Greetings Rotarians!  We started things off by inducting our Club’s 60^th member! Laura Marthaler was made a member of our Club thus making our current roster the largest in Club history!  Please take the opportunity to introduce yourselves to Laura and make her feel welcome.  Dave Johnson followed the induction with a brief overview of the Rotary Foundation and why it is so important for members to continue contributions to it.  As many of you know, the Rotary Foundation is the financial arm of Rotary that finances many philanthropic endeavors across the globe, including the fight to eradicate polio. This was the perfect segue into the next part of the program. Our speaker was Dr. William Raszka from the University of Vermont College of Medicine.  Dr. Raszka provided a comprehensive analysis of both the history of the polio virus and the efforts at finding a cure. He also focused on how crippling and debilitating this virus can be.  Thanks to the efforts of organizations like Rotary International, Dr. Raszka reported that we appear to be winning the war to end polio as the virus appears to be contained to small areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  As close as we are to attaining this goal, we are not quite there yet.  By supporting the Rotary Foundation, we Rotarians can certainly do our part in making this dream a reality.

 

 

            Our Club’s Annual Meeting will be held on December 14^th. At that time we will be holding our annual election for board of director positions. We are pleased to report that we now have candidates for every open position! Members who are elected will begin their terms on July 1, 2017. 

 

 

 

            There are still open bell-ringing shifts on Saturday, December 10^th. You may sign up for shifts online at: https://admin.clubrunner.ca/1437/Volunteer/ManageVolunteerContacts?VolunteerSignUpId=a677549a-1165-4d4d-ac42-4619f47588e1

 

 

            The next opportunity to volunteer at the Heavenly Food Pantry will be on Thursday, December 15^th.  Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder if you would like to sign up for shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  December 7, 2016 – We will be hosting the annual Senior Luncheon at the Champlain Valley Exposition.  Please arrive at 11:00am to help stuff the goodie bags for the seniors.

 

 

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