Winchester Rotary - Weekly Club Bulletin

With the experienced leadership of Past President Brian LaPointe, the Golf Committee is off to a great start. This year's committee for the club's primary fundraiser, the 22nd Annual Charity Golf Tournament to be held at the Winchester Country Club on May 24, 2010, has a renewed sense of energy and excitement not seen in recent years. Among the notable accomplishments to date, Bob McIndoe has agreed to chair the Sponsorship sub-committee and has already presented a number of new ideas; Sven Andersen has been instrumental in the design of a new website specifically for the Tournament which will allow both sponsors and players to register online; Kenan Nacar has designed Save The Date postcards and a Tournament brochure that are extremely professional looking; Jack Kean has built a database of golf vendors to approach for possible donations of goods or services, as well as composed letters to be sent to past sponsors and golfers. Jack also recently secured a silent auction item from the Liberty Hotel in Boston (a $450 value). With this level of involvement and enthusiasm it is likely to be the start of one of the Rotary Club's most successful years of fundraising. If you're interested, Brian is looking for a volunteer to chair the silent auction sub-committee. Golf Committee meetings are held Monday afternoon at 4pm at the Winchester Savings Bank conference room on the second floor thanks to Peter Segerstrom. Please let Brian know if you can attend or help as a volunteer: BLapointe@fedheat.com.

President-Elect Gives a Personal Classification Talk

President-elect, Bob Lord, gave an enlightening classification talk recently which focused on his personal history as a corporate banker. Several years ago Bob opted for early retirement which allowed him the opportunity to take a larger role in the community activities he enjoys most: the Winchester Hospital Foundation and Winchester Rotary Club. As the club's incoming President, Bob will attend the upcoming PETS (Presidents-elect Training Seminar) in Nashua NH this month. At PETS Bob will meet the incoming Presidents of not only our District, but those of many other districts throughout New England. We look forward to seeing Bob at the podium more often when his Presidency begins July 1, 2010.

In other developments, Bob announced that the club has a new Vice President as approved by the Board of Directors. Carla Suijkerbuijk has agreed to follow Bob into the club's leadership and is now in line to be President for the fiscal year 2011-2012.

Congratulations to both Bob and Carla and thank you for your dedication and commitment.

Rotarian's Daughter Returns to the Peace Corps

Bridgett Barrett, daughter of Rotarian Chris Barrett, presented an eloquent and moving description of her life in the Peace Corps, living on a small volcanic island in the South Pacific in the third-world nation of Vanuatu. Essentially agrarian and self-sustaining, this country consists of 130 islands; the one on which Bridgett lives is about the size of Nantucket. But the similarities end there: they have no health care or hospitals, running water or electricity, and little international commerce. The islands are ruled mainly by a centuries-old communal tribal system where no one goes hungry and the elderly are cared for. Bridgett provides education to the teachers and children of her village including English and public health.

After living in the rain forest for more than two years, Bridgett said it was good to be home, if only temporarily. She didn't remember how cold the winters are here in greater Boston and made the mistake of wearing flip-flops on the plane. Bridgett had a successful fund-raising venture for her project and she recently returned to Vanuatu to complete a one-year extention of her previous two-year commitment to the Peace Corps.

Looking hot in their ceremonial fertility dance skirts

Recent Speakers

Andrea Rothfelder from Helping Hands Monkey Helpers told us about the two cages our Rotary Club purchased. One of the recipients was featured in a movie about the project. She will return in May to show us the film and talk to us in depth about how our grant changed two lives for the better.

Andrew Kerr and Becca Howard of Hands On Disaster Response were here to talk about how our grant helped their project in Indonesia and ways we can help with the earthquake disaster in Haiti.

Rotary Charitable Investments Prosper

Chairman of the Investment Committee, Bob McIndoe, reported strong gains for the club's charitable endowment funds for 2009. In addition to a positive 3-year history at a time when most endowments were negative, the Committee generated a return of greater than 20% for the calendar year ending 12/31/2009. This exceeded the return of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (up 18.8% for the same period), and did so with considerably less risk.

Thanks to Bob's attention to detail, the charitable accounts (which include the two scholarship funds)

are guided by a disciplined written Investment Policy which was approved by the Board of Directors. Bob also organized the Committee's structure whereby each member sits for a staggered four year term after election by the Board. He believes these policies will help achieve a consistent and uniform investment process over time. In addition to Bob, the Investment Committee consists of Dick Sampson, Irv Rawding and Lou Gentile.

The endowment's investment adviser, Tom Wade, meets regularly with the Committee and helps manage the charitable funds through accounts at Fidelity. Income generated by the investments is transferred to the club's charitable checking account twice per year to supplement fundraising efforts. These funds are then donated to charities and non-profit grant recipients throughout the year as voted by the Board. The investment proceeds also are the source of the club's annual scholarships. The Investment Committee reports to the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis and to the club membership semi-annually.

Upcoming Events

2/4 – Michael Istvanko and Elizabeth Macomber – Hospice

2/11 – Working Lunch and Valentine’s Day Celebration

(word to the wise: Valentine's Day is actually Sunday, 2/14)

2/18 – Bob Lord, Ms. Canning – Winchester Hospital

2/22 - WCMS Free Concert - Karen Oosterbaan, violin 7:30PM

2/28 – Dave Fonseca – Computer networks

The (not-so) Lighter Side

Watch out for this new Winter Olympics sport: Sumo Ski Jumping

(tickets near the landing area are still available )