Laissez les bons temps rouler!
CALENDAR RAFFLE
Sold By: Duck Lutts
Sold To: Donald Greenough
#0718
Sold By: Hawthorne Hotel
Sold To: Carol Collibee
#0960
VISTING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS
Ron Amon was a visiting Rotarian.
Adria Leach was a guest of Jeff Holloran.
Ian Sullivan a guest of Rich Blazo.
FINES AND RECOGNITIONS
Claudia Chuber had a few announcements: Her 91-year-old father is training for the Senior Olympics; some auction updates...Items have been collected for the auction totaling an estimated value of $7,600. $2,300 in advertisement space has been sold.
Dick Moore just got back from 5 weeks in sunny Marco Island.
Rinus Oosthoek announced that this weekend is the launch of the Salem Film Fest which is a collection of documentary films.
Bruce Whear announced that the back page advertisement space for the auction book is open and up for grabs.
Viktoria Talebian was in Phoenix visiting her parents. She skipped some of the sightseeing for a 6-person buggy ride, from which she was happy to walk away alive! Also, Viktoria announced that Dr. Timothy Johnson will be speaking at the meeting on 4/8, and Anthony Silva from WBZ will be speaking at our morning meeting on 5/6. The meeting will be co-hosted with the Salem Chamber.
Chris Casey requested that we all bring in a bottle of wine for the auction. You can bring it to the meeting, as Juli has been nice enough to offer storage at the hotel for us.
BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to Bill Kielbasa on March 6th and to Mike Wheeler on March 8th!
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
This year's Auction which will be held on March 21st. It is the club's largest fundraiser. Tickets will be $60 per person or $450 per table. Chris and Claudia hope all Rotarians will be involved by securing one donation to the auction, by obtaining an ad for the booklet, by donating a bottle of wine, and by coming to the event with others. The Hawthorne Hotel will donate 2 drink tickets per person as well as the 2 bottles of wine per table. This year will have a tighter schedule than last year, and will will include a live auction item of 12 bottles of single malt scotch.
THIS WEEK'S SPEAKERS
We were lucky enough to have several speakers this week. Our first round of speakers was four standout students from Salem High School, all of who are leaders among their peers at school and in the community
The freshman presenter was a bright, young girl named Sarah. Sarah ran for class president this year and ran her campaign on building a community of students that are open to change. Sarah has organized and led several projects at school that have been successful in both participation and results. She highlighted her holiday project that created and distributed 100+ cards for young patients at Children's Hospital.
Our sophomore speaker was the musically talented Amanda. Amanda is involved in multiple music groups, clubs, and bands. Amanda also focuses her efforts on community service by organizing coat drives for Lifebridge, and relaunching the youth group program at St. Anne's Church in Salem. Amanda has been deeply involved at St. Anne's and will surely be able to successfully grow youth involvement in her revived programs there.
A very bright, self-started student named Haylay was our junior year presenter. After losing her father, Haylay has recognized at a young age that kindness and help from others is essential for some people in need. Help came first from Haylay's grandparents who brought her into their home after her father passed away. Haylay now pays this forward by helping to organize community drives, such as collecting gifts and throwing baby showers for young mothers who otherwise would not be lucky enough to have a baby shower.
The senior year representative was the enthusiastic Austin. Austin is heavily involved in Salem High athletics, participating and excelling in football, track, and baseball. Being an elite high school athlete, Austin naturally puts in a lot of hard work in the school's weight room. However, navigating the weight room can be troublesome when most of the equipment is old and broken, and most of the dumb bells don't match. The gym is certainly not inviting for any non-athletes who are just looking to improve their fitness. This is why Austin has set out to raise money for new equipment and a freshly designed weight room at Salem High School. A new facility will help student athletes, but will also promote fitness among staff and other non-athlete students who are looking for some self-improvement. Austin is assisting in a 5K road race on 3/30 and suggested that we visit
www.gofundme.com/shswellnesscenter to make a donation.
Our fifth speaker of the week was also a standout student, but NOT from anywhere close to Salem, MA. Ben Ben Ami is a Friends Forever alumnus from Israel that literally brought most of the club to tears on Tuesday. When we first met Ben several years ago as a young student, Trip Mason said "He will be the future Prime Minister of Israel". Trip, I think we all agree after hearing Ben speak this past week.
Ben's story began in 2006 with him as a child escaping a near-miss as an Arab-launched rocket hit the street that he grew up on. This attack created an Arab vs. Israel divide in Ben's mind that only deepened as his community became the target of multiple Arab/Muslim attacks. Enter: Friends Forever, the youth program that changed Ben's opinion of coexistence and the lives of countless youth living in similar environments. Ben completed the program and not only brought back the message of coexistence, but spread it through his community to a point where Friday Forever is a household name. Ben's accomplishments as a young man are too long to list, but it goes without saying that he is destined to be a leader. Ben is headed for the Naval Academy next month where he will begin a 6-year journey as a Naval Officer.
