We've had some great speakers the last few weeks. Today we welcomed Lloyd Komesar of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival that our town hosts every year. Lloyd spoke to us of the process of viewing and rating the film submissions that they get every year, and gave us an idea of just how much the festival has grown in the last 8 years. If you know any first or second time short or feature film maker that is looking for their chance, send them to the midd film fest site for information on submitting for MNFF9!

 

Last week we had Alex Wolff, writer for Sports Illustrated and former owner of the Vermont Frost Heaves of the Premier Basketball League. Alex talked a little bit about his career and then quizzed us on our knowledge (or maybe lackthereof) of well known or famous Vermont sport stars!

 

And finally, the week before we had Brian Carpenter, Chair of the Middlebury Selectboard with some town updates. The number one priority now for the selectboard is working with Middlebury College to come up with long term solutions for afforadable housing in Middlebury, as well as affordable and accessible childcare- two big issues that if solved, would lead to significant economic growth for our town. 

 

Thank you to our guests!

 

Alex Wolff

 

Brian Carpenter with our President Elect John and long time Rotarian, T

DG Caroline spoke about her intentions and hopes for the coming year at the last meeting of August.  Welcoming her to the club was President Spencer.

 

 

The Old Town Cemetery got it's third clean-up July 16 when club members, joined by volunteers from the Vermont Old Cemetery Association, friends, and neighbors, gathered to erect fallen stones and clean years of weather worn stones.

 

Helmut, Geoff, Paul, Buzz, and John are seen here at work (that's David's finger top left).  Steve and T were busy elsewhere.

 

While the downpour on Wednesday may have dampened our clothes, it surely did nothing to our spirits as we welcomed the recipients of our CACO grants to our final Wednesday meeting of the fiscal year. Grants were awarded to the Mary Johnson Center, Porter Hospital, Homeward Bound, WomenSafe, the Salisbury Library, the Parent Child Centre, and several other businesses that are imperative to the success of our community. Congratulations to those selected!

 

 

If you're around the teen centre in Middlebury, stop by to check out the handy work done by some of our club members and our teen volunteers! Saturday proved to be a gorgeous day to construct some raised garden beds. 

 

Club members continued the annual effort to make Vermont look fresh and green.  Bill, Judy, Rebecca, John B., Lyn, Rex, Buzz, and David were joined this year by four Middlebury College students hailing from Massachusetts, Guam, Maryland, and Los Angeles. 

 

We had a fantastic zoom meeting this morning and welcomed Martha Monty and Avery Anderson from the Vermont Council of World Affairs. The VCWA hosts public forums and offers programs that raise public awareness of the world and all the different people in it. They have a number of programs including the International Visitor Leadership Program, the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, and Open World to name a few. You can visit their website to become a member or to view their current events. Thank you Martha and Avery!

Today we had a speaker that perfectly exemplifies service above self. Rob Reiber, who volunteers to aid the Vermont response to the Afghan Refugee crisis came to speak to us today. What started out as a conversation one Saturday morning at the Lincoln transfer station turned into a full blown effort to volunteer with the United States Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), an organization started in the 1980s. Among the volunteer efforts, Rob stressed the importance of educating ourselves as a community about the conditions, traditions, and people of Afghanistan as we welcome the individuals and families who have fled to the US. If you are interested in volunteering or donating, please contact volunteer@uscrivt.org. 

 

If you would like to educate yourself on the current Afghan refugee crisis, a great place to start is the Sandglass Theatre for information on refugees and to reserve a seat for the show Babylon. 

 

Caleb Basa, the Land & Trails Manager for the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) paid us a visit at today's meeting. In a wonderful presentation, Caleb talked about MALT's mission to conserve the natural landscape around the Middlebury area and to provide educational opportunities for people of all ages. To see what MALT is up to, check out their website for their programs, events, volunteer opportunities, and our personal favorite- the activity brochure for our youngest generation. Thanks Caleb!