, or do it for you.

And if you need to get in touch with another member, the online directory is a great resource. Just click "For members..." in the left column on the Home Page, enter your email address and password, and check it out.

Lost your password? Ask Art, Jeff or Jerry and we'll get it to you by email right away.