It was great to see old friends Chris Casey and Sherry Leonard, both of whom made triumphant returns. In total there were sixteen Rotarians along Jack. It was Jack's last day with us. Leslie Levesque, Jenn Close, and Mark Shaw all joined us via Zoom. A gentle reminder that Rotary pays for a minimum of twenty meals for Rotary meetings.
There were a couple of announcements from the District this week. First and foremost,
Mini-Grant Applications are now open. The purpose of this mini-grant is to encourage the Rotary clubs of District 7930 to do a project in one or more of the areas of the
Environment,
Membership,
Public Image, or
Diversity/ Equity/ Inclusion. Projects that touch multiple areas are encouraged. The grant is intended to reinvigorate the clubs. The District is also reminding all members about the Robert C. Wood Memorial Heroes Celebration coming up on November 10. District Governor Alexander Falk wants all clubs to submit a nominee. Last year we nominated Robyn Burns as our local hero, and you might have noticed that Robyn recently joined the Salem Rotary. Speaking of which, Robyn was given a welcome packet as a new member of Rotary though the badge has been held up due to supply line disruptions.
There are two upcoming events sponsored by the Salem Rotary with tickets available. The first is the Sips by the Sea wine event at the House of Seven Gables. We have two tickets to the event which takes place this Saturday, September 10. The second is LifeBridge's Night to Remember at Tedesco Country Club on September 15. Donations for the tickets would be greatly appreciated and will be put back into the Funds Allocation account. Please contact Jason Consalvo if interested in either event.
President Claire Kallelis spent time thanking Jack for his service helping our friends on Zoom stay in touch. She gave him a Four Way Test coin and provided his favorite meal at lunch, which turned out to be tacos.
We also received a thank you note from the DCF for the recent event at the Plummer Home. The organization got amazing feedback from attendees. They thanked the Salem Rotary for organizing the event and donating a new grill. We also received a lead on a new local project concept for building beds. The Community Service Committee is looking into it.
There are several things for the Salem Rotary to look forward to. Rosters have been printed and will be available next week. Be sure to pick yours up! Our speaker program will also start back up this week.
Mike McLaughlin also spent some time explaining some of the highlights from his travels as Assistant District Governor. He went to the Ipswich-Rowley club which meets in the morning and apparently sings song, most recently God Save the Queen in celebration of the upcoming visit from the Ipswich, UK club. He also traveled to one of the Marblehead clubs where he sat with more McLaughlins who were in the plumbing profession, though shockingly no relation.
Claire Kallelis closed out the meeting with a song for our members who had August birthdays and to commemorate Jack's last day. The song was You're the Tops, and apparently requests for more songs have been pouring in to Claire. Jenn's Jazz Hands were greatly missed.
This week the Hawthorne Hotel served Jack's favorite meal; build your own tacos with assorted toppings. There was a nice garden salad to start off with. The Bob Anthony Appetizer of the Week was a banana pudding with freshly whipped cream. Bob even had some for dessert!
Robyn Burns getting her Salem Rotary swag bag