JANUARY 15, 2020

Meeting Recap

Greetings fellow Rotarians! We started our meeting by recognizing three members for their contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Andy Love was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow for contributing $1,000.00 to the Foundation. Bob McEwing and Polly McEwing were each recognized as Paul Harris Plus Three Fellows for their contributions of $4,000.00 to the Foundation over the years. Thank you to Andy, Bob and Polly for your generous support of the Foundation! Our speaker today was Chef Josef Harrewen, owner of Chef’s Corner and Bakery. Josef regaled us with an entertaining and inspiring account of his life experiences. Josef was born in Antwerp, Belgium and moved with his family to South Africa when he was 4 years old. Upon realizing that he wanted to be a chef, he traveled back to Belgium to attend culinary school. After completing his education, he began an adventure that would take him across the continent of Africa, over the ocean to Montreal, Edmonton, Houston and Chicago with returns to South Africa in between. Josef finally settled with his family in Essex after taking a job teaching at the New England Culinary Institute (NECI). Following his time at NECI, he opened Chef’s Corner which is still a thriving restaurant in Williston to this day.

Rotary Hockey Classic

Preparations are well under way for the annual Rotary All-Star Hockey Classic. Each year our Club puts on two All-Star Hockey games (a men’s game and a women’s game) which feature the best high school senior hockey players in the state. In addition to being a great showcase for these exceptional young athletes, this event is also our Club’s second largest fundraiser. With that in mind, this event needs all of the support it can get. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, March 21st at the Essex Skating Facility. Stay tuned for announcements about volunteer spots and ways you can help out.

Service Above Self Dinner

Our annual Service Above Self Dinner is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, February 12th at The Essex. Each year our Club honors an individual in the community who best exemplifies our motto of, “Service Above Self”. We are pleased to announce that Val Gabert, Coordinator of the Heavenly Food Pantry will be honored as this year’s recipient. In addition to honoring Val, we will be recognizing several first responders who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in serving the community. We are hoping to have as many Rotarians as possible attend what should be a very memorable and special event. Those planning on attending are asked to sign up and pay in advance on our website (a link will appear there shortly).

Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf

We are looking for volunteers to help staff the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf on the following dates; Thursday, January 23rd (3:30pm); Monday, February 10th (5:15pm) and Thursday, February 27th (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, January 22, 2020 – We will be holding our first committee meetings of the Rotary year. This is an important meeting as committees will determine the causes we want to support this year.

For the complete list of upcoming speakers and information about the Club, please go to our website at rotaryclubofessex.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