Are Rotarians superheroes? Well, we do accomplish extraordinary feats. And sometimes we wear odd outfits. But how about you? Just believe that ordinary folks can accomplish extraordinary things by working together. No need for a mask or a cape. | The Rotary Club of |
High Gear
Volume 77 | Issue 52 / June 22, 2022
Rainy and cool day for our ZOOM meeting this week. During casual conversation, Sue told dog stories and a baseball book she recently received as a gift. Of course, we also complained about the weather. Mark attended the convention last week and contracted COVID. Larry told us there was no snow up North – he is playing golf. The East Hartford school system has paid dues for Frank Staples. Attendees today were Sue, Peter, Bill, George, Wes, Mark, Larry and his daughter, Alex, Jack, Anwar and Neal.
Sue rang the bell to start the meeting at 12:00 PM. Alex called the meeting to order and led The Pledge of Allegiance and 4 Way Test. Bill gave the invocation and stressed that we be aware of opportunities to serve.
Strategic Recruiting - The Marine Model
Our speaker today was Kevin Matthews who is a Rotary Member from Cyprus, Texas which is near Houston. He is a retired Marine Recruiter and his talk was from a Marine Corp recruiting perspective. He was very dynamic.
The Marines and the Rotary both have to dispel some myths. Myths for the Marines are “very rough, very tough and physically demanding”. This is based on the past. Today, there is no swearing or physical touching. A myth about Rotary is it is “old white men club”.
The Marines total 176,000 with 25% turnover every year. Kevin stated that all Marines are recruiters. He discussed building membership in the Marines. He would get monthly status reports from his recruiting agents. He would review 70 applications to get one Marine! In Rotary, he figures the ratio would be 10-3-1. You get 10 names, 3 come to a meeting and one new member. That extrapolates to 6 for East Hartford. Our goal is 6 new members each year which mean getting 60 names, 18 people to a meeting and then 6 new members out of the 18.
He advised that we have to make ourselves known. Go to as many social events as possible, use social media and contact as many people as possible. You have to sell Rotary. We are a network of professional people and we want to deal with young professionals and what these people want. They want to grow networks, develop professional skills, and an opportunity to be heard. They want to see people making decisions. In this area, targets are young professionals and people in financial services. He asked how visible our events are and asked if we help other organizations. Kevin was impressed with our scholarship program but thought we should be passing them out in an Awards Night atmosphere to get recognition and bring in parents and others.
Meeting continued with Alex saying that this presentation was very helpful. We asked for Kevin’s slides and think his presentation has opened new possibilities for us. Mark is planning on introducing him to the full District.
Announcements
- Sue thanked Alex for all his help with the Parade and through the past year.
- Ceil announced that June 23 is last call for tickets to the Installation Dinner at Wethersfield Country Club.
- Bob is going to meet with the District Governor to discuss the Presidential Citation.
- There were no caring moments.
- There will be new ZOOM numbers after July 1 which will be announced later.
- Any donations to the Foundation have to be in by midnight on June 30 to be credited to this year.
- Alex went to the District Installation Dinner and said it was very interesting and worthwhile.
- George discussed giving out scholarships on Awards Night.
- No noon meeting next week as it is the date of the Installation Dinner. The following week is the East Hartford Senior Picnic led by Bob Buettner on July 6.
Alex rang the bell at 12:55 PM.
Neal Cunningham
Covid-19 gave birth to a new project this year. Early in the pandemic, the shortage of face masks hit first responders and frontline care providers. ROTARY stepped up to the plate to help. Working through our local club, thousands of masks were provided to our police and fire departments.
Socks are among the list of items most needed by the homeless. Thanks to the generosity of Bombas Socks Company, our club received 250 pairs of new socks which were distributed to several shelters in the surrounding communities.
Rotary in Motion (RIM), a collaboration of the Rotary clubs of Manchester, East Hartford, and Rockville, recently held its third annual free community wide program celebrating " mobility" of all forms.
A new and unique community service opportunity came our way this year. Our club members rolled up their sleeves and took part in painting a portion of the mural in East Hartford celebrating the diversity of our community. Our club and its members also made monetary donations to the project.
The East Hartford Rotary Club has participated in the Greater Hartford Marathon since its inception many years ago. The day for volunteers from our club starts early morning, setting up tables, filling hundreds of cups of water, handing these to 10,000+ racers who sprint/run/walk by the water station and later making sure that every used cup and other trash is picked up and bagged. By the time we leave a few hours later, we make sure that the grounds look as pristine and clean as we found it. We are rewarded handsomely with free donuts, coffee, and jackets.
We never thought it would be so much fun sorting, stuffing candies in small clear plastic bags and tying a colorful ribbon. Following an assembly line system, members of our club prepared 500+ bags in an hour while the Rotary meeting was being zoomed for others who could not attend.
The Covid-19 pandemic created a new Halloween tradition. Parents with their kids simply drive slowly past candy stations while volunteers toss the candy bags in the open trunks. EHRC participated in one such event at Rentschler Field. Our candy station, one of the twenty plus other stations, where club volunteers dressed in Halloween costumes got to practice their candy throw in the car trunks five hundred times. We have never seen so many smiling kids in one day.
This was the second year the EHRC, in partnership with the Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy (CIBA) and Living World Outreach Ministries Pentecostal Church, participated in leaf raking projects for the senior residents of East Hartford who are physically unable to tackle this yearly chore. Sixty students and sixteen adult volunteers, including several members of EHRC, broke into fourteen groups and drove off to their designated locations and completed the tasks in just a few hours. The volunteers were rewarded with a pizza lunch at the church. The bigger and better reward was the appreciation and thanks expressed by these seniors.
This is a new project that EHRC has added to the list of service projects. The day before Veterans Day 11/10, our club cooked and served 120 lunches in the new East Hartford Senior Center for East Hartford veterans in grateful recognition of their service to our country.
Once a month, members of EHRC report to the FoodShare distribution center in Bloomfield and help sort food. Unbeknown to many, food insecurity exists among our communities. The Pandemic has exasperated the situation. FoodShare provided fourteen million meals worth of food last year. Volunteers like us make it possible for FoodShare to make our neighbors a little more food secure.
A popular project for East Hartford Rotarians is our annual bell ringing effort in support of the Salvation Army. Rotarian Roy
A favorite East Hartford Rotary Club project is our annual food basket donation to the East Hartford Social Services Department. In 2021, E.H. Social Services provided us with the names and addresses of thirteen families who would benefit from our donations. In addition, Rotary member Laura Floyd, who is the Executive Director of the East Hartford YMCA, identified another ten families in need this holiday season..png)
