Rotary Spoke

On a rainy Monday, 25 Rotarians, one guest and one incoming Rotarian met at Waxy O’Connor’s with Pres. David presiding. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Allan A, one verse of America was led by PP Jim F and PP Don S provided the Invocation.

Fines and Happy dollars started with a blizzard of money… I mean were paid because of the blizzard. More specifically PP Dan and Bob C paid for their pre-blizzard sales. PP Murry A was fined for not making the board meeting and PP Bob O gave his last $1.40 after a fun trip to Vegas. Charlie V paid in some money for his birthday and was later rewarded.

Raffle gifts were donated by Lexington Ace Hardware, Lexington Rotary, People’s United Bank, Walpole Coop Bank and Eagle Bank.

PP Dan B announced that the Polar Plunge had to be rescheduled to the glee of Steve M as he can no longer attend. He promises to jump into the Saco River this weekend. We will wait for pictures. It is now up to Pres. Dave Sears to jump into the ocean. So far the Polar Plunge has raised $45,987 district wide and our club has raised $1,855.

Antonios Giakoumis was inducted as our newest member. Antonios was born in Greece, studied in London and moved to the US in 2005. He currently works for Edward Jones at 442 Marrett Rd., Suite 2, 
Lexington,  MA   02421. Welcome to the club!

PP Doug H suggested that we check out www.rotarycluboflexington.org and click “Learn About Rotary” on the Menu Banner at the top of the Home Page. 

VP Dave S noted that today was the Rotary club of Lexington’s 87th anniversary. Happy Birthday to us!

Our speaker today was Robert Lent, the Director of Assessing for The Town of Lexington. Robert is a Massachusetts Accredited Assessor. Robert started out as the Lexington Assessor focused on commercial real estate seven years ago and became the Director two years ago. Robert talked about the way the town tries to value property. They try to take into account the type of house you have, the type of street you are on and how big your house is. They use this along with comparative sales to estimate the value of every home on an annual basis. Robert took some good natured ribbing for the personal property tax for business use. He did his best to justify it. Robert answered many questions and if you have any for him, you should have attended the meeting.     

Our birthday boy Charlie V won the 50/50. He won $66 and said that was ‘close’ to his age.

SB