President's Message

Dear Rotarians,

Although our speaker apparently canceled at the last minute, our meeting on Thursday was, in my opinion, one of the best we've had all year. Why? Because what's best about Rotary came out at the meeting.

After reporting about the mid-year Club Presidents meeting that I had attended the night before, Chuck Traver said that a club the size of Haverhill Rotary should be able to send at least 5 ShelterBoxes to Haiti. (Each costs $1,000.) After a brief discussion, Chuck put his words into the form of a motion. He moved that Haverhill Rotary commit itself to sending at least 5 ShelterBoxes with each member contributing a minimum of $100 with the opportunity to make the contribution all at once or to contribute over a relatively short time span. The resolution carried UNANYMOUSLY! That was a "Haverhill Rotary At Its Best" moment.

Chuck has accepted my invitation for him to chair the collection for ShelterBoxes. When you arrive at Rotary the next few weeks, Chuck will be at the welcoming desk with pledge cards. You will be asked to complete the card indicating how you would like to make your contribution - in one payment or over a period of the next 5 months, until the end of my term, June 30, 1010. If you choose to pay it over the next few months, that comes to only $20 a month. Of course, if you wish to contribute more, as some members of the club indicated they would last week, the additional contribution will be welcome. If we collect more money than needed for 5 ShelterBoxes, we will buy and send more boxes. One club in our district (Gloucester) has already sent 6 ShelterBoxes! Below in this Nairator is an update on ShelterBoxes that I received on Friday from the District Governor.

I have instructed Bill Klueber, our Treasurer, to buy up to 5 ShelterBoxes if our treasury allows, and the collected contributions will then replenish our funds. The emergency in Haiti will not be going away soon; it will be in the limelight for the seeable future. I am proud to be a member, and now President, of a club whose motto, "Service Above Self" is more than just words; it is a committed course of action!

Rotarily Yours,

Ira

ShelterBox Update

The first ShelterBoxes have arrived in Port au Prince and hundreds more are due to arrive later today.

The ShelterBox Response Team, who have been in Haiti's capital since last Thursday, took delivery of the first ShelterBoxes at the airport yesterday.

The team say twelve of these boxes will be used to build an emergency field hospital at the airport. "We are helping build a field hospital with these tents at the airport. These are desperate conditions, amputations are happening every half hour. There's urgent need for tents at hospitals and this is our first priority", said Mark Pearson from the UK.

"We are working with the agencies on the ground to ensure that ShelterBoxes are not only distributed speedily and efficiently, but that our team on the ground is able to work in a safe environment," said Head of Operations John Leach.

Hundreds more boxes are due to arrive in Port au Prince later today from Miami on a chartered aircraft, and thousands more are being packed and shipped from ShelterBox Headquarters in the UK.

ShelterBox Founder and CEO Tom Henderson said : "The devastation in Haiti has moved everyone here. We now have our boxes on the ground and it's a privilege to help. The scale of devastation is huge. By sheer grit and determination of our staff and volunteers we have been able to respond in record time. Our thanks go to the teams of volunteers, as well as our donors, who have allowed us to do this."

Community Meals

Monday February 8th Haverhill Rotary will be serving Community Meals at the Haverhill Citizens Center. The following people are asked to bring desserts between 4:00 - 4:30 PM:

• Ronald Albert
• Paul Bergman
• Philip Brown
• Joseph Cleary
• Bernard Clohisy
• John Cuneo
• Jefferson David
• King Davis
• Alan DeNaro
• John Hamel
• John Jameson
• William Klueber
• Donald Laing
• Jonathan Miller
• Michael Reily
• Julian Rich
• Megan Shea
• Ken Smith
• Michel vanRavestyn
• Mike Quinn

Updating Records

Please take a moment to help us update our records. A copy of the MS Word document is available by clicking the following link: MEMBERSHIPDATA.doc. Bring the form to out club meeting or email it to Bonita Michaleas our club secretary.

December District News

Download a copy of our December district newsletter and keep up with what's going on.

Tickets are Available for Comedy Night

A comedy night is being planned for Friday February 12th featuring Juston McKinney. Tickets are $25.00 per person and includes hors d'oeuvres. A limited menu from the Phoenician Restaurant will be also available for purchase. Doors open at 7:30 PM. Show starts at 9:00 PM. If you have any questions contact Steven Goddu.

Tell your friends to save the date. A flyer is available at http://www.godduprinting.com/Nairator/RotaryComedyNight.jpg. Attach the flyer to an email or copy the link into your email for them to view. Also you can visit the web site for our featured comedian Juston McKinney

Smart Dog

Our Portsmouth New Hampshire daughter has a nice dog. She got him as a puppy. He is a Springer Spaniel. He is crazy about our daughter. She likes him too.

He has some age on him now but is still quite a good dog. From time to time our daughter will bring him to our house to look after him if she has to be away. He has been to our house many times and seems to get along just fine. He will usually hang around wherever my wife and I are spending our time.

We spend a fair amount of time in a room that we call the Redroom. In this room we have our television and places to read and on all of the walls are family pictures. One day on one of his visits we caught him looking at our daughter's picture. He had selected her picture from all of the others. He looked at the picture for quite awhile. Pretty smart dog.