High Gear, August 7, 2013

It was a long way from the traditional “dog days of summer” on this beautiful, mid-seventies early August afternoon. In fact, the only aroma of dog faintly detectable in the air was emanating from about 120 miles away in the Bronx.  There the aging Captain has a barking shinbone, the stately Great Dane Rivera’s sustained excellence is being wasted by an offence incapable of scoring runs, and the preening show dog is back at third base.  Not a pretty smell at all. But then Ruthie says it smells to her like baked beans and cod. 

But, hey, it was a warm and comfortable day at the Ridge. The gathering was modest as typical of the summer months and there were but two guests, Dave Canapan from our Glastonbury offspring, and old buddy,Fred Campbell stopping by on his way to a family gathering in Maine. Sue Klock and Sheryl O’Connor led the Welcome Song.  Bob Buettner offered a thoughtful grace before our meal of beef stroganoff and green beans.

The Foundation Minute, introduced under Past President Sheryl as a weekly event, has been repositioned to a monthly feature going forward. So Past Rotary International Vice President Frank Collins marked his 43 years in Rotary by filling the void and introducing the Club to the name of K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran, who has been nominated to become R.I. President in 2015-2016. Ravi is from Sri Lanka and will be emphasizing “membership growth” in his year in office.

Sargent at Arms Jack Sayre noted birthdays for Ceil Collins and Bill Saunders; anniversaries for Mary Sullivan and Frank Collins; and no pins for George Agnelli and Brian Liss. Sue Klock forked over some dollars in celebration of the engagement of son Andrew to Liz who “are both getting married to each other.”  And Sheryl O’Connor paid for happy news out of Happy Valley where daughter Jackie is starting work as a full time professor of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State University.  This addition should help burnish the Nittany Lions image a bit.

Last week our scribe misstated our Pennsylvania friend Roger Nicholson’s intent with his recent generous check. It turns out he is not 56 years old, but rather a 56 year Rotarian! He may look 56 years old but he was elected to East Hartford Rotary on July 22, 1957. And that is a lot of heifers ago.   

On the Caring Moments side of things, Steve Tamiso is now home and would welcome emails and cards. And Fred Issakhani has re torn a muscle in his leg and continues to have limited mobility. We suspect he, too, would appreciate a card.

Little in the way of announcements today.  Bill Saunders reminds us that we need to get creative about securing sponsors for our September tournament. Good news is that John and Sheryl O’Connor have agreed to sponsor our golf ball distribution on behalf of 3DAdvisors. Neal Cunningham reported that our annual Back to School Supplies drive yielded more than $400 and several backpacks for the kids in need in town. And Doug Willett asked members to update their profile on Clubrunner to facilitate a printing of a Club Roster for easy reference.

Peter Klock won the raffle and make ups were reported from Frank and Ceil Collins, Bill Saunders, George Schoen , Dan Larson and Doug Willett – all at the District Golf Tournament on Monday.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy the onset of the cooler nights of August.