Welcome to the North Adams Rotary Club Web Site!
What are we up to?
The North Adams Rotary Club is a group of local businesspeople dedicated to the idea of Service Above Self. We support local, national, and international advances in health, education, literacy, and peace.
We meet regularly at the Freight Yard Pub in North Adams on Tuesdays at 12:15pm.
For more information on Rotary Club ideals and national/international programs, click the "Make Dreams Real" icon on the left. For what we do here in the community, this page will keep you up to date on our activities.
Here's our Winter-Spring '09 schedule and update:
February 24: Guest Speaker David Bond of The Range sports and entertainment center
March 03: Guest speaker Ariel Sutain of the NoAMA building
March 10: Guest speaker Jim Canavan of the Northern Berkshire United Way
March 17: Joint Meeting with Williamstown Rotary Club, with very special guest speaker, North Adams mayor John Barrett III
March 24: Guest speaker Seven Blakeman, proprietor of the Elf Parlor coffee shop in North Adams
March 31: Guest speaker(s) Kate Allen and/or Janice Tkackyk from the Mass. Workplace Mental Health Screening Initiative
April 07: April monthly business meeting
April 14: Open date for speaker
April 21: Guest speakers Judy Grinnell and Gailanne Cariddi of the Hoosac River Revival Committee
And coming up May 8th, 2009, the annual Service Above Self Banquet at the ITAM in Pittsfield! Save the date!
We hope you are staying safe and warm! If you are interested in Rotary, would like to address our club, or would like to ask our help, contact either Our Webmaster or Club President Tom Rumbolt.
Rotary International and its member clubs provide business and professional men and women everywhere the opportunity to meet others and serve their communities. A good summary is found in the Wikipedia entry for Rotary International:
The declared objectives of Rotary are to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
- The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
- High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
- The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;
- The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
These objectives are further set against the "Rotarian Four-Way test", used to see if a planned action is compatible with the Rotarian spirit. The test, developed by Rotarian and entrepreneur Herbert J. Taylor during the Great Depression as a set of guidelines for restoring faltering businesses was adopted as the standard of ethics by Rotary in 1942 and is still seen as a standard for ethics in business management:
Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to All Concerned?
Will it Build Good Will and Better Friendships?
Will it Be Beneficial to All Concerned?
What is the Rotary Club?
A Rotary Club is a service club that follows bylaws set up by Rotary International, a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million men and women belong to more than 32,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.
Where and when do you meet?
We meet at the Freight Yard Pub, located in the Western Gateway Heritage Park in North Adams, Massachusetts, every Tuesday at 12:15pm. Occasionally we hold meetings elsewhere (to mix it up a bit), so email us or give our club President a call at (413) 664-0000 (not a typo) if you'd like to come to a meeting.
Are you looking for new members?
We always enjoy meeting people who'd like to join us! Membership to Rotary is by invitation, but if you'd like to contact one of us--for instance, click this link to email the webmaster--let us know if you'd like to come to a meeting!
What does the North Adams Rotary Club do?
Our club's mission is to serve our community. We contribute to local causes, raise funds for civic projects, and partner with area organizations. And once a week, we get together and have lunch!
Can I address your club?
Part of our lunch meeting is usually dedicated to a speaker. We enjoy being updated on non-partisan, non-denominational topics of local and national interest, with a special interest in organizations that serve the Northern Berkshires. Email the webmaster to let us know what you have in mind.
A Message From 2008-09 Club President Tom Rumbolt
Thanks for looking at our web site and for your interest in the North Adams Rotary Club. Please email me if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on how we can better fulfill our club's mission to serve the North Adams community.
We'd love to hear from you! Please don't hesitate to ask about how you can join us!
--Tom
Winter/Spring 2009 Rotary Events:
March 03: Guest speaker Ariel Sutain of the NoAMA building
March 10: Guest speaker Jim Canavan of the Northern Berkshire United Way
March 17: Joint Meeting with Williamstown Rotary Club, with very special guest speaker, North Adams mayor John Barrett III
March 24: Guest speaker Seven Blakeman, proprietor of the Elf Parlor coffee shop in North Adams
March 31: Guest speaker(s) Kate Allen and/or Janice Tkackyk from the Mass. Workplace Mental Health Screening Initiative
April 07: April monthly business meeting
April 14: Open date for speaker
April 21: Guest speakers Judy Grinnell and Gailanne Cariddi of the Hoosac River Revival Committee
And coming up May 8th, 2009, the annual Service Above Self Banquet at the ITAM in Pittsfield! Save the date!
And coming up May 8th, 2009, the annual Service Above Self Banquet at the ITAM in Pittsfield! Save the date!
For our November 6th, 2007 meeting, we hosted a joint meeting with our neighbor Rotary Club of Williamstown, Massachusetts. Our featured speaker was Rick Palmisano, CEO of North Berkshire Healthcare. He spoke about the state of health care here in North County, and to his credit, also addressed the North Adams Regional Hospital labor situation that, as of this writing, is currently unresolved. Here are some pictures from that event:
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| Mr. Palmisano addresses our members |
Club President Steve Narey thanks Mr. Palmisano |
Many thanks to Past President and Board Member Fred Ley of the Rotary Club of Williamstown for these pictures!
On Tuesday, October 24th, the North Adams and Williamstown Rotary Clubs held a joint session and were addressed by the three candidates for the Massachusetts State Senate seat for the Berkshire, Hampshire, and Franklin District. The candidates were Ben Downing (D-Pittsfield), Matt Kinnaman (R-Lee), and Dion Robbins-Zust (I-Richmond). The session was held at the Williams Inn, was open to the public, and continued a long tradition of Rotary Clubs hosting political speakers. Here are some pictures from that event.
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| L-R: Downing, Kinnaman, and Robbins-Zust |
Mr. Downing makes a point |
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| The candidates with their Rotary mugs |
Two of our members pose with the candidates |
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Congratulations to Mr. Downing, who won the election and is now a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature. Both clubs would like to extend their thanks to all three of the candidates for making this event both informative and fun.
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