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Annual
Dinner Keynote Speaker Chris Stevens......
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By Susan Ellis
Ask Chris Stevens about life and he'll probably start by
talking about Keurig. Vice President of
Corporate Relations and Customer Development and one of the original
members of the company's senior
management team, he is a true believer in the value of Keurig, its concept and the things they sell.
"Why brew coffee a pot at a time when we drink it a cup at a
time?" he asks with perfect marketing focus.
He waxes poetic about Keurig's corporate
culture as well, beaming with pride as he describes the parent company,
Green Mountain, who bought Keurig in 2006. Green Mountain,
he says, gives 5% of all corporate profits toward corporate
responsibility projects, and holds the entire company accountable for
what they do in the world.
"People think we do these things because we are successful, but I
believe we are successful because we do these things," says Chris
adding that it is up to each of us to pass that message onto the young.
Now Chris himself appears.
"Be nice to the nerds in your school because you are probably
going to be working for one of them one day. Who do you think it
was that designed that Ipod if not that
engineering geek?
Walk next to him and you can see his philosophy in practice. He
gives his time generously and interacts respectfully with everyone.
"I believe it is so important we get outside ourselves.
Whether you believe in God or not the world does not revolve around
you," he says.
It's an interesting comment coming from a 6'6" man who played
basketball at Notre Dame, and went on to a string of career successes.
"We knocked off UCLA's #1 game winning streak one year and ended
up 26-3. I played on a pro team in Belgium, did some
broadcasting and commercials. But I am grateful for my education,
too, because even if you are a sports star a lot can happen. You
can blow out a knee or whatever and have nothing," he says in his
booming, melodic voice.
However, Chris has had his share of
humbling experiences. One day several years ago, his wife,
Marian, fit and 50, came home from a run and noticed a lump in her
side. She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and died eight
weeks later leaving Chris bereft, but also alone with their five
children. That same year he lost two brothers to Huntington's
disease.
He says he felt incomplete afterwards, unable
to reconcile his views on the world with the experiences he had gone
through. He struggled he said, until a former Notre Dame alum got
in touch with him and told him about a man they went to school
with who was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known
as Lou Gehrig's disease, and had decided to raise a million dollars for
research.
The man, Jimmy Culveyhouse was much smaller
physically than Chris and his basketball player friends, and played
golf rather than basketball. "I barely remembered him at the
time," Chris says. He supplied beer at parties, but he ran
in different social circles than I did mostly."
Still, Chris was moved by his story and decided to meet with Culveyhouse to hear more about what he was doing.
"ALS is an insidious disease. It robs you of the ability to
move and yet you retain all of your mental capacity. You still
have all of your feelings, so if you have an itch, you know it, but you
just can't scratch."
He said that in spite of the difficulties in his life, Culveyhouse had decided it was up to him to give
back. He asked Chris to write a book about him to help further
his cause.
"He said, 'You have to write this. You think just like
me."
At first Chris was nervous. He had never written a book before,
but he says when he met with Culveyhouse and
saw his passion and selflessness, he knew he had to do it.
"I worked on trains and airplanes and in hotel rooms writing
whenever I could to get it done," he says.
Now published, and selling on Amazon, the book, "Fighting to
Give" continues to raise money for ALS. That's because Chris
donates 100% of the revenues to ALS research and continues to work
toward increasing awareness about the disease. He has written to
Warren Buffet and the Gates Foundation and others for grant funding,
and even donated $100,000 of his own money to create a state-of-the-art
Jimmy Culveyhouse residence room at the Leonard Florence Center
in Chelsea
specifically for ALS patients.
"Jimmy's philosophy was whatever you do you get that back twice in
return," he says, "And I believe that is true."
This month, when Chris speaks at the annual dinner for the Bedford
Chamber of Commerce he says he is coming to give back more. He
says he wants to educate, motivate, inspire, and hopefully entertain
the people who come to hear him. His goal is to bring a message
to everyone that they might then pass on to give back and nurture their
dreams.
Says Chris, "There are lots of people with vision, with great
ideas. They just need to have the faith in themselves to get
there and they need to see that it takes all kinds of people to make
the world work and they are an important part of that."
The Annual Dinner will be held on Tuesday, April 27 at
the Doubletree
Bedford Glen
Hotel. Inviations will be mailed at the end of the week.
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Connect with Family and Friends in a Delicious &
Heartfelt Way
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 Many of our favorite memories revolve around the kitchen.
Food memories can be particularly moving and powerful and can serve as
a way to affirm family, friendship, culture and tradition.
These days many people are staying closer to home, looking for comfort
and connection, with some even beginning to explore their roots and
family heritage. One way to do this is to remember the food that has
been a part of our lives -- recreating the meals and traditions that
warmed or nourished us, made us feel good, or were sources of fun or
joy in our lives.
Flavorful Memories was started to help people capture and preserve the
recipes and culinary traditions that are important to their families.
Clients are videotaped in their own kitchens, cooking their special
dishes from start to finish and telling their food-related stories.
Then a professionally edited DVD is produced that they can share with
family and friends.
Your family and friends will be delighted to hear the stories behind
favorite foods you've cooked for them throughout the years. At the same
time, they'll learn all the important details-the tips & tricks-so
that they can prepare them, too! Consider a Flavorful Memories
videotaping session for yourself, your mother, grandmother or spouse.
You can even do it together. It's a timeless gift that will be enjoyed
by the whole family.
Food-memory stories submitted by people throughout the country are
posted on the Flavorful Memories blog. The blog can be accessed at the
Flavorful Memories website (www.flavorfulmemories.com) where readers
are able to view sample videos and encouraged to submit their own
stories for inclusion in the blog.
For more information
Contact:
Flavorful Memories
Leslie Wittman
56 Dunster
Road
Bedford, MA 01730
Phone: 781-698-9724
Fax: 781-275-4822
Email: flavorfulmemories@gmail.com
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Haiti Earthquake
Victims to Benefit from $23,400 Brookline Bank
Donation
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Brookline Bank and its employees have provided a donation to aid in the
earthquake relief efforts of Partners In Health's "Stand with Haiti"
fundraising initiative. Brookline Bank employee donations were
matched in kind and then augmented by Brookline Bank to bring the total
donation to $23,400.
"Our employees gave generously, and the Bank really stepped up to
the plate," said Barbara Feigen,
Brookline Bank's coordinator for the donation. "Partners In
Health has done so much to help during this disaster. We are very
pleased to be supporting this fine operation."
Based in Boston, Partners In Health has
been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20
years. Partners In Health employs more than 11,000 people
worldwide, including doctors, nurses and community health workers. The
vast majority of their staff are local
nationals based in the communities they serve.
To contribute to Partner In Health's "Stand with Haiti"
initiative, go to www.standwithhaiti.org, or send a check made out to
Partners In Health to: Partners In Health, P.O. Box 845578, Boston,
MA 02284-5578
Include articles on topics of interest to your readers,
relevant news and events. If you find an interesting article on the
Web, you can easily ask the author's permission to summarize the
article and link to it from your newsletter. Drive traffic to your
website by entering teaser text for the article with a link to your
website for readers to view the full text.
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What The Chamber Has Been Up to this Month!!!
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New
Member Orientation
Women
After Hours
Catch
the Net Networking Series
Margarita's
Grand Opening
Covedien Ribbon Cutting
Margarita's Grand Opening
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I will be distributing the
Business Development Committee's survey next week via constant
contact. Your input is imperative to improving the way Bedford does
business. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey.
Maureen Sullivan
Bedford Chamber of Commerce
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Congratulations to our Chamber Award
Winners
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Business of
The Year
Cambridge
Savings Bank
Business
Person of the Year
Nancy Tripodi/ Bedford
Florist
Diversity
Award
Reverend
John Gibbons/ First Parish
Outstanding
Service to the Chamber
Susan Ellis/
Clever Girl Communications
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Chamber
Calendar
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April 8
Board of Directors Meeting
Bedford Police
Station
7:30 am
April 9
Haiti Beer Tasting
Fundraiser
Summit Heath
& Fitness
6:30 PM
April
15
Working
Women Alliance
Town Center
Noon
April
18
Lexington Symphony Patriot's Concert
Lexington, MA
3:00
PM
April 20
Tee it Up
Patriot Golf Course
Grounds of the VA Hospital
5:15 PM
April
27
The Annual Dinner
Doubletree Bedford
Glen Hotel
44 Middlesex Turnpike
Bedford, MA
6:00 PM
May
11
Brightview Ribbon Cutting
199 Concord Road
Billerica, MA
4-7 PM
May 13
Right At Home Open House
60 Great Road
Bedford, MA
May 14
Walkability Community Workshop
Bedford Public Library
8-10 AM
June
8
Cambridge Savings Bank Senior Prom Stroll
Town
Common
4:15 PM
June
18
Bedford Historical Society
The
Fitch Tavern Party
6:00
PM
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Quick Links
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Did you know that the Chamber has a Facebook
Page?
Become A FAN
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2010
Chamber Members
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Advanced Media Web
Amptek Inc.
AMS Communications
B & D Advertising
Baudanza Electric
Baldwin Insurance
Bedford Acupuncture Center
BCAT
Bedford Car Wash
Bedford Family
Connection
Bedford Florist
Bedford Funeral Home
Bedford Historical Society
Bedford Motel
Bedford Orthodontics
Bedford Plaza Hotel
Bedford Vision Center
Brightview Concord River
Brookline Bank
Cafe Luigi
Callahan's Karate Studio
Calling All Pets
Cambridge Savings Bank
Carlton & Duran CPAs
Carlton Willard
Carriage House Cafe &
Catering
Christine Pinney Marketing
Community Connection Yellow
Pages
Cranberry Hill Associates
Dalya's Restaurant
DebbieSpencer/TheHigginsGroup
Design 1 Kitchen & Bath
Design Unlimited
Dianne Bridgeman, DDS
Diane McIver/The HigginsGroup
Dr. Kiana Kaymanesh
& Assoc.
Dr. Oscar DePriest
DSA Printing
Edward Jones/Barb Davis
Edward JOnes/Britton Wilson
Elm Brook Place
First Parish, UnitarianUniversalist
FW Webb Company
FUJIFILM Recording Media
U.S.A.,
Inc
Garrison/Knight Finacial Planning
GE Sensing & Inspection
Technologies
Genetti's Wine &
Spirits, Inc.
Great Road Gallery & Framing
Hanscom Federal Credit Union
Harold Nichols Insurance Agency
Helen Chen & Company, LLC
Holly Chessman Marketing
In Home Design
Inside Out Staging and Design
nner Visions Interior
Keller Williams Realty
Kimberly Bee Designs
Lapels Dry Cleaning
Latady Design
Law Offices of Brown & Brown, P.C.
Leary Auto Repair
Lexington
Symphony
Live-Life-Well
Massage Therapy Associates
McColough Associates
Mead Tree Service, Inc.
Middlesex Savings Bank
Minuteman Volkswagon Inc.
Minuteman Advisory Partners
North
Road Chiropractic
Northwestern
FinancialNetwork
O'Malley & Colangeli, CPAs, PC
OrganizingWORKS!
Organix Spa &
Salon
Paychex
Patriot Pediatrics
Professional Enterprise Solutions
Quality Database Design
ReadyPay, Inc.
Rental Car Momma
Right At Home
Slak ChiroprcaticGroup
Spaulding Management Company
Spencer Company
St. Michael Parish Center
Strategic Financial Partners
Summit Health &
Fitness
Suzanne's 24/7 Shop At Home
Site
The Entrepreneur's Source
The Goddard
School
The Higgins Group
The Law Office of David
Cormier
The MITRE Corporation
Town Planner Calendar
Vela Ventures
Watson Law Offices
Whole Foods Market
Women's Financial Network
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GOLF SIGN UPS
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It's time to
start signing up for the Chmaber weekly Tee
it Up Golfing events!!
Join us for a round of 9 holes of golf every Tuesday at the
Patriot Golf Course, beginning April 20!
Tee times
start will start at 5:00 PM
You can sign
up now by emailing Golfing Guru Josh Cohen at jcohen@sfp-ma.com.
Green Fees: $15
Cart: $6.50 (shared)
There are 28 slots, first come first
serve.....
14 Chamber members and 14 Military personnel.
No experience necessary; just a desire to have fun and
make new friends!
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The Bedford Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
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12 Mudge Way
Bedford,
MA 01730
Telephone (781) 275-8503
Fax: (781)-275-8501
www.bedfordchamber.org
Office Hours
Monday,
Wednesday, Thursday
8:00 am
-2:00 PM
President:
Pamela Brown
Executive
Director: Maureen M. Sullivan
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