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POUGHKEEPSIE-ARLINGTON
ROTARY |
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Poughkeepsie,
New York
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District Interact Advisor's -
March 1, 2005
"2 Cents-Worthy Corner":
LITERACY CONNECTIONS SPELLING
BEE AT MARIST COLLEGE
The Arlington and Poughkeepsie Rotary
Clubs each are
sponsoring a Spelling Bee
Team this year. Arlington
will
sponosor a team of Interactors
from
BOCES New Visions Law
Chapter of INTERACT.
The
Poughkeepsie Rotary Club, in
true Rotary spirit, is sponsoring a team
of ROTARACTORS
from Ridley Lowell Business Institute,
a club started just one year ago in
Poughkeepsie by the
Arlington Rotary. Both teams will compete
for a Literacy fundraising event at
Marist College.
This event is county wide, and hosts many club
sponsors, and many Interact students in
a fun-filled
challenging day. The entrance fee is well over
$200, which both Arlington and
Poughkeepsie gave their
sponsorships generously.
VASSAR COLLEGE INTERN WORKS
WITH ARLINGTON ROTARY
FOR INTERACT & ROTARACT INITIATIVES
In her Sophomore year at Vassar College,
where she is
studying Political Science, Mimi Nikolova, comes
to our lucky student club members from
Bulgaria. She
has been assigned by PDG Betsy Kopstein to work
with District Interact Advisor and
Chairman, both from the
Arlington Rotary Club. Mimi was Vice President
of her Bulgarian Interact Club, and her
major community
service project was working with Village Officials
and local contractors to pave a
handicap-accessible and
protected sidewalk through the unpaved main street
of her village. This involved
working with blueprints,
architect and road designers, and Euro-City Council members
who have very stringent regulations
dealing with altering any
public area. Mimi will be a guest speaker at an
upcoming Arlington Rotary meeting at
Christo's, and is
scheduled for an interview by the Poughkeepsie Journal
for her work with assisting language
professors at Vassar
College, Amnesty International efforts, and especially
her work in furthering INTERACT and
ROTARACT throughout
Dutchess County. Welcome aboard Mimi!
ROTARACT, Ridley Lowell
Chapter, (Arlington
Rotary Sponsor) is planning two major projects in the coming
months.
An "Environmental Symposium" to reduce
the "blighted earth"
along city streets, parks, and playgrounds in order
to foster community awareness about the
choice they have in
making their children a "greener" inner-city. Vassar
College Radio Host, Chri Ruhe, has
offered ROTARACTORS the
opportunity to promote their symposium on his
weekly FM Radio Show, "Planet Blue"
broadcasting every Monday
on 91.3 FM Vassar College Radio Station WVKR.
The 2nd project is already
underway. UNICEF'S "School
in a Box" project will be the focus for ROTARACT members
so that for each $275 they raise, 80
Children in some
school-less area, will be able to learn basic skills utilizing
the
books, calculators, rulers, notepads,
blackboard, ALL IN THE
LANGUAGE OF THEIR NATIVE TONGUE!. To make
the fund-raiser fun, and "inter-active",
the BOCES Interact
Club at the Alternative High School will be making little
red school houses from styrofoam to be
distributed as
collection boxes throughout businesses in the Poughkeepsie
area. All proceeds will go for a
"School in a Box", and
UNICEF will deliver and name ROTARACT as the benefactor.
A win-win-win-win for ROTARY, for
ROTARACT, for
INTERACT, and especially, for some precious young people
somewhere
in this needy world of ours. To
quote a famous
songwriter, "we are the world, we are the children!"
INTERACT AT KID'S EXPO:
Mid Hudson
Civic Center, April 9-11
Once again, the BOCES INTERACT Club in
Dutchess County will
be setting up a booth at the Kid's Expo. Not only
do they volunteer to man the ROTARY
table and hand out tree
seeds to help foster "sowing the seeds of love",
but they are planning an INTERACT UNDER
THE SEA booth where
little shorties (kids) can fish for fish, and win a
prize. The art teachers and art
students at BOCES
Alternative High School will be making the display, the fish,
and the face painting kits.
911 CELL PHONE DRIVE:
Dutchess County
District Attorney and Sheriff's Program
The BOCES NEW VISIONS LAW
CHAPTER OF INTERACT,
has been collecting used cell phones to give to the Sheriff's
Domestic Violence Prevention Program
that programs phones to
only make outgoing 911 calls at moments of apparent
violence towards children and/or
spouses. Bunnee Webb
has been invited to speak to the law students in their class
regarding the Rotary project and mission
to reduce domestic
violence through education, awareness, cell phones, and
counseling. The BOCES
INTERACT CLUB
in the past has collected household items, including toys,
pots, pans,
clothing, and donated them to the GRACE
SMITH HOUSE
in Poughkeepsie, a haven for broken families due to domestic
violence. In addition to PDG
Bunnee's guest appearance,
the DG Elect, Doris Obremski has
accepted an
invitation to
visit the Ridley Lowell ROTARACT Club to
share both her, and
the Rotaract club's mission and hopes for future events.
NEW INTERACT CHAIR FOR DISTRICT
7210- Ed
Lynch, Arlington Rotary, has accepted the role of
District
Chair for Interact
and Rotaract. Ed has been a key
member of the planning
committee to establish ROTARACT in Dutchess County, and will
now share his computer saavy with all
clubs who have, or
would like to have, either an INTERACT or ROTARACT club in
their area. WELCOME AND
THANK YOU Ed! :-) (Ed
was nominated and pleasantly persuaded
to accept
this responsibility
by Doris Obremski, incoming DG)
That's it for the Arlington
Rotary Youth
and Rotaract News.......Roger R., District Interact
Advisor: krisko@HVC.RR.COM
