High Gear, August 29, 2012

There was a hint of a fall chill in the air wafting over the beach as I sat drinking my coffee this morning. With August nearing its end, the kids skipping into classrooms, and the UConn football team opening at the Rent tomorrow night, and the end of summer is suddenly at hand.

But Rotary is a calling for all seasons, and the turning of the celestial calendar simply provides another opportunity for fellowship and service.  If it is soon to be September, that only means that the Golf Tournament is imminent and those of us who have been procrastinating about sponsoring a hole or contributing a raffle prize or registering a foursome, need to get on the stick.  If you are going to do it, do it now. You’ll feel better about your Rotary effort and those who are running the event will sleep a little easier.

After reading a story which revealed her strategy to deprive husband John from taking his riches with him into the afterlife, President Sheryl called the meeting to order and had Marc Glass read the Foundation Minute. Larry Hangland provided a thoughtful blessing and our lunch of chicken piccata, green beans and wild rice was tabled. A dish of vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries provided the coda.

Our guests today, in addition to our speaker, were the son-in-law and grandson of Jack Ghagan. (Mike Derr absconded with the attendance cards before their names could be ascertained by the High Gear writer).  Wringing water from a turnip, President Sheryl prevailed upon the High Gear writer and the High Gear photographer to do triple duty as the co-leader of the Welcome Song with Anwar Hossein.  Despite the disgusting habit of one of our members named Dan (and it isn’t Russell) of coating his hand with ice cream before shaking the song leader’s mitt (note the small “m” – no Republicans in this house), the cacophony was mercifully concluded.

Sergeant At Arms Dick McCarthy had another light day with only three payments of note. First, the Golf Committee kicked in to thank Mary Martin for using her grant writing skills to squeeze money from a corporate sponsor.  Second, there was some blather about the High Gear writer misspelling Pittsburgh last week when he was simply using the spelling variant as it appeared in the old joke about the flustered traveler and the well-endowed ticket agent. And finally, a more legitimate fine was levied on Herb Barall

Herb Barall

for reaching octogenarian status.  In a singularly bad piece of judgment (especially for a semi-retired actual judge), Herb had the Birthday Song rendered by his closest time travelers, Dan (the Good Dan, the Sanitary Dan) Russell, George Agnelli and Frank Collins.

On the announcement front, President Sheryl again reminded us of the Foundation Dinner on November 1^st in Agawam.  Brian Liss is coordinating our attendance and setting up tables (not literally.)  So if you plan to attend contact Brian and send him your check made out to District 7890 ($42 pp.)

There will be an off-site luncheon meeting on October 3^rd at the Raymond Library.

September 5^th is the next Board meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the YMCA.

Marc Glass is looking for volunteers to read the Foundation Minute at future meetings.

Ceil Collins is seeking interest in a visit to the Noah Webster House on Monday, October 22 at a price of $35. She needs 40 people to make this happen so see her if interested.

And finally, Yvette Roming displayed the handsome golf shirts that will be presented to all participants in our tournament.  Yvette got help from Stu Harris who quickly jumped up when Yvette asked someone to try on the Men’s XL version of the shirt to ascertain tightness of fit. It was decided that the Women’s version of the shirt were running small and the Men’s version were running big. Make of this what you will. And keep Stu away from the Sea of Galilee.

representing the Connecticut Forum where she is a key player in membership and program design. For twenty years the Forum has been presenting discussion topics with panels made up of world renowned celebrities and experts.  These discussions are thoughtful and often provocative. They regularly fill up the Bushnell Hall were they are held. Jamie let us in on her budding close friendship with Rebecca Lobo and used our brand spankin’ new Digital Projector sitting on its brand spankin’ new Projector Stand to show us clips of some previous Forum presenters.  It was enough to encourage us to “come listen, go think.”  Good program. 

And that wraps it up for me. Two months as High Gear writer has satiated my writing jones for now and the club’s lack of empathy for my idiosyncratic spelling causes me to mumble “bah, humbugH.”  So, I’ll sign off for now with the frequently uttered home run call of the league leading N.Y. Yankees announcer, Michael Kay, “See Ya!”