Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Guests: Patty Wood (guest of Jack Brown),
Speaker: Liana Fitzgerald and Michael Sheridan.
Liz Marino called the meeting to order
Birthday - None
Anniversary: Tim and Wendy Hollander on April 1.
Announcements:
Rebecca announced that we need to pack vacation bags for HOPE. She really needs more volunteers than she had last time.
Jason S. announced that he had 2 day passes to Sugarbush to raffle off. After a good bidding session, Jason Larocque was the high bidder at $175!
Eric encouraged all of us to sign up for the District Brunch where our own Liz Smith will be recognized as a Rotary Distract Champion. It will be on April 26.
Ben started fines and happy dollars.
Fines: Jason L. and Dennis missed a street when doing Merry Mulch.
Chris is happy that his son was inducted into The National Technical Honor Society. He was also happy that a Bridport student that was part of the mentoring program he ran was also inducted into it.
Heather is happy that her mother is now retired. Nancy also contributed a happy dollar for that.
Fran is happy to report that his home now has no snow and no mud.
T is happy that his neighbor, Michael Sheridan, is here today.
Jason L. said that they were so busy at the Charter House meal last night that for the first time, they actually ran out of the food they had prepared.
Elisse reported that Max wanted to be remembered to all of us.
Liz reported that she has heard from Larry Jones who is in the Southwest where the temperatures are in the 90s and it is dry! Both he and his wife are doing well.
T introduced the Speakers who are a college Professor, Michael Sheridan and one of his students. Michael introduced Liana Fitzgerald who is a student in his anthropology class.
Liana's presentation was about her work in the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project 2025 that she participated in last summer.
Liana told us about the history of the Maya civilization and about the distinctions between the highlands and the lowlands. She explained that there are 2 sites where they are currently digging for artifacts. Baking Pots was the name of the site where she worked. They found lots a pieces of pottery and other small artifacts. The larger items had already been removed from the site, but it was still very interesting.
She will be returning this summer for 7 weeks. It is particularly interesting for her because she is of Maya descent. This was a life changing trip of personal discovery for her!
Liana gave a major THANK YOU to our club for our help in funding her participation in this trip.
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