The Club welcomed the young men of San Miguel School and the young women of Sophia Academy. Walter Adamowicz presided as Master of Ceremonies, and he called on Bob Murphy to offer an inspiration for the occasion. Immediately following Bob’s remarks, Holly Applegate led us in a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful, ending with her trademark soaring harmony
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REMINDERS
Walter called on President Mike Kelly who welcomed one and all, and thanked them for bringing the gift of their presence to the Club
Reminder: no meetings December 28th and January 4th
Don Saracen and his grand daughter Rachel, representing the Providence Rotary, recently attended the Rotary Day at the United Nations. Rachel met international Rotaract and district members, heard speakers, learned the history of the founding of the UN, visited displays which all found were interesting and inspiring. It was a great experience for both Rachel, Don and the other clubs representatives.
Rachel with the non-violence statue "the Knotted Gun" donated by Sweden
Gigi DiBello, Head of School at Sophia Academy addressed the gathering. She reported that the last few years have not been easy ones, and many students come from families that suffered during the recent economic recession. But through it all, students have made great strides. They are learning, and proving their worth by admission to good high schools and eventually good colleges and universities. Sophia Academy’s partnerships with other organizations, such as its partnership with Brown University in engineering, have been helpful to students in gaining entry to schools such as the URI School of Engineering.
In closing, Ms. DiBello mentioned that both Sophia Academy and San Miguel had conducted a food drive at Thanksgiving in honor of Rotary’s belief in giving. She called on Mark Carty, Executive Director of San Miguel School, who came forward to present a certificate to the Club in praise of Rotary’s belief in service above self for inspiring the two schools to collect for St. Edward’s food pantry.
Then it was Adriana Robinson’s turn to speak. The 8th grader at Sophia Academy described herself as someone with a big personality who always had something to say and said it, even in the middle of class or other inappropriate times. As a younger student, she was frequently in “trouble” at school and sometimes did not do her homework. And then a teacher at Sophia Academy took an interest in her and helped her believe in herself. Now she knows that getting where you want to go starts with working hard. She spoke of her 8th grade seminar which is exploring slavery and other grown-up topics which has her talking with her parents and other adults about mature subjects. She will be sorry to leave Sophia Academy, but is looking forward to entering to St. Raphael Academy next year as a freshman.
Next, Mark Carty introduced Giovanni Barbosa who spoke about the events of December 7, 1941. He then introduced 5 additional young men, and the 6 of them gave a dramatic recitation of a poem about the attack on Pearl Harbor 74 years ago today and the suffering of the soldiers and sailors who were killed or wounded, punctuated at the end by their salute to “Courage”.
Then the Sophia Academy Choir sang “Give Peace a Chance” and the San Miguel Choir recited the “Night Before Christmas”, in pajama, reindeer and Santa costumes, and then it was time for St. Nicholas who danced into the room to the strains of “Jingle Bell Rock” shouting “Merry Christmas” at the top of his lungs with appropriate reference to other seasonal religious holidays.
The students lined up to receive their gifts and shake Santa’s hand
Happy Bucks
Collected by Bill Sequino:
Sharon Garland for good report on Jerry’s condition
Anthony Hollingshead and many others welcomed Deborah Salinger
Cap Willey for his wife in Florida, his kids in Punta Cana and he’s here
Steve Hug for the local author who spoke at the Book Club
Wendy Marcus for the great waitstaff
Kevin Oates for last week’s warm air before the exceptionally cold weekend
Mary Brewster for spending her 30th wedding anniversary in Boston over the cold weekend and for her son’s new job
Jim Gilcreast for the BC win over BU in the Boston Beanpot Hockey Tournament
Bryan Cook for his high school sophomore son’s playing varsity basketball for blocking a shot, getting a 3 pointer and a TKO!! Everyone is fine!
Rotary Club of Providence, 27 Dryden Lane, Providence, RI 02904
Rachel with the non-violence statue "the Knotted Gun" donated by Sweden
In closing, Ms. DiBello mentioned that both Sophia Academy and San Miguel had conducted a food drive at Thanksgiving in honor of Rotary’s belief in giving. She called on Mark Carty, Executive Director of San Miguel School, who came forward to present a certificate to the Club in praise of Rotary’s belief in service above self for inspiring the two schools to collect for St. Edward’s food pantry.
The students lined up to receive their gifts and shake Santa’s hand
