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Featured Speaker - Tamara Pigott

Featured Speaker for March 8th Meeting:

Judie Baker-Basil

Owner

Judie Baker-Basil moved to Pine Island, Florida, in May 2014 with her husband, Mickey Basil. She owns Basil’s Bottle and Glassworks, located in Flea masters Flea market. Prior to moving to Florida, she lived in the Washington, DC, area where she co-owned J & F Associates (a safe company). She is a Certified Safe Technician. Other career roles included sales training and opening new branch offices as a Vice­President for WMI, an international sales company.

In 2017 Judie met Shawn Gilstad, co-founder of Charlotte County Imagination Library (in 2011), an affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This program intrigued Judie, as she had studied Biology and Special Education at Towson State University and has a passion for child development. Over the next few years, Judie learned more about the Imagination Library program, which mails a free book to preschool children every month until they turn 5 years old.

Conversations with Imagination Library program staff in Tennessee gave Judie further encouragement to consider establishing an affiliate to serve the estimated 37,000 preschool-age children living in Lee County. She worked with an attorney to establish Lee County Imagination Library, a non-profit organization with 501(c)3 designation and the solicitation permit from the State of Florida in July 2022. Local affiliates of the Imagination Library program have 2 roles -to register the preschool children living in the contracted area and to raise the $26 per child needed annually to pay for the 12 free books to be mailed to each child. The Dollywood Foundation covers the other program expenses at no cost to the affiliates, such as technology, marketing materials, book selection, and contracts with publishers and other companies responsible for getting the books from publication to mail.

Crowne Plaza | Fort Myers Sunrise Rotary Meeting Location

WEEKLY SUNRISE MEETING

Join us on Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Fort Myers at Bell Tower Shops
13051 Bell Tower Drive, FL, 33907

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Join our Zoom Meeting – 2 Ways to Join

ONE

Click on the link to our ZOOM ROOM below. With this method you can join via a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet or phone. If you use a desktop or laptop you can use your regular browser or download the Zoom App for your computer. If you plan to join via a tablet or phone, you must download the application from your phone provider’s App store.

TWO

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Meeting ID: 465 653 4071

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