Sharon Garland offered the following in honor of Earth Day and in recognition of the healing power of nature, I would like to share with you a simple Apache Indian prayer as today’s inspiration:
May the sun bring you new energy by day.
May the moon softly restore you by night.
May the rain wash away your worries.
May the breeze blow new strength into your being.
May you walk gently through the world and know it’s beauty all the days of your life.
Announcements
President Kris David made the following announcements:
- The Club Assembly to assist the Club leadership to make plans for the new Rotary Year has been rescheduled to the first week in June.
- Thank you to members who have signed up to read at the Harry Kizirian School this week.
- The food packaging event at Neusto Mundo Charter School will be held this Saturday starting at 9 AM. The school is located at 17 Gordon Ave. in Providence.
- The Rotary Day of Service is for all Clubs in the Eastern US and Canada to hold community service projects. Providence Rotary will join with Cranston Rotary to package dental hygiene products for the homeless on Sunday May 19th at Garden City Center. Volunteers are needed to work from 8 AM to 12:30 PM. Members are requested to bring items for this project (toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss) to the next 3 meetings. Please see Angela Elezaj or Alex David for any questions.
- There is still time to sign up for the District Conference from May 3rd to May 5th. Registration information may be found on the district 7950 website.
- The Rotary Youth Leadership Program is a leadership camp for High School sophomores and juniors being held at Camp Rotary in Boxford, MA from May 17th to May 19th. Any Club member knowing of a possible student for the Club to sponsor should contact President Kris. Information on the Program can be obtained from Lew Gordon at lew.gordon77@gmail.com.
Liz Messier announced the April birthdays of Club members. April gets its name from the Latin “aperio” meaning to open as plants are budding in April.
April 1 is April Fools Day. April 22 is the start of Passover as well as Earth Day. April 28th is National Arbor Day. April’s birthstone is the diamond, symbolizing eternal love, strength, beauty and happiness.
Today we honor Rotarians who have shone like diamonds contributing to Providence Rotary. The honorees are : Herb Altman (April 13), Peter Loescher (April 13), Mike Kelley (April 14), Anthony Hollingshead (April 16), Jan Feyler (April 18), President Kris David (April 25), Emily Bernstein and Sharon Garland.
Happy Bucks
- Pete Brock $5 happy that his greenhouse project is now completed.
- Art Norwalk is happy that 6 members have signed up to read to the children at Kizirian School this week.
- Randy Ditmar is $ 20 happy to have recently completed a real estate transaction with the expert assistance of Team Applegate (Holly and Bill).
- Kris David is $5 happy looking forward to her upcoming birthday celebration with her family members including her 97-year-old mother.
- Mary Cullen is happy that Nondas Voll is participating in the meeting via Zoom.
Speaker
The speaker for the meeting was Marisa Angell Brown, Executive Director of The Providence Preservation Society. Ms. Brown was previously Associate Director of The Rhode Island School of Design’s Center for Complexity and prior to that taught courses at The John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown University. Ms. Brown holds a PhD in the History of Art and Architecture from Yale University and a BA from Princeton University. Ms. Brown spoke on the current programs of PPS and its relationship to the Providence community.
The PPS was formed in 1956 in response to the threatened demolition of historic buildings in the College Hill neighborhood. Subsequently PPS expanded its scope to cover historic preservation concerns in all Providence neighborhoods and to preserve the history of both existing and vanished neighborhoods. PPS is intensely involved in current civic preservation concerns as demonstrated by many contacts with PPS by residents concerned with projects in their neighborhoods of preservation concern. PPS has a wide range of activities in the categories of Education and Advocacy.
Examples of educational activity are: The Festival Of Historic Houses which this year will feature the Mount Hope neighborhood; Architecture River Tours to be held this summer and fall which are modeled on the famed tours held in Chicago; resident led walking tours of Smith Hill, South Providence, the “ Lost Chinatown” on Empire St. area and a modern architecture East Side tour this fall; Preservation Trades classes teaching preservation and repair skills.
As to Advocacy PPS has a long-standing program of annually listing the “Most Endangered Properties” in Providence. Currently PPS is supporting the expansion of The Fox Point Historic District and implementing a demolition delay policy. This policy would cover situations in which there was an imminent threat of a demolition of a historic property which would be delayed to see if the property could be preserved on site, preserved and moved, or, if demolished, be done in a manner to salvage and recycle some parts. Also, PPS is studying the trend of converting former religious and other historic structures to modern uses which could further preservation goals.
