George Babcock led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Inspiration
Cap Willey was inspired by visits from his granddaughters, Kailey, Lexi and Jordan, who is on a short break from Kuwait where she is serving as a medic with the National Guard. July 30th is significant for the first signing of the French National Anthem La Marseillaise in 1792 that’s heard throughout this year’s Paris Olympics, National Cheesecake Day, and of special significance to our literacy fundraising campaign, National Support of Public Education Day.
President Pete Announcements
- Attendees on Zoom: Art Norwalk, Gabby Bello and PJ Fox.
- The Legends for Literacy Gala needs a chair for the auction and raffle prize committee. Of particular interest are prizes that involve experiences like travel and theatre tickets. If you can help, please reach out to Pete.
- Anthony Landi, chair of the Rotary Charities Foundation, indicated that the foundation would consider a request for funding to support efforts to improve the Club’s Zoom capabilities.
- Celebrate Ferragosto Italian Style at the home of Stacy and Anthony Landi Thursday, August 15. RSVP to Anthony if you plan to attend.
- Pete is working on an outline of the Club’s structure, including the five Avenues of Service. He will report back when it is completed.
Trivia Contest
Pete conducted a trivia contest with a jar of refrigerator pickles from his garden as prizes. Anthony Hollingshead won for answering that Pete’s dog Jaeger is three years old. Michael Durand won for identifying Jaeger’s breed, a German Wired Pointer.
Happy Bucks
Pete Brock was $5 happy because he made the decision to be happy.
Michael Durand was $5 happy even though the deer ate 95% of his flower garden. At least the watermelons survived!
Kris David was happy for US Gymnastics men’s team and the women’s Rugby team.
Volunteering for children “one of the most rewarding experiences of his life,” says guest speaker Paul Carroll
Liz Messier introduced Paul A. Carroll, who is a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in Rhode Island. Paul’s experience includes
45 years as a business owner, and he has volunteered for many organizations including the Cumberland/Lincoln Rotary Club where he was named a Paul Harris Fellow.
Paul is passionate about being a CASA volunteer, sharing that being a child advocate is one of the most rewarding experiences of his life. CASA volunteers represent children, who through no fault of their own, find themselves in situations where one or both of their parents are not capable of caring for their well-being. He meets with the child and caregiver once a month and submits a written report after each visit. These reports have great credibility with the Court because the CASA volunteer is the only person designated to represent the best interest of the child, not the parents or the childcare system.
CASA continually recruits advocacy volunteers. CASA provides training sessions (either day or evening) and ongoing volunteer supervision. For more information call 401.458.3330 or see
casa@courts.ri.com, Friends of CASA (friendsofricasa.org) is another opportunity to support CASA’s work.
