Richard Gregory has been elected to the board of the Providence Rotary Charities Foundation to fill an unexpired term.
Walter Cotter’s daughter, Caroline will be giving a Concert for Peace.
Arthur Robbins will be inducted into the RI Heritage Hall of Fame on 4/30. We are trying to get a Rotary table of attendees.
District Training will be held4/30 at CCRI in Newport.
Walter Adamowicz announced the Fishing derby will be held again on 5/5. Please respond to him if you are attending.
Liz Messier discussed the upcoming performance of “Assassins” at the Barker Playhouse on 5/19. Tickets are available at www.ProvidenceRotary.org
Bill DiBiasio talked about the recent earthquake in Ecuador and possible Shelter Box response.
Coordinator Christy Clausen introduced her guests --
members of the
Providence Rotary Interact Club
The president and treasurer of the Interact Club gave updates on their activity this year. They have had a strong recruiting effort and are retaining members at a 63% rate and have 12 active members from Johnson, Hope, and Classical High Schools. So far they have done 1,000 hours of community service including hygiene packages for the D.R., a community event highlighting the plight of the homeless, a color run to benefit Providence Parks, healthy kids day, a game night at a family shelter, and an Earth Day clean-up project.
Our guest speaker, Providence Parks & Recreation Superintendent Wendy Nilsson, pointed out that there are more than 100 neighborhood parks in Providence in addition ot Roger Williams Park. Due to budget constraints, partnerships with the community have been necessary to make improvements to and maintain these parks. The mission is for parks to be creative, collaborative, and connected.
Partnership for Providence Parks was created 4 years ago to help 9 city communities with technical assistance and support to ensure that children and families have safe areas to recreate. They believe that a place is better than a plan and are starting small and making incremental improvements over time.
Several initiatives are underway including Fitness in the Parks, Playful Providence (supports artful play and playful art), Education and Conservation, as well as a Parks Academy which provides training and education for employees and volunteers.
Happy Bucks
Mike Kelley who was happy (extremely happy!) to have reached the nearest airport after the engine in his small plane failed;
Walter Adamowicz for his daughter’s Pell award, and for a game of golf with the President of Providence College and Coach Cooley;
Bill DiBiasio who was happy to have escaped from Gila Bend AZ after 5 days of 100 degree heat;
Many who had a grandchild graduate from Johnson & Wales, Brandeis, URI, etc.
Rotary Club of Providence, 27 Dryden Lane, Providence, RI 02904