Recent News
At last night's meeting, we inducted the Belotte family into our Club!
 
The Belotte family of Weston includes Jimmy Belotte, his wife Mitchell Alexis, and their two daughters Sophie and Sidney Belotte. They moved to Weston, MA in July 2020 from Rye, New York. Jimmy is a physician-scientist, board-certified Obstetrician, and Gynecologist currently employed by GlaxoSmithKline, as Medical Director of Oncology Clinical Development. Mitchell Alexis is in her last year of medical school training; Sophie is in 8th grade and Sidney is in 3rd grade. 
 
Outside of work and school, they enjoy time together with family and friends in various ways such as birthday parties, holiday celebrations, church activities, music jam sessions, sports, arts, and community service among other things. Although proud Haitian Americans, they consider themselves citizens of the world and believe that every fellow human, no matter his/her background, is blessed with many gifts waiting for the opportunity to share with the world to make it better. They value family, community, hard work, excellence, courage, respect, fairness, peace, and justice. 
 
Calling all Weston area children! The Rotary Club of Weston & Wayland invites you to our annual Fishing Derby—a 40+ year tradition. Sunday, April 23 rd 9am-Noon at the Weston High School Pond. Bring your own gear, bait (no lures, please), and bucket. Fishing starts at 9 am sharp! Prizes are in four age categories up to age 14. FREE event, register online to attend. Rain or shine (the fish like to eat in all weather)!  
 
Food and refreshments will be available for purchase.  Volunteers are welcome to help measure fish. Fishing is great family fun!
 
 
In addition to sponsoring the Fishing Derby, the Rotary Club of Weston & Wayland hosts numerous other events throughout the year that raise funds to support humanitarian projects here and internationally. Projects include annual college scholarships for local high schoolers, preparing and providing meals at local soup kitchens, and a five-year project to restore a Weston field for pollinating insects.
 
Frequently Asked Questions
  •  I don’t know how to fish. No problem, this is the perfect time to start.
  •  What should I bring? A fishing pole, bait, and a bucket. Wear boots if you want.
  •  I want to volunteer. Use this link to register as a volunteer:
 
 
Contact Richard DeVito if you have any questions: radjr@pnpco.com
“The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards are a vital part of our community's vibrancy, and with the students recognized through this program, our future is truly bright,” said Joseph De Vito, president and CEO of The Village Bank, a partner sponsor of the Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland along with Atlantic Advisory Group. 

On February 16, 2023, our club recognized eleven sophomores  for their generous contributions to our communities. Bentley Bassick is the first student from Dana Hall School in Wellesley to receive the award. Jordan Haims attends The Rivers School in Weston. Alyssa Ao, Bowen Morrison, Pariplavi Sontha, Rachel Goldstone, and Reece Davies, Pariplavi Sontha and Zachary Thoen attend Wayland High School. Nate Whitworth, Oliver Moon and Sarah Zhang are Weston High School sophomores. 
On Thursday, March 2nd, we inducted our newest member, Andrea Spector, with the assistance of District Governor Victor Tom. 
 
Andrea is filled with curiosity about people and the world. Originally from New York, she has been living in the Boston area for over 30 years. She had a successful career as an Architect before obtaining an MBA from Northeastern University. Following that, Andrea held various marketing Director positions in high-tech companies in the area, eventually founding her own boutique marketing agency. At the same time, she also taught as an adjunct professor of Marketing at the graduate level at Northeastern. In 2021, having maintained a real estate license through her various careers, Andrea decided to combine her background in architecture and marketing with real estate to pursue a career as a real estate professional. Beyond her professional achievements, Andrea has a strong passion for giving back to the community and pursuing personal growth and leadership development.
The Children's Business Fair is back! It will be held on Saturday, May 20, 2023, from 11am to 3pm at the Weston Town Center during the Celebrate Weston! event. Applications are now open and spots are filling up quickly.
 
 
Children showcase their very own businesses at our one-day market, which is part of the largest entrepreneurship event for kids in North America. Kids develop a brand, create a product or service, build a marketing strategy, and then open for customers at our one-day marketplace. 
 
We all believe that entrepreneurs are heroes and role models for the next generation.
 
Katya Portnaya, president-elect of the Weston-Wayland Rotary Club, was born in St. Petersburg and emigrated to the U.S. at 11. Her husband is from Ukraine. Last February, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine, the pair stared at the TV in dread. “I realized you can’t just sit around and cry. It’s always better to do something,” Portnaya says. Soon she and Roy Balfour, Rotary Foundation Chair, got together to brainstorm with four other members of District 7910 leadership, including Past District Governor Diana Nestorova. Immediately, they reached out to Rotary International and applied for a $25,000 Disaster Response Grant.
Our club Speaker Series team invites speakers to our meetings to tell us about interesting topics affecting our community.  These include community members, business leaders, charitable foundations, etc. 
This month we
have had two outstanding speakers: The Honorable Dennis Saylor and Pam & David Griffin from Chocolate Therapy.
 
If you have ideas for other speakers, please contact Brenda DeVito

 
 
 
Liz is an award-winning journalist and Boston University professor with experience in newspapers, national magazines, and global publications. She has joined many club meetings over the past several months, and we welcomed her into our fantastic club last week! Liz has already volunteered to help with some of our opportunities.  Please introduce yourself and get to know Liz.  Welcome!!
We're hoping you can help generate nominations right now for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards which is exclusively for sophomores who live or study in Wayland or Weston. 
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Please help us find generous sophomores by completing this 5 minute form and by sharing with all the faculty, parents and students you know.
 
Here are links to our webpage about the RYLA program. Most simply, 
The Rotary Youth Leadership Award program recognizes leading sophomores who invest themselves in “service above self, focusing on leadership and community service.” 
Nominating a sophomore takes 5-7 minutes using this very simple Google form. Anyone (faculty, parent, student, community member (coach, advisor) can nominate any student who lives or studies in Weston or Wayland. Our nominations close on February 2, 2023, and we'll celebrate this group of sophomores on Thursday, February 16, 2023. 
 
Of course, we'll answer any questions you or anyone else has. Email is fastest and easiest, and we monitor westonwaylandrotary@gmail.com diligently. 

Bristol Lodge Soup Kitchen is located at Immanuel Methodist Church in Waltham.  Supper is served for 40-80 people every evening at 5:00 p.m. About half of those served are residents of the Bristol Lodge Shelters for men and women.  Local community and church groups cook and serve the meals provided at the soup kitchen. The Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland is one of these groups that provide meals to those in need of a warm and hearty meal.   

To volunteer to serve at Bristol Lodge, please sign-up here for one of the remaining months of the year. There are two slots per month. 

Robert Mosher Sr. along with his wife Cindy of Weston, MA brought this program to the attention of The Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland in 1995.  Once a month, the Moshers cooked a meal of spaghetti and meatballs and created a schedule of Weston and Wayland Rotarians who took turns serving the food at Bristol Lodge on the third Thursday of each month.  For almost 30 years, The Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland continues this community outreach.

For a period of about 3 years, we received help from the Weston High School cooking classes to prepare the meal but in the past year, we returned to having Rotarians take turns preparing the meal.  Rotarians shop for the ingredients and then cook enough spaghetti and meatballs for about 80 people.  "It sounds daunting at first, but in reality, it is a pretty easy meal to prepare," said Edwin Gaw who has prepared the meals many times and often gets help from his two daughters.

"We look to get engagement from our entire club," says Rob Mosher, who, following his parent's lead, now organizes the volunteers.  "It's a great way to invite your family or friends to help you out in shopping and/or food prep.  Although one person can do the work pretty easily, it's more fun with a helper and it's a great way to engage with our family and our broader community to do good work for a great cause."

“I have served dinners at Bristol Lodge for over 20 years. It is heart-warming when the guests at Bristol Lodge are so enthusiastic and grateful for the meals we provide.” Cindy Appleby Spencer

Bristol Lodge Soup Kitchen is located at Immanuel Methodist Church in Waltham.  Supper is served for 40-80 people every evening at 5:00 p.m. About half of those served are residents of the Bristol Lodge Shelters for men and women.   Local community and church groups cook and serve the meals provided at the soup kitchen. The Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland is one of these groups that provide meals to those in need of a warm and hearty meal.
 
Robert Mosher Sr. along with his wife Cindy of Weston, MA brought this program to the attention of The Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland in 1995.  Once a month, the Moshers cooked a meal of spaghetti and meatballs and created a schedule of Weston and Wayland Rotarians who took turns serving the food at Bristol Lodge on the third Thursday of each month.  For almost 30 years, The Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland continues this community outreach.

For a period of about 3 years, we received help from the Weston High School cooking classes to prepare the meal but in the past year, we returned to having Rotarians take turns preparing the meal.  Rotarians shop for the ingredients and then cook enough spaghetti and meatballs for about 80 people.  "It sounds daunting at first, but in reality, it is a pretty easy meal to prepare," said Edwin Gaw who has prepared the meals many times and often gets help from his two daughters.

"We look to get engagement from our entire club," says Rob Mosher, who, following his parent's lead, now organizes the volunteers.  "It's a great way to invite your family or friends to help you out in shopping and/or food prep.  Although one person can do the work pretty easily, it's more fun with a helper and it's a great way to engage with our family and our broader community to do good work for a great cause."

“I have served dinners at Bristol Lodge for over 20 years. It is heart-warming when the guests at Bristol Lodge are so enthusiastic and grateful for the meals we provide.” Cindy Appleby Spencer

On December 11 our Rotary Club sold Every. Last. Tree!  Both the Weston Fire Department and the Weston Police Department stopped by and we thanked them for their service and donated a tree to each.  We had a whole bunch of eager high school volunteers from both Weston and Wayland high schools and we put them to work carrying trees to cars.  In what seemed like a poetic ending, the last tree sold just as the first snowflakes began to fall.   We cleaned up the lot, took down all the stakes, disassembled the A-frames, packed everything up, and put it away till next year!   We cooked and ate s'mores, and drank hot chocolate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Even though we worked fewer hours than we did the last two years, we sold out faster than ever.  Although the church in the past was good, Land's Sake turned out to be an even better location than the church and was an excellent partner.  Lands Sake's farmstand manager, Heather, was a huge help to us,- there every day, all day, helping us sell trees, manage our volunteers, and providing great ideas.  And the parking lot at Lands Sake was much safer than tying trees on cars on Boston Post Road.  Lands Sake also helped us market our tree sale by advertising it to their large and loyal base.
Altogether, in just 3 weekends, we sold over $32,000 in trees and wreaths and will net over $17,000 in proceeds.  Those funds will go to our scholarship, food security, conservation, and other projects as well as a portion (approximately $2000) that will go to Lands Sake's food security projects.  Lands Sake's mission aligns very well with our own.
 
 
 
 
This project takes a large effort from our entire club.   Thank you to everyone who pitched in one way or another.  Although we had a great turnout from both our club and our community, there are a few people who go above and beyond every year (not only for this Holiday Tree Sale but in everything that our club does).  A special thank you to Brenda and Rich DeVito, Jan Luchetti, Edwin Gaw, John Marchiony, Paul Lualdi, and Robert Blackburn who signed up to be Captain of the Day at least one if not more days and have been on the tree lot for most of the past 3 weekends. 

At our weekly Thursday night meeting on the first of this month, we welcomed Secretary of State William Galvin, a special guest speaker of Fr. Frank Parker.  Sec. Galvin was newly re-elected for his historic 8th term as Secretary of the Commonwealth.  He talked about his job overseeing elections in Massachusetts and his experience during the 2020 election process during COVID.  His goal for this term is to get civics education back in the curriculum for all students of the Commonwealth. We are extremely proud to have such a distinguished guest speaker at our Club meeting. A special thanks to Fr. Frank Parker for inviting his former student and for being such a strong supporter of the Club. His company, Atlantic Advisory Group, is a generous sponsor of our Rotary Club and we are eternally grateful. All are welcome to visit our meetings and hear other guest speakers we invite from the community to share the great work that they do.image
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Starting in 2017, Rotary Clubs around the world will track the impact of members and friends through the number of hours contributed to community service initiatives. 
 
Please click here to complete the "Rotary Service Tracker" for your recent generous contributions of your time and talent.