Greetings fellow Rotarians! Today we welcomed the returns of three of our members who have been absent for a while.  Club Secretary, Jean Ashe, Ray Cota and Mark Mendes were all able to join us today.  We look forward to frequently seeing each of them again at future meetings!  Our speaker today was Jeb Spaulding, Chancellor of the Vermont state college system.  Mr. Spaulding currently oversees our state-funded post-secondary institutions which include Community College of Vermont; Lyndon State; Johnson State; Vermont Technical College; and the newly renamed Castleton University.  Mr. Spaulding clarified that the University of Vermont is a separate entity that is not considered part of the “state college” system.  He went on to explain that in spite of the fact that these state colleges confer more degrees to Vermonters than any of the other schools in the state, funding for this system has remained stagnant since 2008. His mission is to not only generate more financial support for these institutions, but to drum up more publicity for these schools so that more Vermonters will realize that they have opportunities to get a quality post-secondary education in their own backyards at a relatively affordable price.  Following his talk, Mr. Spaulding fielded several very good questions from our members.

 

 

            Our Club is currently accepting nominations for the annual “Service Above Self Award” that will be presented at our upcoming Service Above Self Dinner in February. Rotarians are encouraged to nominate individuals who best exemplify our motto of “service above self” in their daily lives as candidates for this award.  The selected individual will also be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow with a $1,000.00 donation to the Rotary Foundation being made by our Club in his or her name.  Please submit your nominations to Dave Johnson at mdjkiln@juno.com before November 4, 2015. 

 

 

            The next opportunity to volunteer at the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf is Thursday, October 22nd.  Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder if you would like to volunteer for this shift or at future shifts. There will also be an opportunity for Rotarians to pick apples that will be donated to the Food Shelf.  The apple picking will take place at Chapin Orchards on Wednesday, October 21st immediately after our Rotary meeting.  We are also looking for banana boxes in which to store the apples for delivery to the Food Shelf the next day.  Please contact Phil Murdock with any questions about this event.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  Wednesday, October 21, 2015 – Our speaker will be District 7850 Governor, Louisa Tripp.

 

For the complete list of upcoming speakers and information about the Club, please go to our website at www.essexrotary.org   Be sure to also visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EssexVermontRotary

 

       Yours in Rotary,

 

Jason Ruwet