Weekly Meetings

The Fitchburg East Rotary club meets on Tuesdays at 6:15 P.M. at Slattery's Restaurant, which is located at 106 Lunenberg Street in Fitchburg. You can reach Slattery's by phone by calling 978-342-8880.

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July 30, 2008

President Len opened our meeting with our Pledge. I came in late and missed the prayer and song.

Fines: Maria paid for missing last week. Mark was happy to sing happy birthday to his Mom today and happy to welcome our guest speaker. Our speaker, Rick Thurman was happy to be with us. Mark was also happy to be looking at President Len. Len was happy for Bill W. covering last week and thanks to Aisha/Seema/Gwen. Len was happy to have met Ed H. at the lake last week. Billy O. was happy for the flowers having been weeded.

Announcements:

  • Len plans on having a Club Barbecue at his home on August 12.
  • Starting on 8/5, our weekly raffle will change in that if you don’t choose the joker you will receive the face value of the card you select.
  • Rich D. announced that the Monty Tech Golf Tournament will be held on 9/26.
  • Our Spaghetti Supper is planned for 9/24.
  • Seema relates that the Habitat House dedication has been changed to 9/10 at 5:30 at 62 Essex Street, FB. Please attend if you can. Mark, Seema and so many others of you did so much to make this wonderful project happen. Come and celebrate it!
  • Maria passed out handbooks for us to look over regarding the student exchange program.

History of Rotary: Carol spoke tonight on the 4th of the 4 way test which is, as we all know, is it beneficial to all concerned? Carol notes that if we follow the first 3 steps, the 4th will always follow. Carol related how baby Manley and relatives benefitted by Rotary’s actions, as did the doctors and other health care professionals, as did we all. So did all who read about this in the newspaper etc. Another example is our flower boxes. They benefit all who drive by and see them as well as our club.

Program: Our speaker this evening was Rick Thurman, Publisher of the Sentinel & Enterprise. Rick notes that he isn’t the typical newspaper guy, having started in radio, rather than print media. He relates that although the industry is undergoing significant changes, most of this is confined to the larger newspapers. Newspapers don’t really break news anymore. There are so many news outlets today with cable TV and the internet, that by the time you read your newspaper, you have already heard all the breaking news. Rick says there are not a lot of avenues for local news, however. Therefore, small newspapers still serve an important need. He points out that there is so much happening here in Fitchburg with a new mayor and new Police Chief. This was a factor in his coming here. Rick relates that the paper is focusing more on people in the community and community events than in the past. They are seeking to keep a balance between positive stories and the hardcore news.

Raffle: Mal was the last winner who was actually a loser. The new system begins next week.

Attendence: 17 members were present along with our guest speaker.

Watering Duty:

8/5 - Billy O./Mal P.
8/7 - Bud F./Pat G.
8/9 - Bob C./Mary C.
8/12 - Bill W/Aisha J.

Program Schedule:

8/5 - Mary Ciuffetti
8/12 - Spaghetti Dinner Discussion

Desk Schedule:

8/5 - Maria G./Brian D.
8/12 - Joyce C./ Bud F.

Upcoming Events: (links below)