I hope you enjoyed the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. The weather cooperated (finally) and many communities held parades and events to honor our veterans. It was wonderful to see so many people out at these events honoring our veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice. We thank them and their families for their service.
This Friday our speaker will be Tim Wilkerson,President of the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association (NECTA). Tim oversees legislative and regulatory affairs and business development for the NECTA membership. The topic will focus on recent developments in Massachusetts and Washington D.C. concerning innovation and technology. Tim will discuss the products, services, and public private partnerships seeking to close the digital divide. Particularly the expansion of cable broadband to previously unserved communities in central and western Massachusetts. A meeting you won’t want to miss!
Please plan on attending our club’s Paul Harris/Service Grants Awards Dinner on Tuesday, June 18th at LaQuinta Inn in Springfield. Our club will be awarding a Paul Harris Award(s) and giving away $10,000 in grants to area non-profits. You won’t want to miss it. See the bulletin for more details.
Drowning is the 2nd leading Cause accidental death in children under the age of 5. This hits home for me as my son Marc was pulled lifeless from a pool on his first day of camp. After twenty-five minutes he was resuscitated and rushed to the hospital. He miraculously survived. He is now living with brain damage as a result of the non-fatal drowning. It was so painful to know that my son will never be the same and I promised myself that this should not happen to any other child again. So, I started the Miracle Marc Foundation.
Its goal is to raise awareness about water safety, provide support to families to access swimming lessons, and most importantly, advocate for change of legislation and policy. Our mandate will be that, “the rates in child drowning decrease in the next decade.” We can do this! It all starts at home in our community. We do this by providing scholarships for children to attend free private swimming lessons. On November 1st, 2018 the first class of Miracle Marc swimmers started lessons with Water Wonders Swim School. Families can apply and learn more by going to our website http://www.miraclemarcfoundation.org.
This Friday our speaker will be Tim Wilkerson, Vice President and General Counsel at New England Cable and Telecommunications Association (NECTA). Tim oversees legislative and regulatory affairs and business development for the NECTA membership. The topic will focus on recent developments in Massachusetts and Washington D.C. concerning innovation and technology. Tim will discuss the products, services, and public private partnerships seeking to close the digital divide. Particularly the expansion of cable broadband to previously unserved communities in central and western Massachusetts. He’ll also touch on net neutrality and privacy protections. Plus the future of innovative technologies such as 5G and 10G and their implications for emerging sectors such as telemedicine, robotics, and autonomous vehicles.
Prior to joining NECTA, Tim was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker as Massachusetts’ Regulatory and Permitting Ombudsmen charged with attracting and retaining businesses in the Commonwealth. Under Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Tim was the Director of Economic Policy Development. Previously, he served as the General Counsel and Legislative Director for the Massachusetts State 9-1-1 Department.
Please invite a guest to join you and learn more about what’s going on in the telecommunications field.
We would like to extend a special congratulations to Rotarian Gillian Palmer on her marriage to Alexander Amaral on May 18th! We wish Mr. & Mrs. Amaral a lifetime of happiness, love and laughter.
ChalkIt Up!was Saturday, May 18th and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Thank you to Co-Chairs Steve Jablonski and Jack Toner and their committee. To see a slide show of photos from the event click here: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/6932
We can’t thank our volunteers enough - In addition to Steve and Jack, Liz Toner, John and Nancy Perez, Dene Kimball, Rick Lee, Paul Lambert, Bernie Spirito, Michael Cooley, MaryAnne Herron, Maurice and Terri Powe,and Sue Mastroianni. Special thanks to Blake’s Cafe Food Service Manager (and former Dalton, MA Rotarian) Dave Clark for the breakfast and lunches prepared for the kids. Everyone was well fueled to draw amazing pictures!
As mentioned in last week’s bulletin, our Rotary District 7890 has formed an Opioid Task Force and has joined forces with the LIONS club to help combat this terrible epidemic. Recently, fellow Rotarian Giselle Vizcarrondo joined me in attending a District-wide BBQ & Social at DG Kate Sim’s home to learn more. Our club is forming a committee to discuss ways we can help implement the Task Force’s Plan into ACTION in the Greater Springfield area. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more at samastro@comcast.net.
SAVE THE DATE June 18th, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. will be our Paul Harris/Service Grants Awards Dinner at La Quinta Inn on 100 Congress St in Springfield. In addition to recognizing this year's Paul Harris recipients (and because of everyone’s hard work on our fundraisers this year), we will be able to award $10,000 in community grants to area non-profits at the dinner. If you would like to help out with this wonderful event please contact Jack Toner at jtoner@sumnertoner.com.
Today is National Smile Day! Celebrate the day by smiling! Start your day with a smile, as an initial smile will help lead to more smiles later on. Then, once you are warmed up, smile at others throughout the day, and brighten their day as well. As the day was created by dentists, why not see your dentist today as well? They can help make sure your smile is in tip-top shape!
Dene Kimball could use a little help with displaying our Rotary flags at meetings (as Richard Fulkerson is doing in the attached photo). Dene is planning some extended vacation time soon and would like a few Rotarians to volunteer and put up the flags while he’s away (or give him a break now and then). The flags are stored at Max’s and only take a few minutes to put up or take down. Please talk to Dene about helping out. And thank you for your participation in helping to display our flags!
Do you have some news or information that might be of interest to fellow Rotarians? Please send it to Gillian Palmer at gpalmer@baypath.edu by Monday of each week for inclusion. Our weekly Bulletin goes out to more than 70 local leaders every week and is a wonderful way to spread your message. Subject to approval.
Did you know you can easily reach the Rotarian Magazine, Rotary International, the District website and our own club website right from this bulletin? Well, you can! Just check out the links under "ROTARY ONLINE" on your left.
Club Information
Rotary Club of Springfield - Meeting Fridays-12:15 PM
Service Above Self
We meet Fridays at 12:15 PM
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
1150 West Columbus Ave.,
MassMutual Room
Springfield,
MA 01105 United States
