Rotary Club
of East Hartford
High Gear

Volume 2 | Issue 18, November 1, 2017

 

The day felt like a Halloween Hangover.  It was gray, cloudy and raw with a smaller than usual gathering of members.  Stalwart Paul Harris past-recipients convened early under the direction of Jim Watts to vote on nominations to this year’s PH roster.  The Board will take their recommendations under advisement and announce the new “class” at the December 13th Holiday Banquet.

Art Can Lead, Club Can't Follow

President Dave Amberg was away getting some much-needed R&R so Past Prez and all around sweetie Bill Saunders grabbed the gavel.  It took a PH meeting to get Steve Jacoby in the door super-early which was a good thing.  Steve was in line to give our Invocation today.  Sad that we again had to have a moment of thought in remembrance of the victims of yesterday’s attack on the NYC bikeway.  Copycat terrorism at work again.

 

We were happy to see friendly Glastonbury Rotarian Bob Dugger come in the door as our only guest today.  His presence brought our number up to 22.  Bob’s in the running to become an Honorary East Hartford Rotarian thanks to his frequent make-ups with our group.  He also contributed to our discussion during the Fireside Chat report . . . but more on that later.

 

Art Bradbury very ably solo-ed on leading us in the Welcome Song.  He was able.  We were not.  Dogs are still howling from our performance.

 

Work by our Lunch Committee (Jack Sayre and Wes Willett) seems to be paying off.  Today’s repast featured sliced pork au jus, browned potatoes, rolls with rosemary in them (the herb, people!) and dessert was Halloween cookies and pecan pie.

 

Sergeant-at-Arms Jack Sayre marched up to the podium, stared us down, and gave the following report:  Marc Glass donated in honor of his NFL stars, the Eagles; Jim Watts made a crack regarding a Bruce Springsteen song that says something like, “wish I was blind so I didn’t have to see my girl with another guy,” but turned it into “wish I was deaf so I didn’t have to hear the Welcome Song.”  Kevin Kickery still awaits the arrival of his new granddaughter; Bob Buettner had to leave early to go sell flowers; Larry Hangland’s beautiful home is up for sale and was featured in the Hartford Courant last week so he coughed up a fine for that; and Anwar Hossain echoed Steve Jacoby’s invocation with a statement on the unwarranted loss of life in New York City yesterday.

 

Acting President Bill Saunders brought a Caring Moment to our attention:  former member and perennial Golf Tournament volunteer, Kathy McCabe, has learned of the spread of cancer to her pancreas.  She is living with her daughter in a hospice care situation.  Cards, notes and thoughts can be addressed to Kathy at 66F Ambassador Drive, Manchester, CT 06040.

 
Quorum Needed Dec. 6th!
Announcements:  This Saturday, November 4, is our Habitat for Humanity work day.  President Dave will let those who signed up know if we are working on Moore Avenue or Bliss Street in East Hartford.
 
Bob Buettner reminds anyone who signed up that this Friday night, November 3, at 6 p.m. is our Games Night at Veterans Memorial Clubhouse.  There will be pizza, beer and wine provided, and desserts to be brought by attendees.  Cost is $5 per person; bring a game to play.  Show up around 5 p.m. if you can give Bob a hand setting up.
 
Future District Governor Marc Glass had a couple of announcements:  A.   The District is having a “Rotary Means Business” networking event at Rooftop 120 restaurant in Glastonbury on November 9 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  Cost is $15 in advance; $20 night of.         B.  The Rotary Leadership Institute (what is Rotary? How does it work?)  will be held Saturday, November 11 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (continental breakfast and lunch served) at the Enfield Holiday Inn.
 
IMPORTANT:  Our Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place during our regular meeting on Wednesday, December 6 at Veterans Memorial Clubhouse.  Please mark your calendars, put a post-it on the fridge, whatever it takes to remind you to attend.  We must have a quorum to proceed with Club business that day.
 
Next week’s speaker is also the keynote speaker at the District’s Foundation Dinner.  She is Shirley Pat-Chamberlain, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.  Her volunteer experience with Rotary is well-known and she is considered to be a very engaging speaker.  Be sure to attend our meeting next week and bring a friend!
 
Before moving into our Program, Raffle Master Happy Jack Martin called on last week’s winner, Ned Lynch, to pull the ticket for this week’s Raffle winner.  You guessed it.  He pulled his own!  Cries of “fix!” and “it’s time to form an Audit Committee!” were heard.
 
Meeting Time Preferences?

Club Treasurer and High Gear Editor, Mary Martin, was called to the podium to “be” the Program:  a summary report on this year’s Fireside Chats meetings.  Many thanks go out to organizer Doug Willett, the site hosts and group leader/scribes who made these nights happen.  The full report is on our website under Club Documents.

 

The major topic under discussion was the issue of maintaining or increasing membership.  Much of the emphasis revolved around the possible need to change our meeting time to accommodate working people.  With that in mind, Acting President Bill led a discussion and distributed a survey asking for votes and suggestions on changing our meeting time and/or format.  The spectrum of ideas run from breakfast to dinner meetings; wine and cheese or pizza; alternate times to maybe 2 lunch meetings and 2 dinner meetings, etc..

 

Guest from Glastonbury Bob Dugger, a man who visits more than a few Clubs as make-ups, was asked for his in-put.  Bob did say that the noontime meeting is difficult for most working Club members or prospective members and he sees them shrinking in the same way ours is.

 

If you want to register your opinion check out Club Runner for the survey or give Bill a call to go on record.  He will compile the results of the survey for our Board of Directors.

 

See y’all next week,

Mary “The Empress” Martin

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