INSPIRATION by Wendy Marcus:
“I’m inspired by Past Presidents who had foresight, like Past President Cynthia Leonard who established the Environmental Committee of the Providence Rotary long before Rotary International took up the cause of environmentalism.
"Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970, saying that ‘The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.’ There wasn’t an EPA back then! Earth Day was created to encourage all to take ‘mother earth-friendly actions, as she nourished all life on it. When we take earth-friendly actions, heaven meets earth, earth meets heaven, and the two embrace.’”
ANNOUNCEMENTS, Etc.
Providence Rotarians will celebrate Cinco de Mayo, May 5, with a Zoom trivia night from 7PM-8:30PM! Contact Mary Brewster via email for more info or to register. The $15 fee will go to Rotary International’s PolioPlus campaign.
There's still time to register for the
virtual District Conference coming up later this week: April 29 – May 1?
Click here to check out the opportunities that will be open to you for information, inspiration, fellowship and fun!
World Immunization Week is April 24-Apri 30. Kris will give 100 recognition points to any Rotary member who donates $100 to PolioPlus between April 24 and May 5!
The Auction Committee for the Gala has been meeting and they are looking for items! 8-10 items for the live auction, like travel experiences, as well as items for the raffle. Please reach out to Jim Gilcreast if you would like to donate an item!
Yes, this week’s issue is a day late. Humble apologies from your editor. -- Art
Meetings
This week’s meeting features Kristen Adamo, President & CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. Here’s the Zoom link info:
Time: Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021
11:45 AM Fellowship; 12:00 Meeting
Joining by phone, call:
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 863 5142 5903
Passcode: 158030
HAPPY BUCKS
Margaret Kane: $5 happy bucks for last week’s in-person meeting! Everyone looks better in person!
Jim Gilcreast: $1 happy buck, he is happy!
Wendy Marcus: $1 happy buck for Doug Still, who agreed to speak today!
Barry Fain: $5 happy bucks, looking forward to a Red Sox game and a flight on Thursday to San Francisco to see his daughter and two grandkids, who he hasn’t seen in 15 months!
Avram and Maxine Cohen: $10 happy bucks for a weekend with their daughter who they hadn’t seen in 2 years!
Don Saracen: $1 happy buck for Jim Nugent!
Bryan Cook: $10 happy bucks for Paul Segal for his work with the Foundation and all that he has done as Chair of the Foundation, for George Babcock for his work with the literacy initiative, and Holly Applegate for the work she’s done for the speaker program!.
DOUG STILL: PROTECTING AND EXPANDING THE CITY’S FOREST
Guest speaker Douglas Still, Providence’s city forester, highlighted the main aspects of his department’s program:
- Providence Neighborhood Planting Program: A partnership between the City of Providence and the Mary Elizabeth Sharpe PNPP Fund of the Rhode Island Foundation, the program works with neighborhood groups to plant trees. Doug mentioned that it is vital that the citizens of Providence take part and continue to care for trees in their neighborhood, and the program truly brings people and neighbors together! Since the late 1980s, over 17,000 street trees have been planted and the population of street trees has increased steadily since then.
- Certain neighborhoods have more trees than others and there tend to be less trees in neighborhoods that are economically disadvantaged. This is an equity issue. The Forestry Program is working to engage these neighborhoods and get them involved in the tree planting process as part of a comprehensive urban forest plan.
- Block Pruning Program: Systematic planned maintenance of trees in Providence. This is proactive rather than reactive maintenance! One section of each ward gets pruned each year and three times as many trees are being pruned today since the program began in 2015.
- Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Response: The EAB is a green beetle (foreign pest) that is causing the death of Ash trees across the northeast. Infected Ash trees will die within 5 years. The state of Rhode Island is not yet prepared for this, but Providence has started to treat Ash trees for this pest and hopes to treat 800 trees. We’ve gotten ahead of this in Providence, as our trees haven’t yet started to die.
- Waste Wood Program: Currently, pruned tree branches go through a chipper and then to a landfill, as the Forestry Program does not have property to store waste wood. But wood chips are a resource that should be shared with the community! The Forestry program has been looking for a dedicated place to bring waste wood – a place where people can come to get wood chips for gardens/community gardens, firewood, etc… and also to pick-up wood that could be used for building projects. A property was recently acquired for this purpose, and the hope is to turn this into “The Steel Yard for wood!”
