The Butler award, named in honor of the late Don Butler was established in 1983 to honor a very special Pittsfield Rotarian. This award is presented annually as near as possible to March 27, which was Don's birthday. The recipient is the Rotarian who best represents those ideals of service to Rotary and the community, which were exemplified by Don in his lifetime. At our meeting last week, after a short biographical overview presented by John Murphy, president Alex announced that Jim Bronson was this year's award recipient. As a relatively new member, Jim has stepped up to exemplify service above self. Active in church and community, for the Club he has shouldered the duties as sergeant at arms, as well as Sparks reporting on rotation. The masters at Sparks Tower could not be more pleased with the selection. As an aside, that award comes with a $200 stipend payable to the charity of Jim's choosing in his honor.

As John O'Brien announced at last week's meeting, the Paul Harris Fellows Scholarship would be renamed the Jeff Whitehouse / Paul Harris Fellows Scholarship recognizing Jeff's leadership over the twenty year lifetime of this important scholarship. Included in this announcement was the Club foundation's initiative to create a fund sufficient to make the scholarship self sustaining. To that end, funds raised for the auction-within-an-auction last weekend - an estimated $44,000 - provided an auspicious start to that initiative.

May 20, 2023, has been designated Rotary Day of service, and our Club has agreed to be part of project pollination. Our Day of Service will concentrate on the community gardens at Conte School where we'll amend the soil and plant. Members should contact Adrienne DeBlieux Speed for details or to volunteer. Anyone wishing to acquire Rotary Day of Service t-shirts (at $10 / each) should contact president Alex.