Greetings fellow Rotarians!  Our Club keeps growing as we inducted yet another new member into our Club at today’s meeting.  Please take the opportunity to welcome Melinda Monroe as our Club’s newest member!  Following Melinda’s induction, Dave Johnson recognized Kristin Winer as a Paul Harris Plus One recipient. Kristin attained this status by donating $2,000.00 to the Rotary Foundation since her time as a member.  Thanks to the generosity of members like Kristin, the Rotary Foundation continues to fund the philanthropic works of Rotary worldwide.  Our speakers today were Sabra and Lea Davison.  These two sisters were born and raised in Jericho and became world-class athletes.  Lea is a professional mountain bike racer who has competed in the last two Summer Olympics and plans to compete in the 2020 games as well. After an injury forced her to discontinue her mountain biking career, Sabra moved on to competitive Nordic skiing.  In an effort to give back to the community, the two sisters formed “Little Bellas”. Sabra explained that this organization is designed for girls to develop an interest in the sport of mountain biking. More importantly, however, the curriculum strives to teach its participants the values of self-esteem and inclusiveness.  Little Bellas was started in 2007 and now boasts charters in 12 different states across the country.  In the past ten years, 2,000 girls have participated in this program. Lea finished the presentation by sharing her experiences in the Olympics and in recent global competitions.  Please visit  http://littlebellas.com/about-little-bellas/ for more information about this organization.

 

 

 

            Although the weather might make you feel like it is time to hit the golf links, the Vermont Rotary All-Star Hockey Classic is just around the corner! This year’s event will feature both a women’s game and a men’s game that will be held on Saturday, March 25^th at the Essex Skating Facility. Not only is this our Club’s second largest fundraiser, but it is a great opportunity for several of the best high school hockey players in Vermont to showcase their skills in one last game. In addition to being attended by hundreds of people from across Vermont, the event is also covered in just about every weekly and daily newspaper in the state, so our Club also gets a great deal of publicity from these games. In addition to sponsors, we will need the help of several Rotarians on game day.  Please contact Jeff Cabanaw with any questions about the event itself, or if you are interested in serving on the Hockey Committee.

 

 

            The next opportunities to volunteer at the Heavenly Food Pantry will be on January 26^th, February 23^rd and March 23rd.  Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder if you would like to sign up for shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  January 25, 2017 – Next week we will be holding committee meetings and hearing classification talks from two of our newer members.

 

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