Charlie called the meeting to order, and Julie lead us in the Pledge and the Reflection.
Charlie won the 50/50, but no Joker.
There were 3 calendar raffle winners - Victor (Victor), Lori Beaudoin (Julie), and Kevin Ardinger (Frank).
General Topics
John S. on Membership: "Be Tolerant". He was inspired by the Lions Club Oktoberfest. They all wore their signature red shirts, and the theme was serving the common good and the community. The best way to survive as a group is to have pride in the organization, and ASK new members to join!
We had two new members attend New Member Orientation in Waltham - Johnny and Joseph. Johnny thought it was very worthwhile, and brought back some of his learnings.
The proposals that came out of the "newbies meeting" were briefly reviewed. John Souza suggested a separate working meeting to determine which of the ideas will be implement and when.
Charlie talked with the club lawyer, regarding the Annual Meeting of the Corporation. Our meeting was suspended and Dean held the Annual Meeting.
OFFICIAL ANNUAL MEETING
#1 Vote to Renew the Corporation
Passed Unanimously
#2 Vote to allow the current club officers to be the corporate officers
Passed Unanimously
Meeting adjourned
PROJECT UPDATES:
Build-A-Bear - Event will be Dec 14. There are 423 3rd Graders, and there will be 100 bears.
Johnny learned the Guatemala trip date will be in late March. Pam A. will be sending out more details in the days and weeks to come.
GUEST SPEAKER
Sahar Ghavimi
Arta Handmade Gallery
Sahar is the owner of Arta Handmade Gallery. She emigrated from Iran over 3 years ago, and spoke of her difficulties when she first came to the United States - her mother passed away soon after Sahar arrived, and she was unable to go back home to be with her at that time. There was a language barrier, since she did not speak any English.
She persevered and overcame her obstacles. Sahar now works at a local college, and this has helped with the language barrier. Her art has helped her integrate as well, and her new studio, located at 157 Bridge Rd in Lancaster, will be opening this week. Sahar showed us several examples of her work. She focuses on large pieces, and works in a variety mediums, including clay, metal, wood, stones, and oil paints, to name a few.
Fact 1
Columbus Day was named a federal holiday in 1937.
Fact 2
Although Columbus sailed from Spain, he was actually born in Italy.
Fact 3
The day is celebrated in many places around the world with several different names. For example, in Latin America it is called Día de la Raza to commemorate the arrival of Hispanic peoples in the New World. It is also known as Día de las Americas in Uruguay and Fiesta Nacional in Spain.
Fact 4
People have been commemorating this event since colonial times, but Colorado was the first state to make the day an official holiday in 1906.
Fact 5
San Francisco has the oldest continuously running Columbus Day celebration in the US. Its annual Columbus Day parade started in 1868.
Fact 6
Columbus was actually looking for Asia on his voyage but obviously he didn’t find it here. Amerigo Vespucci, who gave the country its name, was the first to realize that these lands were not part of Asia.
Fact 7
Ninety men set sail with Columbus on his first voyage.
Fact 8
It took 35 days for the first sailor to spot land.
Fact 9
On Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus landed in the Bahamas, becoming the first European to explore the Americas since the 10th century.
Fact 10
Three states - Hawaii, Alaska and South Dakota - do not recognize it at all.
