November 9, 2009

Breakfast with Santa & Mrs. Claus 2009



Rotary Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Sunday December 06, 2009
8 am- 12:00 pm



NEW LOCATION! BEDFORD HIGH SCHOOL

Admission $7.00 at the door
$6.00 in advance at New England Nurseries, Middlesex Savings Bank & more
Free professional keepsake photos!
Again this year: Silent Auction (Gifts, One-of-a-kind Services, Toys, Surprises) Crafts, Face painting, and more

new! raffle

23rd Annual
All proceeds to benefit local programs.
Presented by The Bedford Rotary Foundation. www.RotaryMaBedford.org
Questions? Sponsors Call Christine Pinney, 781-271-0398

Sponsored by the Goddard School, Middlesex Savings & Lowell Devils.
www.bedfordmarotary.org

March 1, 2009

Attention Bedford High School Sophomores

ATTENTION SOPHOMORES


Applications are now being accepted for the
17th Annual District 7910

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference

June 26th through June 28 th, 2009


The Conference is aimed at giving young women and men an opportunity to develop their leadership potential. It will feature many thought-¬provoking events including inter¬active Leadership Labs, exciting guest speakers, and challenging mental and physical activities that will provide you with a chance to excel amongst and with your peers.

If selected, you will live, work and interact together with other students your age in an atmosphere of friendly competition. The program will challenge you to utilize and improve your skills and accept the responsi¬bili¬ties of leadership. Topics will include critical thinking, decision-making and ethics, communi¬cating effectively and public service.

There is no charge to attend RYLA!

But, there is a limit to how many can participate…The Rotary Club of Bedford will be conducting interviews and awarding Conference scholarship(s).

APPLY EARLY! Applications must be submitted before March 29, 2009 to be eligible to attend.

For more information, contact Christine Pinney, 781-271-0398 Christine@ChristinePinneyMarketing.com

Looking for nominees for a Rotary Leadership Conference- Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Christine Pinney,(Club’s RYLA Contact Name)
RYLA Chair, Public Relations Chair (Title)
781-271-0398_(Home Phone)
781-271-0398_(Work Phone)
(509) 271-0396_(Fax Number)

Christine@ChristinePinneyMarketing . com (take out spaces)

http://ryla.rotary7910.org

Rotary offers fantastic Youth Leadership Conference opportunity for high school sophomores

BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS – March 2, 2009 -- The Rotary Club of Bedford is actively searching for qualified candidates to attend this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) Conference! To be held from June 26th through June 28th, 2009 at Worcester State College in Worcester, the 17th Annual RYLA Conference will offer outstanding high school sophomores an opportunity to live, work and interact together in an atmosphere of friendly competition. It will be a program designed to challenge the participants to utilize and improve their skills and accept the responsibilities of leadership. Best of all, there is no charge to the students for the program! The Rotary Club of Bedford will sponsor 4 participants at this year’s conference.

Christine Pinney , local Committee Chairperson, said that participants would be selected from young women and men who have exhibited leadership abilities and who will be entering their Junior year of high school in the fall. The Rotary Club of Bedford is now contacting high school principals, guidance counselors, youth organizations and other sources for nominations of conference participants.

Aimed at developing the leadership potential of young men and women, the conference will feature many thought-provoking events including interactive Leadership Labs, exciting guest speakers, and challenging mental and physical activities that will provide the participants with a chance to excel amongst and with their peers. Topics will include decision-making, critical thinking, communicating effectively, ethics, and public service.

Anyone interested in obtaining further information should visit http://ryla.rotary7910.org/ or contact:
Christine Pinney at 781-271-0398 Christine@ChristinePinneyMarketing.com or any other member of the Rotary Club of Bedford.

Alexia Bililies named Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar

Congratulations to Alexia Bililies ’09 who has been named a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar for 2009-10!

From Bedford, Massachusetts, Alexia was a double major in
  • International Studies and
  • Humanities and Arts, and
  • recently graduated with High Distinction in February 2009
At WPI,
Alexia studied Spanish language and culture at Grenada, Spain, and completed an interdisciplinary project on HIV/AIDS prevention strategies in Windhoek, Namibia. In the fall of 2008, she completed her senior project while working on the People’s Pharmacy Project with Caritas Internationalis in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Alexia has also served as an intern with the Massachusetts Public Health Association in Boston and the Bureau of Prisons Federal Medical Center in Ayer. She was a member of Phi Sigma Sigma, Crimson Key, and the Social and Legal Issues Club and served actively as a volunteer in the Worcester community.

As a Rotary Scholar,
  • Alexia will complete a Masters in Disaster Management at the University of Copenhagen next year.
  • The purpose of the Ambassadorial Scholarships program is to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries and geographical areas.
  • While abroad, scholars serve as goodwill ambassadors to the host country and give presentations about their homelands to Rotary clubs and other groups.
  • Upon returning home, scholars share with Rotarians and others the experiences that led to a greater understanding of their host country.

The Rotary Foundation's Ambassadorial Scholarships program is
currently the world's largest privately funded international scholarships program for university-level studies. Since 1947, nearly 38,000 men and women from about 100 nations have studied abroad under its auspices. Examples of outstanding Rotary alumni include the Bill Moyers, a US journalist; Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees; Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board; Carlos Alberto Da Mota Pinto, former prime minister of Portugal; Otto Borch, Danish ambassador to the US; Helmut Jahn, architect; Chiharu Sakai, Japanese pianist; Kerry Healey, former lieutenant governor of Massachusetts; and Roger Ebert, a popular US film critic.

Congratulations once again to Alexia, who joins Akanksha Sharma ’08, Helena Zec ’06, Christin Reynolds ’04, and Karen Kosinski, ’02 as recent Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars from WPI.


February 16, 2009

We Sent a GSE Team to the Philippines

GSE Team Philippines 2009

Rotary District 7910 is comprised of 54 Rotary Clubs in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area.Every two years we assemble a group study exchange team to send overseas.

A previous team, lead by Bedford Rotarian Kevin Sullivan, spent 6 wks in Egypt.

For 2009 four non-Rotarian professional adults age 25-35 are travelling to the philippines.

This year's team is lead by Concord Rotarian Doug Detweiler.Click the link below to view photos and see their very frequent blog entries.

http://gsephilippines2009.blogspot.com/

February 12, 2009

Honoring a Fellow Rotarian

On February 10th, we honored Nat Brown for his 48 years of service to the Rotary Club of Bedford. We were thrilled to be joined by Nat's wife Judy, his kids Pam, Nat Jr, Ken & Shannon. Also present to share in this special occasion were DG Klaus Hachfeld along with his wife Glenys and DGE Carol Tooomey.

Speech co-authored and given by Susanna Natti & Bob Cassidy

Nat, you've been an active, contributing member of the Rotary Club
of Bedford since 1961. In becoming a Rotarian, you followed the example of your father, Judge John F. Brown, who was one of our club's charter members. You have served on many club committees and are a past president. You have been Rotarian of the Year.

You have made Service Above Self a way of life; your family has a tradition of service to this town, and you have made that manifest in so many ways.

You assisted in transferring the Job Lane House to the Town of Bedford, so that it and its history could be preserved, a vision your mother and Town Historian Louise K. Brown held and made happen. You have served the Town on numerous boards, and, along with your wife Judy, have been active in many community groups, including the Boy Scouts, the Bedford Historical Society, 4H, the American Red Cross, and your church. There are more organizations you have supported with your time, energy,
and donations. We can't list them all.

You and your brothers donated the Cedar Swamp to the town of Bedford and another substantial parcel of land to the Town for conservation and recreation purposes.

You are generous with your space in other ways - you have provided meeting space to a number of town organizations, including our own Board of Directors and Foundation Trustees. We have found that we only need ask; you are always there with a "yes".

Your firm has provided pro bono and discounted services to many Town organizations.

Your generosity and behind-the-scenes work has contributed so much to the town of Bedford but it does not stop at our borders. You have been involved in many worthy
projects. Inspired by a speaker and assessing the substance of a proposed project, you
have helped fund such projects as an ambulance in Nepal and solar panels in Ghana..

Last week, we had speakers from SNAP, the Special Needs Arts Program in Lexington,
which creates opportunities for special needs children and adults to participate in
music and visual arts programs. The speakers hoped for our support.
It was completely characteristic of you that you were the first one up out of your chair
with $50 and a challenge for the rest of us to match that money - which we did, and we even surpassed the match, because there's nothing like a challenge and you so often pave the way.

You have been the cheerleader for our club's fellowship activities, from weekends at the Balsams to trips to the Omni theater to restaurant evenings to Black Tie Dinners. You are someone who likes to have fun, and it's sometimes daunting for the rest of us to keep up with you.

You and your family and New England Nurseries have been extraordinarily generous over the years, whether it is supplying poinsettias for all the tables at Breakfast with Santa, working on our Memorial planting for 9/11 at Springs Brook Park, and many
other projects and events.

Speaking of family, you have been a father that all three of your kids (Pam, Nat and Ken) are proud to call Dad.

You have been a role model as a compassionate and caring person, as a professional (attorney, counselor, nurseryman, or whatever the role of the day) and as a sponsor and leader of good causes. Your 7 grandchildren adore you and you will never be too old to get down on the floor for a piggyback ride or to roast marshmallows by the campfire.

You don't blow your own horn. A lot of what you do is done quietly, behind the scenes. So, we'd like to blow the horn ourselves, and for all these things, we are so honored to have you as a member of our club, and we would like to present you with this Rotary Club of Bedford Distinguished Service Award.

January 27, 2009

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Bedford Blog


We had a great visit today from Dan LeBlanc, Jill Lennon and Ken Masson of the Merrimac Valley Rotary Club who talked about the blog network they're building in our district, Rotary District 7910. The Bedford Club is now on board!

This is our very first blog and as this year's president I'm proud to be the one to give this a try. Our guests today made it sound really easy and I have to admit that it is as advertised. Our goal is to give current updates of what's happening with our club so that we may share all the great work we do and let people know a little bit about us.

The big news today is the completion of a long term, multi-club project in Kenya regarding the contribution of a brand new van for a children's center. The need for a van to transport children and support staff who live at a distance and may otherwise not have access to the services offered at the center has increased considerably since the project first started two years ago. With the help of many Rotarians not the least by our very own Ralph Hammond, this project has been seen through until completion... Congratulations!!!

Words from Rotarian Marco Pruiksma, of the Naivasha Rotary Club in Kenya. Today I went with some of the board members of the Compass School to the factory where the bus is being build up. The board members had to choose the design and color of the interior and the exterior. It turned out to be a long meeting but it was fun. What I can tell you is that the staff and children of the Compass School are really excited! (just to confirm: these are the same people and the same kids from the former Kimuri School).

From our viewpoint in Bedford, this is what Rotary and the Rotary Foundation is all about. Having an impact, especially for the teachers and students, to demonstrate that there are people that live in other parts of this world that we truly really do care about them. It is an honor to report that the Rotarians here in the USA are just as excited about this project as those in Kenya.

Rotary Clubs (District): Bedford (7910), Littleton (7910), Cambridge (7930), Belmont (7930), Stoneham (7930), Middleboro (7950), and in Kenya, Naivasha (9200). We will put the names of the clubs on the bus together with the Rotary logo.

January 23, 2009

Gift of Life NE - Urgent Need

THIS IS URGENT ! Please consider how you can help. This is an excellent program, with many children saved by our district Rotarians. Ted Shaughnessy (see below) can give you contacts for clubs and Rotarians who have had this excellent experience.

DG Klaus

Host needed to save life of 3.5 year old Jaada from BelizeGift of Life NE needs a host family/club for 3.5 year old Jaada and her mom from Belize who are coming here for life saving open heart surgery on March 2.

Belize is English speaking. Surgery is March 2 at MA General Hospital in Boston and pre-op is Feb 25. Jaada and mom will both stay in the hospital from March 2-9 or so . Then go back for a follow up a week later another follow up a week latter and possibly ( not common) a third follow up another week later. So they will be with the host from about Feb 24 - March 2 and back around March 9 through late March. Hosting can be shared with others too.Please consider opening your heart and home so Jaada can measure her life span in decades rather than days. This will be a life altering experience for the hosts too.YOU can make a difference. Yes you can. Gift of Life NE is a project of Rotary District 7910. See our website www.golne.org Other kids will be coming later too so be sure to contact Ted if you will consider hosting at any time.

Contact Ted Shaughnessy, for more information or to discuss hosting.Email: tedshaughnessy@golne.org617-957-3461 cell781-449-4876h781-449-2320w