Posted on Dec 19, 2018

Another late Fall day, sunny and cool, with the anticipation of heavy rains Thursday and Friday. It might have been snow in the forecast which would have guaranteed a White Christmas, but I’ll settle for the rain! The foyer had a new face behind the stacks of money.  George Schoen was taking our dollars in his first gig as the new treasurer.  It was a little confusing to him as he pondered whether to give a five or a ones back in change.  Happy Jack could handle either as he sold the nice little red tickets from the adjacent seat.

 

There was a little panic in the room, however, as the caterer did not have kid friendly food for the expected high school singers, so he rushed off to get some chicken nuggets and seasoned French fries.  Some might comment that it wasn’t adult friendly either!  As to the fries, Dan Larson’s comment was “last season!”

 

President Kevin called us to order with the proper song, pledge, and invocation.  It was all scribbled neatly on the back of an envelope!  Bob Wood gave the Invocation and the tribe was released to the buffet table.  Today’s feast brought back rice, mixed vegetables (slightly over cooked?), tilapia, chicken nuggets, seasoned French fries, rolls, and a hearty salad.  Dessert was a brownie selection. 

 

An early recall to order was necessary due to the bus not showing up at EHHS to bring our entertainment to the Ridge.  So, Kevin deviated slightly from his original time schedule.  He did have the introduction of guests done properly by Ned Lynch who had his son, Matt, with him.  Ned even helped with the singing of the Welcome Song. Kevin mentioned that we had a Thank You note for our donation to the Food Bank.  Jack Sayre then thanked those who rang the bell.  All shifts were covered due to many doing double duty, but it was a very small percentage of members who gave up an hour to participate in this “hands on “project.  Our monetary total from the three days was pretty good -$2169.

 

Jack then presented a Check to our two lunch servers.  Neal Cunningham said that distribution to our “adopted” families was completed this Saturday.  Thanks to the Elves – Ned Lynch, Bill Saunders, Mark Glass, Keven Kickery and Neal’s wife, Rosemary   Another hands-on project well done!  Anwar Hossain noted that another “hands on” project - working at Foodshare - is scheduled for 2/4/19.  Contact him if interested in helping.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE – NO MEETING NEXT WEEK 12/26. NEXT MEETING 1/2/19 -WINE AND CHEESE TO CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR!!

 

Enter the EHHS singers (all seven of them, all female) led by Nick Dias.  They sang 4 Christmas songs and departed to have their lunch in the other room.

 

Sgt. at Arms Jim Watts claimed to have had a fantastic day.  Jim Fallon paid for 50 years of marriage, and 26 Rotary years. Various donations from Wood, Buettner, Larson, and Glass, Dave Amberg paid for his Grandson choosing good ole Notre Dame to continue his education, Guy LaBella catching up for an anniversary and a birthday. Sue Klock for a Rotary anniversary, and especially for being together with her family in Paris, and finally, Ned Lynch who now knows how Giants and Jets fans really feel!  Today’s raffle consisted of two baskets donated by Laura Floyd- winners -Bob Buettner and an anonymous   winner who probably wants to regift!  Flowers were won by the Anniversary Boy, Jim Fallon!

 

President Kevin announced that the Annual Meeting will be held on January 30th and submitted the following slate of officers:  President – Bob Buettner, Secretary – Wes Willett, Treasurer – George Schoen, President Elect – Open, Past President – Kevin Kickery, Director Emeritus – Bob Wood, Directors – Ned Lynch, Neal Cunningham, Anwar Hossain, and Jack Sayre, Sgt. at Arms – Dan Firestone.

 

The Meeting was then opened to a Club Assembly.  All members were sent a copy of the Fireside Chat Summary which focused upon membership and the future direction of the East Hartford Rotary Club.  All members were given an opportunity to express their reactions and views. One theme was prevalent “we used to “! This meeting was about today and the future.  Nostalgia is a wonderful thing but what do we do to keep the Club capable of continuing that level of Service to the Community.

 

Some comments were: Are other clubs facing the issue of declining membership?  We don’t have enough meaningful projects to keep up interest.  We don’t have a variety of speakers.  We need a larger and more involved Membership Committee.  People today don’t want speakers as much as before – they want projects.

 

Areas to investigate:  We donate to a lot of organizations, perhaps we should try to tap their membership for help.  Maybe we should track our Scholarship Winners and get their parents involved.  We should look to the Town for more Corporate membership and let them help identify the Community’s needs as fewer of our members reside in East Hartford. We should also investigate newly retired individuals as they might like a vehicle for service.  More education is needed in our Community to identify what Rotary does, thus creating more interest.  Social media is a good source for information – people are more in tune to that than print. If we need more projects, it is incumbent upon each of us to offer suggestions.  Those are some of the ideas brought up.

 

What is the take away from all this?  This writers view is that we as a club need to be more involved in shaping our future.  Our Committees need to function as committees and come up with new ideas.  We seem to depend upon an individual or small group to get things done.  We need to take ownership and work as a club and not feel that that a person or that group will get the job done.  A-men!!

 

“Til next time.  Bob Wood

 

PS – Thanks for all the toys that were brought in today.  Norris School kids will truly benefit!