Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Guests-
Gracie, with her Mom Rebecca
Erik Andras, today's Speaker
Birthdays -
Anniversary -
Rotary Anniversaries-
Neil who joined in 1970
Amy Carlin
Announcements -
Kati got married
The Bocci Tournament is this coming weekend--we have 2 teams
Jason Schnoor talked to us about how important it is that we be sensitive to the students who attend our Club to speak. We need to think about the fact that times have changed since we were teenagers. Any questions relating to sex are viewed differently now and we need to think about this before asking questions of the teenagers. It is important that we make sure the students, and their parents feel welcome when they come to our Club.
We need to remember "is it fair to all concerned" especially when we have younger guests. After a short discussion, it was noted that it would be good to have more discussion about what that means when dealing with students in today's environment.
Ben collected fines and happy dollars.
Eric is off to another Rotary event.
Kati is happy to be married, and she noted that the wedding was the most expensive party she has put on.
Paul is happy that his grandson turned one.
Liz is happy to have been part of her sisters' reunion.
John is happy to have had an amazing cruise around Greenland and through the Northwest Passage. He even saw polar bears.
Elise is happy for her trip to the Netherlands and to Paris.
Our speaker was Erik Andras who is a rice farmer in Vermont.
After giving up on trying to make his computer connect to the projector to show his slides, he proceeded to do his presentation without them.
Erik moved to Vermont 27 years ago and started his journey to become a small rice farmer. This interest was sparked by his time in Japan.
In 2005, he and his wife purchased a farm in Ferrisburg and started to experiment with various crops including grass-fed beef. They discovered they could grow Japanese rice varieties in this climate. In Vermont, it is a 5-month crop and has to be started inside. They are able to use mechanization in the growing and harvesting process.
Ducks are part of the process and help with weed control and fertilization. The ducks become a second marketable product. He expanded to a second farm in New Haven which has access to water from the Little Otter Creek.
Erik also serves as a mentor to other farmers in Vermont and works as a New York state extension agent as a rice consultant.
Cow Tag: Tim won the cow tag raffle.