George Winiecki led us in the Pledge and offered an invocation.
 
At Nils Friberg’s request, we viewed the Rotary Foundation video that was premiered at the Rotary Foundation Dinner this past fall.
 
Geoff Hollimon reminded us of the CPY Luncheon that will take the place of the regular Rotary meeting on Tuesday, March 7th.  The luncheon will be held at the New Brighton Community Center.  Check-in begins at 11:30AM and the program will run from 12:00-1:00.  The featured speaker will be Chris Fields, who will share the story of his rise from humble beginnings as one of three children of a single mother in the South Bronx.  A sign-up sheet is being circulated at the club meetings, or you can contact Geoff Hollimon to sign up for this free luncheon.
 
Remember to get your $50 restaurant gift cards to Glenna for the Gold Plate Dinner live auction.  You are encouraged to ask your favorite restaurants to donate a gift certificate, or you could split the cost with the restaurant. 
 
Amy Wakem introduced our speaker, Beth Loo, president of Betmar Languages.  Beth’s company, which she started with her mother in 1985, has been providing translation, interpretation and other language-related services to both government entities and private industry for 32 years.  Beth’s interest in translation services began when she traveled to Japan as a Rotary Exhange student in Japan, without any prior knowledge of the Japanese language.  Betmar’s original focus was providing language assistance to businesses but, as time went on, the business grew to include translation and interpretation services for schools, social service organizations, government agencies, and businesses that need help communicating with people who have limited English language skills. Betmar now offers translation products in most world languages.  Because our schools are becoming more diverse, translation services are becoming an increasingly important communication tool to promote family involvement.  To answer this need, Betmar has developed a website called American School Explained which provides accurate translation of school information for limited English speakers.  Beth provided me with login information for the test site.  Just click here, then enter bloo in the login field and P@ssw0rd (the 0 is a zero) in the password field.  This will give you access to the online program that’s available to schools.  If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation to help provide this service to area schools, click here. Amy John and Beth are pictured below.