Email Blast

Dear Rotarian,
 

An-ti-ci-pa-tion…. Do you remember the old Heinz Ketchup commercial? That ketchup was soooo slow but oh, so good on a BBQ burger or plate of hot fries. Do you remember the anticipation of hearing the phone ring and having that someone special on the other line? Or the anticipation of the results posted for your last semester of college finals? Or waiting for that someone special to ask the question or hear the word yes? So many moments of anticipation we can all recall at multiple points of time in our lives.

I anticipate and look forward to the Ashland Independent Film Festival in Ashland every Spring. It was heartening to hear the news that AIFF has a Plan B in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. All of you film lovers will be excited to hear the festival will now be in a digital format this year!

Please join me this Tuesday for The Rotary Club of Medford’s first ever virtual ZOOM meeting where we will have AIFF’s Artistic and Executive Director, Richard Herskowitz share the exciting news of this year’s film festival!

Give yourself a respite from your new daily quarantine routine and join all of your Rotary friends for some Rotary fellowship and discover an array of new films that will help fill that void we are all feeling right now. Some things are worth waiting for and this festival is definitely one of them.

I anticipate our lives will look much differently on the other side of COVID-19, and I think there will be a lot of aspects of life no longer taken for granted. That is actually a good thing…. Maybe even a few lessons learned. Times like these will ultimately bring people together (even though we are temporarily apart).  I know that Rotarians will be needed more than ever. Get ready, I anticipate a World of change ahead!

Here is your invite to Tuesday’s meeting! Be well and I look forward to seeing you on the “Brady Bunch” screen!

Yours In Rotary Service,

Michelle Corradetti, President

(The attached link will walk you through how to join a ZOOM meeting)
 

ismyrotaryclub.com/Click/?_uid=800786387&_ctid=1568723&redirect=https://www.youtube.com/embed/hIkCmbvAHQQ?rel=0&autoplay=1&cc_load_policy=1

Meeting Presenter is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Rotary Club of Medford – April 7 2020 – Noon Meeting

Time: Apr 7, 2020 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/364937844

Meeting ID: 364 937 844

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Dear Rotarian,

CONNECTIONS and COVID-19. Rotary Connects the World. COVID-19 also displayed how it rapidly connected the world with its invisible “wee beasties” as germs, bacteria, and viruses are referred to in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. The only thing more contagious than a virus is hope. 

We are currently separated by social distancing restrictions but yet can still be connected. This is a time where we, as a Club, can connect with each other and see how we can help each other through this (hopefully not for long) new normal we are currently experiencing. Many of you are business owners – how can we help you? This is the time to reach out to all of us during your time of need. One of my stated goals for this year was “Rotary Connects Our Club.” This is the time to truly make that happen!! When we can help ourselves (as a Club), we, in effect, become stronger to help others! Please email me how we can help you now, and after, this threat has passed. I will pass it on so we can pay it forward.

I have attached a video this week that I thought might be of interest. Some of you may have seen it already but my hope is that many of you have not. We are the leaders of our community and if you watch this video through a Rotary lens, think of how our Club membership would grow! Who wouldn’t want to be a part of such an amazing group of people?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4

I have also attached a video I saw from a couple of years ago that is now the new normal for working at home.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjg2LvXqsDoAhVROH0KHbXeA0sQ3ywwAHoECAsQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMh4f9AYRCZY&usg=AOvVaw3rkPCIfOTTDmTzoKY096W8

Personally, I have upset my cat’s napping schedule now that I am working from home….

I want to take this opportunity to award Tisha Oehmen our Rotary Member of the Month for March. Tisha has stepped up to the plate on many occasions this year (behind the scenes) in helping with our Weekly bulletin and website updates and the set-up and printing of our Club rosters among other projects. The rosters are hot off the press and will be available the next time we meet in person! Thank you, Tisha!

One last note, please download the ZOOM app on your tablets, laptops, or Smart phones

and play around with it. It is free to use. ZOOM a spouse, a friend, a group of friends to practice. We will attempt a virtual ZOOM Club meeting in the near future. Details to follow.

Be well and let’s stay connected!

Yours in Rotary Service,

Michelle Corradetti, President

Dear Rotarian,

Rotarians take lemons and make lemonade!  Please see the attached flyer.  The upcoming District Grants meeting is now going to be held in a digital format on April 4th due to restrictions in place on gatherings at this time.  This is a great way for new members (and old!) to attend the meeting with no expense or travel.  This will showcase what your TRF dollars are doing in the District and around the world.  Please let me know if you are interested in participating!

Yours in Rotary Service,

Michelle Corradetti, President

agenda-flyer-APR1.docx

Dear Rotarian,
 

Humans are social creatures. We have evolved from couples, to clans to larger communities. Social interaction forms the basis of our families, our governments, and even our global economy. Social interaction even plays a major part in our mental health. For most, experiencing social distancing, being quarantined, or isolated, is just not in our nature. I thought this an opportune time to share the vernacular being used today and a bit of its history.

According to the CDC, social distancing involves remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance from others when possible. Some health professionals are increasingly encouraging the term physical distancing as a clearer alternative to social distancing as it underscores the importance of keeping physical distance between people to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. The term additionally makes clear that people should still spend time with friends and family using digital technology and social media when they are physically separated.

People are put in quarantine when they are not currently sick but have been or may have been exposed to a communicable disease. Quartantine comes from the Italian word quarantina, a period of 40 days which even has Latin roots from the word quadraginta, also meaning “forty.” Historically, a quarantine referred to a period – originally of 40 days – imposed upon ships when suspected of carrying an infectious or contagious disease. This practice was done in Venice in the 1300’s in an effort to stave off the Black Plague.

Isolation is when someone or something is set apart from other persons or things. In a medical sense, isolation happens when a person is infected with a communicable disease and is separated from people who are healthy. First recorded around 1825-35, isolation comes from the same root as insulation: the Latin insulatus, “made into an island,” based on insula, “island.”. During these times, it is important to engage in activities that make you happy – read a good book, garden, binge watch your favorite shows, play an instrument, or just listen to your favorite music, and keep in contact with each other.

Solitude and Rotary are at opposite ends of the spectrum. This is a time for us to think outside of the box.  In addition to compiling your anecdotes in a weekly format, I will be thinking of ideas, sharing ideas from other Clubs with our Board, to continue to connect with each and every one of you during this period of physical distancing.

We will get through this together! Be well!

Yours in Rotary Service,

Michelle Corradetti, President

Dear Rotarian,

On this Eve of St. Patrick’s Day, thoughts of each and every one of you have come to rest in my mind.  I will miss our weekly Rotary gathering for the next 2 weeks as you are my people.  People that want to make a positive difference in our community and the world.  People that make the world a better place just by being in it.  People I am proud to know and be acquainted with.  People to work beside in acts of service.

Interesting times we find ourselves in where life as we know it has been put on pause.  I feel like we are currently in the eye of the storm where we have very recently endured the beginnings of a financial crisis and are grasping to keep a daunting health crisis at bay.  In this moment, though, there is calm.  Spring is showing her colors in the blooms on the trees and Mother Nature is waking from her long winter’s nap.  There is still the chill in the air to warrant a fire in the hearth.  I will seek joy where it resides.

I believe we will get through this storm together.  It is all in perspective and there is always a silver lining.  Opportunities abound during this financial crisis, and I believe our country will unite in the aftermath of COVID-19.  For now, we must hold on tight and keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.  

There are good ships and there are wood ships, Ships that sail the sea, But the best ships are friendships, May they always be.

Yours in Rotary Service,

Michelle Corradetti, President

 

Dear Rotarian,

I often wonder about the serendipitous occurrences in my life. Are they random, am I subconsciously willing things to happen with my force of mind, or is there a bigger force in the Universe as an explanation? Is it because of the two 4-leaf-clovers I have found, and just plain luck? I am in the camp of “there is no such thing as a coincidence” so up to this point I simply marvel and am in awe (and thankful) at the wonders this life has provided. As Henry James once put it, you have to have an “openness to the chances of life.”

The coining of the term serendipity is attributed to Horace Walpole, who derived it from the title of a fairy tale, “The Three Princes of Serendip” about three heroes “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.” This week we have the pleasure of having Dr. Chad Thatcher share the science behind maximizing serendipity into our lives. Please join your fellow Rotarians in an afternoon of fellowship. In my mind, this is one program not to miss!

From a Rotary perspective, think of what can be accomplished and the connections made if we were more aware of serendipity in the air!

Yours in Rotary Service,

Michelle Corradetti, President