On a rainy but somewhat warmer winter Monday, twenty-nine Rotarians, and two guests gathered at Waxy O’Connor’s for an enjoyable lunch including Caesar salad, sandwiches, pasta and cookies.

 

President Jim Shaw presided over the meeting.  The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Julie Powers; 1st verse of America was led by PSAA Charlie Vail; the invocation was led by PDG Jack Maloney and the Welcome song was led by PP David Sears.

 

Happy Dollars/Fines:  PP Frank Smith donated $50 happy dollars for “Frank’s Winter Vacation” (his version of Chevy Chase’s “Christmas Vacation”).  Frank’s story illustrated how fellow Rotarians help each other out.  PP Don Martini’s company, Lexington Alarm Systems, installed smoke detectors in Frank’s house before he left for vacation.  PP Bob O’Keefe, owner of Lexington Lock Service, repaired a lock on Frank’s house while Frank was away. When Frank returned from Vermont, he and his wife and daughter ran in a 5K race to raise money for curing cancer.  During the race, Frank received a call informing him that several fire trucks were in his driveway.  A pipe in his house froze and water got into his smoke detector causing his alarms to go off.  PP David Sears received a call from the mailman, Tony, about the fire trucks at Frank’s house.  Tony knew Frank and David were both Rotarians so he asked David to contact Frank.  Due to the frozen pipe, Frank had no water so he contacted Steve Kirkland at Kirkland and Shaw to have his pipe fixed.  Even though Kirkland and Shaw was closed, Steve told Frank he would have someone there in an hour to fix it.  Frank also called fellow Rotarian Eddie Barsamian from Barsamian Oriental Rug Importers to have his oriental rug, which was soaked from pipe, picked up and cleaned. PP Dan Busa contributed another $10 stating that Frank’s next stop should have been Busa Wine and Spirits so he could enjoy a much needed drink at that point.  PP David Sears contributed another $10 to say that he had called PP Bob Sacco in order to get Frank’s number.  Unfortunately, Frank was not able to finish the race but his wife and daughter did finish the race!  I am just wondering who “Eddie” (Randy Quaid) is in this scenario???  President Jim Shaw contributed $10 in honor of his 53rd birthday January 9th.  Happy Birthday Jim!  Diane Piper contributed $5 for her trip to England and Meaghan Murphy donated money in the hopes of a better 2014 after a sad end to 2013 with the passing of her father, Gary Murphy.   

 

Raffle gifts: provided by Arlex Oil, Rotary, Patriot Community Bank, and Encharter Insurance LLC.  SAA Connie Neville requested more raffle gifts.

 

Announcements:


7-Day Notice

Erica Endyke ­– Classification: Real Estate Attorney, Additional Active


President Jim Shaw thanked the Raffle Committee for its hard work in helping to raise approximately $31,000 from the cash raffle, of which about $15,000 is left after expenses.  Next week’s meeting, January 13th is a joint meeting with the Lions Club at Waxy O’Connor’s.  In honor of Martin Luther King Day, we will be joining the Lions Club in efforts to inform the community about the impact of Martin Luther King Jr. on the Civil Rights Movement.  2nd VP Domenic Sicari will head up the 2014 Patriot’s Day for our Club.  President Jim Shaw reminded us of the importance of attendance and making up meetings that we miss.  February will be a 100% attendance month.

    

ImageSpeaker:  Rick Abrams, a Lexington resident and member of the Greenways Corridor Committee and the Sustainable Lexington Committee spoke to us about a program called “Across Lexington” (Accessing Conservation Land, Recreation areas, Open space, Schools and Streets in Lexington) is a subcommittee of the Greenways Corridor Committee. The focus of the committee is on how to make Lexington an even more walkable, bikeable and transit oriented town, which will in turn make Lexington a healthier community.  A healthy community equals an increase in health benefits, economic benefits and an improved quality of life.   Some of the things the committee has worked on so far are making sure the trails and bike paths are well marked and maintained, creating an iPhone App for route maps, planning for a Kiosk to be placed in the center and other areas to provide information to walkers and bikers.  The idea is to provide routes that will connect the center of town with other areas of Lexington and to utilize open space for passive recreational purposes for enjoyment, exercise and the incentive to travel without a car. 

For more information, please visit the web site: ACROSS Lexington

 

The 50/50 raffle was $80. PP Dave Eagle was the lucky winner…again! 

 

Submitted by:  Julianne Donato