Bill led us in the pledge
Inspiration
Rob Black gave us the inspiration about the formation of Memorial Day. On May 5, 1868 Major General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Union Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.” A tradition since then, Memorial Day only became a federal holiday in 1971.
Whereas Memorial Day commemorates deceased US soldiers, Veterans Day honors all former members of the military with an emphasis on living veterans. The holiday was originally called Decoration Day because people would decorate the gravesites of fallen soldiers with flowers, American flags or other tributes.
His father was the superintendent of McKeesport and Versailles cemetery. I grew up at the front gate of the cemetery until I was 18 and moved off site. The 10 days leading up to Memorial Day the cemetery would hold a flower sale. It was very popular, and people would come buy and buy flowers for their loved ones’ graves.
On Zoom
Paula Jagemann, Cap Willey, Tracy Boothman, Craig Creller
Announcements
Anthony Hollingshead announced that there will be a New Member Orientation on June 2 at India Restaurant. This will be a brief orientation with a good amount of time for socializing and getting to know both the Board and some ‘legacy’ members.
We will also be hosting two Membership booths at the Lippett Park Farmer’s Market this summer - June 20 and August 29. This will be a great opportunity for visibility for the club, from 8:30-1:30. Bill shared that the Farmer’s Market is a great outing for the family!
Tracy Boothman gave us an update about the Environment Committee’s project, ‘Station Meadows.’ We received a $2,900 grant from the governor’s workforce board to do an environmental study surrounding the Providence Amtrak station, along with some student organizations. The City of Providence is going to be installing some drains, and the Steel Yard has been commissioned to make some signage to demonstrate information about the project. We are holding a volunteer event to plant pollinators in the yard area on the downtown-facing side of the train station.
Bill announced some new sponsorships for the Gala:
- a $10,000 sponsorship from the Squantum Association
- a $10,000 sponsorship from Barry and Elain Faine
- A $5000 sponsorship from the Applegate fund
- A $2500 sponsorship from Don Saracen.
- A $2500 sponsorship from Northeast Investments (Anthony Landi)
Gala Committee - Holly Applegate
We are having a meeting tomorrow. Don Saracen and his son are putting a Reel together introducing the Legends for Literacy Gala to help publicize the event. One of our Legends will be Karyn Parsons and have extended invitations to several other prominent authors to be other Legends. We have a Save the Date card that Emily Bernstein created, which will help get the word out as well. We are working diligently to get the word out wide and early to make sure there are as many attendees as possible.
May Birthdays
People born in the month of May are often associated with a variety of unique and interesting traits. May babies have an optimistic outlook on life, and their sunny disposition makes them pleasant to be around.
Those born before May 20th fall under the Zodiac Sign Taurus. These individuals tend to be practical, stable and dependable; often have a keen appreciation for beauty whether in art, nature or music; can be quite stubborn, sticking to their principles and beliefs.
We have 2 Taurus Rotarians: Fatima Rodrigues born on May 12th, and Art Norwalk on May 18th.
We have 3 more May babies, all born on the same day, May 28th. You were all born under the sign of Gemini and you are: adaptable and enjoy exploring different interests; you are able to express your thoughts clearly and persuasively; always eager to learn new things and meet new people. These 3 Rotarians are Holly Applegate, Luis Lourenco and Jackie Gourd.
Today also marks Happy Birthday to Barbara Harris!
Happy Bucks
- Pete Brock is happy because he woke up and decided to be. He also wished everyone a Happy Memorial Day.
- Heidi Abelli is $10 ‘grateful’ in remembrance of Memorial Day. She was at Boston Commons yesterday to see 700,000 flags planted in remembrance of every veteran of the Revolutionary War.
- Don Saracen is happy to remember his good friend who was wounded in Iraq.
- Art Norwalk is happy because today is the first day of ‘Reading Week’ at George J. West Elementary. Several of our club members will be reading to the students during the week to celebrate. The Literacy Committee is meeting with leaders at the schools to plan for next year with lots of exciting new and recurring activities.
- Anthony Hollingshead is happy to be sitting next to Barry and to see Paula on Zoom. She hopes to join in person by the end of the summer
- Tracy Boothman is happy because Johnson and Wales has moved their big Cancer fundraiser back to September from December, because they want to ‘collaborate, not compete’ with other fundraisers.
- Barry Fain is happy because he had a surprise visit from his son, his wife and all the grandchildren for Memorial Day.
- Rob Black gave happy bucks in remembrance of his dad on Memorial Day.
- Paul Morelli gave happy bucks because he had a great event performing at Brown University alumni events over graduation weekend. He has never had more people on his dance floor.
- Bill Applegate gave happy bucks for the few short weeks he has left before he turns the Presidency over to Liz. He is also happy that he didn’t have a reunion at Brown this weekend as he would have been sitting there in the rain.
Speaker
Our speaker Clara Decerbo, the Director of Providence Emergency Management was forced to reschedule because of an important meeting regarding the upcoming FIFA World Cup Fan Zone. She will be at the upcoming meeting.
Instead, we had a brainstorming session for new service projects we can work on for the upcoming year. Liz is applying for a District grant to help with the Shower Project, which provides mobile shower services for those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.
