Dec 2025

The RECAP:

Wood4Good: Lois Parmelee, and Kurt and Donna Johnson participated in Rotary work day at the Cilley Hill wood lot.  Five clubs participated, splitting and stacking wood that will be distributed next year.   Kurt Johnson also participated in a chainsaw work day . Our Rotary Club has also pledged $1000 to this organization, which has distributed over 200 cords of wood to families in need this year .  They are expanding coverage in Vermont next year.

 

Salvation Army Bell Ringing:  Thanks to all who volunteered for a shift this year, especially on Friday morning outside Essex Discount Beverage.  This has to be one of the coldest years for our bellring.  Donna Johnson will report on the total amount raised at a future meeting.

 

Senior Lunch is December 10th from 10am - 2pm in the Miller Building at Champlain Valley Expo.   A catered turkey dinner is served by Rotary to close to 200 seniors from Essex Town and Essex Junction.  Volunteer slots for setup  are full for December 9th from 10-11:30am.  We still need volunteers for Dec 10th .  Sign up on Club Runner! 

 

This year, if you have a gently used jigsaw puzzle or 2 that you’d like to donate, we will set up a table inside the doors during lunch so that guests can take a puzzle as they leave.  Please tape or tie the puzzle boxes shut.  Thanks to Bob Mulcahy and Sharon Dettenreider for organizing this event.

 

Heavenly Food Pantry - December 18 -    Thanks to Sharon Dettenrieder for organizing the volunteers who attend distribution and assist families in need.  There is also opportunity  to assist in setup on distribution days or on Mondays when shelves are stocked and some food is prepped for distribution .  

 

Snacks for schools food drive - ongoing :  Our local schools have expressed a need for snacks for children whose families are unable to provide them.  (Teachers have been paying for snacks out of their own pockets.  Some children have lunch at 10:30am, and a snack is vital to them later in the school day.)   To date we have collected and distributed to 5 schools in Essex plus  2 schools in Underhill.   All were thrilled to receive these donations.

Donation boxes are at Kaitlyn Raymond’s state farm office, the town halls of Jericho and Underhill, Jericho Market and Northfield Savings Bank in Essex Junction.  Donations requested are Nature Valley Honey Oats Granola Bars, boxes of Individual packs of mini pretzels, applesauce squeeze tubes, and /or mini Skinny Pop popcorn.   Thanks to Tim Gendron for spearheading this effort.

 

Toys for tots barrel at State Farm office ,159 Pearl Street #3, Essex Junction Chris Kasper is collecting new unwrapped toys at his office.

 

 

Communication committee : Donna Johnson, chair

Committee members : Harriet Gray, Janet Botula, Greg Morgan, Scott McCormick

This is a newly formed committee tasked with developing a one-pager which will be used to advertise the club and for recruiting new members, ensuring  coverage across social media platforms is cohesive and up to date, and writing the newsletter.

One pager status - Edith Klimoski has been working with a RYLA student on this.  It should be ready for distribution in early January to our sponsors and local businesses, town halls, etc as allowed by those establishments.

We’re also working to develop a post for a social media blitz about the club that will be sent out in December and January.  The goal is to advertise the club and recruit members.

 

Food Insecurity Committee: Tim Gendron, chair

Our mission is to identify the food insecurity needs of the community and work with the local organizations that provide food and meals to those in need. This committee will

focus on providing resources to assist those organizations to help meet those needs.

Committee Members: Sharon Dettenrieder, Harriet Gray, Kaitlyn Raymond, Lois Parmelee, Rusty Brink, Phil Murdock, Jean Ashe, Donna Johnson, Sue Kurek, Tim

Gendron  Some of these members are also on the Food Drive team.

We have a budget of $4,800. We had a recent request for $100 for school snacks which we honored. Another request for snacks was made so the committee decided to

do a drive for snacks. More later.

We are in the process of disbursing $2,000 to Heavenly Food Pantry, Aunt Dot’s Place, Age Well MOW, Westford Food Shelf and The Good Shepherd Food Shelf in Jericho.

Each is receiving $400. In October Phil and Helen Murdock donated 20 boxes of apples that went to Heavenly, Aunt Dot’s and MOW. In the Spring we will do the same

disbursement or a variation of it for the food insecurity organizations. We had food drives in April and September yielding about 3,000 pounds total and about $1,500 in

cash donations.

Now back to the present. We have just embarked on a new food drive; this one is for school snacks. Teachers we have communicated with have routinely dug into their own

pockets to purchase snacks for kids who are unable to bring their own snacks for between meals. We are taking donations for 4 specific snacks as told to us by the

teachers. These will be distributed to the elementary schools in our district including Jericho/Underhill. I’m trying to reach the Chittenden East SD.

 

Environment Committee Greg Morgan  chair

Committee members: Janet Botula, Dennis Dees, Patrick Hutton, Scott McCormick,Grace Gray, Max Seaton, Edith Klimoski, Steve Schmida, Don VanNostren

 

Recently we have worked on Pollinator Garden development in partnership with Bee the Change.  Gardens are in various stages at 5 schools, with Essex High School “up and running”.  Other sites include Essex Middle School, Jericho Elementary and Westford Elementary.

Essex High School STEM is exploring other ways to collaborate with Rotary such as a student preliminary study of the solar array on Essex capped landfill .  This effort is linked to the Vermont Energy Education Project and Youth Climate Leaders Academy.

The committee is exploring building bike locking stations, and collaborated with Window Dressers to build window frames which are covered with plastic and then press fit into windows.

 

Shelter Committee : Max Seaton, chair

Committee members: Jean Ashe, Sharon Dettenrieder, Tim Gendron, Edith Klimosky, Donna Johnson, Deanne MCDonald, Bob McEwing , Lois Parmelee, Trish Porter

 

Mission: Our mission is to identify the needs for shelter and provide assistance locally, nationally, and globally. The committee will find meaningful ways to engage our membership in related service projects. The committee organizes and distributes coats through Operation Warm.

 

Operation Warm distributed 228 coats this year , spending $5304 of the $5900 budget.

Last year we distributed 252 coats.  In 2019 we distributed 78 coats. Years in between show a steady increase in demand as outreach continues to grow.  This year requests came from EWSD, ADL, Essex Middle, Founders, Hiawatha, Jericho Elementary, Browns River Middle School, Thomas Fleming, Westford Elementary School, Giving Tree (First Congregational Church). Options for donations of extra coats included CHIPS (3), Refugee center in Colchester (15), Essex Pediatrics(8), COTs, Essex Police Dept, and Spectrum Youth Services.

 

Shelter Committee Donations 2025-2026  The committee voted to donate $500 to Paul Mazza Jamaican Farm Workers upon learning that they are returning to a hurricane ravaged home. This leaves $4300 in budget.  Previous years’ donations have gone to Spectrum, COTS, WOOD4GOOD, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Green Mountain Habitat, Shelterbox, Red Cross, Homeshare and Josh Palotto.

 

Scholarship Committee: Patrick Hutton, Chair

The Rotary club of Essex offers 6 scholarships annually, currently each $2500, to qualified seniors of Essex High School, Essex Technical Center, and Mount Mansfield Union High School.   The Scholarship Committee includes Rotary Club members as well as volunteers from the community and they are responsible for choosing the awards.  Most of the work of the Committee takes place during the spring, with administrative support of the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC).  Candidates apply by Feb 1st and send their credentials to VSAC. VSAC does a preliminary screening and sends some 15 to 20 dossiers forward to the committee as semi-finalists.  During March and April Committee members read these files(statements by the candidates, letters of recommendation), and then meet to make final selections for the awards.  The Club sponsors a celebration luncheon in early June to honor award winners and their parents.

 

This committee has been the primary sponsor of the Pride Event in Essex and has contributed to VIEW, Juneteenth, and Macedonia aide thru Air National Guard (a medical mission).

 

Youth Committee:  Amy Jackman, Chair

Mission statement: Connecting and Supporting the Youth in our communities with opportunities for service while empowering them to get involved to enhance youth-adult partnerships, connections to the community and Service Above Self.

 

Budget: $5000

 

 

HOCKEY committee: Tim Carpenter, Chair

This committee works to secure funding by hosting the High School Senior all star hockey game.  The 41st Hockey Classic will take place at the Essex High School rink on March 21, 2026.  This event brings together coaches and seniors recommended by coaches from all over the state of Vermont. There are 2 teams for Senior men, and 2 for Senior women. 

 

GOLF committee: Chris Kasper, Chair

This committee works to secure funding by hosting a golf tournament on the second Wednesday in June.  For the past several years this tournament has been played at Links at Lang in Essex Junction.  We strive to host 30+ teams and celebrate with a BBQ dinner at the conclusion of the tournament. 

 

Rotary has an excellent location for a corn booth at the Fair.  We take turns shucking, boiling, buttering and serving corn for the entirety of fair week.   In exchange the location provides us with an excellent opportunity to advertise our club.