ROTARY CLUB OF VINELANDAugust 21, 2007 Newsletter |
Editors: Linda Foster
Photos: Jay Parks
Website: www.vinelandrotary.com
Email: vinelandrotary@comcast.net
Flag Salute & Prayer
God Bless America, Flag Salute, Pledge of Allegiance and recitation of the 4 Way Test was led by Marty.
The opening prayer was led by Cornell.
Guests
Matthew Duffy was the guest of his dad, Ed. Jesse Dondero was the guest of Hugh McCaffrey. Larry Merighi and Nick Grandi were our guest speakers.Announcements
Bruce introduced today's guests. Welcome new member, Joe O'Rourke.He reminded members about the "Second Cigar Night" scheduled for October 3rd at Ted's Garage.
PE Betsy reminded Rotarians who are attending the Phillies Strike Out Hunger game to bring a non-perishable food item. The bus leaves Loyle Lanes at 5 pm.
Steve Shiavo announced that a signup is circulating to attend the Morton's Steakhouse fellowship event. Please let Steve know if you would like to make a reservation for dinner.
P. Bill's thought for the Day: "When the going gets rough, you can weather the storm better if you have a raft of friends"
Finemaster
Finemaster Bill fined PP Mike for his photo in the paper and announcement of "Happy News" seeing his wife and son on a web cam out west. Big Brothers/Big Sisters is holding a car raffle. Tickets are $100/each. Please see Mike for more info. Keith P. was fined for his visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Glenn for his motorhome purchase, Ken for having his son work for a fellow Rotarian, Joe O'Rourke a "Welcome to Rotary" fine and of course, Sherry was fined! |
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Program
PE Betsy introduced our guest speaker, Larry Merighi, our Vocational Award recipient last fall.Larry is involved with the ACE Program. Its goal is to promote the landscape architecture, construction and engineering career and also to encourage minorities and women to enter the field.
The program is a "Small Learning Community" setting, meeting every 2 weeks at Cumberland County College. There are 17 states participating in the program with 9 chapters in NJ. The local program began 3 years ago involving 3 high schools and 15 students. They now have 6 high schools participating.
The program begins with ice breakers. The first project was to build a tower out of spaghetti and gumdrops where they developed engineering & measuring skills. The second project involved building a bridge out of 8 1/2" x 11" paper and tape.
The first major project was the Riverside Paul Harris Project in Millville which consists of 66 acres of warehouses/land. Kim Warker, Millville Engineer, was a tremendous help to the students. Several students were members of the VHS Crew team and they used computer generated drawings to help design a boathouse, fitness center and shopping center.
Larry introduced one of the students, Nick Grandi. He received several scholarships and will be attending Rutgers University.
Nick described the next project which was redesigning Pine/Buck Street area in Millville near the Leroy Theatre. They designed a Library, market, County College area, retail shops, plaza and parking area. They learned an autocad program and designed a 4 x 4 project model.
The next project was meant to give a reality check and learn how to budget. They helped redesign "Millville Gardens", a 100 unit low income housing project in Millville located on 6 acres. The City of Millville has submitted the project to the state for funding.
The Ace Program is a huge time commitment involving countless hours. The local high schools select the students who participate. There is currently a long waiting list to become involved. Cumberland County College is a feeder program to promote landscape architecture as a future career.
Up Coming Programs
August 22nd - Phillies Strike Out Hunger GameAugust 28th - TBA
September 15th - NYC Spamalot Bus Trip - See Gail for signup
September 20th - Fellowship Event - Morton's Steakhouse - Wine tasting
October 3rd - Cigar Night - Ted's Garage October 23rd - Blood Drive