Cliff E. Rober, President
Christine Pinney, Pres. Elect
Andrew J. Borella, Secretary
Joel Berenson, Treasurer
http://www.bedfordmarotary.org
Calendar
Tuesday, February 1 Bedford Youth and Family Services
Friday, February 4 OMNI Theater, Museum of Science, 7 p.m., then dinner
Tuesday, February 8 Membership
Tuesday, February 15 currently open
Tuesday, February 22 Concord River
Milestones
Birthdays Victor Tom, January 16
Bob Cassidy, January 18
Ralph Hammond, January 23
Membership Anniversaries Nat Brown, January 28
Milan Jackson, sometime around now…..
Thanks
OAR, the Organization for the Assabet River, thanked us for our funding and printing of a river trail
map for the Concord River.
Britton thanked Nat and Judy Brown for hosting a very successful fireside chat for potential new members.
We all thanked Melinda Nicholson for bringing us today’s speaker. Really fine.
BIG Announcement from Ralph
The amazing history of our club’s part in advancing literacy continues. The program that Ralph brought to Nepal and to the Philippines, CLE (Concentrated Language Encounter), has been declared the official methodology for the Philippines. Kudos to Ralph for his vision and persistence. Sidenote: there are now 115 mini-libraries in the Philippines, introduced through this program.
OMNI Theater
Social impresario Nat Brown suggests a trip to the OMNI Theater, at the Museum of Science, on Friday, February 4. The show is at 7 p.m. You should arrive in time to purchase your own tickets (suggested arrival time is 6:30). Following the viewing of Australia: Land Beyond Time, plan for dinner at the Mt. Vernon restaurant in Somerville. Several club members are already planning to go and there is the possibility of carpooling (Victor’s mini-van), so please let Victor know if you want to ride with him.
The wonders of make-ups
Milan made up in Djibouti and reported that the club there is distributing water canteens throughout the city; he was surprised and pleased to see there was active and very welcoming participation of women in the club.
Program
Jacqueline Apsler, Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Services Network, was our speaker. With her was Karen Gaffney, vice president of their Board. We were also happy to welcome Sue Baldauf, Director of Bedford Youth and Family Services.
Jacqueline gave us an excellent overview of the status of domestic violence in the suburbs. DVSC services 10 towns, including Bedford, and functions as a resource for domestic abuse victims seeking help. In the last 2 years, there have been big increases in the reporting of abuse; there is at least one incident reported every week, an under-representation of the actual number of incidents. People suffering in abuse situations are most often women (6% are men), but other relationships in crisis are being reported, such as sibling-sibling, teens abusing parents, adult children abusing elderly parents, and dating violence. DVSN has a small staff (1.8!) but there are 65 trained advocates who have received extensive training.
What can we do? We can be aware and make ourselves available to someone we suspect may be suffering abuse, and we should resist the urge to “fix it” or judge. If you want to learn more, here are a couple of links to watchhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjF_155Yypw and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BniY9jYAsfQ.
Raffles and Happy Dollars
Jim Harrill won the door prize and Bill Poirier left the 10 of hearts in the pack. Bob Mead was happy
to be here and Jim Harrill was exceedingly happy for heat, electricity, gas, and snowblowers. Andy tossed in a “bribe for sunshine”, Milan was happy (afterglow of Djibouti), Beth was glad to be back from travel around the U.S. and Canada, Susanna was happy for Joel’s beard and said farewell for the next several weeks because she’ll be enjoying Southeast Asia; Bob C was so happy it’s unbelievable and wishes he could be Susanna’s anything (does she need a porter?), Victor was taken skiing by Sze-Wen and his daughter Corina and her fiancé Tom – Victor’s pretty sure his skis
were the oldest on the mountain; Ralph was glad for another principal in the room (our speaker’s previous life) and noted that it’s been 10 years since Bob Mead started collecting tabs for the Shriners; Britton was happy for our new potential members and that he survived having 4 kids in the house over the weekend; Christine proclaimed that she beat him on the kid count and survived indoor cabin camping and snowshoeing with a gaggle of girls; Larry was glad to be sitting in the company of Sue Baldauf; Melinda was happy for all our guests and was thrilled that her nephew achieved a 3.8 at Merrimack College despite having pneumonia and appendicitis; Bill was thrilled for his sister who got invited to go the Pro Bowl, Cliff was happy to be here and hopes to give us information about where to visit Louise; and Peter Colgan thought we might like to know that if we order Domino’s pizza between 5 and 8 in the evening his son may be delivering.
The Four Way Test / Let’s Make Up!1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? / Mon
Tues / Chelmsford 12:15 p.m. Radison Hotel; Maynard 6:15 p.m. Blue Coyote Grill; Reading 12:15 p.m. Peter Sanborn Place; Lexington 12:15 p.m. Waxy O’Connors
Clinton 12:15 p.m. The old Timers Restaurant; Hudson 6:00 p.m. Hudson Portuguese Club; Wellesley 6:30 p.m. Wellesley Community Center; Woburn 12:15 Holiday Inn Select Hotel; Billerica 7:30 a.m. Billerica Marriott Courtyard
Locations verified 12/6/10 / Wed
Thurs
Fri / Acton-Boxborough 12:15 p.m. Scupper Jacks Restaurant; N. Reading 12:15 Hillview Country Club; Waltham 12:15 p.m. The Chateau Restaurant; Wilmington 12:15 p.m.
Ayer 6:30 p.m. Bull Run Restaurant; Brookline 12:00 Holiday Inn; Burlington 7:30 a.m. Bickfords; Concord 12:15 p.m. Colonial Inn; Marlboro 12:15 p.m. Coral Seafood; Westford 12:15 Westford Grille
Burlington 12:15 a.m. American Legion Hall; Littleton 7:30 a.m. Ken’s Cafe