Morrisville Rotary Club

Guests

• Michael Travis (James Thompson’s Employee)
• Shirley St. John

Happy Dollars

• Tim is happy for lunch meetings.
• Sharon is scared that her #4 got his license.
• James is happy Tim covered for him last week.
• Ted is happy for all of the guests that have arrived.
• Caroll Lawrence is happy summer is over.

Fines

Pete Jones suggested a fine against Gary Nolan for being late.  Gary paid the fine without contest.

Calendar of Events

December 12th – Holiday Silent Auction; details to follow.
January 24th – Polar Plunge
May 14, 15, and 16 – District Conference at Basin Harbor

Business

Marcia presented the mail.  We had quite a few requests for donation.

Gary Nolan gave an update on the Holiday Party this weekend, December 12th at 6:00PM.  We’re still looking for donations for the auction items.  We are still looking for someone to manage the door as well as people to help set up.  We have access to the room after 3:00PM on Friday.

Presenter: Davis Koier

Davis was born in 1946 in Hannover New Hampshire.  He went to elementary school in Putnamville on Rt. 12.  He finished high school in Bennington in 1964.  He pursued many jobs in Bennington, but ultimately enlisted in the Army in 1966.  From there he went to German, where he was stationed.  After his stint in the service, he migrated to Burlington where he started a company doing carpentry, crushed stone, and tutoring French.  From there, he started Waterville Oar and Paddle company.

He went to Johnson College via the G.I. bill later in life.  Davis has always been interested in carpentry and has fallen back on that skill many times throughout his life.  He ended up teaching carpentry at what is now the Lamoille Tech Center.  He taught there for ten years.  That is also where he met his wife Ellen.  Somewhere along he began to lose his sight.

After teaching, he started a business selling various types of produce via farmers markets.  One of the products of the company was smoked almonds.  The business grew to be quite large, and they were selling products on a national scale. In 1998 Ellen and Davis decided to shut down the business, and he moved on to where he currently works, Manufacturing Solutions, Inc (MSI).

MSI is based here in Morrisville and is run by Garret Hirchak.  Davis is the Human Resources Manager and has seen the company grow from 12 people to 85.

Davis has two children, Davis Jr., 19 and Abbey, 15.  Davis Jr. was a part of the Rotary Exchange program a few years ago and had a great time in the Ukraine.

Minutes Davis Koier, Holiday Silent Auction, Michael Travis, Newsletter, Shirley St. John

Happy Dollars:

• Ted – is happy about everyone else being happy.
• Karen – Senior partner finished Chemo-Therapy in fine form. She got a bonus for new clothing.
• Jim – Happy Craftsbury was bought out by Dreissigacker and now a nonprofit.
• Gary – Stepdaughter had surgery and is doing just fine.
• Mary – Heard from one of her sons overseas.
• Marcia – Matches Ted comments.
• Susan – Financial situation not as bad as could be.
• Jason – Full-time internal auditor at Union Bank.
• Dr. Phil – Thankful for everything the last few days.

Fines:

None at this time.

Miscellaneous:

Tim’s motion to get blankets for Polar Plunge approved for roughly $700-$800.  The motion was proposed by Jim, seconded by Mark.  Motion carried.

Laraway gave thanks for our winter coat donation.

River Arts said their facility is available for renting for any upcoming events.

Questions/Comments for Committees:

Rich thanked for his budget review duties

Road Rally (Rotary plus) made over $300.00.  Money to be allocated for Rotary Plus.

Jason had concerns about an audit.  Audit will be done internally to save the cost of an outside firm.

Food shelf this week is in Hardwick.  Discussion as to whether to include the other food shelfs.

Committee Reports:

Membership -

Challenge at the Christmas Dinner. Try to bring a guest. Inductions will be done at the Christmas Diner. Gary said we need more donations for the event to be a success. Gary will also need a head count at the next meeting on Monday, December 8, 2008.

Vocational -

Pilot program emerging.  100 clubs needed for Future Visions program.  Ted proposed we join in the initiative and Peter seconded. The motion carried.

International -

$1,000.00 needed for Rotary international Polio Plus initiative.  Would net proceeds come from Christmas Dinner? International to decide where the money comes from.

Ted proposed that $400.00 be designate from Rotary internation to Polio Plus. Seconded by Marc. Motion carried.

Board Meeting Votes:

$300.00 budget approved for Lakota tribe (coats).

$50.00 food share approved – but we should give equally next time.

Minutes Christmas Dinner, Committee Meeting, Food Share, Lakota, Laraway, Newsletter, Pilot Program, Polar Plunge, Polio Plus, River Arts, Road Rally

Guests

• PJ Pfeifenberger
• Mary Collins (WLVB, Speaker)
• Alexa Arthur (Youth Speech Contestant) and Family

Happy Dollars

• PJ is happy to be visiting a new club.
• Jason is happy that basketball season has started at the local high schools.
• Linda was happy to have Thanksgiving dinner with the Morrisville Kindergarten class.  Mel was happy the happy dollars went much quicker than Stowe.
• Gary was happy to celebrate another birthday.
• Mary was happy that the speech contest contestant was here today.

Business

If people are interested, there are 7 openings for people to do a Friendship Exchange to the Northwestern US and Western Canada.  Please contact Bill Thompson, District Governor Nominee for 2010-2011 and Acting Friendship Exchange Chair for District 7850.  His email address is wibbit@aol.com.

Alexa Arthur, Speech Contestant

Alexa is going to Africa this summer for three months to work in an orphanage in Accra, Ghana.  The theme of the contest is “Make Dreams Real,” so here speech and her actions are very much aligned.  She is a junior at Lamoille Union High School.  Alexa was the only contestant from Morrisville, so she wins this round by default.  The next round of Speech Contests is to be determined, but will most likely be between Waterbury and Stowe.

Speaker Mary Collins, Lakota Indians

Mary spoke about the Lakota Indians.  She suggested that the extra coats we collected from the coat drive could be shipped out to them, but she can’t afford to ship them herself.  There is a cultural ride that occurs periodically, and we have possibility of shipping them with that group.  We could also donate the money to ship the coats.  Rotarians are also encouraged to donate outside of the club as well.  If you would like to contact Mary to help out, or get more information, you can contact her at: mcollins@radiovermont.com.  For more information on the Lakota Indians, please visit their entry on Wikipedia.

Minutes Lakota, Newsletter, Speech Contest