High Gear, April 25, 2012

Posted by Anwar Hossain 
 

It was partly cloudy and cool but otherwise a nice day for our usual gathering at the Lodge.The  Rotary Song was back to its usual liveliness, so was the Pledge of Allegiance. We can all be forgiven for our less than satisfactory performance last week at the Gallery.

 

Mo Moshovos gave a thoughtful invocation reminding us of God’s bounty, kindness to our fellow human beings and service to others.

 

Lunch consisted of beef stroganoff, string beans and rice followed by flan in caramel sauce.

 

Today’s guests were the two young men, Patrick and Brady Liss, Dan Larson’s personal assistant Katie Slutts and Lisa Colt, a prospective member according to the introduction by George Finch. Tom Westbrook and the Liss family warmed our hearts with the Welcome Song.

 

President Elect Sheryl, filling in for President Peter, started the meeting a bit early to cover a long list of announcements.

Announcements:

 

  1. District Assembly in Chicopee, MA on 5/26 with nine people from our club attending
  2. Board accepted Pat Gately’s resignation due to personal reasons. Jim Fallon recognized the great service she has provided over the years. We concurred with our loud applaud.
  3. Board has asked and George Schoen has accepted the position of President Elect which will lead to being the President in the year 2013-2014 and then Past President.
  4. Mike Derr reported on the Scholarship Fund which has clearly bounced back this year to maintain its ability to continue awarding scholarships to deserving candidates. One of the funds will be named after Bill Leone.
  5. Bob Buettner and Janice Freschlin were recognized for their efforts in arranging the Paul Harris Awards Dinner. Taped version of the program is available from Bob.
  6. Next week’s meeting will be in the Community Room at Goodwin College. Ample parking near the main entrance will be available since the school will not be in session.
  7. East Hartford Congregational Church will host the Shelter Box Program.
  8. Westport Club is donating us pre-numbered ducks. Our club will reciprocate the generosity by selling some of their tickets. Jim Fallon accepted the responsibility.
  9. Yvette Roming announced the need for household goods donation for the East Hartford Senior Center. She also provided an update on the Duck Race.
  10. Sixty-six people have signed up for the Rock Cat game on May 4. Gil Wishart asked everyone to bring payment no later than next week. It will be a fun filled program with picnic, parade, music and singing.
  11. George Schoen announced that volunteers are needed for the Field of Flags event on May 4.

 

This week’s raffle winner was none other than our guest Katie. I hope Dan is not expecting a cut.

 

Frank Collins introduced our guest speakers Chris Stowk and Nick Salemi who made a wonderful presentation about the Clean Water Project by MDC. The one pipe system for both storm water and sewer gets overwhelmed even with ¼” of rain fall forcing the discharge of untreated water/sewer into Connecticut River. This ambitious and expensive program is designed to cure that. Phase 1 is on target and within budget. Results are already showing phenomenal improvement in the water quality of Connecticut River.

 

Make Up: Sam Leone attended the club meetings on April 4 and 24 at Jupiter/Palm Beach Gardens Club in Florida and Anwar Hossain was the Guest Speaker at Bloomfield Rotary Club on April 18.

 

The meeting ended without any song.


(This week's edition is coming to you from Mill Valley, CA from a computer without access to our Rotary Photo Gallery. My apologies to Anwar but we all know what he looks like. WDW)