Attendance: 21 members, 3 guests: Pat Keefe, prospective member, Bob Carothers, guest of Jim Blackerby, and Roberta Richman, guest of Chris Van Hemelrijck.
Russell Bertrand, standing in for President Glen Zibolis, called the meeting to order at 7:28 AM
Rituals
Pledge and 4-Way Test led by Russell
Invocation by Harv Whitley
Song, “Yankee Doodle Dandy”
Save the Date!!
Wakefield Rotary Christmas Party
December 9th 2021
Approx 5:30
Laconda Restaurant
Register early and often
Club Business and Announcements
Veterans — Betsy Wisehart — She is collecting toiletries to donate to the VA. You can contribute toiletries or cash, which will be used to buy more items.
Christmas Party — Russell — The party will be December 9 at Laconda Restaurant. Please register through the link that was sent out.
Veterans’ Day — Nancy Kleniewski — Our November 11 meeting will focus on veterans. At the meeting we will collect toiletries for the VA, such as shampoo, toothpaste, etc. Please bring an item to donate or some cash that we will use to purchase items.
The Rotary Foundation dinner will be on Friday, Nov. 12 in Wareham. If you are interested in attending please contact Bob Cruz. He has room for two more people in his vehicle.
Orientation for new Rotarians — Anyone who has been in the club for less than two years is urged to attend the orientation on Nov. 9 via Zoom. Register at https://na01.safelinks.protection.
Who does not know the name of the president of Rotary International?
Happy Bucks
Tom Tarzwell — Happy his passport arrived just in time for his trip.
Donna Vignali — Thrilled to be going on a Disne cruise with her family.
Pat Keefe — Going to hike the Joshua Tree National Park.
Jim Blackerby — His son’s company is retrieving spent satellites (aka space junk).
Chris Van Hemelrijck — Happy Roberta Richman is here.
Julia Yang — Happy she got to visit Savannah, eat shrimp, and see Spanish Moss.
Joanne Daly — Will be visiting her niece in New York State.
Sunshine — Val Szlatenyi
Sunshine — Val Szlatenyi
Birthdays: Harry Cesario, Gene Corl
Club anniversaries: Betsy Wisehart, Jim Buchanan, Harv Whitley, Chris Hart, Phil Tracy, Yan Sun
Paul Harris Fellow Awards
Chris Van Hemelrijck presented the award to Roberta Richman to acknowledge her work as an artist, art therapist, and enlightened director of the women’s prison at the ACI.
Jim Blackerby presented the award to Robert Carothers for his long term as president of the University of Rhode Island, his support for the Rotary Youth Leadership program, and his work with College Unbound.
PROGRAM
Speaker: Tony Estrella, Artistic Director of the Gamm Theatre, introduced by Donna Vignali
Tony began by acknowledging Dr. Carothers, who was president of URI when Tony was a student there (graduating in 1993). Since 1997 he has been a visiting artist in the URI Theatre Department, teaching acting.
In 2002, Tony was hired as Artistic Director of the Gamm Theatre, a professional theater group currently in its 37th season. Covid was very disruptive to the theater because the entire industry was shut down at once. He had a to furlough people but was able to rehire nearly all of the staff once they got approval to re-open. Currently they are playing to live audiences, with required vaccination and masking and with staff undergoing testing three times a week.
Tony is urging people to go back to the theater with appropriate precautions. He stresses the importance of face-to-face contact for players and audiences. He also reminded those of us with a South County orientation that the Gamm is now located in Warwick, right next to the airport, so it is easily accessible.
