Salem Rotary - The Spoke - Archive (Sep 1, 2009)

John Neely graciously introduced Julie Ripoll is visiting from France. She is a High School student who will be staying with a family from Salem and attending Salem High School while visiting. Julie and President John exchanged Rotary banners.

Recognitions and Fines:

Brenda Smith has a 4 day old niece. Her brother in law already said she can't take her niece shoe shopping.
Malia Griffin spent 4 days on Cape Cod
Nick Nelides went fishing and unfortunately got his finger caught in the hook while catching a blue fish. After pulling out the hook and getting a tetnis shot he is just fine.
Jim Bailey brought in a nice picture of his house that was taken by the Salem News.
John Walsh played golf at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland.
John Neely has been working hard with the Youth Exchange Program. He recently attended meetings in West Boxford for the program. On another note, bad luck continues when work is being done on his house. A carpenter had the unfortunate accident of severing 3 fingers while working on his house.
Bill Kielbasa went hiking 2 weeks ago and due to his recovery he had to miss last weeks meeting. Its nice to see Bill is feeling better.

Announcements:

We had a very successful luncheon cookout for 35 children at the Mary Jane Lee Park this past Friday 8/28 to wrap up the summer camp program. My thanks to Frank Campbell, Bob Conley, Jeff Halleran, David Westcott, Lefty McLaughlin and especially Ken Rothwell who donated the food and supplies to cook. The kids sang us the song We are the World. It a very fun day for all who attended.

REMINDER: Frank Campbell is taking reservations for the poker tournament that will be held on September 17th at the Ward II Social Club in Salem. Please join us and bring friends and or co-workers. $1,000.00 will benefit Polio Plus with the remainder of the balance going to scholarships.
We have our 2nd monthly dinner at the Salem Mission coming this Thursday 9/3 at 5:00pm.
After the meeting, all board members please stay for a quick meeting.
Bob Dionne will be the new newsletter editor. Taking over the duties for Brenda Smith who is taking a leave on business to the west coast. We wish Brenda the best of luck and hopes she returns soon. Thank you for your dedication to the newsletter.

This Weeks: Happy Birthday

Rich Blazo - September 6th

Mark Leavitt - August 27th

Speakers/Presenters - September 1, 2009

Introduction: Trip Mason

Speaker/Presenter: Tim Clarke

I am proud to say that Salem Rotarian Tim Clarke did something that most people would not even dream of attempting. The Lake Placid Iron-Man Triathlon. Tim was an average sportsman in high school even running track in college. In May 2004, a friend of Tim's approached him to begin a 12-week triathlon training course. Needless to say, Tim took the plunge and began his journey that would ultimately change his life. He started with a short 3 mile run in Salem and after 12 long weeks he participated in the Witch City Triathalon. Tim did better than expected in his first triathlon. Now Tim was hooked, so he decided to take it to the next step and begin training for an Olympic Distance Triathlon. This consisted of a .9 mile swim, 24.9 bike ride and 4.2 mile run. Tim miraculously completed his second triathlon in great time. After completing his second event, Tim brought it to an even higher level. In 2005, he participated in a ½ Iron-Man Distance Triathlon. This consisted of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike race and 13.1 mile run. Tim did this for 4 straight years with times in the 6 hour range. Tim then decided to take his journey to an even higher level. The Lake Placid Iron-Man Triathlon. In order to participate, Tim needed to volunteer the year before for the event. Volunteers got priority sign up for next year’s triathlon. Tim was able to sign up for Placid and began a rigorous 12 month commitment. Thanks to Paleo Diet Tim was able to drop the weight he needed to compete in this event. The Lake Placid Triathlon consisted of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike race, and a 26.2 mile run. Tim completed the triathlon in an amazing time of 12:23:44. Thanks to the loving support of his family, he completed something that took more discipline and sacrifice than most people could even begin to imagine. Great job Tim, we hope you do it again. Also, congratulations to Brenda Smith for completing the same triathlon. Now we have 2 members of the club with that very deserving tattoo.

Events to be aware of -- Save the Dates:

Rotary Poker Tournament to benefit Polio Plus and the Rotary Scholarship

Thursday September 17, 2009 @ 6:00pm

Ward II Social Club in Salem

$100.00 per person - Includes Dinner and Drinks

46 People and Counting - Please see Frank Campbell to sign up

Please visit the calendar section of our web site

for additional important dates.

Quote of the Week:

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside that wants you to quit."

---George Sheehan

Stumper of the Week:

What are three things you often eat that you can never have for breakfast?

Last Weeks Answer:

Please email all announcements to be added to the Spoke and/or feedback to salem_rotary@yahoo.com by Noon on Wednesday. Also, feel free to contact any of the committee members listed below.

Committee Chair: Bob Dionne

Editors: Bob Dionne

Photos: John Quinn (Jay Cue), Trip Mason and File

Graphics and Photo Editing: Rich Eisner

Members: Denise Flynn, Jim Haskell and Sandy Heaphy