CAMBRIDGE ROTARY CLUB
THURSDAY - 12:15 PM
RYLES JAZZ CLUB
212 HAMPSHIRE STREET - INMAN SQUARE
CAMBRIDGE
FELLOWSHIP NEWS
APRIL 4, 2007
LET US LEAD THE WAY
ROTARY ON THURSDAY – APRIL 5
THE URBAN RING
Susan Rasmussen will discuss a controversial subject. The Urban Ring is a proposed circular transit line around Boston's downtown.
Imagine a giant circle around Boston's downtown, beginning at Logan Airport and continuing counterclockwise through Chelsea, Everett, the Sullivan Square area of Somerville, into Cambridge past Kendall Square and across the Charles River into Boston's Longwood Medical Area, Roxbury and Seaport neighborhoods and ultimately back to the Airport.
Now imagine a 21st-century transit line in this Corridor, with two dozen stations linking the new transit line to every MBTA commuter rail line, all four rapid transit lines, every major highway coming into Boston and more than half of the MBTA's bus routes. By the year 2025, it would carry more passengers than any existing line; nearly 150,000 people would live, and nearly 200,000 people would work, within walking distance of the stations. That's the Urban Ring.
Currently 1 out of every 8 trips made on the T start or end in the "Urban Ring Corridor." But because the T is designed primarily to move people in and out of downtown Boston, along radial "spokes" that meet in the downtown Hub, trips from spoke to spoke can be unnecessarily time consuming and clog downtown stations. The Urban Ring would be the wheel connecting all of the spokes and would benefit more than one hundred thousand transit riders who now travel downtown and make one or more transfers to get where they're going. Thousands of suburban commuters will also benefit from having direct access to areas such as Somerville, Cambridge and Longwood Medical Area.
The Urban Ring can-and should-transform the way eastern Massachusetts grows in the next century. The Ring will prove critical in alleviating MBTA congestion in downtown Boston that could choke the city's growth through the next decade. In the Ring cities and neighborhoods, new housing, jobs and businesses will cluster near the new transit stations, helping staunch the sprawl development which is overrunning our open spaces and communities. With the Ring, more than 14 million square feet of growth will occur within walking distance of Ring stations, some of it in the hundreds of acres of currently unused brownfields. Massachusetts needs transit to build non-sprawling "transit-oriented" development -and the transit line we need is the Urban Ring.
LAST WEEK AT ROTARY
Our meeting was opened by PRESIDENT DENISE leading the Pledge of Allegiance. STEVE CARROLL led us in God Bless America after describing how he used to watch Kate Smith sing this classic on TV. BEN WRIGHT offered the blessing. Ben did some research on the web and chose a blessing created by a Rotary club from Alabama.
GOOD NEWS $$ for the Rotary Foundation were donated by:
MICHAEL SIMON purchased a HD Radio and "it has changed his life."
SUSAN FLANNERY is pleased to be back at Rotary after a busy period.
ALICE McCARTER remembers Kate Smith on TV every day at 4 PM.
AMY CROOT is excited as she assumes a new position at Maven Networks.
SUSAN LAPIERRE is smiling because of “Cooking for a Cause” was a success and the opening of a new branch bank.
SAL SAGARESE apologized for not being able to drive PRESIDENT DENISE to Rotary.
STEVE CARROLL is amazed that ALICE McCARTER remembers Kate Smith.
JACKIE LARSEN announced that she has a new position with Biogen Idec.
CLUB NOTES
JACKIE LARSEN has everyone at Rotary organized and eager for another great CHALK ON THE WALK. The kits have been distributed, artists are sending in their applications, sponsors are making commitments and the committee is getting organized. Sunday, May 6, on Church Street in Harvard Square will be the site of another great event. All Rotarians are urged to do your part by securing sponsors and helping when asked. The event is a great example of Rotary Fellowship. Jackie urges everyone to become a sponsor or sell sponsorships.
Officers and Directors – The April meeting of the board will be held next Wednesday, April 11, 8 :30 AM at the offices of the Harvard Square Business Association.
Thank You FRANK SMITH and BOB HURLBUT on your generous donations to our Rotary Education Fund as you celebrate your birthdays.
ADDRESS CHANGES:
BOB HURLBUT has moved to 5 Sparks Street, Cambridge, 02138
ARNIE TARMY has a new email
LAURA EVERS will be living in the UK for the next 3 to 6 months.
AMY CROOT and Maven Networks is now located at 4 Cambridge Center, Suite 111, Cambridge, 02142.
ARAZ INGUILIZIAN is now living in California. Address will follow.
Thank you AMY CROOT, MICHAEL SIMON, ARNOLD TARMY and SAL SAGARESE for serving on the committee that reviewed and made decisions on teacher mini-grants. The committee was aided by BOB HURLBUT who organized the review process.
LINDA CORWIN participated in an electronic make-up via the web and forwarded the information to the secretary.
Many of your officers will be attending the District 7930 Assembly on Wednesday, April 4 at the Sheraton Ferncroft in Danvers. This assembly will help to coordinate Rotary activities in our district and provide our club with the latest information on Rotary International programs.
PROGRAM
Representatives of the Agenda for Children updated Rotary on the success of the Rotary funded Literacy Project. Our 3 year commitment to the project is producing positive results in the lives of children and families located in the area of the Haggerty School in Cambridge. The administrators of the project responded to many challenging questions on the impact our donation has made. We were pleased to hear that if our donation was not made then there would be no program.
At the end of the program, PRESIDENT DENISE presented a donation of $10,000 which represents our 2nd year support of the program.
BE SURE TO COME TO ROTARY ON THURSDAY
RYLES
12:15 PM
Dan O’Neill
Editor / Secretary