Rotary Club of Needham

September 8, 2009

Newsletter

Ryan led us in the pledge of allegiance, with George leading us in "Oh Beautiful." and  Darrell led the group in prayer.

GUESTS: Charlie Nelson, prospective member and guest of Erica; Ron from Concord Rotary, and his fellow employee Matt Clayson from Needham.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Ron from Concord talked up their club's Golf Tournament on Sept. 22^nd.
• Harvest Fair is October 3.  Opportunity to promote the Rotary pancake breakfast. 
• Pancake Breakfast is October 17 (we have the permit in hand).  Are looking for sponsors, with their ad to appear on the placemats used at the breakfast.
• Wingate is donating syrup for the event! Thanks Debbie
• The Sheraton is donating the pancake batter. Thank you Sheraton!
• Needham Cares BBQ is September 16
• December 20, Rotary to help with the Needham Habitat House (bring your gloves and long-underwear for the roof work)
• Anyone found the CHARTER???
• Bob Welling has offered again to prepare care packages for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Let him know if you have friends or relatives serving, and he will take care of the rest.
• Special congratulations to Bob Welling for receiving his 3rd Paul Harris Fellowship pin!!!!!!!
• Lois Sockol mentioned the Needham Public Library Foundation 'Black White and Read all over Gala' to be held on October 17^th. See www.lflonline.org for details.
• Gift of Life Update: 2 young boys from Kosov arrived on Sunday for heart surgery locally. One 4 year old boy is being hosted by Natick rotary, and the other 7 year old boy is being hosted by Waltham Rotary.
• BID-Needham Gala on November 6. Louise and Kathy looking for donation gifts. They will also have an open house the day of the Harvest Fair, with buses to the Hospital from the Town Green.
• Dan Tibma is trying to book folks to work on December 20 with our Habitat for Humanity home building project.

BIRTHDAYS:

HAPPY $$$: Jerry Goodman $ 5 for his upcoming trip to Aruba for 2 weeks; Ken Davis $1 for dropping Adam off at Brown as a freshman; Lois Sockol $1 for getting a twitter from her granddaughter overseas.

50/50 DRAWING: Bob Cocks had winning ticket 749, but came in last when drawing for the King of Diamonds. Better luck next time Bob.

HUMOR: Subject: Irish Ghost Story....reported to be true.
>
>>  A true heartwarming story..
>>
>> Thisstory happeneda while ago in Dublin , and even though it sounds
>> like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's true!!!!!
>>
>> John Bradford, a DublinUniversity student, was on theside of the
>> road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midstof a big storm.
>> The night was rolling on and no car went by.
>> The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet
>> ahead of him.
>> Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and
>> stopped.
>> John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about
>> it, got intothe car and closed the door... only to realize there
>> was nobody behindthe wheel and the engine wasn't on.
>> The car started moving slowly.
>> John looked at the road ahead and saw a curveapproaching.
>> Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life.
>> Then, just beforethe car hit the curve, a hand appeared out of no where
>> through thewindow and turned the wheel. John, paralyzed with
>> terror, watchedasthe hand came through the window, but never touched or
>> harmed him.
>>
>> Shortly thereafter John saw the lights of a pub appear
>> down the road,so, gathering strength; he jumped out of the car and
>> ran to it.  
>> Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started
>> telling everybodyabout the horrible experience he had just had.
>>  
>> A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he
>> was cryingand....wasn't drunk.
>>
>> Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked
>> in from thedark and stormy night.
>> They, like John, were also soaked and out of breath.
>> Looking around,and seeingJohn Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said
>> to the other....
>>
>>> - 'Look Paddy.....there's that idiot
>> that got in the car whilewe were pushing it!!!!

SPEAKER: Jack Dube of the Wachusett Area Rotary Club was our guest speaker. This club was founded in 1984 and consists of members from 13 communities. They are one of four clubs in New England with 100% participation with all club members being Paul Harris fellows. (Can we match or exceed this ???)

Jack passed out samples of 2 bourbons, and told how Bourbon is one of America's favorite drinks. He told how the Colonists wanted to tax Bourbon by a factor of 8. They agreed to move most of the distilleries to Bourbon County Kentucky, where the tax was not charged. He told how 10 of the 3200 distilleries were allowed to stay open to produce Bourbon for medicinal purposes during prohibition.

I am sure most Rotarians enjoyed this presentation.

Sept. 15-Brian Connell, TFA International

Sept. 22-Denise Garlick, NeedhamSeniorCenter Exploratory Committee

Sept. 29-Jennifer Lynch, Independent Blessings

Oct 13-Bill Burke, Headmaster, St. Sebastian's School

Oct 20-Dr. Peter Simulowitz, BID Needham: "Healthcare Legisslation"

Oct. 27-Mike Reilly, NECN and Brockton Rox Announcer