Rotarian Carole Obuchowski, our Spotlight Speaker this month!
During today's rotary meeting Rotarian Ric Flood moved that we support the 2026 CSH Rotary Budget - it was unanimously approved! Dues notices will be going out soon so please if you are not planning to renew your membership by June 27th, we need to know.
Rotarians Jessica Brumsted and Bob Glover worked with Champlain Valley Union High School to arrange interviews for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference this past week. After interviews with Teigen Holmes, Anderson Howard, Jack Dore, Audrey Levin, and Willcox Elliott, Bob and Jessica were incredibly impressed with these four young people and had a hard time choosing three to send to the RYLA Camp later next month. Teigen, Anderson, Jack and Willcox will join Cassie York and Ava at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts for an action packed, interactive and introspective program to help students stretch and grow as our up and coming leaders!
We are working with the Charlotte Town to install a bike repair station at the library utilizing funds from last year's district grant.
Don't forget to sign up if you are planning to attend the Changing of the Guard at Jessica Brumsted's home on June 27th!
Upcoming opportunities and activities include:
- June 21-25 - Rotary International Convention - Calgary, Canada
- June 27 - Changing of the Guard @ Jessica Brumsted's, 228 Caspian Lane
- July 12 - Lake Monsters Game to benefit Polio Plus
- August 16 - Shelburne Farmers Market - Shelburne Day
Rotarian Carole Obuchowski was our Speaker in the new Member Spotlight Program.
Carole grew up in Queens, New York, she skipped 8th grade hence she was just 16 when she graduated from high school in a class of 20. She attended Syracuse School of Art and transferred to Cornell as a Design Major in the School of Home Economics. She then continued her education during the height of Vietnam at Boston University where they chose only 10 women because they were worried that Vietnam would take all the young men so they opened up the school to more women. Carole married Joe and moved to Vermont where she began teaching at the University of Vermont in the Math Department. In 1991, she took a job at Green Mountain Power and in the mid-90s decided to take a chance and work full-time while reading for the law 25 hours a week. A few years later, she completed her studies and sat for the bar - she passed and became a lawyer! Her and Joe started their own practice in town and have been incredibly successful.
Carole also spent some time this morning discussing the Federalist Papers, an area she studied and was always very interested in was Section #10. James Madison wrote about the importance of checks and balances (this work never made it into our constitution). Importantly, Madison wrote about the danger of factions in our country; he was worried that factions would become united by a common interest and fury would take place between two or three opposing groups where each side believed strongly in their own truth. Madison wrote getting rid of factions is close to impossible and will ruin the union of our states; he wrote about how people often convince themselves and others that what they believe is right for them, should be right for everyone and we all know that is just not the case. Madison also wrote that inequality of wealth will lead to factions, " we must instead spread out the Republic's power, representative democracy."
Very interesting discussion - everyone in the room seemed engaged in this important conversation with so much significance in today's world.