February 10, 2020 meeting
The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Steve Propatier ed the singing. Renate read the prayer, and all recited the Four Way Test.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Betty announced a joint meeting will be held on March 24, 2020 at the Hope Club in Providence. This will be a breakfast meeting, and will feature a renowned speaker - Dr. David Harte, who will speak about the CHIP program. Six other clubs have been invited, as well as members of the fire and police departments.
Elmer Pina, Vice President of the local NAACP, and Affirmative Action Officer of the City, will be the speaker on Febriuary 24.
Betty presented the new Rotary theme banner, which she received at Pre-PETS - the new theme is "Rotary Opens Opportunities." The yellow and blue doors represent the Rotary colors, and the red door symbolizes Rotaract, because Rotaractors will now be on equal footing with Rotarians and will be eligible for grants, etc.
HAPPY BUCKS
Lori DiPersio - $4 HB (sorry Lori, the recorder didn't pick up the first one); going to Pre-Pets, which is always a learning experience; and the other two are a donation;
Steve Henderson - babysit his two grandkids Saturday afternoon, and they alll survived!;
Rachel Sowersby - the Boy Scouts have had a longstanding partnership with St. Brendan's in Riverside, and are starting a scholarship;
Christine Sorensen - she's pregnant and her puppy is still cute;
Elise Strom - she and her husband went to dinner with Betty and her husband, and after she got home, felt the sickest she has felt in a long time - happy that no one else got sick;
Renate Alexander- she's a rain lover, so this day is good for her;
Rick Fuller -he's with Tom, glad it's rain and not snow;
Sixcia Devine - happy that she has had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, like Betty Galligan;
Betty Galligan - for Pre-Pets and for the Guest Speaker;
David Kent - happy to be here;
Steve Propatier - it's been five years since he had the heart valve put in, so he's very happy to be here;
Valerie Perry - for Lori's birthday and for her first radio show;
Will Francis - met with Rachel the other day, talking about Rotary and Boy Scouts to see what kind of collaboration we can get; thanks to Sixcia for coming today; good to see Dave Kent; going to Vegas for March Madness.
ACE OF SPADES
Christine drew the 6 of Spades, missing out on the $395 jackpot.
GUEST SPEAKER
Betty Galligan introduced today's guest speaker - Sixcia Devine.
Sixcia told an interesting story of how she got her name. She said after her mother and father came here from the Dominican Republic, her mother tried to have a child, and underwent six operations. She finally succeeded and because the baby was born after the sixth operation, and because she was born in a year ending with six (of which she wouldn't divulge)!, it was decided she should have the number 6 in her name, and her grandfather said she had been so secretive, she would probably be in the CIA, hence she was named Sixcia!! (True Story)!!
Sixcia is an educator for Google and travels all over. She speaks Spanish and goes to Puerto Rico, California, Utah, etc. She also has a non-profit - Caritas Smiles.
Her mission is to inspire, educate and empower women world-wide.
The program started when Sixcia brought some toys for children in the poorest area in the Dominican Republic. She said the children coming were hungry, barefoot, and dirty. She said people vision the Dominican Republic as a place of beautiful beaches, golf courses, reports, but there is a lot of poverty and need.
She now goes to the Dominican Republic every three months with about 15 people. The program is called "Take a Trip and Change a Life".
Renate closed the meeting with these words of inspiration:
We forget that waking up each day is the first thing we should be grateful for.
In honor of Bill and Ella:
Life is like a camera. Focus on what is important. Capture the good times. Develop from the negatives, and if things don't workout, take another shot.