Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection
Topic: "Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area:
Education, Conservation and Management"
Sergeant-at-Arms Report
August 26, 2016
Members
39
Make-Ups
0
Guests
Katie Bussiere (speaker)
Visiting Rotarians
Mateen Haider (chair, District Scholarship Committee; member, South Windsor Rotary Club)
Happy Dollars
12
Fines
none
Raffle
$20.00, Ann Clark
Birthdays
No one is older!
Happy Dollars
Bill Barnes was happy to emulate Tom Voorhees and also celebrate his 59th wedding anniversary. He shared a parable for marital longevity. "A couple married and kept no secrets from each other, with one exception. The wife kept a shoebox tied with a ribbon in the closet that her husband was told to stay out of, as the wife said its contents were private. The years went by, and though he would ask, she always said the same thing, stay out. After 60 years of marriage she brought it out and allowed the husband to look inside, where he found a crocheted doll on a bed of cash, lots of cash. He was confused. His wife explained that years ago her mother had counseled her, whenever she was angry at her husband to avoid arguing but to crochet a doll. "I understand that", said the husband, "but what about the cash?" His wife responded, "That is the money I made from selling them." ;-)
Dale Bronson was happy to report on his recent three week vacation which included a week in Rhode Island with his grandkids, a week in Cape Cod whale watching in great weather and week on the road, 750 miles each way to Sagamore Hills, Ohio, where he met his bone marrow donor for the first time. Dale was very moved by this experience, describing his donor as having "saved his life." His donor further honored him by saying "now we're family!" Dale then donated 10 cents a mile = $75.00 to the Rotary Foundation and concluded with " while my donor is not a Rotarian, what he did for me certainly passes the 4-way test."
Evan Cooper was happy to report she will be traveling to Namibia to visit her son, Ben, for three weeks during December.
Ann Clark was happy to report that her daughter has returned from a year studying in St. Andrews, Scotland and that this summer she will participate in a program involving the shadowing of physicians at Hartford Hospital. Further, Ann reported that her eldest grandchild recently became an Eagle Scout and that the promotion to Eagle Scout was the third she has witnessed so far in her life: Pat in 1958, Michael in 1980 and now Devon in 2016.
Ben Dunning was happy to report 1. he recently dropped his daughter off at Sacred Heart University to begin her studies, 2. we will see more of him now that his work has settled down and 3., never mind. ;-)
Rich Heath was happy to report his upcoming trip to Scotland.
Jolly Lux was happy and grateful for the support she received from the Farmington Rotarians, and that Mary Lou Wadsworth had given her her personal medallion. She thanked our club, and all Rotarians "for lifting me up."
Gary Miller was happy to report that the storm in Baton Rouge impacted his family less than many others. His kids are back in their house down there, though they had to rip out the lower three feet of many walls as well as cabinets. He has started a GoFundMe page for them to assist them for needs insurance won't cover and it is already at $5,000.00
Larry Sullivan was happy that his repertoire of salty jokes has now been "reloaded." This week's contributions are below.
[TRIGGER WARNING: The following two jokes are intended for adult audiences. Any permanent psychological harm that may result from an improper understanding of their meaning is not the responsibility of the Rotary Club of Avon-Canton, Rotary, the Rotary Foundation or Rotary International. Read at your own risk. If necessary, see a licensed psychiatrist if you believe you've been harmed.]
1. An 80-year-old woman with a doctors appointment was told to bring all her medications for review. Looking them over, the doctor noted with great surprise that the woman's private pharmacy included birth control pills. Asked about them, the woman said they helped her sleep at night. Confused, the doctor replied, "Maam, surely you know there is nothing in those pills that can cause drowsiness." Without missing a beat, the woman explained that every morning she grinds one up and puts it in her 16-year-old grandaughter's orange juice, and believe me, I sleep like a baby!"
2. A woman and her 6-year-old son grab a cab on a rainy night in the city. Seeing a number of women loitering under an awning on a street corner, the boy asked his mother what they were doing there. Aware that these women were streetwalkers and reluctant to have to explain what that means to a 6-year old, the woman told him they were waiting for their husbands to pick them up. The cab driver, annoyed with her untruthfulness, said aloud: "No son, those are prostitutes who get paid to have sex with men." Thinking for a moment, the boy asked his mother, "what happens if these women have babies because of that?" The mother, furious at the cab driver simply said, "Most of them grow up to be cab drivers."
Announcements
Special Auction
Heather Pantano announced a special auction would be held forthwith, for the purpose of raising money to purchase the grand prizes for the subsequent auction at the golf tournament. The proceeds of today's auction will be used to purchase a TV, a computer and a set of golf irons.
Rollie Sterrett, auctioneer extraordinaire was called to the podium to do the honors. A portrait session with Matthew Wagner Fine Photographer, Simsbury, a $900.00 value went to Chuck Joseph for $300.00. A night out, including two tickets to see (and hear) blues singer/guitar player Albert Cummings at Infinity Music Hall worth $100.00, and a $50.00 gift certificate to Bon Appetito in Canton went to Paul Mikkelson for his winning bid of $120.00. Finally, a combination of a 1-year membership in AAA, a $35.00 gift card from Walmart and an Orvis travel-toiletry bag went to Lisa Barrall-Matt for the winning bid of $140.00. Lisa immediately asked that the AAA membership be re-raffled, which it was, and it ended up going to Robin DiNicola for $80.00. Not bad Rotarians!
Wine & Cheese Party
Bob Cave invited all Rotarians to a wine and cheese party to be held in honor of 7 Rotarians who have helped him in his career.
The event will be on September 18th at 3 PM. See Bob for details.
Golf
Nancy Nation announced that this is our final weekend for advertisements. The standings of our baseball teams and the total amounts raised are : Boston Red Sox $11,220.00, New York Yankees $7,450.00, Hartford Yard Goats $6,670.00, the New Britain Bees, $6,180.00 and New York Mets $5,870.00. At least OUR Yard Goats
are making money!
Avon Day
Avon Day will be September 24th, and 12 Rotarians are needed to assist. As Canton's Sam Collins Day will not be held this year, this is our only chance to do our grill cook imitations.
Rotary Foundation
Rotarians are reminded to make their voluntary Rotary Foundation pledge, traditionally done at the time of one's birthday however, the earlier in the Rotary year the better.
Rotary-in-the-News
No news is good news!
Presentation: Rotary Scholarship Honoree
(District Scholarship Chairman Mateen Haider)
Mateen Haider, District Scholarship Chairman and South Windsor Rotarian was recognized to provide background on the Rotary scholarship programs and our speaker. He explained there are two forms of Rotary scholarship support: the Peace Fellowship and the Global Grant Scholarship. The Peace Fellowship is solely provided by the Rotary Foundation and involves no District funds. In contrast, the Global Grant Scholarship involves District designated funds which includes $15,000.00 that we raised for the support of the winning candidate and also another $15,000.00 from the Rotary Foundation. A committee of 5 Rotarians reviews the applications and makes the selection. The grant is for graduate level study, must be for a minimum of $30,000.00 and must be for study at an international institution (outside of the United States). The recipient or their immediate family may not be a member of Rotary.
He went to explain that our winner, Katie Bussiere of Canton will be attending graduate school at Cambridge, England, which is among the top ten schools in the world. Others on that list include Harvard and Yale. Mateen noted that the Rotary Club of Avon-Canton provided a great deal of support and those funds will go towards Katie's living expenses. While the applicant is primarily responsible for the application process, Mateen thanked our own Craig Buhrendorf and Salin Low for their assistance in helping with the internal Rotary approval process. He also noted that during the process there was much back and forth with our Rotarian counterparts in England.
Global Grant Scholarships are given to applicants who intend to focus on one of six approved focus areas. These are:
• Peace and conflict prevention/resolution
• Disease prevention and treatment
• Water and sanitation
• Maternal and child health
• Basic education and literacy
• Economic and community development
In Katie's case the selected focus area is "Basic education & literacy." Concluding, Mateen introduced Craig Buhrendorf who would in turn introduce our scholarship recipient and speaker. Craig indicated that Katie Bussiere will receive a 1-year Global Grant Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, with studies to begin in October of this year. With that, Katie took the floor.
(Global Grant Scholarship Awardee Katie Bussiere)
Katie Bussiere thanked Rotary International and our club for the support she received during the Global Grant Scholarship application process and for the educational opportunity she was about to undertake. She went on to explain how she came to apply for the grant and her plans for during and after her educational experience in Cambridge is concluded.
In 2015 Katie taught English in Brazil on an English Teaching Assistantship, a program supported by a Fulbright Fellowship and funded by the United States government. Fluent in Portugese and Spanish, she taught at their university, the Universidade Federal do Parana , abbrevated "UFPR." While teaching there she noted a wide disparity of English fluency, one that tended to follow socioeconomic strata. Just 5% of students can understand any English and only 3% can speak it. One reason for this is that English is not a required language in Brazil's public schools. Thus students have little exposure and available teachers are often poorly qualified to teach English. Ironically, studies have shown that knowledge of English in developing countries correlates with better employment opportunities and a better quality of life. While some take advantage of the available, private English language schools, most cannot afford these. Only the wealthy can afford to learn English. This situation inhibits upward economic mobility.
A frequently seen print advertisement for a private Brazilian English language school "Cultura Inglesa" includes a photograph of a little boy and this tag line: "Your prince may not be called "William", but with English he will conquer many kingdoms."
Katie went on to describe the situation with Eduardo, a very bright, electrical engineering student she came to know. Eduardo was given an opportunity to present his research at a scientific meeting in London. While he could not understand English, he memorized his entire speech word-for-word in English and rehearsed, such that he could deliver it from memory. Afterward he was unable to answer questions and was deeply embarrassed and disappointed in himself. His was one of a dozen similar examples she was aware of and these stories are in part what motivates her.
In Cambridge she will be studying disadvantaged English Language Learner (ELL). students. ELLs, are students who are unable to communicate fluently or learn effectively in English, who often come from non-English-speaking homes and backgrounds, and who typically require specialized or modified instruction in both the English language and in their academic courses. She plans to complete a Master in Philosophy with her research focus on second language education, and to fulfill the requirements for that degree she will have to complete a 20,000 word thesis. Her field work will be undertaken in United Kingdom schools, particularly in eastern England among lower income students and Syrian refugees.
After her time in Cambridge has concluded Katie expects to teach underserved populations and to become involved in research via her network in Cambridge. She hopes to pursue a PhD thereafter.
Katie again thanked Craig, Mateen and Salin and stated her hope that she can return to us after Cambridge and tell us what she has accomplished.
We will all look forward to her doing so!
(Katie Bussiere's final slide)
###
Presidential Citations
None
Mail Bag
None.
Special Announcements
Rotary Pub Night to be held September 6th: Membership Committee co-chair Phil Worley reminded Rotarians of our upcoming Rotary Pub Night, to be held Tuesday, September 6th, 4:30 - 7 pm, more or less, at the Seasons Restaurant pub, Avon Old Farms Hotel. Seasons Manager Sarah Clark is welcoming us back to Avon Old Farms Hotel for September's Rotary Pub Night by providing us these great Happy Hour prices: $3 draft beers, $5 house wines and $5 call cocktails. A table of free appetizers will also be provided. Phil said to be sure to bring your friends, spouses, partners, significant others, prospective new Rotarians, etc. Rotary Pub Night is all about networking, getting to know each other better and, usually, a lot of laughs. He hopes to see us all there.
District Governor Wargo to speak September 9th: Rotary District 7890's District Governor Frank Wargo and Asst. District Governor Hap Leabman will be joining us on September 9th.
Photo Credits
Photographs courtesy of Phil Worley, unless otherwise indicated.
Editors Notes
Submission Deadline: Members are kindly encouraged to submit all materials for each week's Early Riser no later than Tuesday at 12 noon, the week of publication.
