Rotarian Jim Donovan presenting a book to one of our speakers. Thank you Jim!
Today, at our Rotary meeting we discussed the need for a few more people to sign up for the Snack Shack, especially to grill on May 8th and May 21st. There are a few other open spots to be filled on different days. Sign up to volunteer.
As a reminder, please bring items for the local food shelves if you are able. Upcoming opportunities and activities include:
- April 29 - June 1 - Little League Snack Shack -
- May 8 - Board Meeting - 7:30am - Shelburne Town Offices
- May 8 - Rotary Membership Meeting - 4pm - Charlotte Senior Center
- May 31 - District Conference -
- June 21-25 - Rotary International Convention - Calgary, CA -
- June 27 - Changing of the Guard @ Jessica Brumsted's
- July 12 - Lake Monsters Game to benefit Polio Plus
- August 16 - Shelburne Farmers Market - Shelburne Day
Today, we welcomed Rotarian Jim Donovan as he delivered our second Member Spotlight Talk.
Jim grew up in Lombard, Illinois. He always loved drawing - he was designing houses in 8th grade and especially loved to draw plants and outside site plans. He decided to major in Landscape Architecture at the University of Detroit and then received a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois; by happenstance he ended up writing a thesis on strip mine restoration which took his career all the way to St. Louis, Montana and absolutely loved being there. Afterwards he began learning more and more about wetlands working to analyze the huge impact mismanagement can have on the climate so he began getting involved in environmental impact policy work, air quality analysis, site designs and planning reviews which took him to Rye, NY and then further north to Westport, VT. In his 40s, he and his wife, Patricia, and Patricia's daughter decided they wanted more land, wanted to see the mountains everyday and plant more and more trees... Jim and Patricia bought land in Charlotte, VT in 1993 and began to live out their dreams. Jim is also very close to his family; he has four siblings and many nephews and nieces that he works to stay in close contact with - every six months they travel to all be together for a long weekend or more. Jim is now a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and sits on their Board where he has a broad reach helping to plan and design all kinds of important projects throughout our world. Jim has also helped throughout his career to plan and design amazing bike and pedestrian areas for all of us to enjoy. Finally, Jim came up with a wonderful way to thank our speakers that not only thanked people for taking time out of their busy schedules to come and talk with the CSH Rotary Club but also met our service to others goal by choosing books to donate to the three libraries in our area in the name of the speaker, noted with a little name plate at the beginning of the book. We have donated over 100 books since January of 2021. Thank you Jim for this terrific idea!