At our 19 May meeting our guest speaker was Ethan Bachand, representing Scouting America.  Previously called Boy Scouts of America with its name change to Scouting America, the organization now welcomes girls.  Scouting began in 1907 in England by Lord Robert Baden-Powell and came to America in 1910, and in Rhode Island.  In 1916, the purchase of 130 acres of "the old Palmer Farm in Rockville, RI" resulted in Camp Yawgoog which is now the second oldest continually operated Scout Camp in the country and the second largest by attendance.  It now encompasses 2000 acres and is the "crown jewel" of Narragansett Council and national leader among scout camps.

The Narragansett Council now serves "youth across Southeastern New England including 30 towns in Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island and Pawcatuck, CT and maintains six camp grounds for Scouting purposes.

This year RI Scouts will celebrate 115 years of Scouting. 

March Student of the Month is Dylan Tallardy, above with President Alan.  Assistant Principal Cronin introduced this fine young man as a "renaissance man", a leader, a young man who has made the high school a better place.  He served as Class President all four years of his high school career, participated in Theater, Chorus, Symphonic Band, Marching Band, Cross Country, Indoor Track, Lacrosse, Student Council.  Dylan made All State Musician, first in State.  His volunteerism included coordinating blood drive and is an active RI Blood Center donor, assisted incoming Freshmen at Freshman First Night, mentored peers or younger students, assisted with various tasks at Chorus of Westerly and is a singer with that group.  Dylan has earned several awards and is a member of the National Honor Society, latest honor was that he was accepted into a week long vocal academy at Yale University - he was one of 24 accepted from 138 applicants across the country.  Dylan plans to attend University of Rhode Island to major in Theatre.

April Student of the Month is Kailyn Fister, above with President Alan.  Assistant Principal Cronin introduced Kailyn as a young lady who "puts herself out there with a work ethic that is a model for others".  Kailyn is a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society, has achieved High Honors with Distinction.  Her activities included World Language Club, Varsity Athletes Against Substance Abuse, WHS Dance Team, assisted with incoming freshmen tours, assisted nurses and patients at Westerly Hospital and mentored Dunns Corners Elementary School students, supervised camp activities at St Andrew's Lutheran Church.  Kailyn plans to attend Endicott College with a major in Nursing.

We are always and forever grateful for Nigrelli's Jewelry who provide the beautiful blue and gold plaques to celebrate our students.

 

 

President-Elect Suzanne presented the Children's Library Book to Commissioner Larry.  He presented a series of slides from many of Rhode Island's historic cemeteries.  He said, "Rhode Island is one of few states that has a Commission, a unique system for cemeteries with a central database." At their website, click on "database" and insert the last and first names of your deceased person, and you will find not only where they are located but also a picture of the tombstone and possibly an obituary.  There are 3200 known cemeteries throughout RI's 39 cities and towns.  Farm families had their own family plot and most were on their private property.  Field stones were used because they were readily available and carvers not so much.  Over time many of these private family plot have been lost, stones overturned, woodland growth covering up the family plots. 

The Commission sees their task to identify and protect all cemeteries.  "It is our hope to formulate and develop plans and programs to restore, rehabilitate and maintain historical cemeteries and locate sources of funds such as grant and individual or corporate sponsors."

"Volunteers needed to find cemeteries and get GPS readings - some responsibilities include taking pictures of gravestones, document cemeteries, research deeds, clean cemeteries, and adopt a cemetery." The Commission trains volunteers to properly clean and repair damaged gravestones.  For more information, go to https://rihistoriccemeteries.org or call Larry at 860.485.6776

  

First picture above is Greg Powell greeting Victor our Forester in the WMS Forest in Costa Rica via Zoom.  The second shows a bit of the classroom again with Greg and Teacher Sara Steverman.  Greg is the Executive Director of Reforest the Tropics, succeeding Dr. Herster Barres who founded this organization to effect climate change through the planting of mixed species of trees.  He began the presentation with Victor by showing what once was grazing land for cattle and what it has become since creating a forest that now includes many animal species.  In 2024 about 175 tons of CO2 was stored in the WMS forest.  Special thanks go out to our Dr. Dan Alvino as we learned on Friday that he has donated funds in 2021 to begin a WHS forest.  Most of Friday's class was Spanish spoken and the expression of the day from Victor is Pura Vida (it means Pure Life) but has come to be used like saying "hello", "how are you".  Rotarians attending this event were Janet and Rose.

President Alan with Alison Croke, President & CEO of Wood River Health a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has provided "compassionate care since 1976 to residents of Washington County RI" as well as Pawcatuck and North Stonington CT.  "They are a full service medical dental and behavioral health care facility offering patient-centered care." 

Earlier this month US Representative Seth Magaziner visited Wood River Health where "he was told that deep cuts proposed to Medicaid by House Republicans would lead to layoffs, reductions in services for patients and more.  The proposed Medicaid cuts in the federal budget would be financially devastating to health centers and many other providers in Rhode Island.  The roughly 82,000 Rhode Islanders eligible for Medicaid through the Expansion provision of the ACA rely on this coverage to give them access to primary medical and dental care, as well as treatment for behavioral health conditions," Alison said.  "This access to preventive care improves health outcomes and prevents spending on more expensive treatment options like emergency department visits and hospital stays.  Under House Republicans' proposed budget plans, more than 300,000 Rhode Islanders on Medicaid could lose access to care, according to Magaziner's office."

Medicaid is jointly financed by Federal and State governments currently and came into being about 1965 to help in the following areas:  Temporary Assistance to Need Families, Children in Substitute Care, Children with special needs, Adults with disabilities.  If the proposed cuts happen, their health care will be at risk.

 

Our Vision:  We seek to create, locally and globally, a culture of peace in which the inherent worth and dignity of every living being is honored and respected and conflicts are resolved nonviolently.

                                                                                                                             

Our Mission:  To create activities, programs and projects focused on creating a culture of peace as well as working with other community groups and organizations engaged in similar endeavors.

Link to Frank Thacker's Daily Peacemaker:  www.DailyPeacemaker.com - https://youtu.be/JclcTuRKyoM

  

   

The lockbox above was installed on John Street -  it's location must be easy to find and close to the front door for quick access by First Responders.  Happily I was working in my garden last week when two officers stopped by to check on my lockbox.  All was well there.  They told me that they have "rescued" a few lockboxes that were no longer needed so they could be reused at another residence.  How very efficient!!!

 

If you know of someone who is "at risk" and can benefit from having a lockbox installed at their home, please contact the Westerly Police Department or Officer Mills at the non-emergency Phone Number 401.596.2022.  Our lockboxes are provided to residents, as needed, free of charge.  Also, if other groups wish to donate lockboxes to the Westerly Police Department, please purchase them from McQuade's Ace Hardware.  We are being awarded special pricing and have delivered 63 lockboxes to Officer Mills for distribution as of this month.