Newsletter- The Keyway - The Keyway Archive  Mar 25, 2009

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The Keyway    The Official Newsletter of the Wilmington Rotary Club   Newsletter of the Rotary Club of Wilmington(MA) District 7930

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A big Rotary Keyway Thank You to Donna Wayman for stepping in and taking notes this week!!!  Thanks Donna!

50-50 Pot:   no 50/50 raffle this week.

Guests and Visitarians:

Harry Cunningham brought his old cohorts from the Lions Club with him today.  Mike Burns, Hap Powers and Mike Kane.  Ray Fitch had his daughter and granddaughter with him.

Donna Wayman had two of the businesses represented that participated in the Adopt a Child Program this year.  Diane and Kathy from Graybar; and Libby and Mike from the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection.

Program for the week of 3/25/09:

Michael A. Caira - Town Adminstrator of Wilmington

Mike A. Caira started off by saying a big “thank you” to the Wilmington Rotary Club.  He said that we play a big part in Wilmington, not only with the projects that we do, but also with so many of our members involved in committees throughout the town. 

He acknowledged the years that Roger Lessard spent as an employee with the Town of Wilmington.  He also noted that Roger could now turn off his hearing aid when Mike speaks.  Someone spoke out and said “he was always turning it off when you spoke, Mike” – which brought lots of chuckles. 

Mike spoke that he is pleased to tell us that the Town of Wilmington for the past several years has been working on expanding the free cash available.  This is a good thing because with the current economic situation Wilmington is not looking at any job lay-offs and are not looking to reduce any of the services within the town as other nearby towns are dealing with.  He said that the Town has been very conscious of not overspending and living within their means. 

He continued on to say that at the upcoming Town meeting on May 2^nd, they are looking for votes to invest in a new ambulance, a new ladder truck and some new equipment for the public works department.

For the schools they are looking to add a wheelchair lift for the stage at the West Intermediate School, updating fire alarms at the Wildwood and Shawsheen Schools.  New flooring at the Woburn Street (replacing the asbestos tiles), and new windows at the Shawsheen School and many updates to make the schools more energy efficient. 

The Town is also looking at bulldozing the Swain School, joining the MWRA to supplement our water supply.  This would allow the outside watering bans and other rules to be lightened with this approval. 

He also said that the Town is not counting on money from the stimulus funds.  He is taking a wait and see attitude.  He talked about last year mention of monies to the towns from gambling in Massachusetts.  We had an estimate of $300,000 which we never saw because gambling did not get approved.  Many towns are more in the hole right now financially because they used these estimated funds to balance budgets.  Funds that never came through.  So the Town of Wilmington waits and then deals with the money when it comes.  They take a conservative approach in budgeting. 

He also reminded everyone that Aprils 25^th is the day to vote, and May 2^nd is the upcoming town meeting. 

He took questions from the audience.  One of the questions that was on a few minds was the Lowell Street Bridge Project.  When will that be completed?  Mike stressed that this is NOT a town project.  This is a state project, and the town is just as upset as the citizens over this project dragging on.  He said that Mass Highway has appeared in front of the Board of Selectmen with many drop dead dates that have come and gone.  The newest one is the end of June.  We are hoping they mean 2009!  He explained how working with Mass Highway has been like.  Not a real comforting way of doing business. 

Mike also ended his talk and said before he took his notorious pen, he brought gifts for us.  Town of Wilmington pencils were distributed. 

Events to be aware of -- Save the Dates & Announcments

June 12^th is the night set for the Trivia night.  Harry is quickly signing up teams for this event.  After everyone signs up they will be talking about dressing your team up….shirts, hats, etc……See Harry quickly if you want to put in a team. 

Raffle is still taking place on April 11^th so get those tickets and money back to Angela. 

Donna still has 12 tickets left to the Spinners game for July 15^th. 

District Conference on May 1^st and May 2^nd.  Registration has been posted on the District Website. 

June 21-24 will be the Rotary 100th Convention.

 ** The District Installation Dinner will be held on June 30th at the Danversport Yacht Club.

  **  There will be a dinner at La Stanza Diva on June 24th to celebrate the Installation of Dr. Jim as incoming El Presidente!  Time is TBD.

Quote of the Week:

"The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it."

Please email all announcements to be added to the Keyway and/or feedback to j.cobb@easternbk.com by Friday at noontime. 

Committee Chair:  Jim Cobb

Editors:  Jim Cobb