Worcester Rotary

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

As most of us recall, our longtime Worcester Rotary member Bengt Hansson passed away from Covid few years ago, at the age of 97. He had provided us with his homemade Glögg for many years, and he and his granddaughter Jennifer Farnsworth served it at our Glögg/Holiday/Christmas parties.

Jen has offered to sell bottles of “Bengt’s Original Glögg” to our club members, but they have to be ordered in advance. To place your order you may call her at (508) 826-8538.

Cost is: 750ml: $20.00

1L : $25.00

You can make arrangements with Jen for payment and pickup (I can help if you like).

Rich

We were pretty lucky on Thursday to have two of our club members present a program on using AI--Krista and Junaid.

It was at a perfect level of difficulty for those of us who are relatively unfamiliar with using AI. The programs used were chatgpt, gemini, and collov.ai for interior design options.

Krista explained how to ask questions, what details to include which will both enhance and pare down the results you get, and any preferred data bases you'd like to be used. Junaid showed us how to use collov.ai to "stage" a room with furniture, etc.

Because AI is far from perfect, the results must be carefully reviewed to make sure that they make sense.

Some concerns were raised by a club member as to whether AI is something that is beneficial or destructive. Junaid suggested that because it is here to stay, we should become informed as to how to use it constructively.

On Thursday, Julie McMurray, the Senior Manager of the Central MA Region for the Alzheimer's Association and Jackson Nguyen, a Senior at WPI who plans to become a neurologist, presented an excellent program on Alzheimer's Disease.

Together, Julie and Jackson provided us with a comprehensive overview of the current state of Alzheimer's disease including demographics, prevention, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, research, available resources, and ways to volunteer.

Several important takeaways are: (1) more people die from Alzheimer's Disease than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined, (2) although there is no definitive test to diagnose Alzheimer's, current research has found blood markers that may one day be predictive, and (3) there is currently no cure for Alzheimer's, however there are a number of medications that may slow its progression. Over the counter supplements which are often advertised on TV (e.g. Prevagin) have not been shown to be effective.

We had a wonderful presentation on Oct. 16 by the Director of Development at Quinsigamond Community College, Michelle Vigneux. She thanked our club for our contribution of scholarships to 3 of their students, and she read letters from each of them expressing their appreciation to our club. The letters were heartfelt, and made us aware again of how being a Rotarian is a privilege, because of the genuine good we can do for the community.

Michelle explained that although there is no longer tuition for attending QCC, it is often difficult for students to pay for other needed items such as books, meals, and transportation.

We had a great presentation on Thursday (Oct. 2) by Eduardo Cabello, a specialist in Interactive Media and Game Design. He presented us with up-to-the-minute challenges that AI (Artificial Intelligence) designers are facing, as well as those of us who use it. He gave many examples of how AI can be used to create images, artistic renderings, videos, speech, and music. Often it is very difficult to detect AI generated media from "the real thing." Eduardo suggests you watch a persons hands and backgrounds to detect anomalies.

Here are some interesting images on his website: https://www.eduardocabello.com

Congratulations to Bob, who told us of a major change in his life that will come at the end of October!

Today (Sept. 18) we were fortunate to have two presentations: One presentation by Liz Parker Gagne, the Donor and Community Engagement Officer at Mass Memorial Health, and one by our own Darren Parent on the upcoming Alzheimers Walk.

Liz gave us an update on the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Memorial Campus) Bedside Camera System. Our club had donated about $11,000 several years ago to purchase these cameras so that parents and family could see and communicate with their babies in the NICU. Due to several unforseen problems, these cameras did not work properly, and an alternative system did not meet hospital requirements. As of this date, UMMH is reviewing their options with the hope that a satisfactory camera system can be found.

At this point, our club has three options: (1) remain committed to the bedside camera project and keep the funds in the restricted fund at UMMH until a satisfactory camera system is found, (2) reallocate the funds so that they can be used now to help patients and families (for ex. providing funds for their transportation to the hospital), or (3) return the funds to our club.

Just a note in passing about Liz: she has always been very transparent with us, and she will provide updates to our club regarding UMMH decisions re: purchasing cameras.

Darren told us about his personal interest in supporting the Alzheimer's Association, and about the planned walk on Oct. 19. Here are the details that he has provided for our club about the walk:

"Rotary Club of Worcester!

We are participating at the Worcester Walk to end Alzheimer’s. The walk date is Sunday October 19. Our Rotary club will have a table at the vendor tent. Great opportunity to show our presence in the community and our support for such an important cause.

Attached is our Rotary Club of Worcester Team page. Please join our team. If you choose to do so you can also make a donation via our team page.

Thank you and advance.

Sincerely,
Darren Parent"

https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2025/MA-MassachusettsNewHampshire?team_id=986959&pg=team&fr_id=18649

I have heard 52 District Governors present their ideas to our Club, and the 53rd, Johnny Ahern, is one of the most engaging, authentic, and down-to-earth that I have heard. He has a ton of facts at his fingertips, and more ideas than I could keep track of.

He began with some personal information, and noted that he is a member of the Leominster Club. He's tired of hearing about "increasing membership," but he explained that if our District does not increase membership to above 1100, we are at risk of being combined with another District, most likely to our West rather than East.

Here are several of his many suggestions: (1) partner with one or two clubs for a project, (2) have a project to increase awareness of Polio Plus, (3) use consistent and updated branding when publishing information about the club, (4) make sure any roadsigns with the Rotary logo and meeting information are updated and in good shape, (5) take advantage of a free online graphic design platform, called Canva, for our presentations, posters, and social media content, and (6) be ready to adjust to changes in demographics (meeting times and places, etc.) rather than expecting others to change for us.

Congratulations!!! Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, a member of the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Nigeria, has been selected to become Rotary International’s president for 2026-27.

Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, a member of the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Nigeria, has been selected to become Rotary International’s president for 2026-27.

Meet President-elect Yinka: https://on.rotary.org/41qIMBv

As you may have seen in President Shanieka's write-up, we had a great meeting on Thursday in which 3 RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) recipients and two of their mothers talked about their experiences at the recent RYLA event at Fitchburg State University.

The recipients are Anjali Caron from Bancroft (her mother is Cynthia), Vanessa Acquah from Doherty Memorial, and June Sandberg (her mother is Tracy).

Krista gave an excellent overview of the RYLA program. Each of the students, who were high school sophomores, described their experiences. Several of the program highlights for the recipients were: how they felt comfortable talking about themselves in front of others and developed more self-confidence; how they learned a lot about money management from the budgeting event; and how they learned to work together to overcome a variety of challenges.

We will be having our Rotary meeting tomorrow at 12:00 PM , at the GRILL ON THE HILL! It will be all about RYLA! As we will have some of our students we sent to RYLA attending! Hope to see you there!

Yesterday was one of those days where you find yourself feeling proud to be a Rotarian. Our Club presented the Edward Hall Memorial Scholarship to two outstanding recipients: Anahit
Marutyan, a graduate of Claremont Academy, and Trinnity Ly, a graduate of Doherty High School. Each student received a $2500 check.

Trinnity was joined by the Director of Guidance, Judy Fairfull, and Anahit was joined by her parents and her two brothers. We were fortunate to have Sue Sullivan, Ed's daughter, and her husband Joe assist in awarding the scholarships.

Anahit will be attending Clark University with the intention of going to law school, and Trinniity will attend Assumption University with the intention of becoming a Physician Assistant.

I will refrain from noting all of the accomplishments of these young students, but we were all extremely impressed.

To top things off, Chris C. won the raffle, and donated all of the winnings to Judy to be used to assist worthy students.

At our Club Meeting on July 17, our own Bill Moore and Operations Manager Debbie Erickson presented information about all of the great work that Project New Hope is doing, and our own Darren Parent presented information about how to support research into Alzheimer's disease. We were joined by East Hartford Rotarian Francesco Pagano.

On July 31, Assistant District Governor from the Framingham Club Debbie McCarthy was kind enough to join us and induct the new officers for the 2025-2026 year.