January 16, 2009 Meeting

Pledge, Song & Invocation

After President David Lindsay led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, songmistress Marie Stultz began clapping her hands to warm us up to a rousing "When the Saints go Marching In." Sub-Rev Len Wilson gave an eloquent message of thanks and positive praise for the valiant efforts of the pilot and crew of the USAirways plane that landed safely in the Hudson River and the reporting of the event.

Guests & Visitors

Today we welcomed our guest speaker, Jeannette Isabella; Janice Lamb, guest of Ray Cannon; and the Buck and Spencer younger sets.

Club Business

President David reminded everyone that we now have a telephone number which can be utilized for information regarding storm cancellations, visitor inquiries, etc. Note down the number: 978-296-5032.

David received an email from Donna-Lee Rubin saying that she took a trip to Florida with Vince to visit her ailing father. As the plane was delayed, Donna-Lee was able to open the envelope of mail from Rotary. She read all of the cards to Vince, reminding him of each of the writers, then displayed them around their Florida home to enjoy while they visited. She related that Vince is now receiving out-patient occupational therapy for three hours several times a week and is coming along slowly. She was most grateful for the outpouring of care from their Rotary friends.

David spoke about the need for our club to tap into its resources with assignments for each member in order to keep the club vital. Peter Cotch and Bill Buck will work together with Nomination Committee Chair Peter Caruso to come up with a slate of officers. Expect to see an email with that slate shortly, with vote to be taken on January 30.

Makeups

Kerry Ellen Enright proudly presented the flag from her club visit in her hometown of Bronxville, NY. She was quick to point out that it is not to be confused with the borough of the Bronx! Kerry has also graciously agreed to act as Greeter at our remaining meetings in January and through February. A return of an old tradition!

Raffle

With the new year, the raffle began with the search for the hidden Ace of Hearts. John Colbert received the $10 consolation prize after beating out guest Janice Lamb with his 10 over her 3. The pot rides.

Sergeant-at-Arms

Richard Brenner was determined to fill the bag today. He began by asking everyone to drop in a buck in honor of the safe recovery of all on the downed airplane. Those without pins included the entire "brotherhood" table and a number of others who were duly dunned. Joan gave a buck in honor of Jim Sutton's birthday, whereupon the entire congregated group broke out in a verse of the usual birthday song.

Bill Buck gave celebrated the life of Father Morgan, recently deceased, and for Kerry Ellen having the guts to show up at Palmers after the caroling party wearing her elf costume. Apparently she was allowed to stay despite non-adherence to the dress code (do they have one?).

Peter Cotch also praised the pilot. Matt Gold related a tale about a plane that fell in his neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1962. He also lauded his mother for making a trip to South Africa at the age of 80. Jim Sutton acknowledged his birthday with a fin. Jeannette Isabella gave credit to the flight attendants and the efforts in getting everyone off the plane. Mark Spencer was sorry that the Yankees weren't on the plane!

Marie Stultz had another five for friendship, her children's book about to be published, glad to be here together, and for Bill Buck stepping up to the plate. David Lindsay thanked Bill and Peter Cotch for cooperating, gave thanks to the speaker, for the safety of the airplane passengers, and for not living in Bismarck, ND!

Guest Speaker

Our speaker today was Jeannette Isabella, a life coach who has written a book and who spoke to us about making and keeping our goals for 2009. She said that she works with people one-on-one to help them with their fear of failure and to sort through the issues that may be in the way of their success. She said she is an extra pair of hands to help them see things in a different way.

Jeannette suggested that we begin by getting rid of the clutter in our lives - old clothes, saved greeting cards and magazines, etc. She said that our psychic energy gets drained when we don't get to something that we should do, which makes it more difficult to reach our goals.

She suggested that we take a quiet time to put onto our goals to be accomplished in 2009 on the December 31, 2009 calendars, then refer to them regularly and cross them out as they are accomplished. She said that "someday" comes very quickly, and by referring to the list so that it becomes a part of us it makes it easier to reach those goals.

She suggested making our plan an active one, and breaking it down into steps. She used the airplane landing as a visual example. A man who thought the plane would land safely made a list of things he should have done that he might not have been able to do had the plane crashed. The list empowered him to begin reaching those goals once he was on the ground. The goals should be non-negotiable, but realistic.

Jeannette spoke about her own "ELADGRA" list, which is under three headings: Eliminate; Add; Grateful For. The power in writing things down is that it becomes more tangible and easier to attain.

You will note that this writer took her advice and got right to this edition of the Newsletter, so that all of you will have a written reminder of the steps you need to take to reach your goals! Happy New Year!