Rotary Club of Dracut, Ma

Farook Taufiq and LouAnn Jendro join dozens of volunteers at the Bedford Rotary Club’s Pay it Forward meal packing event at Middlesex Community College.

Bedford – Dracut Rotarians joined forces with area clubs in helping the Bedford Rotary Club pack 120,000 meals for Haiti as part of Bedford’s Pay It Forward project to end hunger.  Middlesex Community College hosted the event at their Bedford campus on Saturday, April 26th. DRC donated $1,000 toward this Stop Hunger Now event. Helping out in Bedford was Chuck Moran, Farook Taufiq and LouAnn Jendro, along with DRC friends and family Beth Jendro Noel [Asst. Marketing Director at MCC] and Kendra Jendro.

The Stop Hunger Now initiative is one that DRC member Chuck Moran is passionate about. Chuck brought the Bedford event to DRC’s attention. In fact, DRC has participated in four such events in recent months. The Club intends to host an event of its own in the near future.

The Dracut American Legion will host a Community Blood Drive on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, from 2 to 7 pm, 574 Broadway Road in Dracut.  For an appointment, please call 1-800-RED CROSS (733-2767, or visit redcrossblood.org.

Every 2 seconds, someone needs blood. Every donation you give helps the Red Cross do more of what they do. Plan to make a difference. Call and make any appointment today.

Students share their RYLA experiences with the Club. From l to r: Kyle Dumont, Jordan Gauthier, Valerie Nguon, Jessica McHugh, Alex Rose, HeatherDemers and Mohamed Hamze.

The 2013 RYLA students were the guests of the Club today. They came full of enthusiasm for the leadership program, and thanks to Club members for the opportunity to participate in RYLA.

The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program is an annual leadership event for high school sophomores. A yearly participant in the program, Dracut Rotary sent 6 students to RYLA last June. Held at Worcester State University, the weekend-long training program provides sophomores, selected by the Club earlier in the year, with an opportunity to develop their potential for leadership as they explore their strengths and abilities to solve problems and work with others.

The students spoke about the highlights of the event, sharing their most memorable experiences with the Club. They all agreed that RYLA was a life changing opportunity for them. For these students, RYLA taught them that they can do anything if they believe in themselves.

One student, Jessica McHugh, was not able to attend RYLA. Her soccer team was involved in the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions, competing for the state title. As captain of the team, Jessica made the decision to notify the Club that she was not going to be able to attend RYLA, freeing her space for the alternate to attend. Showing true leadership, Jessica displayed the principles of Rotary to the highest degree.

The Club was truly impressed with the students’ presentations. The true value of RYLA was clearly displayed and members are looking forward to meeting a new group of RYLA students in 2014.

First place winner in the Childrens’ Category was Ashlee Talbot

Dracut Rotary Club’s Annual Gingerbread House Competition was held on December 7th, and all agreed it was a huge success. Hundreds of visitors from greater Lowell were on hand to view the nearly 30 gingerbread creations that were entered this year. More than 200 children decorated gingerbread cookies and many got a chance to visit with Santa.

“The Gingerbread Competition was great,” said Club President Kate Dame. “Sue did a great job,” she said thanking event Chair Sue Neary for her hard work.

Professional Category winning creation was by Michelle Priest.

The winning entries in this year’s competition were:  1st place in the Professional category – Michelle Priest; in the Amateur category, 1st place – Collette Turgeon, 2nd place – Chris Poublon, 3rd place – Joann Smith; in the Young Adult category, 1st place – Lauren Masse, Elly McKenna and Annie Britton, 2nd place – Abigail Smith; in the Children category, 1st place – Ashlee Talbot, 2nd place – Michaela Pepin, 3rd place – Borden and Hudson Smith.

Collette Turgeon was this year’s 1st place entry in the Amateur Category.

Lauren Masse, Elly McKenna and Annie Britton took the top prize in the Young Adults category.

Winner of the “Guess How Many Kisses” was Gabrielle Davis; winner of the Chocolate Basket was Peter Milt; winner of the Gingerbread Theme Basket #1 and #2 was Jan Borislow; and winner of the Visit from Santa was Peter Milt.

The Club would like to thank all who attended this year’s Gingerbread Competition. Thanks to the generosity of the community, the Club will be donating $500 to the Dracut Food Pantry.

DRC Welcomes Flat Stanley

Dracut Rotary welcomed Flat Stanley at the Club’s recent Tuesday meeting. Stanley received the well wishes of the entire Club as he sets out on his cross-country travels.

Flat Stanley is a fun and exciting geography project which is underway in Mrs. Bowels and Ms. Bedard’s 3rd grade classes at St. Michael School in Lowell. The project is based on the book “Flat Stanley” written by Jeff Brown. As a result of a mishap involving a bulletin board, Stanley is flattened, leaving his only current mode of transportation…the U.S. Postal Service.

Flat Stanley

The 3rd graders each made a paper Flat Stanley and will be mailing him to family, friends and important people worldwide. Abigail Noel’s Stanley was the guest of the Club this week. Abigail is the granddaughter of Dracut Rotarian LouAnn Jendro. He is now headed on his travels and is expected to make stops in New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Alaska and New Orleans.

This is a geography, literacy and communications project “connecting kids from around the world with literacy since 1995.” Students share a mutual “friend” and Stanley shares his adventures with classrooms as they learn about the people and places he visits.

President Kate Dame and Treasurer Chuck Moran welcome newest Dracut Rotarians, (center l) Renee Plummer and (center r) Nanci Hill.

Dracut Rotary Club inducted its newest members, Renee Plummer and Nanci Hill, on July 11th. Club members, family and friends celebrated the occasion during a ceremony held at the Four Oaks Country Club in Dracut. DRC Treasurer, Chuck Moran, called on Renee and Nanci to commit themselves to the mission of Rotary – “Service Above Self” to our community, our region, our nation and the world. Chuck encouraged the new members to become immersed in the Club’s upcoming events.

Renee is a Certified Public Accountant with a practice in Dracut specializing in small business and personal income tax. She and husband Don have lived in Dracut for 30 years, raising 3 children here.

“I have enjoyed working in Dracut over the last ten years. Rotary provides me the additional opportunity to meet and work with other people in the town who are committed to giving back to the Dracut community,” said Renee.

Nanci is the Director of the Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library in Dracut.  She serves on many local, state, and national library committees.  In addition to her library work, she is also a published author.

 “Being a Rotarian has given me the opportunity to work closely with members of the Dracut community, as well as the world beyond the town’s borders” said Nanci. “As members of the human race, we owe a debt to those we share the planet with.  Being a Rotarian provides a way to continue to pay that debt.”

Charter President Dr. Paul Dufour delivers the oath of office to President Kate Dame.

Dracut Rotary Club members, family and friends gathered recently at Four Oaks Country Club  for the installation of the Club’s 2013-2014 officers. Charter President Dr. Paul Dufour was on hand to administer the oath of office to the Club’s newest president, Kate Dame.

A member of the Club since 2005 and past treasurer, Kate is Vice President of Branch Administration for Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, overseeing the six branch offices. She is a graduate of University of Mass Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in education.

“I’m hoping to improve fundraising efforts by introducing new events such as a talent night,” said Kate. She is also planning on hosting quarterly cocktail parties to enhance fellowship and boost membership.

Newly installed DRC Officers (l to r) Lee Ouellette, Pete Clark, Gail Goossens, LouAnn Jendro, Kate Dame, Kathy Boyd, Sue Neary and Chuck Moran.

Also installed were Club Secretary Susan Neary, Treasurer Chuck Moran, Sergeant at Arms Lee Ouellette, and Board Members Peter Clark, Gail Goossens, Dorothy Ambrosini, LouAnn Jendro and Kathy Boyd.

Charter Member Al Daigle Sr. is recognized by President Kathy Boyd for 44 years of perfect attendance at weekly meetings.

Al Daigle, Sr., charter member of the Rotary Club of Dracut, was honored recently for his perfect attendance. Al has not missed a meeting since the Club held it’s first in December of 1969. As her final official act, outgoing President, Kathy Boyd, presented Al with a perfect attendance award, signifying 44 years without missing a meeting.

Regular attendance at weekly meetings is an integral part of membership in Rotary. Members are encouraged to make up missed meetings by attending meetings at other clubs, and by taking part in club, district or Rotary International events. Al has made it a point to make up any meeting he has missed in Dracut by attending another club’s meeting or by participating in a recognized Rotary event. He is to be congratulated for his commitment to the Club for more than four decades.

DRC Welcomes 2013 RYLA Designees

2013 RYLA designees visit the Club. From l. to r. Valerie Nguon, Heather Demers, Alex Rose, Jessica McHugh, Mohamed Hamze, DRC member LouAnn Jendro, Kyle Dumont, Jordan Gauthier, DHS Counselor Geoffrey Kromer, and DRC President Kathy Boyd.

 Dracut Rotary Club welcomed seven high school sophomores at this week’s meeting. Six of the students are the 2013 DRC RYLA designees. The seventh is DRC’s alternate selection for the RYLA Conference.

RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference, is an annual event designed to offer outstanding high school sophomores an opportunity to work and interact together in an atmosphere of friendly competition.  The three-day conference provides a program that is intended to challenge the students to utilize and improve their leadership skills. Included in the structured program are interactive Leadership Labs, exciting guest speakers and challenging mental and physical activities that provide them with a chance to excel among and with their peers. They share their experiences with more than 100 other outstanding sophomores from across central Massachusetts.

This year’s designees are Heather Demers, Mohamed Hamze, Jessica McHugh and Valerie Ngyon from Dracut High School, Kyle Dumont…a student at Lowell Catholic High School, and Jordan Gauthier…a student at Lowell High School. Selected as this year’s DRC alternate is Alex Rose, a sophomore at Dracut High. As an alternate, Alex may be called on to fill in for any one of the over 100 students who were selected by 54 clubs to attend the 2013 RYLA Conference.

The seven Dracut students were selected by the club’s RYLA Committee from a pool of potential candidates who have displayed leadership abilities and who the Club feels will profit most from RYLA. They will be headed to Worcester State University for RYLA at the end of June. The Club wished them well and will host them again in the fall to hear about their RYLA experiences.