Springfield Rotarian Dene Kimball will auction one of his custom walking sticks on Friday, February 26th, 2016, to benefit the Club's Service Fund. Dene's hand-crafted walking stick are very personal, highlighting the family name, accomplishments and characteristics of the recipient. The process will require an interview to determine what you would like on the stick. Bidding begins at $60 and will be accepted in personal only at our February meetings.
If you were with us for this event last year, you'll want to reserve a seat early for this year's joint St. Patrick's Rotary Lunch, a joint meeting with our friends in the West Springfield Club. It will once again be held at the Storrowton Carriage House, but this year takes place Tuesday March 15, 2016 AT NOON (a time change from last year's evening version). The St. Patrick's themed buffet lunch is just $12.00. This is a joint Rotary Club Meeting and will take the place of our regular Friday noon meeting for that week. The Carriage House is on the Grounds of the Big E, 1305 Memorial Avenue, West Springfield, MA 01089. The event will begin promptly at 12:15. It is suggested that you arrive by 12:00 in order to check in and find a seat. RSVP BEFORE March 1, 2016 to: stella_kalamarakis@comcast.net.
In the small commune of Phoum Thom, 100% of the people living there work in agriculture, none has clean water nor sanitation and 80% are filled with disease from drinking from their polluted river---their only source of water. They have no clean water, no electricity, and no sanitation. Many of the homes are made from broad banana leaves. Dug wells there are filled with arsenic.
The Springfield Rotary Club, recognizing the need for clean water for the 18,000 families in this remote village, has provided more than 2,000 water filters for families working through Dr. Maryanne Herron, one of our members who has had an inspiring personal impact in this part of the world. Those families using the water filters, brought there personally by Maryanne, are showing a remarkable change in their health and life style and hope for the future.
In an effort to raise additional funds for water filters, the Springfield Rotary Club, in partnership with the Cambodian Medical Clinic Foundation is inviting Rotarians and their guests to attend the 4th annual Wine and Beer Tasting event on Friday, April 15th, 2016 at the Springfield Country Club in West Springfield. The time of the event is 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. The cost of the event is $35 for each Rotarian and each guest which includes wine & beer, hot Hors d’oeuvres, a pasta station, door prizes, also raffle items and games to raise funds for the clinic. One hundred percent of all funds raised goes to the clinic also the water filter program. Last year the Rotary Club raised enough money to purchase 200 water filters at this event. Each water filter costs just $20. Come, invite your friends for an evening of great food, fun and fellowship. Our goal is to purchase, once again, 200 more water filters. That is a little over 100 Rotarians and guests attending this enjoyable and purpose-driven event.
Waleska Lugo-DeJesús, Director of the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley will address the Springfield Rotary Club's luncheon meeting on Friday, February 19th. Her topic will be “Who they are, what they do and an invitation to join the community dialogue.”
The Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley is a community-based effort that envisions a racism free Pioneer Valley. HRIPV has convened business, non-profit and philanthropic leadership in engaging the community in a process to recognize the impact of racism in our region and empower individuals to take action to eradicate it.
President's Message
Greetings Fellow Rotarians,
We had an excellent Board of Directors meeting this Wednesday morning. On the operations front, we will be having our Birthday table for both February and March on March 4th. We also will be engaging the Roteract Club to help with our weekly bulletin and website updates.
Alicia was been continuing to engage the Springfield Public Schools. We will be working with middle school students participating in elective focusing on careers. We will visit the school and students will interview Rotarians to learn about their careers. The students will then take the information from each of us about a possible career path and prepare a report. We hope to have some students visit a Rotary Club meeting to share their potential career path.
Thank you to our Board of Directors who made telephone calls to member at this morning’s meeting to our Club members about the St. Patrick’s Day lunch with the West Springfield Rotary on March 15th, 2016. We are all excited and I’ve been hunting for my Kelly green pants! Fines will be levied for no green attire. Please sign up on the following link: http://portal.clubrunner.ca/6035.
Thank you for your commitment for your Service Above of Self
