Greetings fellow Rotarians! We started our meeting by inducting Ted Seissen as the newest member of our Club.  If you haven’t done so already, please take the opportunity to introduce yourselves to Ted and make him feel welcome.  Our speaker today was State of Vermont Attorney General and presumptive gubernatorial candidate, T.J. Donovan.  Mr. Donovan shared his thoughts on the underlying problems that face Vermont today.  He opined that our state has reached a cross-road and that Vermonters need to decide whether we are going to maintain the status quo, or if we are going to take measures to reverse some alarming trends. In his view, we are seeing a mass exodus of younger people and that Vermont has developed a reputation for having an unfriendly business climate. Mr. Donovan suggested that, in addition to investing in our physical and communication infrastructure, we as Vermonters need to do more to foster the growth of viable businesses in our state.  He believes that creating more incentives for young Vermonters to attend college in this state and stay here after graduation are keys to reversing the trend of an aging population.In terms of making Vermont a better place to do business, he indicated that we should emulate the formula that was used in Ireland to completely revitalize its economy.  Following his talk, Mr. Donovan answered several questions from those in attendance.

 

 

            The months of waiting have now turned into weeks as we get closer to the Rotary All-Star Hockey Classic!  The event is scheduled for Saturday, March 23^rd with the women’s game starting at 4:00pm and the men’s game starting shortly after the completion of the women’s event.  This is our Club’s second largest fundraiser, so we will need the help of many of our members on gameday in order to make sure it is a success! Presently, a sign-up sheet is being circulated for volunteers. If you aren’t able to help out on game day, you can still contribute by signing up to provide baked goods to sell at the event’s concession stand.  Not only does this event raise a significant amount of money for our Club’s charities, but it gives us the opportunity to recognize several high school seniors for their accomplishments.  If you have any questions about this event, or if you would like to help out, please contact Jeff Cabanaw at tarrisonus@comcast.net

            We are looking for volunteers to help staff the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf on the following dates: Thursday, February 28^th (3:30pm); Monday, March 11^th (3:30pm); and Thursday, March 28^th (3:30pm). Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder at sharon.dettenrieder@gmail.com if you are able to fill any of these shifts.

 

Upcoming Meeting Schedule:  Wednesday, February 27, 2019 – FREE BEER will not be served at this meeting. But now that we have your attention, please note that we will be holding our monthly committee meetings.

 

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 follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EssexVermontRotary , on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/essexvermontrotary/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/essex_rotary

 

 

       Yours in Rotary,

 

Jason Ruwet