The Club board has decided to return to in-person meetings. While several members agreed to go back in March, others asked that we wait until April. Based on Rotarians getting the vaccine and numbers going down, the board thought we should we give it a try (shooting for April 1). It is imperative that members respond to Club Secretary Joan Dimartino with your intention regarding a return to live meetings - yes or no. If you are not comfortable attending, please let her know. We will continue all meetings at Mazzeo's and will have a minimum attendance requirement, so it is imperative we have a good understanding of who will or will not return. Your quick response to Joan would be greatly appreciated.
President-elect John Murphy has put out the "Help Wanted" plea. He needs three "new" members" for the board of directors and is looking for volunteers. If you're interested, please contact John soonest. While on the subject of "Help Wanted," I'm sure you agree that Sparks could use some help. If you'd like to contribute to the Club's permanent record, please contact Ron Latham.
At last week's Zoom meeting president Shaun noted that there are three months remaining in his administration, and we are lacking program content. Aside from Kagan Awards, a Cianflone family recognition event of some kind for the splash pad, and the Butler Award, the program calendar is bare. Come on folks, cough up some suggestions.
As a follow-up to Rick Lawrence's visit to the Club a couple of weeks ago when he spoke about the water projects in Guatemala that he coordinates, president Shaun announced that the Board had authorized a donation of $1,000 to this year's water projects targeting three villages in Guatemala.
Our first attempt at a virtual auction went live on March 4. While the auction committee is optimistic about how the auction is shaping up, we still need embers to help an audience that might have overlooked our live auctions. Just cut and paste the following message and share it liberally through your electronic contacts:
If you are receiving this email you are likely friends with, related to, or have at some point handed your business card to, a member of the Rotary Club of Pittsfield. The Rotary Club of Pittsfield wants to invite you, as a friend of the Club, to participate in the 2021 Rotary Auction, now fully digitalized for a safe, quarantine-approved auction experience! Plus, our Auction is now not only a one-night event but will run for over two weeks this year to keep the fun going for as long as we can.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us and we will be happy to answer them. We are excited for this year’s Auction and hope that you will be as well once you see all the items available for bidding.
Two birthdays to celebrate this week: Jayson Tanzman (3/13) and Eric Schaffer (3/18); and two Club anniversaries Craig Fischer (47 years a/o 3/14/1974) and Mike Hinkley (10 years a/o 3/17/2011).
