Barbara Harris led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Inspiration
Cap Willey shared thoughts about Mother’s Day. Sunday, May 12th is Mother’s Day. This will be the first Mother’s Day I will be without my mother who passed away this February at age 99. Mother’s Day celebration honors the mother of the family as well as motherhood maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society.
Mother’s Day Notable Dates
1907. Anna Jarvis held the first Mother’s Day service of worship in Grafton, WV.
1914. President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day be held on the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to honor mothers.
1920s. Hallmark Cards started selling Mother’s Day cards. An industry was launched.
Thoughts on Mothers and Mother’s Day
- “Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease.” (Lisa Alther)
- Irish Proverb. “A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.”
- Jewish Proverb. “A mother understands what a child does not say.”
Zoom Attendees
Don Saracen, Richard Applebaum, Lew Hassell, Barry Fain, Troylynda Williams
Announcements
District Events. The tri-state District Conference was held this past weekend. Anthony Hollingshead, Kris David, Bill Applegate, and Richard Applebaum attended. Bill participated in the Pickle Ball Tournament.
We are currently collecting dental items to be packaged on May 19th during the Rotary Club of Cranston’s Touch a Truck event. Volunteers needed to help with the packaging, and helping Anthony Hollingshead talk to attendees about our Club and how they can become a member.
George J. West Elementary School’s Reading Week—May 28-31. Contact Art Norwalk (
artnorwalk@gmail.com) to sign up to be a reader on May 28, 29, or 30, 9:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Literacy Committee’s new project—support of the United Way/Books Are Wings 12th annual Book Drive. Rotarians are invited to join the Day of Action at the United Way of Rhode Island on June 8th.
Volunteers can sign up for either Shift 1 (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) or Shift 2 (12:30 – 3:30 p.m.). Volunteers will sort and box up books by grade/age levels for Books Are Wings’ distribution to Rhode Island’s children in July. The distribution is designed to help children from under-served communities boost their reading proficiencies during the summer, develop a love of reading, and begin to build home libraries.
A volunteer sign-up sheet for the June 8th Day of Action will be available at our meetings in May. Jane Berkowitz will have guidelines for contributing books to the Drive and links to the United Way and Books Are Wings websites available at our meetings in May.
Save the Date
June 25. The Club’s Annual installation Luncheon will be held at the Hope Club, 6 Benevolent Street, Providence starting at 11:30am.
Happy Bucks
- Pete Brock. His greenhouse is thriving in the sunlight.
- Bill Applegate. Survived the Pickleball Tournament
- Cap Willey. Granddaughter’s graduation from Syracuse. Off to a new position in Kenya.
- Alex David. Providence Public Library’s Annual Gala celebrating an initiative to Stop the Banning of Books
- Jane Berkowitz. Honoring the Providence Community Libraries
- Barbara Harris. Happy to attend this meeting.
- Anthony Hollingshead. The recent District meeting and today’s guest speaker.
- Mike Kelly. In honor of the Reverend James Thomas Ruggieri’s installation as the 13th Bishop of Portland, Maine on May 7th. His father John Ruggieri was a member of our Club.
Speaker
Kevin Kertscher, Founding Producer/Director of Big Ocean Studios with offices in Providence and New Bedford. Clients include PBS, the Boston Red Sox, JFK Library, Wayfair-DE, New Balance, and Brown University.
In addition to film work, Big Ocean provides full branding services for clients, website design, logos, and many more.
Of Note
PBS documentary. Race to the Moon (2005) for the American Experience.
Editor, Ken Burns’ Thomas Jefferson and Baseball.
Author, Africa Solo, adventure travel book
He finished by showing a clip from the work he did with Swan Point Cemetery.
Happy Mother's Day
