New Salem Rotarian Alex Sanchez was born and raised in Salem. In 2009 he graduated from elementary school and began to realize the economic situation of his family, that they were pretty much homeless and bouncing from shelter to shelter until 2011. He recalls a teacher who helped him by getting him new shoes, the first of many people in the community to give him a helping hand. 2012 was a year Alex started to gain confidence and friends, and his basketball team won a Boys and Girls club tournament. Basketball began playing an important role in his life. He played basketball throughout high school. He remembers running into our own Joanne Scott with $300 in cash, Joanne encouraged him to open a bank account. Another community member who played a role in Alex's life was Representative Manny Cruz who was also at the Boys and Girls Club. Manny took Alex under his wing.2016 was a great year for Alex. It was fun, peaking in confidence, and basketball playing with friends. The team went undefeated in Conference. Coach Tommy Doyle encouraged Alex to become more confident. Alex went on to earn All State honors in both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. There was pride for Alex in playing for Salem and representing the community. 

 

The transition to college life was difficult. Alex was no longer "the man" on the court and classes were much harder. He was thrown off guard during his time at UMass Boston. He never picked a major and tore his meniscus. Alex says his identity was basketball so this was life changing. He eventually recovered and was playing again, but it just was not the same for him. 

 

As Alex moved away from his focus on basketball, he researched industries that could result in a million dollars in earnings, so he entered real estate industry. Clearly the writer of this newsletter is doing real estate all wrong. Alex bought his first suit which was another new and humbling experience as it wasn't the best fitting suit. Alex maxed out his credit card, took the real estate licensing class, and passed the test. He found some other agents to be super helpful at his first brokerage, Keller Williams Realty, including the lead editor of the Spoke. Alex eventually ended up at Douglas Elliman working for a high producing team of agents.

 

Alex is thankful for all of the help he has received and genuinely appreciates what others have done for him. He is especially grateful to his grandmother who played a major role in raising him. Alex is currently on the Hall of Fame Committee and Athletic Committee at Salem High School, a member of the Salem Chamber of Commerce and involved in North Shore Community Action Programs.

 

What's next for Alex. Future mayor, perhaps.  

 

 

Another new Salem Rotarian, Robyn Burns, gave her classification speech this week. Robyn is married to the wonderful Rachel, an art teacher in Swampscott. She co-parents her 6 year old son Brixton 6. They have onne dog, Sula, and two cats. They live on Carlton Street in the greatest neighborhood on the planet. 

 

Robyn grew up in New York and lived on a Catholic Commune as a baby. She eventually ended up in Pennsylvania and became a Steelers fan, who coincidentally won the Super Bowl on the day Robyn was born, so we will allow it. She was active as a child, and now appreciates how her parents trucked her around to games with four different soccer teams. She loved film and music, and was excited to head to any city- which ended up in Pittsburgh. Robyn met her first wife there. She travelled a lot, spending six months in Glasgow which was a formative experience. She had the opportunity to travel around Europe at that time. She worked in the food service industry, including at the Hynes Hall Mozart Room which had a quick serving turnaround before the evening's show. Robyn began working at a local farm in the Pittsburgh, which put her on the new professional trajectory. She worked at an art studio called the Mattress Factory which did a lot of light installation art and was able to work closely with the artists. Robyn travelled across the country and beyond, including biking across New Zealand. Robyn attended Slippery Rock University for grad school and jumped into a job in Boston in 2006, eventually made her way to the North Shore in 2009. She began working at City Sprouts for five years and wanted something closer to home, then landed at the Salem Pantry as their first fulltime executive director just as the Covid pandemic set in. She was in charge of the Salem Pantry during their recent explosive growth resulting from her efforts and the needs of the community exposed by the pandemic.   

 

Robyn peaked early in life as at one point she did Willie Nelson's laundry and went on the Willie bus. Good luck topping that!

 

We are entering the 9th inning of the year. Two tasks were handed out to make up for last week's omission. To spread the word of Rotary, Jane makes sure to mention that Carolyn is a member or Rotary any time folks compliment the Real Pirates of Salem. Jason invited a guest to the Lifebridge dinner recently and is hoping to have them sign up for the new membership initiative. Will Nealy was invited by Joe and will be sure to come to a future meeting. Tyler signed up as a mentor at LEAP for Education.