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.
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@
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
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.
Thank you Weston Neighbors for covering our 2nd Annual Children's Business Fair in their December edition! We are so grateful to have a spotlight shown on this wonderful event and the incredible kid-preneaurs that participated. See the full article below and we look forward to next year's fair!
New Location for Christmas Tree Sale (formerly at the First Baptist Church in Weston)With excitement (and a little sadness), we are moving our annual Christmas tree & wreath sale to Land's Sake Farm, 90 Wellesley St, Weston. We look forward to continuing, and for those of you new to Town, starting the tradition of purchasing your trees and wreaths in Weston. You will be supporting both the Rotary Club of Weston & Wayland's community initiatives (food security, scholarships, conservation, etc.) AND Land's Sake Farm food security programs.
Opening day is Friday, November 25th. We will be open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11 am - 4 pm until sold out.
***Delivery will be available to the local area for an additional donation.
Contact us with any questions at westonwaylandrotary@gmail.com
Click the image below for a video look at the Christmas Tree Sale at Land's Sake.
Who: You to help unload Xmas TreesWhen: Monday, November 21st
What: Trees, trees, trees—arriving from Nova Scotia sometime Friday. Plus, refreshments, new friends to make, and plenty of fun!
Where: Land’s Sake Farm, 90 Wellesley Street in Weston
When: Friday: Time TBD—sometime between 11 am and 2 pm, depending on when the truck driver arrives
Why: The tree sale is our most important source of funding for our charitable work like scholarships and conservation.
Please add your name/cell number/email to our Alert List!!! We will send updates on Friday as the driver tells us.
No obligation!! If the timing works for you, great. If not, no problem.
The Weston-Wayland Rotary Club recently acknowledged Edwin Gaw for his 10 years of service as Treasurer with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow designation.
Rachel Yurik – Weston Resident (Transfer from Needham Rotary)
Rachel has been a member of the Needham Rotary for 12 years. She has served as Asst. Sgt.-at-Arms and is a Paul Harris fellow. Rachel has been a corporate accounting professional in the Boston area investment companies. She is currently a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Weston, where she has been working since 2004. Rachel has been a Weston resident for 27 years and is passionate about working with the local community.
Greg Cronin – Weston Resident (Transfer from Needham
Rotary)
Greg was born in Boston grew up in Newton educated at St. Sebastian’s School then BA in Dartmouth College. Greg spent years working political campaigns and has raised 3 grown sons in Needham and owns his own sales rep. business. He is a Real Estate agent with Coldwell Banker/Newton and has been a Needham Rotarian for over 20 years, spending most of those years as the Sgt. at Arms/greeter enjoying every minute.
Message from Alex Faigel, Chair of the Children's Business Fair:
With 50 Kid Businesses and likely 1000 attendees, our 2nd Annual Weston Wayland Children's Business Fair was a huge success. The kids learned valuable business lessons and made money, awards were given out, and all had fun. Thank you to all of the volunteers who came together to help.
We look forward to our 3rd annual fair next fall.
KidPreneur Spotlight: PIXIE PARLOR
Meet Addison Lily who is the brains behind “Pixie Parlor” one of the businesses you’ll find at our upcoming Children’s Business Fair on Saturday, October 15.
Addison will be selling handmade pixie pouches and bracelets, and will also take customer orders for bracelets. You can expect pricing to range from $4-$10 per item.
This kid-entrepreneur says, “Making things makes me happy and seeing my work go to good use is amazing!”
Good luck on your business booth at the fair Addison!
Rotary Foundation approves targeted funds for Pakistan and Ukraine
Rotary Foundation approves targeted funds for Pakistan and
Life during wartime: a frontline report
As the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approached, a firsthand account shows how Rotary members are responding to this humanitarian crisis.
Rotary projects around the globe - February 2023
Learn how Rotary clubs are taking action in the United States, Bolivia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Malaysia.
Remembering Jewish Salonica
Albert Bourla's story of how his parents survived the Holocaust provides a vivid picture of the Jewish experience in Thessaloniki. His story has important lessons today for all of us in our very troubled world.
Second woman nominated as Rotary International president
Second woman nominated as Rotary International presidentEVANSTON, Ill. (January 24, 2023) — Stephanie Urchick, member of the Rotary Club of McMurray, PA, USA, will become the second woman to take office as president of
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