Dec. 17th Holiday Spouse Night

Come and enjoy the fellowship of the season at T.J. Smith's, and bring your spouse or significant other! We are hoping to have musical entertainment from one of the EBHS choral groups, and we'll have a good old fashioned Yankee Swap for those who wish to participate! Meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

For those who wish to participate in the Yankee Swap, please bring a wrapped gift with a value close to $10. Wonder if any of the "cherished" gifts from past Yankee Swaps will re-appear???

Naughty or Nice??

Rumor has it that Santa appeared in the parade this past Saturday after a visit to the South Pole ... perhaps that accounts for his strange accent? Scouts snapped this photo of Santa and an E.B. Kiwanis member ... wonder if she was naughty or nice????

Tree Decorating Contest Winners!

First Place Adult Division: East Bridgewater Savings Bank

First Place Youth Division: Boy Scout Troop 32

Founder’s Prize: East Bridgewater Support Our Troops

Bay State Colony Prize: Cadette Girl Scouts

Community Prize: Byram’s Brook Neighbors

Governor’s Prize: Brownie Troop 81157

Honorable Mention: Central School Kindergarten

Honorable Mention: East Bridgewater YMCA Preschool

Honorable Mention: East Bridgewater High School Concert Band

Honorable Mention: East Bridgewater High School Concert Choir

Christmas on the Common - A Great Success!

Despite the soggy weather, the townspeople turned out in droves again this year to partake of the festivities. The parade route was crowded with excited small children (and big children, too) anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus, rumor has it Santa was fresh off an excursion to the South Pole this year!

Chuckwagon-Master Extraordinaire PP Bob Dennis wished to add this to the blog ...
Special thanks from P.P. Bob Dennis to everyone who helped out at the food trailer. For fear of forgetting someone, thanks to the following:
Bruce Meserve - The guy that makes it all happen
Special Assistant & Future Food & Culinary King - Charlie Muise
Grille Chiefs Tom Rudolph, Ron Zimmermann, and Bill Johnson
Grille & Dog Specialist - Bill Bradbury
Grillemen in Training - Dick Anderson & Frank Santilli
Prep and Wrapping Specialist - Susan Muise
Money Collecting Experts - Mary Sue Moore & Carol Julius
Appreciated Helpers Who Dropped By to Help - JoAnn Coles, Paul Meserve, Stan Usowicz
Volunteers - Good friend Paul Tatro and his friend Nancy
Periodic Taker of the Bills - Roger Boucher
Partakers of the Medicine - Tom Rudolph, Ron Zimmermann, Bill Bradbury, Frank Santilli, Stan Usowicz, Roger Boucher, & Mary Sue Moore (trying to keep up with the boys!)
Thanks again to everyone!
P.P. Bob

Several club members took pictures at various times throughout the day, so as I get those photos they will be uploaded to the blog for your viewing pleasure!

PP Charlie Muise - Man of the Year!!

Our own PP Charlie Muise was honored last night as Rotary's Man of the Year. No one was more deserving of the honor than PP Charlie, though he would be the first to say he didn't do anything to deserve the award! There was a strong Kiwanis presence at BSC for the award ceremony, with 18 members & guests coming out to show support for PP Charlie.

PP Bob Dennis gave PP Charlie's testimonial

Rotarian Tom Kazanowski, PP Bob Dennis, PP Kris Resendes, and PP Charlie Muise

PP Charlie accepting the award

Trees are HERE!

On Sunday, November 22nd, 776 beautiful Christmas trees arrived in East Bridgewater at the Kiwanis Christmas Tree lot :) There were plenty of volunteers on hand to help unload the trees.

At the same time, PP Kris and her crew strung the garland and hung the bows on the town common. It sure is a beautiful sight to drive by the common and see it all decorated!

Many thanks to Carole Julius for her photographs of the 'festivities!'

Troop Packing a HUGE success!!

I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who brought items for the troop packing!! I am truly humbled by the generosity and caring of every single member of our club. I will be bringing the boxes to the post office with Carole Julius tomorrow afternoon. Please know that you have all made a Soldier happy :)

Nov. 10th - Selectmen to honor 2 former E.B. Marines!!

11/10/09 the selectmen will be recognizing 2 of our
former Marines at 7:30pm. It's a wonderful way to say
thank you for their service and everyone is invited to attend.
The presentation will last for about 10-15 minutes.
It would be fantastic to fill the room with supporters.
If you are able to attend, please do! Also, pass the word
along to anyone you know who might be able to attend.

Troop Package Reminder

Reminder that next week (November 5th) after the board meeting, we will be packing up care boxes for our E.B. troops serving overseas. At the current time we have FOURTEEN (14) names & addresses. There is always the possibility of another name being added, so please still purchase enough for fifteen (15) boxes!!

Saturday work party possibly canceled!

Gotta love fall in New England, right? Unfortunately the weather forecast is for downpours all day Saturday. If this holds true, the work party scheduled for Saturday will be postponed until the following Saturday (Oct. 31st) from 8 until noon.

Should the weather forecasters be wrong (what? weather forecasters wrong? never, right??) ... then please show up at Bruce's house on Cross Street as scheduled!

Work Party Dates

Saturday, October 24th - at PP Bruce Meserve's house, 88 Cross Street, E.B.
This is a work party for the newly donated Christmas Tree Trailer!!
Starting at 8:00 a.m. and going as long as necessary ... come for the day,
come for a while, but PLEASE COME!!

Saturday, November 14th - at Town Hall / Town Common
This is a work party to get the common and town hall lawn wired for our
annual Christmas Tree & Wreath Sale & Christmas on the Common!
We need many hands to make this go quickly, so PLEASE show up and lend a hand!

Things to Remember ...

On October 22nd, we will be performing our first scheduled Mainspring dinner service. In the sidebar to the right are listed the serving volunteers & brownie bakers already signed up. We do need one additional serving volunteer, so please e-mail Sec'y Jo-Ann if you are available.


TROOP CARE PACKAGES ... yes! this service project is back ... we will be packing up the boxes after the November board meeting (this will give the packages plenty of time to get to the Soldiers before Christmas) ... there is a list of suggested items in the sidebar to the right (underneath the Mainspring box) ... there will be approximately 15 boxes, so please purchase accordingly.

Thursday, October 1st - Guest Speaker!!

EBPD Patrolman Bill Patterson will be out guest speaker for Thursday's meeting at T.J. Smith's. He'll be bringing the portable breath machine ... any volunteers???

Please make every effort to attend, bring your spouse, a friend, or a prospective member! Chief John is away on business for this meeting, so let's all support PE Beth as she (tries to) assume control of the meeting :)

Upcoming Governor's Visit

For anyone so inclined, the date of the Official Governor's Visit to Division 15 has been set for Sunday, November 1st (no Patriot's game that week). The Middleboro club is hosting the event, and it will be held at Lorenzo's Restaurant on Rte. 28 in Middleboro beginning at 12:30 p.m., with lunch being served at 1:30 p.m.

The club will be receiving an official invitation within a week or two from Lt. Governor Corinne. Incoming Governor Dave Koohy is looking forward to meeting the club members from Division 15.

Installation a HUGE success!!

73 Kiwanians and guests attended the 61st Annual Installation of Officers on Thursday evening at T.J. Smith's. From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., guests enjoyed assorted cocktails and noshed on crackers, cheese, fruit, veggies, tasty dips, and shrimp.

President Dianne started the meeting (she even had the BELL in hand!) with our traditional song/pledge/prayer opening, and then introduced our SIXTEEN (yes 16!!!) members who'd joined during the 2008-2009 club year. Our newest member, Kathy McLaughlin was inducted into membership as well. Welcome to the club, Kathy!!

After a delicious roast-turkey-with-all-the-fixin's dinner, it was time for the business at hand. Past President Bob McCarthy served as the MC, and Mr. Everything Roger Boucher did the actual installation. The newly ~PAST~ President Dianne gave a very thoughtful speech, thanking many who helped her have such a successful year.

The bell and gavel were passed ... with much ado from MC PP Bob about every member being able to REST EASY and be assured that new President John Cowan will ensure the safety of the bell and gavel! President John introduced his guests, and then gave a brief summary of his plans for the coming year, emphasizing that he plans to build on the successes of the past year & continue the club's growth and vitality.

After a reminder from Past President Dianne, President John entertained a motion to adjourn the meeting :)

Golf Tournament Report

On Aug. 10, 2009, the club had its annual charity golf tournament. This year we had 32 foursomes, 4 short of full capacity. Fortunately, the weather was good, although hot and humid. The golf course was in excellent condition and the food was great.

The club should be very proud of our committee, made up of past presidents Mike Forni, Roger Boucher, Steve Mattaliano, Dick Bachman and members Dick Braley and Mary Sue Moore. They all worked extra hard to offset the negative effects of today's economy.

This year, we purchased all of the raffle prizes on line to save expenses.

The East Bridgewater Savings Bank, our major corporate sponsor again donated $2000 for the event. South Shore Savings Bank again donated the cost of insurance for our hole-one-event. We were able to increase income from the raffle from $600 last year to $1400 this year. Also, we were able to increase income from sponsorship signs from $2600 to $3500. Estimated total net income from the tournament is $6800.

A special thanks to all the members and friends who participated in the event and a special thanks to the members who helped out during the tournament: PP Kris Resendes, Kris's associate Maureen Hill, Alicia Boucher, President Dianne, Mary Sue Moore, Andre Rosenberg, Ed Fopiano, Frank Ray, and Treasurer Mike Porrazzo.

The committee had a "post event" meeting last week to share ideas and explore things we can do to improve next year's tournament. We have sent thank you letters to all of the sponsors who donated money for sponsor signs of made other donations (many of the local golf clubs gave us free rounds of golf for our raffle and auction). We will be looking for some of our newer members to join the committee next year. If you have an interest, please contact me.

PP Bob Dennis, Chairman

Cook-Out was Wonderful! Thank You!

A huge thank-you to everyone who attended the cookout last Thursday. A big thank-you to my co-hosts, Mr. Everything Roger & Alicia Boucher. More thank-yous to ... Liberty Pizza on Pleasant Street, E.B. for the delicious pizzas and calzones ... member Andre for the ice cream cakes ... member Mary Comstock for the blueberry cake ... and President Dianne for the antipasto salad.

There were approximately 25 people who attended and enjoyed a great night, great food, and each other's company.

Let's hope that next summer we can fill in every week with a cookout!!

Kiwanis Night at the Rox

Over 40 people enjoyed a wonderful evening at the Brockton Rox on Thursday, August 6th. Even though the Rox got a big 'ole can of whoop-a** opened up on them by New Jersey, it was still a fun night! In attendance (with friends/family) were the DiFazios, the Shaws, the Rays, the Julius', the Bouchers, the Warkels, the Chapmans, the Poolers, Treasurer Mike, PP Bruce, and members Andre & Mary Sue. A big thanks to PP Bob DiFazio for organizing the event & arranging the tickets!!

PP Dick Bachman sinks a crucial putt at the E.B. Kiwanis Charity Golf Tournament at Easton Country Club.

Notice member Andre carefully logging the putt!!

Pot-Luck Cookout at PP Bob Dennis'

There were about 26 people in attendance (in addition to our hosts, the Dennis Family) at PP Bob's Pot-Luck cookout last night. The weather turned out beautiful, after a quick afternoon thunderstorm blew through!

We all enjoyed sampling the fares ... baked beans, chili, lasagna, BBQ ribs, kielbasa, meatballs, pasta salad, potato salad, 2 types of zucchini bread, fresh fruit, and 3-layer brownies. (I'm sure there are some things I've missed.) Everything was delicious!!

I'm sure all in attendance would agree that a Pot-Luck cookout is a fantastic way to get together and enjoy the company of your fellow Kiwanians, without the tremendous amount of work involved in hosting a traditional cookout! Hopefully we can have another one (or two, three, more???) next summer!

A ~HUGE~ thank you to PP Bob and his entire family for the hospitality :)

July 22nd Service at Mainspring House

On Wednesday, July 22nd, PP Charlie M., PP Jo-Ann C., member Mike T., and new member Bill A. helped serve the evening meal at Mainspring House in Brockton, MA. For those who aren't sure what Mainspring House is ... here is a link to their website, which explains in greater detail ... Mainspring House & Father Bill's Place.

The Union Congo church in E.B. provided the food ... pasta, meatballs, salad fixings, bread/rolls, and homemade chocolate chip cookies (courtesy of Kiwanis-Baker-Extraordinaire Susan M.) ... and the four of us helped to prep and serve the meal.

Mainspring's 'executive chef' and kitchen chief, Craig, gave us all instructions and led us through the process. He'd already made a ~HUGE~ batch of chicken cacciatore, and when we arrived he quickly and efficiently prepared the pasta and the meatballs w/ sauce. The K-team assembled the salads (approx. 60 of them)and set out the dressings, bread/butter, cheese, plates, etc.

When the time came for the meal to be served, we observed the efficient manner in which Mainspring staff allows the people to enter the dining hall, go through the food line, and then sit down and eat. First to enter are the people going through a recovery program and those who work at Mainspring. After they finish, women who are waiting outside are allowed to come in and eat. Once the women are seated, Craig counts the number of available seats and they allow that number of men assembled outside to come in.

I lost count after the first 30 or so people, but I believe we served somewhere in the vicinity of 80 people. Each and every person was appreciative of our efforts, and almost all thanked us graciously for serving and assisting.

Once there were no more people waiting outside, Craig called out to those still in the dining room that they could come back up for seconds if they wished ... there was a controlled stampede at that point! I can't vouch for the tastiness of the meal, other than from the rave reviews received by all those served, but it sure smelled delicious, so I can understand why they wanted more!

After the serving was finished, Craig informed us that the rest of the people who had eaten would finish cleaning up & we were able to leave. The service we provided at Mainspring House was valuable, relevant, and certainly eye-opening. I would encourage each and every member of the club to volunteer for this service opportunity in August if they are able. It's certainly a humbling experience, as 'there but for the Grace of God, go I.'

Welcome to the Blog!

In an effort to increase communications, I've created a blog for the Kiwanis Club of East Bridgewater, MA. Bookmark this page so you can check back often.

Each month there will be a listing of upcoming events, and hopefully we'll get members and officers to submit a blog post for the membership. Keep your monitor on and ready for the first blog post, a recap of last week's service outing at Mainspring House in Brockton, MA!