Rotary Spoke

It was a beautiful morning.  The sun was shining, birds were singing, a warm sea breeze was blowing gently through the palm trees, waves were rolling up onto the white sandy beach…..then I woke up.  So it wasn’t that great out.  Cold and rainy, but when I went to Waxy’s for the weekly Lexington Rotary Club meeting, the room was filled with warm, friendly people getting together to enjoy a meal and have some fun, all in the name of Rotary. It’s always inviting.

Speaking of the meal, it was the usual buffet of cold cuts, Caesar salad, cold drinks, desserts and a pasta creation that the people at my table decided to name Irish Goulash.  Not bad…

The bell was rung and the meeting was brought to order precisely at 12:30 by P Dave.  The pledge was led by Andrew Bergman, first verse of America led by PP Dan Olsen, the invocation was done by PDG Jack and the welcome song was led by PSA Charlie.

There were 27 Rotarians and one guest in attendance.  That was our speaker Jennifer Zhang.

Happy dollars abounded (and were hard to keep up with.  Here’s what I could hear, remember and write)….Not in any particular order: Michelle gave $20 happy dollars for a great event on Friday, and for her daughter’s 3rd birthday. PP Doug gave $20 happy dollars for the Friday event, and for the Sunday Patriots (well said).PP Dan gave happy dollars for the great Friday event, and proposed a $1 per person fine for all those who didn’t come to the event.  It was upheld, I paid…PP Don Martini gave $100 happy dollars for a successful poker tournament at Foxwoods.  Must have been a doozy! PP Dave Eagle gave $20 happy dollars in honor of his daughter winning $4900 ($100 commission?) on Friday night. PDG Jack gave $50 happy dollars in thankfulness for his wife and daughters successful surgeries (we all share in that thought) PP Murray gave $5 happy dollars because the Celtics lost? But he still enjoyed the game. P Dave gave $10 happy dollars in honor of the Veterans Day event and for a great Friday event. I gave $20 happy dollars first for my 39th birthday (which I spent with my fellow Rotarians at the Veterans Day event), and for a wonderfully successful Black Belt pretest this past Saturday. Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, our guest Jennifer Zhang gave $5 happy dollars.  It’s certainly not surprising that she was happily donating, but it was in gratitude for the welcome song.  She said, “I’ve never felt so welcome”.  Now that’s a first…

The only fines were for tables with no guests and people who didn’t come on Friday night.

Raffle gifts were generously donated by Lexington Ace hardware, Fitness Together, Walpole Cooperative Bank and a flashlight donated by PP Doug and Lexington Rotary.

Announcements

Pres Dave reminded us of next week’s annual Thanksgiving meeting with Burlington which will be at our home base, Waxy’s. The guest speaker will be Sports Radio legend Eddie Andelman. 

P Dave also reminded us that this year’s Christmas party will be on December 22nd. Come one, come all!

Steve M may have hinted to being the chair again for next year’s raffle event when he said he would try to make sure that a wider variety of people sold tickets next year. P Dave insisted that he clearly heard Steve volunteer, and Steve denied that was his intent.  We’ll all have to wait and see how this plays out (the suspense is killing me).  Steve reported that the Bucket raffle raised $1140.  He thanked all of those who helped make this a truly successful event.  Great work Steve!  Can’t wait until next year….

PP Dave Sears put out a call for more Polar Plungers this year stating that he may not be doing it after this year (apparently due to advanced aging and wear and tear on certain body parts).  So far the people who have absolutely, positively promised to be there for this year’s event are, returning plungers PP Dave and Steve, and a rookie plunger this year Michelle.  Way to go Michelle!!!  This year the Polar Plunge is on Jan 31st once again in Gloucester.  Last year we had 10 Rotarians show up to cheer on our plungers (not sure I’d want to be known as a plunger).  It would be great to have even more supporters (not sure supporter is much better) this year.  I’m sure Michelle can rally some supporters….. 

Our speaker for the day, Jennifer Zhang is the Director of Outreach and oversees community involvement for the Winchester School of Chinese Culture. Jennifer gave a wonderful multi-media presentation about an upcoming event called Shen Yun.  It’s a spectacular presentation of Chinese culture and history told through dance, music, singing and spectacular acrobatics.  It will be at the Boston Opera House for 3 nights only, January 23rd, 24th and 25th.  You can find more information at ShenYun.com.  Jennifer was an enthusiastic, informative presenter (and she appreciated the welcome song).  Her presentation was very enjoyable.

The 50/50 raffle was won by PP Dave.  The booty was $80 (wisely choosing to refrain from further comment here)

The bell to end the meeting was rung and out we went, collars turned to the cold and damp (musical reference, any guesses?), but with a smile from the great time had by all at Rotary.

Respectfully submitted by Allan A.