Inspiration
Being the day after Martin Luther King Day, Pete Brock decided to use Dr. King as the inspiration. 55 years since his death, much of what he preached and taught during the Civil Rights Movement, still rings true today. He stressed that change would come through peace and love, not violence and hate. He stressed commonality over diversity. His dream was that his four little children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. He preached equality, not equity. Pete ended his inspiration by saying he is with Dr. Martin Luther King – he will stick with “love” – as hate is too great a burden to bear.
Guests and Visitors
Tammy DeBarros – fellow Rotarian from the Fall River Club
Eliana Parada – potential new member
On Zoom
Steve Hug, Lou Hadsell, Sam New, Richard Applebaum, Raymond Hull, and Rob Brewster.
Announcements
- Well Wishes go to Margaret Kane, and to Sam New and Steve Hug who are both recovering from Covid.
- Our speaker next week is Karen Gager, Executive Director from the 134 Collaborative. Karen has led the organization in creating a collaborative space for small non-profit programs.
- As of July, the Marriott will begin charging for parking. President Steve does not feel it will apply to us.
- The Good Works committee has two projects in the works.
First is a peanut butter drive – bring in peanut butter beginning next week. The club collected 28 jars of peanut butter at the Christmas party held in December. Off to a good start!
The second project is that we are bringing back our Tent Suppers. Rotarians will host a mix of new and old members at their homes for dinner. Attendance requires a donation, and all funds will go to feed Ukranians through the World Kitchen. Let Mary know if you’d be willing to be a host.
Happy Bucks
- Pete Brock is three happy bucks happy today. The sun's out and it’s 47 degrees!
- Jim Gilcreast – Five happy bucks as a thank you to all the Rotarians who sent cards, thoughts, and prayers during his hip surgery and on a more somber note, he is sad to have recently lost a past Rotarian and close friend, Ken O’Donnell.
- Richard Applebaum – 8 Happy bucks to support our district and our fantastic leader, Dave Sampson.
- Sharon Garland gave a happy buck in anticipation of hip surgery scheduled in two weeks.
- Bill Applegate gave 10 happy bucks. He’s very happy to see Jim Gilcreast back at meetings, and he’s happy to be back home after visiting his daughter in England, family in New Jersey, and a friend in Denmark.
- Tammy DeBarros donated $25 just because it’s a wonderful day and she is grateful.
- Kris David gave 2 happy bucks, first for Governor Dave, they have been friends for a long time, and secondly for his wife who was unable to attend today.
- Maury Ryan gave a happy buck for the Rotary Book Club. They’re looking at including a virtual attendance feature moving forward so more folks can join. Reading great books. All are welcome.
- Dave Sampson gave 5 happy bucks as he was happy to be joining us at the meeting today.
Speaker
District Governor, Dave Sampson. Dave has been a Rotarian since 1976. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Bourne-Sandwich where he was President for three terms. He was also the District 7950 Assistant Governor for four years.
Governor Sampson began by saying: “I worry about our country. I worry about our world - about where we're going. And that as Rotarians, we recognize our responsibility to make our world better.”
He complimented our club by saying that we are one of the most prepared clubs for his visit and was pleased that we have outlined how we are working to “make the world better” and striving to overcome the obstacles that every Rotary Club is currently facing.
Decline in membership is a current issue facing many clubs, including our own and Governor Sampson is encouraged that our membership committee is engaged and doing the right things to continue to maintain important relationships amongst current members and to grow new relationships with new members. He applauded us for adding new categories to encourage membership – Friends of the Rotary and our Family Membership. He was excited to learn that we are considering the possibility of including some evening meetings to enable more individuals to attend in person.
District Governor Sampson talked about the importance of participating in District Events as a great way to learn about how other Rotary Clubs are dealing with similar issues and to meet and build relationships with other Rotarians. Coming up:
March 18th – Rotary Leadership Institute (location Bourne)
April 28-30 – Rotary District Conference (location N. Falmouth)
Detailed information and Registration are available on the Rotary Website.
The meeting concluded following a question/answer period with the promise from Dave to look into organizing a fun event where Rotarians from clubs around the region could gather, get to know one another and share ideas.
