Our next speaker today is Claudia Marshall. She is originally from the Detroit area, she’s worked as a morning DJ, as a news anchor and an award-winning writer. She moved to Charlotte in 2013. Claudia is the publisher of the Charlotte News.
October 27, 2020
Bob Sanders, Carrie Fenn, Linda Barker, Terry Kennaugh, Dan York, Chris Davis, Rosalyn Graham, Jim Donovan, Jamie Milne, Charlie Kofman, Susan Grimes, John Pane, John Hammer, Denis Barton, Ric Flood, Jonathan Lowell, Adam Bartsch, France LeBlanc, Sam Feitelberg, Linda Gilbert, Bill Deming, Joan Lenes, Diana Vachon
Guests: Matt Zucker, Jamie Milne, Claudia
Chris rang the bell at 7:33
Nancy has opening words
Song of Hope by Thomas Hardy
O’ sweet Tomorrow!
After today there will away
This sense of sorrow.
Then let us borrow Hope, for a gleaming
Soon will be streaming.
Dimmed by no gray- No gray!
While the winds wing us
Sighs from The Gone,
Nearer to dawn Minute-beats bring us;
When there will sing us Larks of glory
Waiting our story Further anon- Anon!
Doff the black token Don the red shoon,
Right and retune Viol-strings broken;
Null the words spoken
In speeches of rueing.
The night cloud is hueling,
Tomorrow shines soon- Shine soon!
Jamie Milne, our District Governor is with us today. Jamie lives in Joe’s Pond and is the President of the St. Johnsbury Club.
Halloween parade was a great success. It was risky- the media was trolling us saying that it was dangerous to be doing it, but Richard was prepared with answers and information from the Dept. of Health and town officials. Dan York let us know that the Shelburne Selectboard noted what a great job the Rotary did with the parade at their last meeting.
We have a service opportunity to man water table at a race on November 8 at the Shelburne Field House. Nancy, Susan, France and Chris can volunteer.
Chris hasn’t heard anything about the bike rack.
Boxes have been placed at the Charlotte and Shelburne libraries and Shelburne Town Hall for the coat drive. Williston is going to participate for the Williston schools.
$1250 has come in for the car raffle, but only 4 people have turned in fundraising mailing lists. Target date for the mailing is the 15th of November. Anybody that would like their prior list to review please ask Ric for it.
Charlie is still raising money for Light the Night. Club members can send checks to his house.
Susan asked about the Rotary presence at the polls regarding the coat drive. John Hammer is putting out a Front Porch Forum push.
Jamie Milne is one of two guests today. He is the District Governor for our Club. Rotary International’s theme this year is Rotary Opens Opportunities, which is also our District theme. In 2023-24, Jennifer Jones from Canada will be the Rotary International President, Jennifer will be the first woman president of Rotary International. Assistant Governor Susan Cherry will be our 2023-24 District Governor.
November 7 is the date for Rotary’s grant training for Club’s that want to apply for a grant this year. November 14 is the District training- for presidents and presidents elect, and District conference planning. Jamie also mentioned that our club is the recipient of 2000 disposable masks thanks to a donation from a Connecticut Rotarian.
Jamie’s dad was a member of Rotary and was a District Governor as well. Jamie was president of the Barre club. Interest and time for Rotary waxes and wanes but Rotary is seeing a resurgence of interest right now.
Jamie is striving for Clubs to initiate change and rolled this idea out at PETS. He had no idea that change would be the rule of the day during these times. He’s curious what changes have we seen that have been good and what changes are we struggling with.
Jim noted there’s been more participation in the meetings via Zoom. Susan said she’s been really impressed with the ability of members to navigate Zoom, and the participation has been great. Linda G. said that service projects have become more meaningful as it gives us an opportunity to get together.
Jamie wants us to think about what our club will look like in a year. One of Jamie’s jobs as DG is to bring the message of Rotary international president to all the clubs. We’re here to serve our communities and one idea is to have more, smaller clubs. The Sherburne Club is considering becoming a “cause” club- choosing a cause and working specifically on that cause, such as clean water, breast cancer, etc.
Strategic planning is another initiative being pushed right now.
Membership in Rotary has stayed fairly flat- grow Rotary! When new members come on board, be sure they fit, and take care of them. What does a member want from a club? How can a club retain members and keep them engaged?
World Polio Day was October 24. Mike McGovern is the chair of the World Polio foundation. Mike will be speaking in November at one of the New Hampshire clubs- Jamie will send a link.
District conference is April 23,24,25 at the Burlington Hilton. In person seems unlikely.
Our next speaker today is Claudia Marshall. She is originally from the Detroit area, she’s worked as a morning DJ, as a news anchor and an award-winning writer. She moved to Charlotte in 2013. Claudia is the publisher of the Charlotte News.
She’s lived in Detroit, the west coast and NYC. She was a morning host on NYC’s NPR affiliate WFUV and won numerous awards. She had the opportunity to interview an amazing array of artists and musicians. Lou Reed was her most terrifying interview but by the end they were cuddling with his dog Lulu.
She has two grown daughters that live in New Jersey. She was approached by Vince Crockenberg about joining the board of the Charlotte News and subsequently the publisher. The paper was started by a teenage girl in Charlotte when she was trying to sell her pony. She teamed up with the church pastor and the Charlotte News was born.
The mission of the Charlotte News is to inform our readers about current events, issues and topics, and to serve as a forum for the free exchange of views of town residents and community volunteer organizations on matters related to Charlotte and the lives of its residents.
The Charlotte News is a hyper-local, nonprofit, community newspaper. It’s for Charlotters, by Charlotters with a three-person professional staff. The stories and commentaries come from 170 volunteers in town. It’s about where you can walk your dog without a leash, it’s about what businesses can operate in town. It’s a free paper that’s mailed to every address in Charlotte, and dropped off at several locations in the area. The paper will continue to be printed for the foreseeable future.
There’s a digital version and an email newsletter, which you can sign up for at charlottenews.org. The News won’t charge for subscriptions- advertising and donation dollars keep the paper free and in print.
Newspapers are going under- since 2004, over 2000 local papers have gone under. The News has 3 reporters and 2 editors who produce a bi-weekly paper. It’s a community service and advertisers and donors know that, and despite the pandemic, businesses continue to advertise and volunteer contributions have nearly doubled. Donations are keeping pace with last year and that’s without any in person conventional fundraising. Nobody’s getting rich and the News operates on a shoe string.
Unfortunately, this note taker has so sign off promptly at 8:30 am!
Have a great week,
Respectfully submitted,
Carrie Fenn