Lexington Spoke - January 30, 2012
Posted by Meaghan Murphy
on Jan 30, 2012
President Murry was in hot water from the start when he remarked what a beautiful day it was this January 30th and how fortunate we all were not to have had any cold snowy weather this winter. The two oil men PDG Jack M and PP David E grumbled from the back table and Bob C let him know that some people in the room could use a few good snow storms before Spring rolls around. All this excitement added to the groups’ enjoyment of Waxy’s famed chicken, broccoli and ziti. Ken W was nice enough to lead 28 Lexington Rotarians and 1 guest in the Pledge of Allegiance and Charlie V started off an extra fine rendition of God Bless America. PDG Jack M said the invocation and reminded everyone to send a cheerful card to PP Dan L.
Happy dollars were plentiful with Bob C starting the trend offering 10 happy dollars for his daughter’s skating team placing 3ed at their competition in Hershey, PA. 20 very happy dollars came from PE David S because the line of stitches on his head was a minor outcome compared to what could have been a tragic boating accident on the open water in the Dominican Republic. PP Don M was 10 dollars happy because his daughter got a job with NE Patriots and she was taking her brother to the upcoming Patriots/Giants Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Pres Murry gave $5 for sunshine (maybe that’s when he got in trouble) and both PP Dan B and Secretary David S were for some reason insulted because everyone was asking why they were looking so fabulous dressed up their suits this Monday afternoon.
President Murry gave half year report. He’s having an amazing time being President of the Club and he loves us all very much. We have a great line up of events coming up which include the March 29th Social, Patriots Day and comedy night. He mentioned that the club was working on being able to help a local family in Lexington that is in need of our help and that the international project from last year is still working its way through upper Rotary echelons. We aren’t going to see our beloved President until the Feb 27th meeting, but 2nd VP Jim Shaw and PE David S are sure to do a bang up job hosting in his absence.
The raffle was off to good start with gifts donated from Connie Neville, Patriot Bank, Arlex Oil and Walpole Co-operative before it was interrupted buy PP Dan B reminiscing about the good old days of Rotary and accusing the very organized Charlie V of being a hoarder. PP John O’D thought that was grounds for a fine and the group agreed.
We were very fortunate to have Amy Axelrod from the Foundation for Metrowest as our speaker for the day. Amy is the development officer for the Foundation which helps connect philanthropic dollars with demonstrated need in the Metro West.
The Foundation carries 95 million dollars in assets which are managed by Windham Investment Management. Since 1995 they have distributed over 6.5 million dollars to the region. They have 4 full and 3 part-time staff members.
The area of the Metro West of Boston covers 542 square miles and includes towns with significant numbers of families in need. The average cost of living here is exceeds the national average by 34% and exceeds the national average for housing costs by 78%. We have about 635,000 residents which is just shy of the city of Boston’s 645,000. Amy stressed that there is a great need in the suburbs and that poverty rates are increasing in the suburbs at a higher rate then they are in the city.
Being part of the Metro West, Lexington has been fortunate enough to receive $788,000 from the Foundation for Metrowest in the last nine years. Most recently they awarded a grant to Lexington Youth and Family Services. They have also donated to the Monroe Center for the Arts, the Lexington food pantry and many other local organizations that enrich out town. You can look them up @ www.foundationformetrowest.org.
The 50/50 raffle amount was won by PP Doug H and with that the meeting was adjourned.
Meaghan Murphy