High Gear, August 15, 2012
So my sponsor, the first and second time around, suggests that a female perspective on Club activities would be a good thing and would a member of the Better Half demographic like to try writing High Gear? Yours truly was eager to be the scribe but a little flummoxed about the “female perspective” part. She could only imagine the Dovelette “pitch” was to include something like a fashion report. So here goes . . .
Another warm and muggy August Wednesday set the tone for our lunchtime meeting at the Ridge. President Sheryl (resplendent in a black pantsuit) sorted out the confusion over the exact time and got the bell rung at 12:17p.m.. Thank goodness she also managed to have Art Bradbury lead us in our Rotary anthem. Marc Glass read a “Foundation Minute” that deftly included a tie-in with the Olympics as well as a nod to our Polio Plus campaign. Shortly after, Past President Plaid Peter Klock approached the podium with an invocation that called attention to our motto, “Service Above Self”, and added “Peace Through Service” as an inspiring thought.
As members and guests filed out of the room to partake of the buffet (beef stew, barbequed chicken, rice and beans, corn bread and salad followed by delivery of cookie platters to each table) this Scribe took notes for the fashion report. Here is what she saw: Rotary is primarily a place “where khaki pants and blue or white polo shirts go to die.” You could count the number of ties on one hand. As per usual, women members and guests were by far more sartorially fashionable than the guys. And Firestone, Cunningham, and J. Martin: how about covering up those knobby knees next week when District Governor Eileen Rau makes her official visit? Don’t worry Neal, nobody’s asking you to wear socks!
President Sheryl got us back to business with an introduction of guests. Today Past District Governor (and practically an honorary member of our group) Dick Seidman was in attendance and Peter Klock introduced his guest, Tony Matthews. Seems Tony is a ‘bounty hunter’ for the State Police. Officer, arrest that man . . . and make him a member of our Sergeant-At-Arms Committee!! Make-ups reported by Brian Liss included Jay Stewart at East Hampton and Dan Russell at Rockville.
Speaking of Sergeants, Jay Stewart filled-in as Sarge today for Dick McCarthy. Nothing gets past our Jay.
First she called out new member Jack Martin for holding onto his lunch card (and embarrassing his wife who has tried to coach him on the why’s and wherefore’s). Then she let us in on Bob Buettner’s 40th wedding anniversary announcement along with the math that works out to something like half a million hours of connubial bliss. Poor Ned Lynch and Brian Liss were pinned for having no pins; Yvette Roming was congratulated on buying a new house (anybody know anybody who wants to buy a condo?); Gil Wishart celebrated his 81st year on planet Earth with silence; and the Prez gave a shout out “thank you” to all the members who helped to make last week’s cookout at the Amberg’s a successful one. Ceil Collins strongly echoed that sentiment.
These announcements led into a self-generated round of other announcements, not all of them as happy. Louise Mazzoli’s mother passed away earlier this week. She lost both parents this year. Sam Leone made note that he is back in attendance because his wife, Anita, is out of the hospital. Unfortunately, Gil Wishart did not have as good news about his wife, Jean. She remains hospitalized with an infection. Hold a good thought for the Wisharts.
At this point in the meeting our guest, Beth Harlow, was brought to the podi
um. Beth is the “face” of the non-profit “East Hartford Inter-faith Ministries” (EHIM). Their good deeds inspired
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| Beth Harlow |
More items of note: as mentioned earlier, District Governor Rau joins us on August 22nd for an annual visit; the GSX Team is still in need of a non-Rotarian to lead that group to Turkey for four weeks; a District Simplified Grant in the amount of $1,000 was awarded to our Koats for Kids Program (many thanks to Past Prez/Past DG Sue Klock and the Koats Committee for making that happen).
And more: the Rotary Foundation Dinner will again be held at Chez Josef in Agawam on November 1st. Tables of 8 are being put together. Cost is $42 per person.
More: Art Bradbury displayed the Public Relations Committee Form that we can all use to get our info out to the community with some level of professionalism. You can access the form on line, jot down the pertinent information requested, and that Committee will work through their established channels to get the word out. Easy-peasy!
Then Neal Cunningham congratulated us on collecting $243 dollars as a cash donation to the Town of East Hartford’s “Back to School Supplies Drive” in addition to the equivalent of 3 garbage bags full of supplies and backpacks. Good job, folks!
Time sensitive news from Golf Committee Co-Chair George Schoen: For our 25th Annual Golf Tournament to be held September 24th, we will be presenting high quality golf shirts as a gift to all players. Therefore it is imperative that we receive all registration forms including polo shirt sizes for each individual player. We need these forms turned in by September 1st in order to purchase the shirts in time for the Tournament. We also need to get raffle prizes (which may be delivered to Yvette Roming’s office in town) and sponsorships ASAP. Questions? Ask George, Yvette, or Bill Saunders.
Following these announcements, Spurgeon Stokes revealed Secret Agent ticket number 007 was Dan the Man Larson.
John O’Connor introduced our guest speaker today, Catherine Latoya Grant-Alston. Catherine is a graduate of East Hartford High School with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from UConn and an MBA from UMass. Most important of all, she is an alum of the EHHS Academy of Finance program supported by our own Club.
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| Catherine Grant-Alston |
Both John and Catherine modeled appropriate business attire in summer weight fabrics.
- - The Empress of the World (Mary Martin to the uninitiated)