Rob Black shared a prayer given by astronaut Frank Borman from the Apollo 8 mission during the 1968 Christmas season.

 

 

And the results are in! Club members elected the following Rotarians to leadership positions for the year beginning July 1, 2019:

 

Board members elected for two-year terms beginning July 1, 2019 are Trish Cirelli, Margaret Kane, Kevin Kernan, Richard Leone and Cap Willey.
 

Paul Segal reminded Rotarians to please consider giving to this year’s Providence Rotary Charities Foundation annual appeal. The 2017 appeal raised $10,008 but has only raised $6,200 thus far in 2018. Please contribute if you can!

 

President Art shared that the Providence Rotary Charities Foundation has helped to purchase 700 books for Kizirian Elementary School.  The 3^rd grade class at Kizirian was filmed last week as part of the club’s upcoming literacy initiative – stay tuned! President Art also shared thank you notes from the Kizirian 3^rd graders. One wrote: “You pick out the best books ever!”

 

The Marriott staff were also acknowledged and thanked for their wonderful service each Monday lunchtime.

 

              

Pete Brock – Is always happy, but only $1 happy today due to the Patriots loss. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

 

Kevin Kernan - Happy to have Pete Brock give his opinion about Gronk.

 

Caroline Rumowicz - Happy because her youngest daughter was accepted to her first choice college, the University of Vermont.

 

Steve Hug – Happy because his son was just named partner at his law firm.

 

Bill DiBiasio – Found himself stuck in Reykjavik, Iceland, so he called the President of the Rotary club there, who sent a taxi to fetch him and his traveling party and brought them to a bar – complete with a buffet set up and a big screen TV! – so that they could watch the Patriots game. The bartender was wearing a #12 t-shirt.

 

Bob Morse – Happy because his daughter was featured in a Providence Journal article by Mark Patinkin about a therapy dog at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

 

Richard Applebaum – Happy because Susan Blicker is doing better and will be going home on Thursday.

 

Don Saracen – Happy because his oldest grandchild will be staying with him and his wife while she is working at Blithewold this spring.

 

Jean Lamb – Thanked Providence Rotary for the warm welcome she receives whenever she attends as a guest (invited by James Scott).

 

David Hunter – Happy about the good snow forecast in Vermont. (Editor’s note: they can keep it.)

 

Maury Ryan - Happy to be in a brand new apartment that he and his wife built, and looks forward to hosting the Rotary Book Club there!

 

 

 

Maxine Cohen talked about her career as a registered pharmacist. It started when she was a little girl: she had ten dolls and would place each doll in a chair, tend to their needs, and give them injections – a true sign of her future profession!

 

While studying pharmacy at URI, she worked as a student pharmacist at St. Joseph Hospital and at the first polio vaccination clinic in Rhode Island, which she said was an amazing experience. After URI, Maxine worked at the first discount pharmacy in RI. She later job transitioned to teaching high school chemistry- which she said was a terrible experience! – and subsequently went back to being a pharmacist. Her husband Avram asked her to join him at Rotary – and “the rest is history!”

 

Caroline Rumowicz talked about growing the family business – Cathleen Naughton Associates – with her mother.

 

Caroline has an undergraduate degree in business from Bryant University and a Masters in Health Administration from Salve Regina University. When her mother started home health care agency Naughton Associates, Caroline first thought of becoming a nurse, but quickly realized that she preferred the business and operations side of the company.

 

She and her mother made great partners, and they were able to grow their boutique home care agency from 10 to 210 clients. In 2016, Caroline sold the company to St. Elizabeth Community.

 

Caroline has two daughters, one in college and one a senior in high school, and two dogs and recently took up golf. She believes that giving back is essential and joined Rotary because the organization allows you to do this, both financially and with your time.

 

Erica Busillo Adams talked about her journey to a career in nonprofit management.

 

Born in Philadelphia and raised in Princeton, NJ, Erica says her parents always encouraged her to participate in community service and to give back, and at one point as a little girl, she wanted to be a nun!

 

This desire to give back continued through her high school years and into college, where she studied Dance, Communication, and Comparative Religion at Northwestern University. By the time she graduated, she knew that she wanted to build a career in nonprofit management, and she took her first job at a homeless services organization in Manhattan. From there, she discovered her passion and affinity for fundraising, and has worked for The Philadelphia Orchestra, Save The Bay, The Autism Project of RI, and now serves as Director of Development at Providence Public Library.

 

She joined Rotary because of the organization’s deep commitment to giving back and said that she is grateful to see the difference a single individual can make each and every day - in her chosen profession and through Rotary.