Member Minute: Ben Wax updated us on things in his orbit: Ben is the VP of finance for 180 Degrees - he's been with the human services firm for about 4 years. Ben is married to wife Farrah, the couple celebrated 24 years of matrimony this year. Their oldest daughter attends UMass where she is a sophomore and the youngest is a senior at PHS. When we last spoke with Ben, he was dashing out to deal with a broken water pipe at his office, hopefully things have calmed! Guests of Honor: Last week, we were joined by AJ Enchill + Tony Wimperis in bold, because they become official members today - Congratulations to our newest Rotarians! We were further honored by the presence of this month's students: Aubree Bryant + Brendan Bayles. Rotary on the Road: Please be on the lookout for an email toward the end of the month, informing you of our meeting location for the January 8th luncheon. We return to our usual schedule as we meet at Mazzeo's again on January 22nd, we'll let you know the plans for the January 15th 3rd Thursday soiree. Auction Reminders: Please be working as you can on obtaining the items (same or similar) that you have gathered in the past and kindly look through your contacts as we seek additional items, especially experiential items (event / theatrical / musical / sporting tickets, trips, other types of tickets i.e. museum or other cultural experiences, etc.) - March 28th will come quick! Host Families Needed: As reported by Alex Reczkowski, there will likely be a student or two looking to travel to the Berkshires, would you or someone you know be interested in becoming a host family?
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Last week, we listened to a great presentation by Will Conklin (pictured nearby) the executive director of Greenagers. The organization mostly serves the Berkshires but does some work in Central Mass and nearby NY and VT. Greenagers works with teens and young adults around community engagement, citizenry and the great outdoors. They have several areas of focus as their organization has matured; the longest running program builds and maintains local hiking trails, the education program works with public schools concerning environmental matters, a trade program builds swing sets for parks and other similar projects while their agricultural program furnishes raised bed gardens for public and private use. Last year they donated over 10,000 pounds of produce to Berkshire Bounty. The group works with many non-profit organizations such as the United Way and Jacob's Pillow and others throughout the area. Theu employ over 70 young people each season in their various areas of focus. We expect to see the group represented at the auction this year too, by all appearances, Greenagers is a great program that does many good works throughout our region.
Holiday Spirit: If you see this before Thursday, please be reminded that our annual holiday luncheon is on for this week! If you plan to bring a significant other, please be sure to let Jayson know right away. 
Winner Winner! Congratulations instore for Jay Bailly!! Jay was graced with the wining ticket and pocketed $397 just in time to buy us all a drink today! With that, the lottery will probably head south and return next year. Perhaps we'll see it briefly today, Sparks Tower hasn't been able to determine the Lottery's full travel plans. For sure, it will be away in the warm Florida sun for the last few weeks of the year.