At the District Foundation Dinner, The Rotary Club of Bedford was represented by Al Rosco, Diane Ryan, Ralph Hammond, Paula Gilarde, Jim Harrill, Sze-Wen Kuo, and Victor Tom. There were 160 attendees for this event, a much larger attendance than in recent years. Among the speakers were DG Joyce Graff, Celeste Herbert (The Rotary Foundation Regional Major Gifts Officer), Bill Gates (virtually), and Chelsea Minkler (Gates Foundation). Bedford’s multi-club multi-district Hope for the Hungry meal-packing program was mentioned early on, and the Bedford Rotarians were recognized for being Paul Harris Fellows and Major Donors.
Rotary Club of Bedford’s Global Grant proposal (GG2458065 Rainwater Catchment Tanks for Schools in Kambiri, Kenya) continues to make major progress recently. In the last two weeks: 1) the District 9212 leadership has approved the project; 2) District Rotary Foundation Chair Protus Lumiti authorized the GG application; 3) GG2458065 was submitted to The Rotary Foundation for review; 4) The Rotary Foundation has rapidly reviewed the proposal and sent the GG team a list of clarification questions; and the Kenya GG team (representatives of RC Maseno, RC Kakamega, Maseno University Rotaract Club and Friendly Waters for the World met in Kambiri to see first-hand examples of a recently constructed water tank, an interlocking brink wall and manufactured soap.
On November 18 the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life hosted Bedford Rotarians at a private screening of Defining Moments: The Leadership of Quiet Revolutionary Frances Hesselbein. The film chronicles the life of Hesselbein, former CEO of Girl Scouts USA and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and her remarkable career of public service. Rotarian Diane Ryan moderated a Q&A with producer Sarah McArthur following the film. To learn more about Frances Hesselbein’s inspiring legacy visit https://www.hesselbeinforum.pitt.edu/about-us/memory-frances-hesselbein
Please help us with staffing volunteers for Winter Community Breakfast happening on December 8 at Bedford High School.
As in years past this is an ALL-HANDS event with much help needed both for set-up, execution and clean up. Here is the INTERNAL sign-up link for Club members and their immediate family members (e.g. spouses).
And here is the EXTERNAL sign-up link for student and community volunteers. If you have neighbors, friends or acquaintances interested in helping and/or receiving community service hours, please share this link with them.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE SIGN UP BY NOVEMBER 27.
Community Service Opportunity at Winter Community Breakfast December 8
The generosity of the Bedford community highlighted the Rotary Club of Bedford’s “Election Collection” during voting Tuesday. Donations of an estimated $2,000 worth of personal care items were collected for the Middlesex Community College food pantries in Bedford and Lowell. It was the club’s third election-day collection in support of MCC.
The Bedford Rotary was thrilled to participate in the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Trunk or Treat on October 25th. Rotarians dressed in festive December Holiday attire handed out candy and toys while promoting the upcoming Rotary Foundation Winter Breakfast Fundraiser be held on Sunday December 8. Even Santa dropped by on his way up to the North Pole to hand out candy canes to all the little witches, wizards, and a couple hundred other creepy and not-so-creepy characters!
On Saturday, October 26th, Habitat for Humanity had a Women's Build Day at their latest project in Westford. Lita Verrier, Sze-Wen Kuo and Judi Babcock participated in this build project on behalf of the club. Other women who participated were from Reeds Ferry and other organizations. The building is a 200-year-old barn that is being converted to a single-family home. It is in its early stages so a lot of work needed to be done on the foundation which consists of rocks. The ceiling is being held up by temporary tee-pee like wood beams which will be replaced by lally columns made of steel. Some of the women were tasked with welding lally columns to metal plates in anticipation of removing the temporary structures. Lita, Sze-Wen and Judi were on the "concrete team" and tasked with first cleaning the stone foundation and pulling out loose rocks and then concrete had to be mixed to the correct consistency in small batches so it would not dry to fast. Spatulas were used to fill in cracks and holes. The last step for day was adding a slurry mix by large paint brush. Slurry is a watered-down version of concrete more like the consistency of paint. The women were provided pink hard hats, respirator masks and gloves. It was a very fulfilling day of actually participating in the building of this home.
Fellow Rotarians and friends, we’re gearing up for the Rotary Club of Bedford’s 2025 Winter Community Breakfast on December 8, and we need your support in securing sponsors! This event will unite families, friends, and community members, giving sponsors a unique platform to connect with local residents. By sponsoring, businesses can enjoy significant visibility while supporting our foundation's impactful initiatives.
Your networks and local connections are invaluable. Let’s work together to reach out to potential sponsors and showcase how they can make a difference. For sponsorship details, visit our sponsor page. Contact Lita Verrier at 781.775.8892 or email: bedfordrotarywinterbreakfast@gmail.com
Help Us Make the 2025 Winter Community Breakfast a Success – Sponsor Outreach Needed!
The Rotary Club of Bedford recently celebrated an inspiring moment in its ongoing mission to foster peace and goodwill by recognizing dedicated members with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow designation. Past District Governor Ralph Hammond took the stage to honor two club members, Al Roscoe and Diane Ryan, for their contributions to The Rotary Foundation and their steadfast service to the Rotary Club of Bedford.
The Paul Harris Fellow recognition, named in honor of Rotary International's founder, Paul Harris, is bestowed upon individuals whose support for The Rotary Foundation aids in advancing humanitarian efforts worldwide. Since Rotary’s inception in 1905, this recognition has become a symbol of commitment to improving lives, promoting peace, and fostering global goodwill.
It is a common occurrence for people to become obsessed and passionate over a tragic event when it occurs. People want to feel they can make a statement, a lasting impression about the event. Their obsession continues for a period of time after the event is over, Having said that, as time goes by and the weeks turn into months and even into years their obsession and passion wains. It becomes somehow not as important until eventually completely goes away. That is the case with many of our feelings towards the horrific events which took place on September 11, 2001. Our lives were all impacted and changed that day. Our own Bedford Rotary club was among the hundreds of thousands that wanted to make a lasting remembrance, so President Peter Cogan appointed Bob Mead to lead a committee to design and construct a memorial at Spring Brooks Park.
Continuing our long-standing support of Middlesex Community College’s food pantries, we will be holding an “Election Collection” of personal care items from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. outside the polling place entrance at the John Glenn Middle School on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.
If you are participating in early voting, a collection bin for the personal care items will be available inside Town Hall starting Monday until Friday at 1pm.
We also need people to sign up for booth duty for the collection during Election Day. Sign up here.
I appreciate your concern and prayers as communities across Zones 33 and 34 try to survive the next few days before starting the long recovery following Hurricane Helene.
We have established a fund where those who would like to assist recovery efforts by making a donation can do so via online payment, mailed check, or wire transfer. Information to make a donation is at https://www.rizones33-34.org/disaster-relief/. I have also attached a QR code. That code will take folks to the same web page. Our zones’ organization is a 501(c)(3), so donations are generally tax deductible, although Beth would be very upset if I didn’t add the caveat that donors should check with their tax advisors
There are lots of volunteering opportunities in the coming months! The next few are:
Cleanup Party at Our 9/11 Memorial Park. On Saturday, October 12th, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m we'll be raking and piling the debris from cutting down weeds and vines around the area's perimeter. It's suggested that you bring gloves and a rake (if you can). Jackets, hats, and insect repellent are your choice.
I’m sure you have heard the expression “Rotary is what you make it.” well let me tell you; It’s true and I’m living proof of it. There have been millions and millions of Rotarians since 1905 and about 1,400,000 more today. They have one thing in common; their Rotary stories are all different. Some are short and sweet and others long and involved. But most are only meaningful to the individual Rotarian they happened to. Others are well-known and even world-famous. I got to thinking about that, a lot! I know it’s true but how do I convince today’s Rotarians that it’s true? The only thing I could think of is to write about the one Rotary story I really know; my own. But who would let me ramble on about my experiences? And then it happened, our current newsletter editor approached me and asked me if I would like to write a column for our newsletter. I could give it whatever title I wanted and select whatever subject matter that interested me. Wow … talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth! And almost without thinking, I said I would. What you are reading is Part 1 of several about “One man’s Journey Through Rotary” – “My” Journey Through Rotary.
We are just a few weeks out from our annual Bedford Day food booth fundraiser. Bedford Day is Saturday, September 21st this year. Similar to last year, we'll be selling pizza from 10am - 2pm and we need YOUR help to be successful.
There are plenty of opportunities ranging from 1-2 hours, so even if you can only stay for a short time, hopefully there's something that works for everyone. The underlined links below take you to the Sign Up Genius page with available slots.
If you are able to help with set up, tear down, selling pizza or picking up food and supplies, please sign up for the Food booth.
If you would prefer to spend your time sharing the virtues of joining or supporting our club, please sign up for the Information booth.
Please sign up by September 15 so we have enough time to fill any gaps we might have.
Congratulations to us! We were notified by Rotary International that our club has earned the Rotary Citation, the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve, for 2023-24. This past year, our club demonstrated a commitment to achieving its goals, which ultimately helps strengthen Rotary and shape our future.
Melinda Gladden, a long-time former member, has returned to the Rotary Club of Bedford.
After a four-year absence, Melinda returned to being a Bedford Rotarian at the club’s monthly First Tuesday Meeting. August’s evening semi-social, semi-business get-together of members and guests was at The Great Wall restaurant in Bedford.
Rotary 2024-25 Club Co-Presidents Al Roscoe and Ralph Hammond officiated Melinda’s induction as an audience of 17 attending club members looked on.
Our story starts on April 19, 1775 with the battle of Concord. And meanders through the centuries until July 23, 2024.
Following the battle of Concord (also known as the Battle of the Old North Bridge), not much was done to commemorate the battle until 1825 when $500 was appropriated as a commission to commemorate it. Danial Chester French, who lived in Concord, wound up with the commission and after numerous and confusing changes the final monument was unveiled in 1875. The statue itself is constructed of bronze (it was originally supposed to be stone but the Federal Government gave the town 10 Civil War Cannons – rumor has it they may have been Confederate cannons – because the town of Concord could not afford to buy the bronze to make the statues casting and the monument was completed.
Friday morning (July 28th) a band of weed warriors took to the pollinator garden to clean up the area and to remove any plants that were growing where they weren't supposed to be. Weeding is pretty straightforward as we have flags placed wherever a plant is supposed to be. This handy method allowed even the most novice gardeners to feel confident in what they were doing!
We did notice a few plants that had been nibbled (a lot) by animals, most likely deer and we will probably have to figure out a way to protect them in future years when they start growing. The entire clean-up took just over 30 minutes. A big thank you to our weeders - Judi, Ralph, Joe, Christine P, Tom, and Paula.
With the end of the 2023-24 Rotary year comes the completion of the 2023-2024 Bedford Rotary Foundation Grant Cycle. The Board of Trustees received many worthwhile applications for funding and is pleased to announce the following list of recipients:
The District 7910 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) took place at Fitchburg State University from June 21-23. Our club was well represented by ten talented sophomores from Bedford High School, as well as two returning participants from last year's cohort who served as Group Facilitators. Despite the hot and rainy weather, RYLAns honed their leadership skills and created lasting bonds thanks to the expert planning and guidance of District RYLA Coordinator Christine Pinney. Engaging 200 teens year after year is a huge effort that Christine makes look easy! Many Bedford Rotarians volunteered over the course of the weekend to include Tom Pinney, Katie Pinney, Presidents Al & Ralph, Victor Tom, Sze-Wen Kuo, Dawn Kociubes, Diane Ryan, and Karen Sun. We are grateful to everyone who helped support this transformational event, making it the BEST RYLA EVER!
The Rotary Club of Bedford is thrilled to announce the Bedford High School Class of 2024 Scholarship Recipients Cameron Comeau and Brenna Portlock! Your hard work, dedication, and community spirit have truly shone through, and we are proud to support your academic journeys. Here’s to new beginnings and endless possibilities!
Last week we welcomed some of our scholarship recipients, Abhigna Reddy, BHS Class of 2023, recipient of the Rayford Williams 4-year scholarship and Cameron Comeau, BHS class of 2024 who was awarded the Philip McGovern scholarship this year. It was great to learn about their accomplishments and plans for the future!
The club meeting for Tuesday, June 19th has been canceled due to the extreme heat anticipated. There is no air conditioning in First Church (our regular meeting location) so in the interests of keeping everyone safe, we are rescheduling our speaker Chet Harding, from the Chamber of Commerce, to another time. Stay tuned for updates!
The Rotary Club of Bedford proudly announces its welcome of two new members to its ranks.
In the June 4th ceremonies during the club’s year-end transitional gathering at the home of Co-President Al Roscoe and his wife and Rotarian Diane Ryan, Bedford residents Lita Verrier and Pamela Brown Esq. were inducted into membership.
Alongside Al Roscoe, Co-President Ralph Hammond officiated the inductions. They were joined by Rotarian Paula Gilarde, Lita’s club sponsor.
The Rotary Year for Rotary International and Clubs worldwide is July 1st to June 30th. Thus, the Rotary Club of Bedford is rapidly approaching the end of its 2023-24 year and looking forward to 2024-25.
The annual transitional gathering of members on Tuesday evening not only inducted two new members but also celebrated the successes of the past year and recognized the changing member makeup of club boards.
Under the Co-President leadership of Al Roscoe and Ralph Hammond, Bedford Rotary prospered as a strong, cohesive club throughout the past year, as Al leadership matured under Ralph’s mentoring. Ordinarily, they would pass the gavel to new officers for next year. Instead, we are fortunate that they agreed to carry on and continue guiding the club for a second year.
At Bedford’s Bike Safety Day on Saturday, dozens of young cyclists received free, carefully fitted, brand-new bike helmets. They then field-tested them by negotiating a Bedford Police-designed bike skills and safety mini slalom course. It all happened in just a couple of hours at the Mudge Way parking lot across from the Police Station.
Carrying on the Rotary Club of Bedford’s 40-year legacy of participation in promoting bike helmet safety for the young people of Bedford, Rotarian Arzu LeBlanc took the lead and collaboratively coordinated this year’s Bike Safety Day participation by Bedford Police Department Sergeant Robert Abajian and Officer Justin Brooks, Bedford Recreation Department Assistant Director Nikki Taylor, Jane Kiegel, her colleague at The Residence at Bedford, along with Rotary Club of Bedford Co-Presidents Al Roscoe and Ralph Hammond, and Rotary volunteers Judi Babcock, Paula Gilarde, Lita Verrier and Marc Hamilton.
Despite the rain, we held a successful Rotary Day of Service on Saturday (May 18th) at our native pollinator preservation garden in Page Field. The hardy group that came out helped weed (and there were lots!) and mulch the area.
We were not sure if everything survived the winter but a number of plants did and seem to be thriving. Keep an eye on the garden to see what else will pop up! The good news is that we will have a planting day in the fall to expand the garden. We'll also need help with weeding during the summer so stay tuned for those days.
Shout out to club members Judi, Pam, Marc, Ralph, Katie, Debi and Paula for all their work and a big thank you to our new friends Jane and Al, Renee and Freddie whose help was invaluable!
The Rotary Club of Bedford was recognized for their marketing excellence, winning the Gold Award in the Exemplary Public Image Presencecategory in the 2024 District 7910 Public Image Awards program.
"The Rotary District 7910 Public Image Awards program," according to District Governor Elliott Rittenberg, "was a great way for us to learn great ways to promote all the good work of our Rotary Clubs and their members. The Rotary Club of Bedford earned this award, and now our other Clubs will have a chance to learn from them."
MEALS packaged, boxed, and destined to provide real Hope for the Hungry throughout dozens of local cities and towns.
That’s the result of the months of Bedford and Concord Rotary Clubs’ Hope for the Hungry project planning. It all culminated on the morning of Saturday, April 27th, when 160 volunteers gathered at the Bedford campus of Middlesex Community College and put together more than 6,700 six-meal packages in only two hours. To put that in a bit more context, that’s almost 60 packages or almost 340 meals per minute.
On Saturday, May 18, 2024, more than 800 Rotary clubs and 30,000 Rotarians across 10 states and 7 countries, will volunteer in their communities for an unprecedented Rotary Day of Service, collecting clothes for homeless, refurbishing parks, and, much, much more. The Rotary Club of Bedford will be participating by holding a garden work day at the Native Pollination Preservation garden at Page Field.
Help us weed and plant and mulch the garden beds. Learn the value of the plants chosen for this garden to help our native butterflies and bees. Come for as long as you’re available. Wear a hat, gloves sunscreen and insect repellant. Bring water to drink and any hand garden tools you can. Be prepared to have fun!
The Rotary Day of Service isn’t just for Rotarians. The projects welcome anyone who wants to “Get Behind the Wheel” and give back to their own communities. Those interested can simply visit: https://bedfordmarotary.org/event/rotary-day-of-service/
Get ready for the Rotary Day of Service, May 18th!
It all started 11 years ago, back on April 25th 2013, Global Pay It Forward Day. The Rotary Club of Bedford’s first “Pay It Forward Day”, a day for random acts of kindness, culminated with a meal packaging event in partnership with Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief agency founded in 1998. 14,904 meals bound for schools and orphanages in Haiti and Zambia were packaged in just two hours by a diverse army of volunteers in the gymnasium of the John Glenn Middle School. The club spent months working with our local school department to get all grades involved with the program and ended with over 200 signed up to help!
The end of this 2023-2024 Rotary Year is approaching. The year’s Presidential theme, CREATE HOPE in the WORLD, set by Rotary International President Gordon R. McInally will soon be celebrated by Rotarians SHARING HOPE WITHTHE WORLD at the 2024 RotaryInternational Convention.
“We must refocus our efforts to build peace across the globe,” he said. “And we must help each other find peace within – and share that ethic of care to the people we serve.”
It’s a message that has driven this year’s Rotary goal of bringing hope to those affected by mental health challenges.
The Bedford TV Interact Club being formed by our student directors, Swetha Kaundinya and Sachi Regmi will be holding elections at the next Wednesday meeting. Nomination of the President, Secretary, and Treasurer will take place and a voting will be held.
The officers must be age 12 or older. Assistant presidents, secretary, and treasurer may be any age. All members grade 3 through 8 are encouraged to consider a leadership position and encourage a fellow member to make an appropriate nomination. Elections will take place by secret ballot.
Whether you're a part-time student, a stay-at-home parent, or someone aiming to enhance their education, career, entrepreneurial pursuits, or community involvement, Rotary offers unparalleled training and learning avenues. Within Rotary, you'll find abundant opportunities to hone leadership and motivational skills. These opportunities manifest through a variety of local, national, and international projects dedicated to serving communities meaningfully. Engaging with Rotary also means collaborating with esteemed professionals and world leaders across diverse fields, further enriching your growth journey.
On April 27th, after a five-year absence, the Rotary Club of Bedford will reunite with Middlesex Community College for the club’s 9th annual meal-packing effort to feed hungry people around the world. The college last partnered with the club and hosted the meal-packing at its Bedford campus in 2019. This year, the story of the Food Pantry program at Middlesex Community College brings a new dimension to the partnership.
The CBS Evening News (2/19/24) reported that a decade ago, there were just 80 college food pantries, and today, there are upwards of 800 on campuses across the nation. Without them, it was said, the struggle with the costs of basic needs affects students’ academic performance and mental health. - MCC operates a Food Pantry on both its Lowell and Bedford campuses.
It has also been reported that nearly 4 million U.S. college students are raising children while getting a degree and that more than a third of those students attend community colleges. - Middlesex Community College is one such college.
IT’S NOT TOO LATE!… To give hope to the many people in our own communities whose lives are an ongoing struggle to cope with food insecurity. It could be an older person who lives down the street or a married couple with children. You probably won’t know because they often hide the fact that rent, heat, electricity, or medical costs leave them wondering how they’ll get food.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE... To DONATE! to Hope for the Hungry, the April 27th meal-packing event organized by the Rotary Clubs of Bedford and Concord. The money you donate makes this effort possible. Our project partner, Meals of Hope, provides the ingredients for the meals we’ll pack. A $50 donation provides meals for more than 150 people. But any denomination will help too!
IT'S NOT TOO LATE… To VOLUNTEER! In Rotary we say, “Feel Goodby Doing Good” and you can Do Good by participating in the meal packing. In just a couple of hours, on Saturday morning, April 27th, at Middlesex Community College we aim to pack 50,000 meals. We want volunteers who want to “do good” while having fun as packing team members or being part of our packing supply crew. We guarantee you’ll Feel Good afterward.
We are collecting personal care items for the Food Pantries on the Bedford and Lowell Campuses of Middlesex Community College. Students and staff that are in need of deodorant, body and face wash, shampoo and conditioner, shaving cream and razors, toothpaste and brushes, mouthwash, dental floss, hair brushes, q-tips, cotton balls, tissues, feminine hygiene products, laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap, hand sanitizer, paper towels, diapers and wipes, and toilet paper. Click this Link and share information with friends.https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3RWWYFETVBM0D?ref_=wl_share
For sure Nathanial (Nat) K. Brown was a different man to many people. He started off as a son to John Fremont Brown and Louise Kirkegaard Brown. Husband to the late Judith Rae (Behringer) Brown, father to Pamela J. Brown and her long-time partner Monther Mardini, Nathaniel K. Brown, Jr. and fiancé Jayne Schmitz, and Kenneth E. Brown and wife Shannon, all of Bedford. He was also a significant other to the newest (and also one of the oldest) loves of his life Joan (Joanie) Birmingham a lady from Bedford he first dated when he was a teenager. Nat was also a grandfather to Amanda Brown, Alyssa Brown, Nathaniel Brown III, Mia Brown, Soren Brown, Jimmy McGinn and Kyle McGinn.
Tuesday, April 2nd - Ken’s N.Y. Deli & Pizzeria will be generously hosting a fundraiser to support Bedford Rotary’s Hope for the Hungry meal packaging effort aimed at addressing food insecurity locally. Ken’s, located at 72 The Great Road in Bedford, is donating 10% of all proceeds from 4:00 – 9:00 p.m., eat-in and take-out, to this year’s packaging project.
Plan that evening’s dinner at Ken’s. Bring the family and friends. Order take-out. You’ll be supporting Rotary, helping the hungry and food insecure who struggle to feed themselves and their families, and you’ll be supporting a worthy local business.
Saturday, April 27th – at its Bedford campus from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00, Middlesex Community College hosts the Hope for the Hungry meal packaging event. And, with the event just two months away, Bedford Rotary’s event team is ramping up the necessary planning and preparations. Read on to learn how you can get involved by donating or volunteering.
We are about 2/3 through our fiscal year and we have distributed about 2/3 of our annual giving budget! If you know of a community organization who is fundraising or in need of support, please encourage them to fill out an application for a grant through our foundation. The application is attached to this email and can also be downloaded from the side menu on our website https://bedfordmarotary.org/sitepage/bedford-rotary-foundation. Grant recipients so far this year include:
Bedford TV
Eagle Scout Project- Alex Mattson
Child Welfare and Development Project in Sierra Leone
The Rotary Club of Concord in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Bedford is spearheading a donation drive for personal care items for Open Table. Personal care items are not covered by SNAP/food support programs. Donations will help reduce the cost of Open Table purchasing these items for the individuals and families they serve. The following items are being collected:
Arzu Was inducted by Sponsor Christine Pinney and Co-President Ralph Hammond at our weekly meeting on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
Arzu is the Executive Director of The Residence at Bedford, the new senior living community located on South Road in Bedford, scheduled to open this summer. In Arzu's decade of experience in the senior living industry before landing in Bedford, she has been an award-winning Executive leader in Lexington, Chelmsford, and Acton. Born and raised in Turkey, Arzu moved to the United States about 22 years ago.
Arzu is already well-known to many club members for her visits to weekly club meetings and sponsorship support of the Winter Community Breakfast. Please join me in welcoming her to the Club and becoming a Rotarian.
Taco Tuesday, 1/30/24.There were no militia, revolutionary or otherwise, gathered at nearby Lexington’s Revolution Hall on Tuesday evening. Rather, a mildly boisterous band of Bedford Rotarians gathered there for the revolutionary first-ever evening weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Bedford.
The about-face from the traditional midday meeting, initiated by member Paula Gilarde, was an experiment to see if an atypical evening option would bring together many club members who can’t get to the regular meeting in person or virtually because of work, family, or other reasons.
Food Insecurity – It’s more than someone feeling hungry. It’s the struggle that up to one-third of Massachusetts residents face when they don’t know how they’ll get their next meal or how they’ll feed their family. It’s a struggle between choosing food or paying the costs of housing, utilities, medical care, transportation, or other necessities.
The Bedford and Concord Rotary Clubs and Meals of Hope want to make that choice easier. With the financial support of sponsors and individuals and the physical support of volunteer packagers, the thousands of packaged meals that will be put together on Saturday, April 27th, will be given, free, to local food banks and food pantries in our area.
As many of you know, each year, our Club sponsors up to 10 high potential student leaders to participate in a transformational 3-day leadership workshop called RYLA - the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.
Please share this information and encourage talented sophomores you know to apply and attend.
This year's RYLA will again be in person at Fitchburg State June 21-23.
The 2024 RYLA Application is now live at this link. The application deadline is February 18th. Please contact Dr. Diane Ryan with any questions.
We are delighted to announce that the Bedford Cultural Council approved funding for Plant Labels for the Rotary Native Pollination Preservation Garden! The goals of the garden are to increase native pollinator habitat, and to educate the public about the importance of native pollination systems. Labeling the plants in a clear, legible, water-proof way will help people learn what plants are being used in the garden. Plants will be labeled with their common name and their latin names. Hopefully this will encourage more people to grow their own native plants. There will be another update in the spring when the ground thaws enough to put the markers in the ground!
We received a grant from the Bedford Cultural Council!
The Rotary Clubs of Bedford and Concord have their sights set on Saturday, April 27th. That’s this year’s date for the clubs’ next meal packaging effort aimed at addressing food insecurity locally and beyond.
This year, we’re partnered with Meals of Hope, a nonprofit organization 501(c)(3) that is committed to bringing people together to fight the hunger epidemic. Originating in Southwest Florida, and now with its New England base in Chelmsford, Meals of Hope has packed more than 80 million meals that have been donated to communities across the country and in countries worldwide.
Also, this year, we’re grateful to Middlesex Community College for welcoming us back to their campus, where many of our pre-pandemic meal packaging events were held. In their Campus Center cafeteria, packaging teams of more than 100 volunteer packagers will devote two hours on Saturday, April 27th, to preparing up to 50,000 meals.
Planning is underway, and there will be more to tell, so keep an eye on this website.
Way back in September, while the Brits were visiting District 7910 with the Bandey-Hefler Fellowship Exchange, the club hosted a sushi social at the club. It was a fun evening, enjoyed by a great number of Rotarians, family and friends!
In lieu of a room rental charge, the First Church requested that we make a donation to the Migrant families. Our intrepid social organizer, Christine Pinney reported that she made a donation of $240 to the Town of Bedford/Health Department earmarked for the migrant families housed at the Plaza Hotel.
Thanks to everyone who attended, and contributed. And a very special thank you to the organizers of the social, especially the fearless leader, Christine Pinney!
The Bedford Club’s very first meeting of the Interact Club of Bedford TV took place this past December 20th.
Now in grade 11 and a recent graduate of Christine Pinney’s RYLA program, Swetha Kaundinya, inspired to become a leader, set to work with the goal to establish an interact club in Bedford for middle school students. By integrating a junior Interact club concept, Bedford TV became the ideal setting for such an organization to prevail.
Under the leadership of Swetha, assisted by her assistant director Sachi Regmi, both of them BHS Interact Club members, that meeting of ten students: two in grade 8, four in grade 7, two in 5 and two in grade 4 went amazingly well. Lots of creative ideas suggested. The first goal for Swetha was to find 5 students who would be interested in starting an Interact club. With promotional information and sharing with students at Bedford TV, starting off with 10 students became an important first step.
We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who supported the Winter Community Breakfast on Deeember 10th, 2023. An extra special thanks to our sponsors: The Debbie Spencer Group, our platinum sponsor who sponsored a winter-themed photo booth, and Middlesex Savings Bank (gold level) who sponsored the ever-adorable photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Not to forget our Silver sponsors who all had activity tables at the event: Bedford Family Lawyer, Chestnut Dental, Mimi & Diane of Barrett Sothbys and the Residence at Bedford.
Of course we can't forget our community partners and volunteers who were crucial to the success of the event - shout out to BFC, BEST, Parents Diversity Council, POMS, the Rotary Club of Concord and the many, many volunteers, Interactors and otherwise.
Finally, a special thank you to our community who attended the event - we hope you all had an amazing time! Read more about the event in The Bedford Citizen
We started this tradition during the pandemic and it's proven to one of our most popular events - who doesn't need a light at night time? MassBike provided lights to give to cyclists and the Bedford Rotary Foundation funded even more lights that we gave away to cyclists, pedestrians and even a few dogs! We set up a little before 4:30pm in preparation for the tree lighting at 5pm and the lights were all gone by 4:45! We gave away about 200 lights!
8th grade Bedford TV Interact Club member Taevy Malone wrote her first article for the Bedford Citizen just prior to her entering grade 5. This was the beginning of Covid and to assist her with the writing Molly Gilarde entering grade 12 offered to mentor Taevy. That article was on the project clearing Fawn Lake that was taking place at that time. This was the first focus on student writing development to take place. Taevy’s article was formally published. Since then Taevy has written two more news items of which one other has been published. Molly also wrote an article for the Bedford Citizen on the Bedford High JROTC Program. When emerging writers are mentored by older students powerful writing skills quickly begin to develop.
2023 RYLA graduate Swetha Kaundinya now in grade 11, member of the BHS Interact Club also a mentor at Bedford TV motivated by RYLA indicated she would like to start an Interact Club in the Middle School. So as to include more students, we went with Bedford TV a community based Interact Club. That will automatically make both Lane and Middle School student eligible to be officially members of that club.
Bedford Rotary had a table at Trunk or Treat on October 25th and gave out over 300 pieces of candy and over 200 packets of milkweed seeds to attract monarch butterflies!
Finally, the fruits of our winter sow made it into the ground. We first spent some time weeding the area we had prepared last fall. Then, on 9/30, we set up a grid using wood, inspired by a trip to the Chelmsford Pollination Preservation Garden. Each plant species was planted in a 3'x3' square, although we expanded the area for some plants so we could have even more - those plants were in 3'x6' rectangles.
We used a flag system to mark where each plant was to go, each plant species was identified by a different number, so when the plants grow in the spring, we will know whether it's a weed or the plant we want!
Join us as we work on our Native Pollination Preservation Garden! There will be two work days in September. The first one will be weeding around the area, and preparing to plant. It will be on Friday, September 17th at 1pm. This was rescheduled due to an impending storm! Sign up to help out here.
The second one is will be held on Saturday, September 30th, where we will be planting what we grew in our Winter Sow project! Sign up for that here.
Join us for a special presentation on June6 directly from the Rotary International Convention! Bob Anthony will speak on the new mental health initiative in the Reed Room in Town Hall. Please register in advance: https://bit.ly/3MGo2yt
On May 16th we were joined by Alison Field-Juma who spoke about the Concord River and the Talbot Mills Dam. Alison Field-Juma is the Executive Director of OARS, a non-profit located in Concord founded in 1986. OARS works to restore and protect the health of the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers for all people and wildlife using science-based advocacy, education and recreation. OARS increases awareness of the value of these three rivers, grows public engagement in their stewardship, and works to build long-term sustainable use of water resources through science-based advocacy. OARS is the Project Manager for the dam removal project.
Thank you to everyone that volunteered at our Meals for Kids meal packaging event on Saturday! Over 120 members of our community worked together to package 20,000 meals with Rise Against Hunger! We were lucky to have members of the Lexington Rotary Club, Concord Rotary Club, Bedford Interact Club, Lexington Interact Club, Concord/Carlisle Interact Club, Carlisle Interact Club, and District 7910 serve as wonderful ambassadors, exemplifying what it means to be a Rotarian. This event would not have been possible without the partnership offered by Sharon Spaulding (Concord Club) and Spencer Betts and Allan Azoff (Lexington Club). Thank you to the Knights of Columbus in Lexington for an awesome venue! Photos to come!
On February 25th, 16 of us gathered in Bob Cassidy's garage fr a winter sow for our Pollinator Garden. Great! So what is a winter sow anyway? Here is what Webster has to say about it. Winter sowing is an outdoor method of starting seeds and it requires plastic containers like milk or juice cartons), soil, seeds and Mother Nature. By growing your own plants from seeds, you can several hundreds of dollars each each year.
We were delighted to co-host a pollinator conversation on Tuesday, January 24th. The event was designed to educate the public on Dr. Gegear's and the Native Pollinator Task Force's work (and the work here in Bedford by our club) in hopes to inspire more interest, leading to more pollinator preservation gardens. Sam Cobin, the Conservation Coordinator with Sudbury Valley Trustees, and a member of the Native Pollinator Task Force presented an introduction to Dr Gegear's work followed by a presentation by Paula Gilarde on the Rotary Club of Bedford's plans for a local pollinator garden.
Long-time club member, Bob Cassidy got in touch with former club member Larry Carlton when we had some historical questions about the scholarships our club awards. He said "I joined the Club in 1975. There was some history of giving scholarships when I joined, but it was haphazard and there was no consistency. At that time scholarships were given by the Club with differing amounts and numbers given from year to year.
Around 1980 or so we put together a small committee of Peter Corea, me and one other (I don't remember who). We decided to make the scholarship more valuable by making it a four year award provided the student remained in school and remained in good standing. At that time we had the president and four deans from Middlesex CC as members of the Club and decided to make an annual award to a Bedford student attending MCC. After discussion with the MCC members it was decided a $500 "Book Award" would be appropriate. At that time I wrote up the criteria for the scholarships that was accepted by the Club's Board. To the best of my knowledge they are still in use.
Our 34th annual holiday breakfast fundraiser was a SUCCESS! TheRotary Club of Bedford's Winter Community Breakfast brought together over 300 community members- families, students, volunteers, local business owners, and even Santa and Mrs. Claus! Here is our article about the event in the Bedford Citizen!
The Winter Community Breakfast was supported in part by a grant from the Bedford Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Thank you, BCC!
Last Saturday, the Rotary Club of Bedford distributed safety lights at the town tree lighting. This was done in partnership with MassBike. They provided around 60 bike lights to give to cyclists. Their mission is give out sets of bike lights to keep the riders safer and legal while biking at night. The Club supplemented that project with 210 lights of our own targeting not only cyclists but pedestrians (and dogs!). The health and safety of children is one of the Rotary's areas of focus. School-age children walking or biking to or from school during the early morning or evening hours may cause students to travel in reduced lighting, increasing the risk of being stuck by a vehicle. These lights could help prevent such issues. The giveaway was very popular and we distributed of ALL of our lights!
The Concord Carlisle High Interact Club is hosting a small fundraiser this Saturday, November 5, from 11-1, at Verrill Farm in Concord (11 Wheeler Road) to raise money for their contribution to the Bedford Rise Against Hunger event they are participating in this spring!
The Bedford Chamber of Commerce sponsored their annual Trunk of Treat event in the Whole Foods parking lot last Friday. We had plenty of wrapped candy for the sweet tooth’s in the crowd. The kids were all decked out in a variety of costumes and eagerly scooped up on the sweet offerings. We also had a pair of “full sized Bees” from our club in the mix. We handed out 400 Milk Weed seed packages which, if planted and nurtured, will produce some beautiful flowers for the real Bees next summer. The kids were delighted to get them and left with some grand ideas of how to go about turning their seeds into plants and enough sugar to drive their parents nuts.
Our first order of business was to prepare the garden bed. The DPW mowed the area close to the ground and provided wood chips for our use. We had planned on starting work on Saturday, but the remnants of Hurricane Ian pushed our work into Monday afternoon. We smothered the entire area with cardboard and covered the cardboard with woodchips. This is a way of killing weeds without using chemicals. The cardboard will remain on the ground until next fall (or towards the end of the summer) in order to effectively kill weeds.
Native pollinators are vital to creating and maintaining the habitats and ecosystems that most animals rely on for food and shelter — including humans. What happens (or doesn’t happen) at the pollination scale has repercussions all the way up the food chain. Over 80% of the flowering plants on Earth depend upon insect-mediated pollination; bees alone pollinate 45% of the food crops grown in Massachusetts, and one-third of them food grown in the United States.
On July 20, 2022, the Bedford Health Department received over 300 COVID-19 rapid antigen home test kits donated by Christine Pinney, Bedford Rotarian, and District Chair for RYLA 7910. The tests were leftover from the in-person June RYLA 2022.
Danielle Williams and Julie Genova from the Bedford Health Department accepted the donation from Christine Pinney, from the Rotary Club of Bedford. This donation will assist the Town of Bedford in continuing to provide free COVID-19 test kits to Bedford Residents.
Now that the Rotary year 2021-2022 has ended, I wanted to highlight some of our accomplishments this year. At the start of the year (in July) we hoped to be coming out of the pandemic, but the arrival of the Delta variant and then Omicron forced us to pivot yet again. We are people of action though, and we found our way to keep going!
Last week we had some extra special guests. Our club had 5 Past, Current or Future District Governors attend our meeting!
First we welcomed Milan W Jackson, PDG, (and former member of the Bedford Club). Milan spoke to us about the Rotary Foundation. Following his presentation, Bob Cassidy made two Paul Harris presentations - one to his son and another to his neighbors.
Julie Genova is Bedford’s newPublic Health Nurse. She grew up in Waltham, has a degree in nursing from Boston College and over the years she has learned more and more about public health. Over the years Julie has worked in various nursing rehabilitation centers, at Beth Israel Hospital, the Concord Public School system, and most recently at the Fenn School in Concord for over 10 years as their Administrator of Health Services. She started at her position in Bedford in February 2022 and is looking forward to getting to know the Bedford community.
Saturday was an important day for our club. We had our first meal packaging event in three years.Close to 50 volunteers and 16 Rotarians from out club were on hand for the 10: 00 AM starting time and by 11:45 AM better than 10,000 meals were packaged and boxed for a as yet unknown destination. They will be held in a local warehouse until we have enough meals to fill a cargo container at which time they will be shipped off to an orphanage somewhere in the world where it is needed.
Last Saturday, despite the crazy weather, the club held a collection to support both the Bedford Rotary Foundation and the Epilepsy Foundation of New England. It was wonderful to see so many people willing to contribute and help the causes!
The more we think about it, the more we are amazed at the caring and generosity of some people in and organizations associated with our club. We had that experience again last week. We have been asking people to donate to The Rotary Foundation for credit to its Disaster Response Fund by the end of April, knowing that every such dollar will be spent in direct support of providing humanitarian relief for the people of Ukraine.
Roy Balfour joined us from the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury to speak about the founding of the very first Rotary Club in Ukraine. District 7910 supported the formation of this Club and 30 years later is working to respond to the current crisis. He urged us to donate to the Rotary International Disaster Relief fund before April 30.
On Saturday, April 9th, the Rotary Club of Bedford is partnering for a fundraiser-clothing drive with the Epilepsy Foundation of New England. The club-hosted clothing drive at the Brown & Brown parking lot, 110 Great Rd, supports programs and services that benefit people with epilepsy. And for every pound of clothing collected Bedford Rotary gets paid, funds that help support Rotary programs in the community and globally. Plus, we’ll be decluttering closets, keeping clothing out of landfills, and giving items new life! Just bring your clean, gently used items in a trash bag to the Brown & Brown parking lot between 10am and 3pm on Saturday, April 9th. Giving back to the community doesn't have to be hard!
This week's speaker was Emily Young who founded Moving Health, right after graduating from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Emily spoke to us about her organization that provides medical transportation for women in rural Ghana. Immediately some of our members realized that they were familiar with Emily - Victor, Sze-Wen and Ralph were at MIT IDEAS exposition and awards day back in 2017 when Emily's OKOA team won the IDEAS award! Here's Ralph sitting in an early prototype of an ambulance:
We were able to raise $4,675 for Friendly Water, including a district match, funds from our club’s foundation and individual contributions. This was enough to build 3 water catchment basins. We chose to build them all at the Namanja Primary School. This was a priority because half of the students and staff at the school, which serves 950 students, were spending half of their school days going to fetch water. This was necessary as the bore holes, from which they obtain water, run dry. Soon they will be able to spend all day learning. Friendly Water for the World small non-profit with 7 board members and 5 staff, based in Olympia, Washington. It was founded in 2010. Leaders from Friendly water start work in an area with a community assessment, including all key members of a community who decide what their greatest needs are. It then trains and equips the community in sustainable technologies to safeguard, conserve and expand essential resources. The community assessment was done in Nov. 2020 in Matsakha, Kenya. The need for clean water was a priority, and the following technologies were identified to address their needs:
The club had a busy meeting on Feb 16th, participating in a winter sow project - growing native plants to help the most at risk pollinators. Big thanks to the Southborough Open Space Preservation Commission for gifting us with the seeds.
The Rotary Club of Bedford's district grant project in Matsakha, Kenya is underway. Our club, together with a match from our District 7910, raised enough money to fund the building of 3 rain water catchment basins which will provide clean water for the Namanja Primary School.
As part of our Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, Bedford Embraces Diversity, the Parents Diversity Council and the Rotary Club of Bedford will be holding a donation drive to support the Bedford Food Bank, which provides for about 120 households a week and is always in need of items that aren’t available through Greater Boston Food Bank or other donors.
Plans for a potential outdoor performance center for Bedford are in their infancy. Barbara Purchia, Chair of the Bedford Cultural Council, joined our virtual meeting to give us the details, and to talk about how the club can fit into the planning.
We started off the new year with a bang when Major Devon Messecar of Space Force joined us as our speaker! Devon was an active member of the Rotary Club of Bedford when she was stationed in Massachusetts as well as the President of the Seoul Young Leaders Club, an offshoot of the Rotary Club of Seoul Korea. Devon spoke to us about her latest role in the US Military- a member of Space Force!
John Hope from across the pond presented an illustrated talk of places where John lived and worked during the early part of his life, during a career in the Royal Air Force. John gave the talk to the Rotary Club of Bedford on December 7, 2021. His bio can be found at https://hopetotalktoyousoon.com/about...
We had a terrific time at the Town of Bedford tree lighting, providing safety lights to children, adults and even pets! About 250 people (and some pets!) picked up the lights we gave away. Some of them were contributed by MassBike. Check out the video on website to learn more.
Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for people around the world to come together through generosity in all its forms by sharing acts of kindness and giving their voice, time, money, goods, and advocacy to support communities and causes.
Are you in?
Give to the Bedford Rotary Foundation to help support the good work that the club does locally and internationally. You can donate here:
In honor of Veterans Day, Tracy Claudio spoke to us about her role as Senior Vice Commander at the Billerica Chapter 47 of the Disabled American Veterans orgnization.
We really did not have a “guest” speaker today. Instead we were treated to some spooky stories told by our own Linda Cargiuolo and Ralph Hammond. All absolutely true with no embellishment, of course!
Following up on our discussion about Operation Pollination with Chris Stein, we welcome Birgit deWeerd to speak about how we can help pollinators in our own backyard. To learn more about Birgit, visit http://www.deweerdbeeproducts.com/Site/homepage.html
Leslie Harrison has been a member of the Northborough Rotary club for a number of years. Leslie brought us the story of Zanmi Beni, a facility on the outskirts of Port of Prince Haiti.
Last year the club participated in a District Grant for Sleep in Heavenly peace and we ended up building 22 beds for needy families. Recently Sze-Wen and Victor delivered three of those beds to a family who recently moved here from Nigeria. It was good to see the beds being put to good use!
We hosted another very successful bicycle helmet giveaway on Sunday, October 3rd. We gave about 80 helmets to parents and kids - the most ever since we started this event! Big thanks to all the Rotarians who helped and especially to Victor, Sze-Wen and Ralph for spearheading the event!
DG Cliff was the guest of honor at this week's Meeting - along with some surprises from Billerica club member John Peterson presenting MULTIPLE awards to a very deserving Ralph Hammond
Christopher Stein joined us to tell us a little about Operation Pollination. Chris has been with the National Park Service for over 40 years. He started with the National Parks Service right here at Minuteman National Historical Park. He then transferred to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in Tennessee in the mid 1990’s where he joined Rotary. From there he was off to Yosemite National Park where he became president of the Yosemite Valley Rotary Club in 2005. Chris now lives in Northeast Iowa, is still a Rotarian in District 5970, is a member of that district’s “Path’s & Pollinator’s Committee,” and is a member of RI’s Environmentally Sustainable Rotary Action Committee (ESRAG). Chris gave his talk via zoom from Minnesota.
Funding for Rotary projects comes from The Rotary Foundation in a variety of ways. Are you aware funding for many of our clubs local projects comes from The Rotary Foundation of Bedford? The two are very different. From time to time we’ll present information regarding both in an attempt to keep you up to date. I hope.
Sze-Wen Kuo This year’s chair of the Rotary Foundation of Bedford was our guest speaker this week. What she said in just a few minutes spoke volumes of what we are all about. We owe a great deal to Sze-Wen and her husband Victor Tom. Month after month, year after year, this amazing couple are giving of their talents (which are many), their time, and their financial resources to make our Rotary club and all its projects successful.
2 0 Rotarians and assorted spouses, children, grandchildren, and pets descended on the portion of Nat’s property known as “The Knoll” on Saturday morning (August 28, 2021) for a few hours of fellowship, good food, games, and a lot of catching up. Like most of our gatherings used to be, it can easily be summed up by saying “just some old friends getting together to pass some time together.” Nat was his usual gracious host supplying and cooking hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, and soft drinks. Debi was there making sure everything was in order, she and Marc shared photography duties (I’m the one that caught Marc taking pictures of everyone else (gotcha)! There was also several plates of Watermelon and brownies. Someone brought a box full of thickly iced cupcakes which were also a big hit. (I tried to sterl them but got caught!).I’m sure we solved all of the world’s problems in 2021 but nobody would own up to it. Nat also brought along a few four-wheelers for all of us to drive around and explore. The event was supposed to be over at 2:00 PM but as we usually do, at 2:45 PM folks were still sitting around and talking. Nat, you had a wonderful idea and between you and Debi, you pulled it off. Thank you, thank you, thank you from all of us.
Check out the photo album for photos from the event (photo credits Christine Pinney).
Born in 1958. He is a graduate of Belmont HS. Then it was off to Virginia Tech where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering.
Cliff loves working outdoors which turned his professional pursuits to the field of surveying. Cliff received his first Professional Surveyors Stamp in 1987 and is now registered in three states.
In 1998, Cliff started, and has been running and growing Rober Survey ever since.
While playing volleyball he met his wife Lisa. He still remembers asking her to see the movie “Tootsie,” she said yes, and in 1987 she said yes again when he asked her to marry him. The couple has a son Kyle born in 1988, a daughter Samantha born in 1990 and the couple has been raising their niece Ashleigh.
When Cliff was laid off from Beals & Thomas, Lisa volunteered him to help coach Kyle’s soccer team; almost instantly he was hooked on soccer.In 1998 he took the state soccer referee’s course and he has been refereeing soccer games ever since.
There was no regular meeting today which is why there is no Happy dollars or speaker’s synopsis. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t have fun! We have gotten together during this pandemic several times, but mostly for service projects (such as Bike Helmet day, Memorial Park cleanup, Building beds for kids, etc.) But not for just having a meal together, talking about nothing in particular, just a group of old friends who haven’t had much chance to renew friendships and share stories like old friends do. There were 27 of us at Flatbreads Tuesday evening, a combination of Rotarians (19 of those, plus an assortment of wives, husbands, and one daughter). President Paula had the good sense to move the event indoors (concerned about mosquitoes) and it’s a good thing she did because not only were there mosquitoes, but there were also thunderstorms too! Good thinking Paula.
Neither heat nor humidity nor dirt and dust nor painful blisters kept Bedford Rotarians from engaging in volunteer service at Habitat for Humanity’s latest house renovation project in Concord.
Throughout a very hot and muggy day, a cadre of 10 Bedford Rotary members joined with Concord Rotarians to help renovate and convert an older, ranch-style house into separate, individual homes for two qualified families selected to participate in the Habitat for Humanity program.
Rotary, it is a changing. Our guest speaker this week was Tom Brown. Tom is a Rotarian, a member of the Scotts Valley, California Rotary Club. Talking to us about Project Amigo, a multi-Rotary Club project (over 600 Rotary Clubs) in Colimas, Mexico, and he spoke to us from his home in Virginia. And that my friends is Rotary in the 21st. Century!
2020-2021 Rotary year was, for sure, like no other. An organism smaller than the head of a needle had flipped our world upside down. We were no longer meeting in person and were all getting used to something called “Zoom.” As Rotarians were asking the questions you would expect Rotarians to ask; How can we help? Little did we know, at that time, how much we could help:
The Rotary Club of Bedford is thrilled to announce the Bedford High School Class of 2021 Scholarship Recipients!
The Rayford Williams Scholarship is a four-year scholarship awarded through the Rotary Club of Bedford. The 2021 award winner is Maya Driscoll, who will be attending Purdue University in the fall as a Freshman.
The Rotary Club of Bedford also sponsors the Philip McGovern Scholarship which is a one year scholarship for a student attending Middlesex Community College. This year's recipient is Joshua Barck.
At the June 13th meeting of the Rotary Club of Bedford, we will be celebrating Maya and Josh as well as recent scholarship recipients:
Jake O'Neal, Class of 2020, past recipient of the Philip McGovern 1Year Scholarship, attending Middlesex Community College
Pallavi Goel, Class of 2017, past recipient of the Rayford Williams 4 Year Scholarship, graduate of Brandeis University
Current Recipients of the Rayford Williams 4 Year Scholarship
Jackson Collins- 2018, rising Senior at Clemson University
Nathaniel Kang- 2019, rising Junior at Brown University
Nicole Hebert- 2020, rising Sophomore at Northwestern University
As you have already read, were a busy bunch last year and apparently somebody was watching because when our district handed out the “end of the year” awards, Bedford was recognized in a number of categories:
Gold award for work with the Rotary Foundation
Tied for the Gold Award for Public Image
Presidential Citation
Received a citation for Diversity, Equity, and inclusion
Special Rotary International recognition in the categories of “avenues of service to:
Ralph Hammond PDG for Community Service
Christine Pinney for Youth Service
The actual certificates will be awarded to the club by PDG Diana Nestorova once we start meeting in person again.
What would you do if you found that about 2% or about 70,000 of kids in Massachusetts has no bed to sleep on? Chris Alphen, Rotarian from Concord Massachusetts started a chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace in Littleton, Massachusetts and started building and delivering beds in 2018. Learning about the cause, the Rotary Club of Bedford submitted and was awarded a District 7910 grant, Beds for Kids for 2020-2021, to help build 22 beds (we ended with 20 beds because the price of lumber went up).
(4.10.21) The morning was unusually warm for April when, under a blazing sun, a stalwart band of Bedford Rotarians put Service Above Self as they devoted several hours of time to spring cleanup labor at Bedford's historic Job Lane House.
The Rotary Club of Bedford suffered a terrible loss this week. The last of our founding members has slipped away from us. He was there in the beginning and all the way through our 65 years of working around Bedford and the world. I would categorize him as a quiet man. To quote a phrase, a quiet man that carried a big stick! In the 40+ years I’ve known Bob I don’t think I ever heard him raise his voice, but he always managed to get things done. He wasn’t the kind of man that would participate in open floor debates. He preferred to work his magic behind the scenes. One of the things he was most proud of in Rotary was his perfect attendance in Rotary. Bob had perfect attendance for over 50 years, and we loved him for it. When he was hospitalized we actually cancelled our regular meeting and held it in his hospital room at Leahy. With tears in his eyes, all he could say was “Thank You!”
The Rotary Club of Bedford suffered a terrible loss this week. The last of our founding members has slipped away from us. He was there in the beginning and all the way through our 65 years of working around Bedford and the world. I would categorize him as a quiet man. To quote a phrase, a quiet man that carried a big stick! In the 40+ years I’ve known Bob I don’t think I ever heard him raise his voice, but he always managed to get things done. He wasn’t the kind of man that would participate in open floor debates. He preferred to work his magic behind the scenes. One of the things he was most proud of in Rotary was his perfect attendance in Rotary. Bob had perfect attendance for over 50 years, and we loved him for it. When he was hospitalized we actually cancelled our regular meeting and held it in his hospital room at Leahy. With tears in his eyes, all he could say was “Thank You!” Bob was president of the club in 1962 – 1963 and in 1984 he showed up in my office at the DPW and asked to talk to me privately. I’m here Bob, to as you to be our president next year. We’re in a hell-of-a-mess and I think you can straighten it out, and I’ll be there in the background to help you. I said yes, we did straighten it out, and the rest is history. Our club has done a lot of projects in and out of Bedford over the past 65 years. And Bob has been the champion of many of them and participated in all of them. If Bob heard of a problem around town, or if any of our members were having difficulties you could count on a “private” visit from Bob, and he would do his best to solve the problem. If it required the help of the club, he would organize it, if it were a private problem of one of our members he would solve it for them if he could, He did not want nor did he ever asked for anything in return. I knew of some of these instances and lets just say, there were a lot of them over the years.
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day and support the Bedford Rotary Foundation at the same time! A percentage of all pizzas sold, dine in or take out between 4pm and 9pm on March 17th, will go towards the Foundation. This past year, the Bedford Rotary Foundation has proudly supported many initiatives. Locally, the Foundation has donated to Bedford Youth and Family Services to purchase gift cards for families in need, gave away bicycle helmets to students, and supported the youth programs RYLA and BRIC2. Rotarians cleaned up the 9/11 Memorial Park at Springs Brook Park for all visitors to enjoy. Beyond the borders of Bedford, the Foundation supported Operation Delta Dog, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace. In response to COVID-19, Rotarians created face shields, and the Foundation donated face masks to the Town of Bedford, the Bedford Public Schools, and the Domestic Violence Services Network. Globally, the Foundation nourished lives through Rise Against Hunger. Thank you for your support of the Bedford Rotary Foundation!
Klaus Hachfeld, past district governor of 7910, gave a presentation to the Rotary Club of Bedford on their Cooperative Community Garden Project in Sturbridge and Southbridge on January, 26, 2021.
Rotary Community Corps, Community Food Collaborative
Jason Gardner, the founder of Radical Shift Coaching, is a highly respected life coach with capabilities for unlocking human potential. With a long history in magic, escapology (think Houdini) and showmanship, he is known for his ability to help people free themselves from the straight. He spoke to the club about a radically shifted mindset and how to achieve our goals!
Curt Adino is the head of Friendly Water for the World. He lives in Olympia, Washington. He spoke to the Rotary Club of Bedford about soap making on February 9, 2021.
The club has been running a fundraiser since last August selling hand-made, 100% cotton, fabric face-masks to support the Bedford Rotary Foundation. Thanks to local support we have raised over $1,300! Masks have been sold primarily though a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MaskaryBedfordMA
We got a little carried away with the production of masks and are currently running a promotion to sell the existing stock! Each mask is marked down to $8/mask, two for $15 or three for $20. Check out the currently inventory on the Maskary page.
We have a large selection of medium masks - what most teens/women wear, a number of large, and a smaller selection of children's sizes.
Bill Paulson, member from the Rotary Club of Needham and a member of our District Social Equity Task Force presented the vision of the task force at the Rotary Club of Bedford on December 22, 2020. Bill talked about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for all. He presented what we can do to help and spread the information on DEI. Watch a video recording here:
Writing this today, Monday, December 7th, 2020, as the Coronavirus pandemic rages around us, memories from a happier, more normal time come to mind.
One year ago to the day, it was a Saturday. Rotary club members were in the last minute scramble of preparations for their signature event of the year. The next day, Sunday, Bedford Rotary’s 33rd annual “Breakfast with Santa” would bring families and children to the decoration transformed Santa’s Village inside Bedford High School’s cafeteria.
On a warm sunny day in November, nine families exercised their hunting skills and had a blast searching for seventy five items in their community. Thirty one participants, including four furry family members used creativity and strategies to earn points. Six crews set out around Bedford, one on the cape, and one in Hudson. They searched for statues, and rotary signs, they reenacted the famous Beatles Abby Road album cover, and interpreted items in their own way. Russell Swinton said "This was a wonderful event. Bethany and I had a terrific time!"
This week's speaker was Superintendent Phil Conrad, who came into the position in the middle of the pandemic. He spoke to us how the Bedford schools had to adapt during Covid. You can listen to his presentation here:
Wanda Nordlie joined us all the way from Arizona. She's a Rotarian, author of the book "Power to Heal My Whole Self" and spoke about Children in Foster Care, a topic with which she has personal experience. Watch below:
We were very lucky to have a speaker from Tisch College at Tufts University speaking to us about Research for Democracy: The Power of the Youth Vote. Thank you Noorya Hayat for sharing your time and expertise with us! Lots of great info contained in this presentation.
Bedford Police Department, in conjunction with the Bedford Rotary Club, will host a bicycle helmet safety event. Residents are encouraged to stop by the Bedford Police Department’s parking lot, 2 Mudge Way, on Saturday, September 19th 10 a.m. to noon. Bedford Rotary volunteers will give out free, fitted helmets for child cyclists.
Students from Bedford High School’s Class of 2022 showed their commitment to active citizenship and desire for leadership development this past spring. Students applied in unprecedented numbers to the annual District 7910 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference, a weekend of learning and leadership development for teens run by Rotarian volunteers, originally scheduled for June 26-28 , 2020 at Fitchburg State University. From the more than three dozen highly qualified BHS applicants, only 10 participants and 5 alternates could be selected to attend the annual event.
In the words of our PDG Bob Cassidy, this has been a difficult time for our Bedford club, for we have suffered a terrible loss. How do you say goodbye to an old friend who has been a member of Rotary for 35 years? Past President, GSE Team Leader, Unsung Hero of D7910, and whether it was RYLA, ESSEX, or Gift of Life, if it involved children and students, especially those from other countries, Kevin was whole-heartedly involved. Kevin and his dear wife Ellen, have hosted numerous students and children from all over the world. A small tribute to Kevin by our club can be found on YouTube:
A message from Marie Tremblay, club President for 2019-2020:
The 2019-2020 Bedford Rotary year was enlightening and challenging as well as a very rewarding year.
A special thanks to the 2019-2020 Installation Committee for their support and guidance: Sze-Wen Kuo, Christine Pinney, Nancy Gilroy and Diana Jarvis.Thank you to our neighbor club the Rotary Club of Concord for their collaboration and partnership with our annual Football lunch and our traditional football “BET”. I want to give special thanks to Dick Hale of Club Concord for his continued Board Advisory.
Every year around this time, our weekly meeting is dedicated to our current scholarship recipients. On Tuesday, we met with the current Rayford Williams Scholarship winners over Zoom, and learned about their plans for the upcoming year.
Earlier in May we celebrated 64 years of the Rotary Club of Bedford! Two of our members have been in the club for those 64 years - founding member, Bob Mead and long-time member Nat Brown
The Rotary Club of Bedford is currently seeking student exchange host families for the 2019-2020 school year! We need a 3rd family to host our current inbound exchange student.
When the Pelligrino girls attended Breakfast with Santa this year, they were adding to a decade’s worth of memories of what is a family tradition. “Our family has been attending the Rotary Club Breakfast with Santa every year, except one, since we moved to Bedford in 2008, said the girl’s mom, Elena. “My daughters are now 10 and 13 and remind me of this tradition. We love looking at the photos each year, progressing their ages with Santa. To this day, they are sad we missed that one year”, she says.
How does a Club make a beloved annual event even more sustainable for future generations? By reducing the amount of trash that goes into landfills. Surprisingly, we made one change that had an enormous impact on our trash footprint.
That’s 33-years since the first Breakfast with Santa. If you’re around 40 years old now, maybe you were there as a kid. If you were, do you remember telling Santa what you wanted for Christmas? And do you remember that it was held in the American Legion Hall?
A long time ago Rotarians invited Santa to make a special, early visit to Bedford in December.
In the spirit of the holidays, come have breakfast with us, they said. Meet our town’s children and their parents.
That’s how the Breakfast with Santa tradition began. Maybe some of you were kids then and remember. Maybe in years past you’ve brought your own children to meet Santa. He returns every year.
Saturday, August 3rd - Bedford Rotarians helped the Bedford Council on Aging put on their Annual Summer BBQ. This is the third year the Rotary Club of Bedford has helped the COA host and present this popular event for COA members and local visitors.
Thank you for visiting our site. I have the honor and privilege to serve as this years President. We have achieved success with many service projects, partnerships and collaborations and we have more successes to catch. This is all made possible by the commitment of talented members of our club. Our members are the heart and soul of our club. Individually we accomplish many things, but together we can accomplish anything!
Service is the object of Rotary and we do it with the highest ethical standards. This year it’s time to be creative with ways to expand our service reach. I am excited for the great things that 2019-2020 are going to bring.
Saturday, June 1st, is the 2019 Bicycle and Helmet Safety Day. This annual event is hosted by the Bedford Police Department in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Bedford.
From 10:00 am - 12:00 noon, at the Mudge Way parking lot opposite the Police Department, Bedford Rotary volunteers give out free, custom fitted helmets for child cyclists while BPD officers instruct riders in bike safety. The free helmets, made possible through sponsorship by the Bedford Rotary Foundation and Bedford Farms, are all U.S. safety certified for Bike CPSC.
Members of the Bedford Friends of the Minuteman Bikeway will join Rotarians in the helmet fitting, possibly outfitting a youngster who will be riding in this year's PMC Kids Ride.
The Bedford PMC Kids Ride will be pedaling off from the John Glenn Middle School from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 15th.
Help us feed the world’s hungry in partnership with RISE AGAINST HUNGER, 300 of your friends and neighbors, members of 4 Rotary Clubs, and over 100 employees from Anika Therapeutics and BAE Systems on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at Middlesex Community College in Bedford.
It takes a lot of people, time, and effort to get ready to welcome you to Breakfast with Santa. Good thing we love to do it! Here's what's involved with turning the BHS cafeteria into a holiday wonderland:
Each year, the Bedford and Concord Rotary Clubs get together for a football luncheon. One year it is held in Bedford, the next year it is held in Concord. The 2018 luncheon was held in Bedford, and featured a one-of-a-kind speaker: Bedford's own Mike Rosenberg, who has attended 35 years of Thanksgiving football games. He offered a window into his sports-writing technique and reminded us all about what high school sports are all about ...
ClubRunner makes it easy to publish your weekly Club eBulletin, and send to all members and friends of the club, by incorporating home page stories and events with the push of a button.
At the District Foundation Dinner, The Rotary Club of Bedford was represented by Al Rosco, Diane Ryan, Ralph Hammond, Paula Gilarde, Jim Harrill, Sze-Wen Kuo, and Victor Tom. There were 160 attendees for this event, a much larger attendance than in recent years. Among the speakers were DG Joyce Graff, Celeste Herbert (The Rotary Foundation Regional Major Gifts Officer), Bill Gates (virtually), and Chelsea Minkler (Gates Foundation). Bedford’s multi-club multi-district Hope for the Hungry meal-packing program was mentioned early on, and the Bedford Rotarians were recognized for being Paul Harris Fellows and Major Donors.
Rotary Club of Bedford’s Global Grant proposal (GG2458065 Rainwater Catchment Tanks for Schools in Kambiri, Kenya) continues to make major progress recently. In the last two weeks: 1) the District 9212 leadership has approved the project; 2) District Rotary Foundation Chair Protus Lumiti authorized the GG application; 3) GG2458065 was submitted to The Rotary Foundation for review; 4) The Rotary Foundation has rapidly reviewed the proposal and sent the GG team a list of clarification questions; and the Kenya GG team (representatives of RC Maseno, RC Kakamega, Maseno University Rotaract Club and Friendly Waters for the World met in Kambiri to see first-hand examples of a recently constructed water tank, an interlocking brink wall and manufactured soap.
On November 18 the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life hosted Bedford Rotarians at a private screening of Defining Moments: The Leadership of Quiet Revolutionary Frances Hesselbein. The film chronicles the life of Hesselbein, former CEO of Girl Scouts USA and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and her remarkable career of public service. Rotarian Diane Ryan moderated a Q&A with producer Sarah McArthur following the film. To learn more about Frances Hesselbein’s inspiring legacy visit 
It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!
The generosity of the Bedford community highlighted the Rotary Club of Bedford’s “Election Collection” during voting Tuesday. Donations of an estimated $2,000 worth of personal care items were collected for the Middlesex Community College food pantries in Bedford and Lowell. It was the club’s third election-day collection in support of MCC. 
The Bedford Rotary was thrilled to participate in the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Trunk or Treat on October 25th. Rotarians dressed in festive December Holiday attire handed out candy and toys while promoting the upcoming Rotary Foundation Winter Breakfast Fundraiser be held on Sunday December 8. Even Santa dropped by on his way up to the North Pole to hand out candy canes to all the little witches, wizards, and a couple hundred other creepy and not-so-creepy characters! 
On Saturday, October 26th, Habitat for Humanity had a Women's Build Day at their latest project in Westford. Lita Verrier, Sze-Wen Kuo and Judi Babcock participated in this build project on behalf of the club. Other women who participated were from Reeds Ferry and other organizations. The building is a 200-year-old barn that is being converted to a single-family home. It is in its early stages so a lot of work needed to be done on the foundation which consists of rocks. The ceiling is being held up by temporary tee-pee like wood beams which will be replaced by lally columns made of steel. Some of the women were tasked with welding lally columns to metal plates in anticipation of removing the temporary structures. Lita, Sze-Wen and Judi were on the "concrete team" and tasked with first cleaning the stone foundation and pulling out loose rocks and then concrete had to be mixed to the correct consistency in small batches so it would not dry to fast. Spatulas were used to fill in cracks and holes. The last step for day was adding a slurry mix by large paint brush. Slurry is a watered-down version of concrete more like the consistency of paint. The women were provided pink hard hats, respirator masks and gloves. It was a very fulfilling day of actually participating in the building of this home.
Fellow Rotarians and friends, we’re gearing up for the Rotary Club of Bedford’s 2025 
The Rotary Club of Bedford recently celebrated an inspiring moment in its ongoing mission to foster peace and goodwill by recognizing dedicated members with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow designation. Past District Governor Ralph Hammond took the stage to honor two club members, Al Roscoe and Diane Ryan, for their contributions to The Rotary Foundation and their steadfast service to the Rotary Club of Bedford. 
It is a common occurrence for people to become obsessed and passionate over a tragic event when it occurs. People want to feel they can make a statement, a lasting impression about the event. Their obsession continues for a period of time after the event is over, Having said that, as time goes by and the weeks turn into months and even into years their obsession and passion wains. It becomes somehow not as important until eventually completely goes away. That is the case with many of our feelings towards the horrific events which took place on September 11, 2001. Our lives were all impacted and changed that day. Our own Bedford Rotary club was among the hundreds of thousands that wanted to make a lasting remembrance, so President Peter Cogan appointed Bob Mead to lead a committee to design and construct a memorial at Spring Brooks Park. 
Continuing our long-standing support of Middlesex Community College’s food pantries, we will be holding an “Election Collection” of personal care items from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. outside the polling place entrance at the John Glenn Middle School on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.
I’m sure you have heard the expression “Rotary is what you make it.” well let me tell you; It’s true and I’m living proof of it. There have been millions and millions of Rotarians since 1905 and about 1,400,000 more today. They have one thing in common; their Rotary stories are all different. Some are short and sweet and others long and involved. But most are only meaningful to the individual Rotarian they happened to. Others are well-known and even world-famous. I got to thinking about that, a lot! I know it’s true but how do I convince today’s Rotarians that it’s true? The only thing I could think of is to write about the one Rotary story I really know; my own. But who would let me ramble on about my experiences? And then it happened, our current newsletter editor approached me and asked me if I would like to write a column for our newsletter. I could give it whatever title I wanted and select whatever subject matter that interested me. Wow … talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth! And almost without thinking, I said I would. What you are reading is Part 1 of several about “One man’s Journey Through Rotary” – “My” Journey Through Rotary.
We are just a few weeks out from our annual Bedford Day food booth fundraiser. Bedford Day is Saturday, September 21st this year. Similar to last year, we'll be selling pizza from 10am - 2pm and we need YOUR help to be successful.
Congratulations to us! We were notified by Rotary International that our club has earned the Rotary Citation, the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve, for 2023-24. This past year, our club demonstrated a commitment to achieving its goals, which ultimately helps strengthen Rotary and shape our future.
Melinda Gladden, a long-time former member, has returned to the Rotary Club of Bedford.
Our story starts on April 19, 1775 with the battle of Concord. And meanders through the centuries until July 23, 2024.
Friday morning (July 28th) a band of weed warriors took to the pollinator garden to clean up the area and to remove any plants that were growing where they weren't supposed to be. Weeding is pretty straightforward as we have flags placed wherever a plant is supposed to be. This handy method allowed even the most novice gardeners to feel confident in what they were doing!
The District 7910 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) took place at Fitchburg State University from June 21-23. Our club was well represented by ten talented sophomores from Bedford High School, as well as two returning participants from last year's cohort who served as Group Facilitators. Despite the hot and rainy weather, RYLAns honed their leadership skills and created lasting bonds thanks to the expert planning and guidance of District RYLA Coordinator Christine Pinney. Engaging 200 teens year after year is a huge effort that Christine makes look easy! Many Bedford Rotarians volunteered over the course of the weekend to include Tom Pinney, Katie Pinney, Presidents Al & Ralph, Victor Tom, Sze-Wen Kuo, Dawn Kociubes, Diane Ryan, and Karen Sun. We are grateful to everyone who helped support this transformational event, making it the BEST RYLA EVER!
With the temperature forecast to hit 90 tomorrow, June 25th, we are going with plan B - an ALL ZOOM Rotary MEETING on Tuesday 6/24 12:30 to 1:30
Last week we welcomed some of our scholarship recipients, Abhigna Reddy, BHS Class of 2023, recipient of the Rayford Williams 4-year scholarship and Cameron Comeau, BHS class of 2024 who was awarded the Philip McGovern scholarship this year. It was great to learn about their accomplishments and plans for the future!
The club meeting for Tuesday, June 19th has been canceled due to the extreme heat anticipated. There is no air conditioning in First Church (our regular meeting location) so in the interests of keeping everyone safe, we are rescheduling our speaker Chet Harding, from the Chamber of Commerce, to another time. Stay tuned for updates!
The Rotary Club of Bedford proudly announces its welcome of two new members to its ranks. 
At Bedford’s Bike Safety Day on Saturday, dozens of young cyclists received free, carefully fitted, brand-new bike helmets. They then field-tested them by negotiating a Bedford Police-designed bike skills and safety mini slalom course. It all happened in just a couple of hours at the Mudge Way parking lot across from the Police Station.
eople of Bedford, Rotarian Arzu LeBlanc took the lead and collaboratively coordinated this year’s Bike Safety Day participation by Bedford Police Department Sergeant Robert Abajian and Officer Justin Brooks, Bedford Recreation Department Assistant Director Nikki Taylor, Jane Kiegel, her colleague at The Residence at Bedford, along with Rotary Club of Bedford Co-Presidents Al Roscoe and Ralph Hammond, and Rotary volunteers Judi Babcock, Paula Gilarde, Lita Verrier and Marc Hamilton.
Despite the rain, we held a successful Rotary Day of Service on Saturday (May 18th) at our native pollinator preservation garden in Page Field. The hardy group that came out helped weed (and there were lots!) and mulch the area. 
The Rotary Club of Bedford was recognized for their marketing excellence, winning the Gold Award in the Exemplary Public Image Presence category in the 2024 District 7910 Public Image Awards program. 
MEALS packaged, boxed, and destined to provide real Hope for the Hungry throughout dozens of local cities and towns. 
hat’s the result of the months of Bedford and Concord Rotary Clubs’ Hope for the Hungry project planning. It all culminated on the morning of Saturday, April 27th, when 160 volunteers gathered at the Bedford campus of Middlesex Community College and put together more than 6,700 six-meal packages in only two hours. To put that in a bit more context, that’s almost 60 packages or almost 340 meals per minute.
This past month the Interact Club of Bedford TV elected its first set of officers: 
On Saturday, May 18, 2024, more than 800 Rotary clubs and 30,000 Rotarians across 10 states and 7 countries, will volunteer in their communities for an unprecedented Rotary Day of Service, collecting clothes for homeless, refurbishing parks, and, much, much more. The Rotary Club of Bedford will be participating by holding a garden work day at the Native Pollination Preservation garden at Page Field. 
The end of this 2023-2024 Rotary Year is approaching. The year’s Presidential theme, CREATE HOPE in the WORLD, set by Rotary International President Gordon R. McInally will soon be celebrated by Rotarians SHARING HOPE WITH THE WORLD at the 2024 RotaryInternational Convention.
The Bedford TV Interact Club being formed by our student directors, Swetha Kaundinya and Sachi Regmi will be holding elections at the next Wednesday meeting. Nomination of the President, Secretary, and Treasurer will take place and a voting will be held.
By Bob Cassidy
Arzu Was inducted by Sponsor Christine Pinney and Co-President Ralph Hammond at our weekly meeting on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
Taco Tuesday, 1/30/24. There were no militia, revolutionary or otherwise, gathered at nearby Lexington’s Revolution Hall on Tuesday evening. Rather, a mildly boisterous band of Bedford Rotarians gathered there for the revolutionary first-ever evening weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Bedford.
As many of you know, each year, our Club sponsors up to 10 high potential student leaders to participate in a transformational 3-day leadership workshop called RYLA - the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.
This year, we’re partnered with 
Way back in September, while the Brits were visiting District 7910 with the Bandey-Hefler Fellowship Exchange, the club hosted a sushi social at the club. It was a fun evening, enjoyed by a great number of Rotarians, family and friends! 
We started this tradition during the pandemic and it's proven to one of our most popular events - who doesn't need a light at night time? MassBike provided lights to give to cyclists and the Bedford Rotary Foundation funded even more lights that we gave away to cyclists, pedestrians and even a few dogs! We set up a little before 4:30pm in preparation for the tree lighting at 5pm and the lights were all gone by 4:45! We gave away about 200 lights!
8th grade Bedford TV Interact Club member Taevy Malone wrote her first article for the 
Finally, the fruits of our winter sow made it into the ground. We first spent some time weeding the area we had prepared last fall. Then, on 9/30, we set up a grid using wood, inspired by a trip to the Chelmsford Pollination Preservation Garden. Each plant species was planted in a 3'x3' square, although we expanded the area for some plants so we could have even more - those plants were in 3'x6' rectangles. 
Join us as we work on our Native Pollination Preservation Garden! There will be two work days in September. The first one will be weeding around the area, and preparing to plant. It will be on Friday, September 17th at 1pm. This was rescheduled due to an impending storm! Sign up to help out 
On May 16th we were joined by Alison Field-Juma who spoke about the Concord River and the Talbot Mills Dam. Alison Field-Juma is the Executive Director of OARS, a non-profit located in Concord founded in 1986. OARS works to restore and protect the health of the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers for all people and wildlife using science-based advocacy, education and recreation. OARS increases awareness of the value of these three rivers, grows public engagement in their stewardship, and works to build long-term sustainable use of water resources through science-based advocacy. OARS is the Project Manager for the dam removal project.
Thank you to everyone that volunteered at our Meals for Kids meal packaging event on Saturday! Over 120 members of our community worked together to package 20,000 meals with Rise Against Hunger! We were lucky to have members of the Lexington Rotary Club, Concord Rotary Club, Bedford Interact Club, Lexington Interact Club, Concord/Carlisle Interact Club, Carlisle Interact Club, and District 7910 serve as wonderful ambassadors, exemplifying what it means to be a Rotarian. This event would not have been possible without the partnership offered by Sharon Spaulding (Concord Club) and Spencer Betts and Allan Azoff (Lexington Club). Thank you to the Knights of Columbus in Lexington for an awesome venue! Photos to come!
On February 25th, 16 of us gathered in Bob Cassidy's garage fr a winter sow for our Pollinator Garden. Great! So what is a winter sow anyway? Here is what Webster has to say about it. Winter sowing is an outdoor method of starting seeds and it requires plastic containers like milk or juice cartons), soil, seeds and Mother Nature. By growing your own plants from seeds, you can several hundreds of dollars each each year. 
Long-time club member, Bob Cassidy got in touch with former club member Larry Carlton when we had some historical questions about the scholarships our club awards. He said "I joined the Club in 1975. There was some history of giving scholarships when I joined, but it was haphazard and there was no consistency. At that time scholarships were given by the Club with differing amounts and numbers given from year to year.
Last Saturday, the Rotary Club of Bedford distributed safety lights at the town tree lighting. This was done in partnership with MassBike. They provided around 60 bike lights to give to cyclists. Their mission is give out sets of bike lights to keep the riders safer and legal while biking at night. The Club supplemented that project with 210 lights of our own targeting not only cyclists but pedestrians (and dogs!). The health and safety of children is one of the Rotary's areas of focus. School-age children walking or biking to or from school during the early morning or evening hours may cause students to travel in reduced lighting, increasing the risk of being stuck by a vehicle. These lights could help prevent such issues. The giveaway was very popular and we distributed of ALL of our lights!
The Bedford Chamber of Commerce sponsored their annual Trunk of Treat event in the Whole Foods parking lot last Friday. We had plenty of wrapped candy for the sweet tooth’s in the crowd. The kids were all decked out in a variety of costumes and eagerly scooped up on the sweet offerings. We also had a pair of “full sized Bees” from our club in the mix. We handed out 400 Milk Weed seed packages which, if planted and nurtured, will produce some beautiful flowers for the real Bees next summer. The kids were delighted to get them and left with some grand ideas of how to go about turning their seeds into plants and enough sugar to drive their parents nuts.
Our first order of business was to prepare the garden bed. The DPW mowed the area close to the ground and provided wood chips for our use. We had planned on starting work on Saturday, but the remnants of Hurricane Ian pushed our work into Monday afternoon. We smothered the entire area with cardboard and covered the cardboard with woodchips. This is a way of killing weeds without using chemicals. The cardboard will remain on the ground until next fall (or towards the end of the summer) in order to effectively kill weeds. 
The more we think about it, the more we are amazed at the caring and generosity of some people in and organizations associated with our club. We had that experience again last week. We have been asking people to donate to The Rotary Foundation for credit to its Disaster Response Fund by the end of April, knowing that every such dollar will be spent in direct support of providing humanitarian relief for the people of Ukraine. 
Roy Balfour joined us from the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury to speak about the founding of the very first Rotary Club in Ukraine. District 7910 supported the formation of this Club and 30 years later is working to respond to the current crisis. He urged us to donate to the 
This week's speaker was Emily Young who founded Moving Health, right after graduating from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Emily spoke to us about her organization that provides medical transportation for women in rural Ghana. Immediately some of our members realized that they were familiar with Emily - Victor, Sze-Wen and Ralph were at MIT IDEAS exposition and awards day back in 2017 when Emily's OKOA team won the IDEAS award! Here's Ralph sitting in an early prototype of an ambulance: 
We were able to raise $4,675 for Friendly Water, including a district match, funds from our club’s foundation and individual contributions. This was enough to build 3 water catchment basins. We chose to build them all at the Namanja Primary School. This was a priority because half of the students and staff at the school, which serves 950 students, were spending half of their school days going to fetch water. This was necessary as the bore holes, from which they obtain water, run dry. Soon they will be able to spend all day learning.
As part of our Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, Bedford Embraces Diversity, the Parents Diversity Council and the Rotary Club of Bedford will be holding a donation drive to support the Bedford Food Bank, which provides for about 120 households a week and is always in need of items that aren’t available through Greater Boston Food Bank or other donors.
We started off the new year with a bang when Major Devon Messecar of Space Force joined us as our speaker! Devon was an active member of the Rotary Club of Bedford when she was stationed in Massachusetts as well as the President of the Seoul Young Leaders Club, an offshoot of the Rotary Club of Seoul Korea. Devon spoke to us about her latest role in the US Military- a member of Space Force!
Leslie Harrison has been a member of the Northborough Rotary club for a number of years. Leslie brought us the story of Zanmi Beni, a facility on the outskirts of Port of Prince Haiti.
Christopher Stein joined us to tell us a little about Operation Pollination. Chris has been with the National Park Service for over 40 years. He started with the National Parks Service right here at Minuteman National Historical Park. He then transferred to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in Tennessee in the mid 1990’s where he joined Rotary. From there he was off to Yosemite National Park where he became president of the Yosemite Valley Rotary Club in 2005. Chris now lives in Northeast Iowa, is still a Rotarian in District 5970, is a member of that district’s “Path’s & Pollinator’s Committee,” and is a member of RI’s Environmentally Sustainable Rotary Action Committee (ESRAG). Chris gave his talk via zoom from Minnesota.
Funding for Rotary projects comes from The Rotary Foundation in a variety of ways. Are you aware funding for many of our clubs local projects comes from The Rotary Foundation of Bedford? The two are very different. From time to time we’ll present information regarding both in an attempt to keep you up to date. I hope.
2 0 Rotarians and assorted spouses, children, grandchildren, and pets descended on the portion of Nat’s property known as “The Knoll” on Saturday morning (August 28, 2021) for a few hours of fellowship, good food, games, and a lot of catching up. Like most of our gatherings used to be, it can easily be summed up by saying “just some old friends getting together to pass some time together.” Nat was his usual gracious host supplying and cooking hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, and soft drinks. Debi was there making sure everything was in order, she and Marc shared photography duties (I’m the one that caught Marc taking pictures of everyone else (gotcha)! There was also several plates of Watermelon and brownies. Someone brought a box full of thickly iced cupcakes which were also a big hit. (I tried to sterl them but got caught!).I’m sure we solved all of the world’s problems in 2021 but nobody would own up to it. Nat also brought along a few four-wheelers for all of us to drive around and explore. The event was supposed to be over at 2:00 PM but as we usually do, at 2:45 PM folks were still sitting around and talking. Nat, you had a wonderful idea and between you and Debi, you pulled it off. Thank you, thank you, thank you from all of us.
Born in 1958. He is a graduate of Belmont HS. Then it was off to Virginia Tech where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering.
While playing volleyball he met his wife Lisa. He still remembers asking her to see the movie “Tootsie,” she said yes, and in 1987 she said yes again when he asked her to marry him. The couple has a son Kyle born in 1988, a daughter Samantha born in 1990 and the couple has been raising their niece Ashleigh.
Rotary, it is a changing. Our guest speaker this week was Tom Brown. Tom is a Rotarian, a member of the Scotts Valley, California Rotary Club. Talking to us about Project Amigo, a multi-Rotary Club project (over 600 Rotary Clubs) in Colimas, Mexico, and he spoke to us from his home in Virginia. And that my friends is Rotary in the 21st. Century!
2020-2021 Rotary year was, for sure, like no other. An organism smaller than the head of a needle had flipped our world upside down. We were no longer meeting in person and were all getting used to something called “Zoom.” As Rotarians were asking the questions you would expect Rotarians to ask; How can we help? Little did we know, at that time, how much we could help:
The Rotary Club of Bedford suffered a terrible loss this week. The last of our founding members has slipped away from us. He was there in the beginning and all the way through our 65 years of working around Bedford and the world. I would categorize him as a quiet man. To quote a phrase, a quiet man that carried a big stick! In the 40+ years I’ve known Bob I don’t think I ever heard him raise his voice, but he always managed to get things done. He wasn’t the kind of man that would participate in open floor debates. He preferred to work his magic behind the scenes. One of the things he was most proud of in Rotary was his perfect attendance in Rotary. Bob had perfect attendance for over 50 years, and we loved him for it. When he was hospitalized we actually cancelled our regular meeting and held it in his hospital room at Leahy. With tears in his eyes, all he could say was “Thank You!”
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day and support the Bedford Rotary Foundation at the same time! A percentage of all pizzas sold, dine in or take out between 4pm and 9pm on March 17th, will go towards the Foundation. This past year, the Bedford Rotary Foundation has proudly supported many initiatives. Locally, the Foundation has donated to Bedford Youth and Family Services to purchase gift cards for families in need, gave away bicycle helmets to students, and supported the youth programs RYLA and BRIC2. Rotarians cleaned up the 9/11 Memorial Park at Springs Brook Park for all visitors to enjoy. Beyond the borders of Bedford, the Foundation supported Operation Delta Dog, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace. In response to COVID-19, Rotarians created face shields, and the Foundation donated face masks to the Town of Bedford, the Bedford Public Schools, and the Domestic Violence Services Network. Globally, the Foundation nourished lives through Rise Against Hunger. Thank you for your support of the Bedford Rotary Foundation!
Writing this today, Monday, December 7th, 2020, as the Coronavirus pandemic rages around us, memories from a happier, more normal time come to mind.
On a warm sunny day in November, nine families exercised their hunting skills and had a blast searching for seventy five items in their community. Thirty one participants, including four furry family members used creativity and strategies to earn points. Six crews set out around Bedford, one on the cape, and one in Hudson. They searched for statues, and rotary signs, they reenacted the famous Beatles Abby Road album cover, and interpreted items in their own way. Russell Swinton said "This was a wonderful event. Bethany and I had a terrific time!"
We were very lucky to have a speaker from Tisch College at Tufts University speaking to us about Research for Democracy: The Power of the Youth Vote. Thank you Noorya Hayat for sharing your time and expertise with us! Lots of great info contained in this 
Bedford Police Department, in conjunction with the Bedford Rotary Club, will host a bicycle helmet safety event. Residents are encouraged to stop by the Bedford Police Department’s parking lot, 2 Mudge Way, on Saturday, September 19th 10 a.m. to noon. Bedford Rotary volunteers will give out free, fitted helmets for child cyclists.
Students from Bedford High School’s Class of 2022 showed their commitment to active citizenship and desire for leadership development this past spring. Students applied in unprecedented numbers to the annual District 7910 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference, a weekend of learning and leadership development for teens run by Rotarian volunteers, originally scheduled for June 26-28 , 2020 at Fitchburg State University. From the more than three dozen highly qualified BHS applicants, only 10 participants and 5 alternates could be selected to attend the annual event.
In the words of our PDG Bob Cassidy, this has been a difficult time for our Bedford club, for we have suffered a terrible loss. How do you say goodbye to an old friend who has been a member of Rotary for 35 years? Past President, GSE Team Leader, Unsung Hero of D7910, and whether it was RYLA, ESSEX, or Gift of Life, if it involved children and students, especially those from other countries, Kevin was whole-heartedly involved. Kevin and his dear wife Ellen, have hosted numerous students and children from all over the world. A small tribute to Kevin by our club can be found on YouTube:
Every year around this time, our weekly meeting is dedicated to our current scholarship recipients. On Tuesday, we met with the current Rayford Williams Scholarship winners over Zoom, and learned about their plans for the upcoming year.
Earlier in May we celebrated 64 years of the Rotary Club of Bedford! Two of our members have been in the club for those 64 years - founding member, Bob Mead and long-time member Nat Brown
The Rotary Club of Bedford is currently seeking student exchange host families for the 2019-2020 school year! We need a 3rd family to host our current inbound exchange student. 
When the Pelligrino girls attended Breakfast with Santa this year, they were adding to a decade’s worth of memories of what is a family tradition. “Our family has been attending the Rotary Club Breakfast with Santa every year, except one, since we moved to Bedford in 2008, said the girl’s mom, Elena. “My daughters are now 10 and 13 and remind me of this tradition. We love looking at the photos each year, progressing their ages with Santa. To this day, they are sad we missed that one year”, she says.
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