Our speaker last week was Robert Mulhall, who opened his remarks with a pledge for our auction of Kripalu services. Robert spoke about Kripalu's 79 year history in Berkshire County, and the impact the recent pandemic had on the facility, services, and cash reserves. He noted that Kripalu has made / is making an effort to attract County residents with special incentives
After delivering an inspiring invocation, Ed Forfa was called upon to deliver last week's Member Minute, where he briefly detailed his Lee residency, his experience coaching youth basketball and getting trashed by John Perreault's teams, and his professional leadership of Berkshire Place / 89 South.
If you look at the upcoming events, to the left of this newsletter, you'll notice we're celebrating Rotary Foundation Awards on November 10, but did you realize November is Rotary Foundation Month? Consider making your annual contribution to support all the good things Rotary Foundation does.
Jay Bailly, reporting for the Food Drive Committee last week, noted that additional volunteers are needed for the following market collections:
11/5: Walmart
11/12: Walmart
11/19: Stop & Shop (Merrill Road)
Club fines collected at our November 10 meeting (with Club match) will go toward the drive. Remember to bring cash! Jay also indicated that he and co-chair Shaun Heimann were desperately seeking new management for the committee.
With Christmas fast approaching, Salvation Army is gearing up their annual Kettle Campaign, the bell ringing fundraiser. Rotarians have "traditionally" helped ring the bell for SA and have proven to be an important part of the campaign. We will not be doing a Club-organized effort for the Kettle project, however interested members are asked to contact Captain Justin Barter directly if you can find the time to support this worthwhile effort. Bells are rung every day except Sundays, and their schedule goes from 10:00 AM-7:30 PM (starting the day after Thanksgiving).
With last week being the last Thursday of the month, we said goodby to Randi Duquette, our student guest for the month of October. November's new student(s) will be introduced to us this week.
DG Randy Chapell has sent out a general invitation for Rotarians in the District to attend the upcoming Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI), which provides training for Rotarians who are planning, or just thinking about, becoming officers/leaders in their clubs or the District. The courses are designed to increase your knowledge of Rotary and prepare you for leadership roles. This is also a great opportunity for new Rotarians to learn about Rotary and for veteran Rotarians to keep up with the latest changes in Rotary. Randy emphasizes that Club Presidents and Board Members should see this as an investment in your membership and consider paying the $100 fee, and he asks that you don't let money be a barrier to enhancing Rotary knowledge. The next class will be held November 12th at the LaQuinta Inn in Springfield MA. You can register on the District Website (rotarydistrict7890.org) or go directly to the RLI/NEA website atRLINEA.org.
While there are no birthdays to celebrate this week, Randy Johnson will celebrate his 32nd Club anniversary (in Florida, where he skipped out on paying for this honor). He joined us on November 2, 1989.
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