Newsletter for the Meeting of January 29, 2014
January 29, 2014 Newsletter
By John Hammer
Charlotte Shelburne Rotary
Wednesday, January 29, 2014, 7:15 a.m.
Trinity Episcopal Church Community Room
Welcome
Past-President Kris Engstrom, standing in for President Dave who is in Honduras, opened the meeting with the Pledge and gave the invocation.
Guests: David Gladstone, Rotarian from Burlington Club
Camilla Rockwell – Speaker
Lil Woof Marcotte – Miniature mastiff of Gary Marcotte
Upcoming:
February 6 – Salvation Farms
Kris Engstrom will run the February 5th meeting
February 12 – Committee Meetings
Adam Bartsch will run meetings on February 12 and 19
March 22-23 – Shelburne Farms Maple Fest
April – Volunteer projects at Shelburne Nature Path, Charlotte Demeter Park and Hinesburg (TBD)
April 25-27 – 7850 District Conference, Hilton Hotel, Burlington
District 7850 Calendar: Hot Link http://www.clubrunner.ca/Portal/Events/EventsCalendar.aspx?accountid=50051
Quote of the Day - “As you get older you tend to become invisible.” Said by Camilla Rockwell, today’s speaker when she opened her presentation on a festival on aging.
Announcements
District Conference
Elaine Dates has sold the first sponsorship. Pat Sokolowski asked if anyone had ideas for a good service project at the District Conference. It should take no longer than an hour and a half.
Jim Spad’s Humor
Ric Flood reported that he had a pre-groan-cleared joke today. It seems that a wife came home late one night and crept up to her bedroom. Upon opening the door she espied four feet sticking out from under the covers. There was obviously something exciting going on under there. She was shocked and grabbed a baseball bat that she kept near the bed and preceded to whack the two shapes under the covers until there was no more noise. Then turning she headed quickly down to the kitchen for a drink so she could catch her wits. She opened the door to the kitchen and found her husband sitting at the kitchen table. He turned to her and said, “Hi darling, your parents came this evening for a visit and I said they could stay in our bedroom. Have you had a chance to say hello?”
Sergeant at Arms – Having no other excuse for fining, Richard, in the spirit of the humpety-rumpety nature of the joke, fined anyone who has had their ”bell rung at any time during the week.” There were lots of bells ringing.
Ric Flood – Generally happy.
Deb Hanley – Happy to be here, it’s been a while.
Alan Hathaway – His wife reminded him today that it was their 32nd anniversary.
Denny Bowen – Going off for a week of cross-country skiing at Trapp Lodge next week.
Russ Blodgett – Happy for Michael Clapp’s one month of not having had a cigarette.
Trafton Crandall – Something to do with his gluteus maximus.* It seems he had an unintended collision with the ice.
John Dupee – Happy Birthday fine for Sam Feitelberg who is not here having suffered a fall on the ice last week.
Rosalyn Graham – The Shelburne Farms Winter Fest was a rousing success last weekend. The weather cooperated well for a change.
Linda Schiavonne – For a first class hockey player at the table.
Gary Marcotte – Having his Mastiff with him.
Pat Sokolowski – Heading to Florida next week.
Howard Seaver – Is hoping to learn how to ring his bell.
Eric Hanley – Waiting for Spring – he’s tired of winter.
The Early Table pooled and had the winning ticket. They drew the Ace of Spades. Roll over the pot of $368.
Speaker – Camilla Rockwell speaking on “The Art and Part of Aging”.
Camilla was Ken Burns’ director for ten years and worked as a producer on many of the series that have been seen on PBS. She has always been interested in life and when she turned 60, she began to wonder why there was so much fear and anguish associated with aging. When faced with such questions, such as in her own life with the death of her father, she confronts the issue head on. It was for this reason that she is now a hospice volunteer and founded the Noyana Singers who sing for hospice patients.
She came up with series of questions that ask, What if:
· We dare to talk about aging.
· Approach aging with curiosity instead of fear.
· We look at getting older as a time of growth.
· We find a way to celebrate our elders.
“As you get older you tend to become invisible.” Because of this, she has come up with a festival for aging entitled Full Circle, The Art and Heart of Aging. It is the goal of the festival to bring together all kinds of artists to address the question on how to approach aging from all areas of interest. It is a First Night style of affair with venues all around town on multiple days. In this case it will start with the keynote talk by the famous Palestinian poet and author Naomi Shihab Nye. The festival continues through Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13. Included in the program will be performances, workshops, films, activities and art exhibits that “inspire us to ask questions, share experiences and gain new insights.” There will be a film festival with the title on how to Redefine Aging. Many of the art exhibits will begin early in April and last throughout the month.
Camilla finished by saying that the raison d’etre for her starting this festival was that she didn’t like the messages our culture was giving her (with respect to aging). This will be an experiment to see if she can make a difference. There is potential for this idea to spread to other cities if it’s successful here.
More information can be found on their website: www.fullcirclefestival.com or on Facebook at Fullcirclevermont.
Word of the Day: Gluteus Maximus, n. - The gluteal muscles are a group of four muscles. Three of these muscles make up the buttocks: the gluteus maximus muscle, gluteus medius muscle and gluteus minimus muscle. The fourth and smallest of the muscles is the tensor fasciae latae muscle, which is located anterior and lateral to the rest. Too bad Sam Feitelberg wasn’t here to elaborate.
See Below for District Conference Sponsorship Form.
