Every year since 1997 on Super Bowl Sunday, the Hollis Brookline Rotary
Club, supported by its Partners and other sponsors, has laid on one of
the best brunch deals available anywhere! For the bargain pre-sale
price this year of only $16 ($20 at the door; children under 12 free),
40 or so Rotarians, assisted by a platoon of Hollis Brookline High
School Interact Club members, present a bountiful buffet featuring
eggs, bacon, a steamer roast, grits, pancakes . . . and more, including
assorted deserts and a bottomless supply of coffee.
But there's more available than just an outstanding meal! Read on....
More...
Club Adds Financial Transaction Services to Web Site
Online SBB Tickets Just the First Step
Readers will notice in the Super Bowl Brunch article on this page that it's now possible to order tickets online for this event, a service that will greatly increase the club's effectiveness in all its fund raising and operational activities. The Super Bowl Brunch is just the first step in enabling online transactions of all kinds - from the payment of dues to making charitable contributions, purchasing tickets, paying for club excursions, and more - all in the comfort of one's own chosen Web browser.
Financial services are provided through PayPal, a well-respected online
merchant service that handles major credit cards as well as its own secure transactions.
Hopes are high for this new capability and many thanks must be extended to Dick Mills, Julie Rowland, and John
Leslie for their efforts and enthusiasm in getting this "game changing"
service up and running!
Rotary Foundation Establishes Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund
The Rotary Foundation has established the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund for U.S. Rotarians who want to donate toward recovery efforts after a powerful earthquake rocked Haiti on 12 January.
The
Haitian Red Cross is estimating that more than 50,000 people are dead
and millions more injured after the quake, the impoverished nation's
strongest in 200 years, crumbled government buildings, hospitals,
schools, and shantytowns. Most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is in
ruins.
District Governor Mike Swinford (left) asks that you note in your calendar the dates of our upcoming Annual 7870 District
Conference in Burlington, VT. The dates are set for May 14, 15, and 16,
2010. An exciting event is planned. Visit the District 7870 web site for details and updates as they're available.
2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada, 20-23 June
Sophisticated
yet friendly, Montréal offers an ideal setting for Rotarians to gather
at the 2010 RI Convention. More than 80 nationalities and ethnic groups
reside in Montréal. In addition, it is also the largest francophone
city outside of Paris, making it the most bilingual metropolis in North
America. Register early now for "An International Experience" and to
receive the best rates and accommodations.
To go to the convention and experience the fellowship and Rotary at an international level
Once again this year, members, their significant others, and HB Rotary Club partners will gather at the Mile Away Restaurant, a local Milford favorite, for the club's year-end holiday party. If the past is anything to go by it will be a night of good food, good fun, fellowship and cheer.
The club takes this opportunity to honor the partners who have made possible so much of the charitable work that it does over the year (see related story on record annual giving last year). We raise a glass to all our partners and look forward to joining with them again in making 2010 a jolly-good success.
With the generous help of our partners, members, and contributors
we provided $32,024 in funding to over 30 individuals and organizations,
positively impacting hundreds of people locally and internationally.
The following is a list of the organizations the Hollis Brookline Rotary Club contributed to last year. More...
Introducing the Geocaching Community to Rotary
"Hide and Seek" Rotary International Style
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (usually a Tupperware or ammo box) containing a logbook. Larger containers can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value. Geocaching is most often described as a "game of high-tech hide and seek", sharing many aspects with orienteering, treasure-hunting, and way marking.
More...
As a bagpiper, I have played many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back country.
But as I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost. Being a typical man I didn't stop for directions and, as a result, finally arrived an hour late. I saw that the funeral director had already been gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew and they were eating lunch.
I felt badly about being late and apologized to the men. I went to the graveside and looked down and saw that the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and gathered around while I played my heart out for this poor man with no family or friends. I played like I've never played before.
And, as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.
When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full. As I was opening my car door, I heard one of the workers say, More...