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February 17, 2009  When the chips are down, this club has always responded wholeheartedly in a manner consistent with the Rotarian motto of "Service Above Self." When the auction seemed impossible, the group pulled together, each member responded positively, and a successful event was the result. Whenever Bernie reminds us of how important it is to get a good crowd of servers at Community Meals, everybody pitches in. When a member has passed away, many other members demonstrate solidarity with the family by showing up en masse at the wake and service. Recently, we learned that the family lined up to host Ana Gogua, our exchange student from the Republic of Georgia, for the final four months is not available. From the beginning, my family agreed to host Ana until I left for South Africa. My departure is now less than two weeks away. Mary Gale, our Youth Exchange Officer, has worked diligently behind the scenes, talking about the possibility of their hosting Ana with a number of potential hosts among Rotarians and others. So far, none of these leads has come to fruition. While we continue to work on other leads, I feel it is important to leave no stone unturned. Perhaps among those of you that we have not talked with there is a club member or you have a friend, colleague at work, or extended family member who would be willing to host Ana from the end of this month until she leaves, for a couple of months or at least to help share the responsibility with the Nolets and the Cuneos. We appreciate your assistance in this search to locate temporary housing now, allowing more time to interview other families. This search could also help us find families for the coming school year. Ana needs a host family in Haverhill at least during the week so she can continue to attend Haverhill High. It's conceivable that she could stay with another family on the weekends. Can you help or do you know someone who could? If you or someone you know can help, please call Mary Gale ASAP at 978 609 8288. See you Thursday! John Raffle WinnersOur sports raffle winners were drawn last week at our lunch meeting. And the winners are... Thank you to everyone who donated prizes, bought and sold raffle tickets. We made $5481.00 that will be distributed to local charitable programs and organizations.   Every Rotarian would have been proud to see the young men and women gather with their parents for the second Orientation for Youth Exchange of Outbound Students that was held February 8th at the Mass College of Law. Parents and their students were greeted by our Inbound and Outbound District Short Term and Long Term Coordinators. The three hour Orientation included a presentation made by the student travel agency who manages the exchange students travel arrangements, followed by separate breakout sessions for students and parents. These in-depth meetings allow students to learn about public speaking, practice the language of their upcoming host country, meet other exchange students from area towns who were also selected to travel abroad as a Rotary Exchange Student, discuss the rules and regulations of the Rotary Exchange Program, and share their delight and their nervousness about going abroad. The parents had an opportunity to learn about how to help their student prepare to be away for either a short stay (of three to six weeks) or for a full year, how to help their student handle money, illness, insurance, dietary changes, travel safety, and what to expect after the exchange is over and how to become a host family. These meetings are very important to the overall management and governance of this fantastic program. Both parents and students are very grateful to the volunteer efforts that so many Rotarians put forth to make this possible for them! Our next Orientation is an overnight camping trip to Boxford Rotary Camp for just the Outbound Short Term and Long Term Students in May. In the meantime, all of the students, including our two outbound students from Haverhill High School, will be attending to the details of learning their countries language, learning about the culture, and getting ready emotionally to leave all the comforts of home for a journey of their lifetime! Our outbound students will periodically be attending our Rotary Meetings. Please make a point to ask them questions about their upcoming trip when they do attend.  Confessions of Youth It was 1945 and it was Halloween Night. I was 16 and had a car, a 1935 Ford. It was going to be my last chance for deviltry, for alas my days of mischief were almost over. It was near time for me to run the world...but not yet. Tonight we must aggravate our Police Chief Henry L. Nye. He expected it, we owed him this. But, what to do? IDEA! The Road Agent was getting ready for winter already and had delivered rolls of snow fence to the fields around town where drifts could be expected. We drove around until we found a large roll of snow fence. You may remember, this was the kind of snow fence that had red wooden slats in them. We took this to the intersection of Academy Avenue and Maple Avenue, a place that we were sure would be on the Chief's patrol route. We placed the roll of snow fence behind the 1935 Ford, tied one end of it to the bumper, got in the car and waited. Soon we spotted the headlights of the Chief's car coming. This was his 1930 Studebaker Squad Car. Sure enough, he pulled up behind us and started to get out. Perfect! He had played right into our hands. It's what we were hoping for. At this point we started up and let the snow fence roll out behind us. Quick as a flash the chief was back in his car and the pursuit began. Because of the trailing fence he couldn't get closer to us than about a hundred feet. He was blowing his horn and flashing his lights. We finally stopped and he took his book out to write us up. Earlier that evening I had attached a 1916 New Hampshire number plate to the car and the chief took my "number". Of course he knew who we were but he had to do his part to try to reduce crime and keep Atkinson safe. He didn't do anything to us and we didn't think that he would. So you see, you have a criminal living here in your midst 1930 Studebaker Commander  Proposed for Membership Speakers February 19 - Tom Standring, Rotary International and Polio Plus Update Attendance An attendance record of 50 percent is required to remain an active Rotarian. Any missed meeting must be made up within 14 days before or after the regular meeting. To accommodate busy schedules, there are various opportunities to make up missed meetings:
Monday 12:15PM Danversport Yacht Club |
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