President Bob rang the bell to start the meeting at 12:15. We had 16 Rotarians and one guest present.

 

Bob led the Pledge and Jim Watts offered the Invocation.

 

 

The meeting started with Caring Moments:

 

 Ruth Sheehan. Ruth is home and recovering from gall bladder surgery. She is on a restricted diet.and warns us that when eating restrictions are over, you do not want to t get in front of her in the buffet line. Hopefully, the current ephemeral Red Sox winning streak is bringing her some comfort.

 

  Dick McCarthy. Dick is at St Mary’s Rehab facility in West Hartford recuperating after undergoing hip replacement. He can have one visitor a week so cards might be in order.

 

  Herb Tischofer is home recuperating from hospital stay related to a heart issue. Cards are welcome.

 

From there, Bob moved on to Announcements.

 

 

The Food share distribution took place on Monday, April 12. Four East Hartford Rotarians plus Anwar’s bride, Diana, handed out prepackaged food to about 50

People. The Club will be doing this food distribution on a weekly basis beginning on April 26 and continuing then through June.

 

The Senior Yard Cleanup Project is set for this Saturday, April 17^th. We have four yards scheduled to be spruced up and could use more Rotary volunteers.  We are meeting in a  church parking lot at 30 Olde Robert’s St at 10 AM .  There is no heavy lifting involved on the part of the Rotarians, the kids do the work, we just offer wisdom and a keen eye for sloppy effort. Should be no more than a 1–2-hour commitment.  

 

The Board has accepted the application for a renewed membership for Lori Goeckler. Lori rejoins us after transferring back to her position with a financial services firm in Glastonbury. Welcome back, Lori. Also, our guest today, Jason Primus is a prospective new member sponsored by Peter Klock. Jason lives in Manchester and is an on-line private instructor in English As A Second language. r

 

On to Club Discussion

 

After discussions with the board, President Bob is suggesting that we start meetings at noon for the foreseeable future. After the invocation, we would go right to the speaker for one half hour, then Q& A for 15 minutes followed by announcements, etc. All announcements would be in High Gear.  

The reasoning for the change is that a few members need to leave by 12:30. They are unable to hear our great speakers in full. The announcements are important, but they will

 be in High Gear. With Zoom, we are able to access great speakers not normally available to EHRC, and it is a disservice to have members leaving in the middle of their talk.  Starting 15 minutes earlier should not be a problem. It just cuts down on social time.

 

We have extended our deadline for scholarship applications.  Right now, we have 5 applications and another week to go,

 

Raffle. We have hit the $10,000 mark. That is great. We still have two weeks plus to sell. Let us all keep pushing. 

 

The Installation Dinner is tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m. on June 16 at Goodwin University. It will be outdoors. Save the date

 

Musings of President Elect Sue Klock.

 

We are not maximizing the potential for our District Grant by utilizing it for Coats for Kids each year. Since the demand for coats has fallen off, we are leaving money on the table. We need to think about a new project that will allow us to get matching funds up to $1500 for a $4,500 project. Ideas invited. This does not imply we are abandoning Coats of Kids.

 

The new board will be looking for ways to trim down and streamline our committees. This may require a change in our bylaws to allow this to happen. More to come.

 

We need to develop ideas for service projects designed to attract new members and revitalize the Club. All ideas welcome,

 

No Speaker this week.so the meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m.