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Making a Difference in Our Community & the World

Shrewsbury

Service Above Self

We meet Mondays at 12:15 PM
Post Office Pub
1 Ray Street
North Grafton, MA  01536
United States
Email:
judyshrewsburyrotary@gmail.com
VenueMap
Venue Map
 
Important Upcoming Events
3rd Annual Food & Brew Fest - on June 24th in the parking lot of Avidia Bank.  All proceeds benefit local community programs.  For more information and to purchase tickets go to Shrewsbury Food & Brew Fest.  
 
No Meeting Notice
There will be no meeting on holidays or when schools are closed due to inclement weather.  Also, we may not meet on a Monday immediately following a club event such as Recycle Day or Community Reading Day.  Please check the Club Calendar or contact Judy Merriman at judyshrewsburyrotary@gmail.com for more information. 
 
Rotary International News
 
Club Executives & Directors
President
Don Harbert
President 2019-2020 (PE)
Stephanie Luz
President 2020-2021 (VP)
Owen Russell
Past President
Kathy McSweeney
Secretary
Cliff Gerber
Treasurer
Matt Armenti
Sgt. at Arms
Art Dobson
Board Member
Judy Merriman
Board Member
Julieann Parent
Board Member
Lorraine Jones
Board Member
Craig Barry
SERVICE Chair
Don Harbert
Membership Chair
Judy Merriman
Foundation Chair
Julieann Parent
Public Image Chair
Julieann Parent
YOUTH Chair
Melanie Petrucci
Literacy Chair
Owen Russell
Visioning Champion
Lorraine Jones
Bulletin Chair
Cliff Gerber
Website Administrator
Moira Miller
Speaker Chair
Barbara Heisler
RYLA
Melanie Petrucci
Youth Chair
Melanie Petrucci
 
 
 
Welcome to the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury
Are you an established professional who wants to make positive changes in your community and the world? Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship. Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group who share your drive to give back.
 
Contact Us
 
Club Stories
New Officer Installation
The club installation of new officers was held on Monday, June 18th.  Congratulations to Don Harbert on his Installation as Club President for 2018-19!  A big Thank You and well wishes to outgoing President Kathy McSweeney!  See more photos at photoalbums/new-officer-installation (photo credit: Rotary District 7910). 
 
Welcome to Another Member!
Welcome to our newest member, Rob Guinard, Director of Community Relations for Benchmark Senior Living at Shrewsbury Crossings!  Rob was inducted by Shrewsbury Club President, Kathy McSweeney at the May 7th meeting. Congratulations to Rob for joining Rotary to get involved and make a difference. 
Mindy McKenzie Receives Paul Harris
Mindy McKenzie (left) is awarded the distinguished Paul Harris Award by Club President Kathy McSweeney for her contributions to the Rotary Club Foundation.
Welcome New Members!
Four new members were installed at the club meeting on April 30, 2018. Welcome to Emily Chiarelli of Benchmark Senior Living, Michael Richard of United Bank, Amber Polisher and Colleen Lanza of Grafton Jobs Corps. 
Installation Set for June 18
The Installation of Don Harbert as the club’s 2018-2019 president and the other officers of the club for the coming year is scheduled for June 18th. The installation will be held at the regular club meeting time of 12:15 p.m. and at our regular venue, The Post Office Pub.
 
The Guest Speaker will be Shrewsbury Town Manager, Kevin Mizikar. Kevin will offer his reflections on his first year as Town Manager and where he sees the club going in the next few years. 
 
Some Recent Speakers
Big Brothers Big Sisters - Our former member and past president, Jeff Chin, now Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters spoke to the club on February 5, along with his assistant, Colleen Shroth.
 
Among the things that Jeff shared was that “Bigs”, as he refers to his agency, has two basic programs: 1) Site Based programs that are based in a school, club or company, and 2) Community Based programs that are more flexible and focus on single pairings of Bigs with their “Littles.”
 
He noted that many of the Littles come from single parent families, headed by a mother (52%) and 18% have incarcerated parents. Positive roll models are crucial. There is a crying need for Bigs with nearly 50 children presently on a waiting list.
 
SHS Athletic Field Refurbishment - Michelle Biscotti and Kathleen Keohane addressed the club on February 12th to talk about the need for refurbishing the athletic field at Shrewsbury High School. The problem with the current field is that grass does not offer enough playing time in New England. In order for the field to be useable for full seasons, artificial turf is required. Additionally, artificial turn would extend the use of the field beyond football. It would also make it possible to play games in less than ideal weather conditions.
 
The project to install and renovate the field is $2.1 million. Of that sum, $1.8 million needs to be raised. Currently fundraising is at $1.3 million.
 
Rotary Leadership Institute - Owen Russell, club Vice-President, recently attended the Rotary Leadership Institute. Like all who have attended the institute before him, Owen gave a glowing report of this experience. He noted that RLI is not mandatory, as PETS is, but is recognized as valuable by Rotary International.
 
Owen attended the first of the three part program. It began with breakfast on a Saturday and ran until 3:30 p.m. Subjects covered in part one include: insight into leadership qualities, how individual Rotarians fit into the “world of Rotary,” discussion of ethics of Rotary and vocational service, information on the structure of the Foundation, engaging and mentoring members, and creating service projects.

 
Support the Rotary Foundation
Our annual goal to support the Foundation of Rotary International needs to be met by the end of June. The best, simplest and most direct way to do that is to go online and make your contribution at <my rotary.org>. You may also contribute by giving a check to our club secretary, Cliff Gerber. If you give by check, make certain that the check is made payable to “The Rotary Foundation.”
 
The Shrewsbury club’s goal for this year is to average a $125 gift per member. We regularly exceed our goal and we are counting on all of our members to help us maintain our excellent record.
 
Donations to the Foundation support projects at home through District Grants and Global Grants, fight cancer, provide healthcare in places of need, provide clean water among a variety of other charitable causes. Most prominent of all is Rotary’s effective crusade to eradicate polio.
 
The Rotary Foundation is highly rated by Charity Watch and was cited by CNN as the most effective global charity.
 
Watch for Service Project Survey
Darlene Trainor of the District 7910 Service Committee spoke to the club about planning hands-on service projects. The resultant discussion produced a healthy list of potential new projects for the club, most of them of significant value to the community and yet easily accomplished.
 
A Survey Monkey poll is being created in order to help the club sort through the list of potential projects and select the ones that will be pursued at this time. Members will receive the poll in 2 parts (the list of potentials is too long for a single Survey Monkey poll!). When you receive the invitations to take part in the poll, you are asked to respond to them as quickly as possible.
No Meeting Monday, March 26th.
There will be no Lunch Meeting on Monday, March 26, 2018 as many of our members will be attending the District 7920 "Service Hero" dinner on Monday Evening.  Congratulations to long time Shrewsbury Rotarian Art Dobson who will be honored as a Rotary Service Hero at this District Event!
 
 
Welcome New Club Members
On January 8th, the club was please to welcome new members. Pictured here from left to right are Lynn Lynch, Christine Mowry, Missy Hollenback and Club President, Kathy McSweeney. Christine is the new Executive Director of Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services, and Lyn is the Business Manager of SYFS. Together, they replace the memberships vacated in the Corporate Membership of SYFS. Missy is a well-known community activist and has been the guiding light behind the successful Shrewsbury Farmer's Market, along with a variety of other community projects.
 
We are excited to have Lynn, Christine and Missy among our members!
2018 ACADEMIC AND TRADE SCHOLARSHIPS
Posted on Jan 12, 2018

The Rotary Club of Shrewsbury will be awarding two or more $2,000 scholarships to high school seniors who are planning to attend college in the fall of 2018. These scholarships are paid directly to the student recipient upon their successful matriculation to college and may be used for any educational expense that the recipient chooses (examples: tuition, room and board, books, travel to and from school). 

The Rotary Club of Shrewsbury will also be awarding two or more $500 to $1000 scholarships to high school seniors who will be pursuing a certificate program in their career or trade or immediately entering their career or trade following high school graduation.  Awards can be used toward a certificate program or to purchase tools for one’s chosen trade and are paid directly to the recipient to reimburse the purchase of tools or cost of certificate program.

Any high school senior who lives in Shrewsbury or attends high school in Shrewsbury is eligible to receive a Rotary Club of Shrewsbury scholarship. Applicants should be aware that the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury is an affiliated club of Rotary International, a world-wide service organization. In keeping with Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self,” an applicant’s record of involvement in service organizations and projects is given very high consideration in the awarding of the scholarships. Academic achievement and need are also considered.

Applicants will be expected to complete an application, provide one letter of recommendation, provide a transcript from your school’s guidance office as well as provide personal contact information.  All applications must be received by March 23, 2018.  To obtain a scholarship application, please contact Donald Harbert by emailing don.harbert@gmail.com.  Applications are also available from the guidance offices at Shrewsbury High School and at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School.

Marilyn Taylor, Life and Wellness Coach
The speaker at the December 4th club meeting was Marilyn Taylor, Life and Wellness Coach. Marilyn became involved in life and wellness coaching through her other profession, that of massage therapist. Marilyn became involved in deep conversations with her clients that led her in a new direction.
 
Marilyn asked the club members how they measure success, careers, wealth...? "What if we measured success by what makes us happy? she asked. She noted that a 2009 study on income and satisfaction shows that an income of $75,000 was a plateau beyond which there is no change in the perception of happiness. Today, she believes that might equate with about a $90,000 income.
 
"What you fell is your messenger of where you are in life—what your level of satisfaction is. In terms of reported happiness, about 50% is from genetic makeup, 10% is from financial well-being and 40% is derived from intentional activity on a person's part. Areas of that intentional activity have to do with: 1) having and nurturing 1 or 2 positive relationship, 2) acts of kindness and compassion, 3) exercise, 4) being in the flow of life [examples - golf, music), 5) spiritual engagement and meaning, 6) using your strengths, and 7) having a positive mindset.
Stephen Sykes - March of Dimes
On November 27, Stephen Sykes spoke to the Shrewsbury Rotary about the March of Dimes. Stephen's background had been in banking, but he didn't feel that was a good fit for him and so—when he was laid off—his wife advised him to follow his passion. He began working for the March of Dimes writing letters of thanks to donors.
 
The March of Dimes, originally chartered by FDR to raise money to fight Polio in the U.S., now works in all areas of infant mortality, pre-term births and birth defects. Today, the organization works to ensure that mothers have access to good care and are not forced out of the hospital too soon after the birth of their child. Other areas in which the March is active is in direct care to infants at the UMass Memorial NICU, male fertility issues and the promotion of breast feeding.
Welcome Matt Armenti
Matt Armenti was welcomed into membership in the Shrewsbury club on November 20, 2017. Matt is the branch manager of the new UniBank office at Lakeway Common. Lakeway Common is the development on the former Spag's location.
 
Welcome to Rotary and to the Shrewsbury club, Matt!
 
The McHouls of Heartline Ministries
John and Beth McHoul of Heartline Ministries in Haiti spoke to the club on November 13. Heartline was a recipient of a donation from the Shrewsbury club in 2016, which was used to update the electrical supply of a kitchen at Hearline's maternity center.
 
John and Beth, originally from Quincy and Weymouth went to Haiti in 1989. They were impressed by the level of poverty there wound up staying in Haiti where they have continued to work to alleviate both causes and effects of poverty in that island nation. Noting that babies die in Haiti by the thousands because mothers don't know how to care for or feed them, the McHouls made it their mission to educate mothers in child care. That mission branced out into giving mothers job skills. Beth, who is a midwife, assists in giving care to mothers and children for the first year of life; she notes that they have not lost a mother in their years of working in Haiti.
 
In addition to the maternity center, job skill are offered for both men and women. They teach sewing and cooking, teach reading and operating a bakery that trains and employs 50 men. The bakery uses 1,000 pounds of flour each day. In addition to selling baked goods, the supply bread and pizza for the center and local prison. Their next project will be a reverse osmosis water treatment system to make clean, cheap water available. They also provide schooling for children.
 
Literacy Reading Day - Nov. 6
Monday, November 6, is the Shrewsbury club's Literacy Reading Day. At the beginning of the school day, on that date, club members of the club go to each 2nd Grade classroom in the Shrewsbury Public School system and present the class with a selection of quality, Caldecott award books and read to the class. This is also an opportunity to tell the children a little about Rotary and what we do.
 
This year, there will also be a Noon time meeting. The speaker on that date will be Shrewsbury's new Town Manager, Kevin Misikar. Club members won't want to miss either the reading day--which is great fun--or the opportunity to meet and hear from our new Town Manager.
 
All Rotarians who are able to participate in the Reading Day are asked to communicate with Owen Russell to ascertain the time and class in which they will read. Owen's email is <orussell@centralfcu.com>.
Steve Levitsky on the Rotary Foundation
Steve Levitsky visited the Shrewsbury club on October 30, to talk about the Rotary Foundation. He pointed to the NIC View project--in which our club was involved with other Central Massachusetts clubs to provide monitoring of babies in the NICU at UMass Memorial. Parents from around the world are able to log on and view their children 24/7 while they are in Neonatal Intensive Care.
 
For his part, Steve has a daughter who was in the NICU in Philadelphia. Her weight had dropped precipitously after birth and was placed in the unit. The on way that his family could check on her was to go to the hospital. The service to families in similar circumstances in our area, that clubs were able  to provide through District Grants from the Foundation, is what the Rotary Foundation is all about.
 
Steve emphasized that the Foundation, begun 100 years ago this year with an initial donation of $26.50 exists to help clubs do good things. He noted a project that his club in Concord headed up that raised $61,00 for the transportation needs of an orphanage in Haiti as another example. He said that the Foundation takes the gifts of Rotarians, grows them and then turns them back to worthy projects of clubs around the world. Those donations from Rotarians have brown to over $3 billion over the past 100 years.
 
Last year District 7910 raised $205,00 in giving to the Annual Fund and $1.3 million was pledged in major gifts, most of those pledged from the wills of donors. This year's goal is to reach $2 million in major gifts. The highly rated Foundation spends 91% of its funds directly on projects.
Sen. Mike Moore
Massachusetts Senator, Mike Moore, was the speaker at the October 16th club meeting. As did Rep. Hannah Kane several weeks ago, Sen. Moore noted that the Massachusetts legislature is made up of 160 Representatives and 40 Senators. The legislative session is a 2-year cycle.
 
Sen. Moore noted that from 5-6,000 bills are filed each year and, ultimately, 3-400 are passed in a 2 year cycle. It is when bills get to a committee that issues arise. One example that he noted is legislation that reacts to the fact that Massachusetts lags in offering college credit for high school students taking college level courses. Not all state institutions accept credits from high school study, and the bill would force them to accept it. This issue bogs down in discussion of issues of reciprocity with other states and questions of whether one college/university's credit is equal to all others.
 
An issue that the senator discussed was a "Safe Community Act" which essentially proposes that Massachusetts be a "sanctuary state." There are questions of whether state law enforcement has authority to detain persons based on INS detainer requests. Courts have said that they do not, unless the person has violated certain specific acts. The Baker Administration has offered a bill to authorize detaining; the legal community says that that bill will not work.
 
Sen. Moore discussed a land zoning bill introduced in the last session and passed by the senate. The bill is intended to address overdevelopment and access to affordable housing by standardizing land zoning across the state. Sen. Moore has voted against this bill. He noted, however, that there are both positives and negatives to the bill. One positive would be the simplifying of actions brought before local planning boards and would give property owners greater discretion over the use and/or sale of their land.
 
Also discussed was the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. A pending bill would provide for representation for both victims and alleged perpetrators. Schools would also be required to file more data on allegations that take place on their campuses. Finally the senator noted that there is legislation pending to take action against bump stocks and other devices that effectively turn weapons into automatic weapons.
State Rep. Hannah Kane
State Representative, Hannah Kane, was the speaker at the September 25th meeting of the Shrewsbury Rotary Club. Hannah is no stranger to our club and it was great to welcome her back to speak with us.
 
Hannah gave a quick paced update on the 109th biennial session of the Massachusetts State legislature. Among the committees on which Hannah serves is Public Health and the Food Policy Council. She has also been giving substantial attention to mental health and substance abuse issues. She noted that Massachusets is a leader in combatting opioid abuse and noted that this is a major focus of District Attorney, Joe Early's committee on teens and tweens.
 
Representative Kane has filed 24 bills. Twelve of those are related to the marijuana ballot issue that was promoted by the industry. She favors requiring the industry to answer to five--and not just one--commissioners. She is also concerned about limiting marketing access to youth and favors requiring the industry to illustrate that 85% of its ad audience are over the age of 21.
 
Another of Hannah's bills has to do with good waste. She believes that we need to make it easier to donate food to programs to feed those who cannot afford food prices. She noted that we dispose of $700 worth of food per person per year which is both a disposal and an economic issue. She favors supervised medical parole for prisoners with terminal illnesses, which is both a humanitarian issue and a matter of the high cost of keeping these individuals incarcerated and cared for.
 
Other bills she supports propose the requirement of a fiscal note to be attached to any bill affecting municipalities (which she says will not go anywhere), proposing regional school transportation for students from Shrewsbury to Assabet, supporting the Lake Quinsigamond Commission and another extending the definition of affordable housing to mobile homes. 
 
Among the accomplishments of the legislative year are a pregnancy fairness act, increased survivor benefits for public safety officials' families. 
 
In addition to all of the above, Hannah is interested in some twenty initiative petitions