High Gear, February 5, 2020

It is odd not to see snow cover on the ground at this time of the year in Connecticut. Just as odd are recent days with temperatures in the high forties or low fifties. Today was one such day. Eighteen Rotarians and two guests joined us for our weekly meeting. The decibel level of the Rotary Song and the Pledge-of-Allegiance reflected the low attendance. Marc Glass, who was scheduled to give the invocation, had to improvise because he forgot it was his turn. Thanks to the internet and the cell phone, Marc was able to deliver a powerful message about the peaks and valleys in our life, and we should always remember the valleys when we are at the peak and vice versa.

Box lunches were laid out neatly at the table with the various choices clearly marked. Ned Lynch, besides being the Sergeant-at-Arms, did not have to do double duty of serving cookies because our dessert was packed inside the box lunch.

Our two guests, Joe Jaconetta and Ray Maselek, were introduced by Dan Firestone and Dan Larson respectively. At the request of one of the guests, the Welcome Song was skipped. You can draw your own conclusion as to why.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
  1. ShelterBox USA has sent a thank you note to our club.
  2. First meeting of the Scholarship committee was held today at 11:30.
  3. Joint meeting of Manchester Rotary and EHRC will take place at the Manchester Country Club on March 10. A local band will perform that evening. This meeting will be in lieu of our meeting on March 11.
  4. Paul Harris Dinner will be held at the Gallery on March 25.
  5. District and EHRC installations will be held at Maneeley’s Banquet Hall on June 17.
  6. We have received notification that our District Grant for Koats for Kids project has been approved. The club will receive a check soon.
  7. Rick Lawrence will be at the Manchester Rotary on June 16. EHRC will contact him for his yearly update about the Water Project. Date TBD.
 
CARING MOMENTS:
  1. John Mozzicato is recovering from surgery at Vernon Manor located at 182 Regan Road. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers
Ned Lynch, our SAA for the month, did the High Gear writer a favor by using a printed form with names. However, the cursive fill ins were above my pay grade to decipher all. So, with apologies to all who contributed today, here is what I could decipher.
            Art Bradbury, Ceil and Frank Collins, Dan Russell and Dan Firestone were happy to be among the fellow Rotarians.
            Neal Cunningham lamented the suicide by the Red Sox.
            Marc was happy that the Phillies and the Eagles are tied for first place.
            Larry Hangland paid to reset his account for the new year!!!!
            Happy Jack Martin is switching allegiance to the LA Dodgers.
President Bob initiated a discussion about new projects in which the club could participate and asked the Rotarians to provide feedback. Some of the ideas are:
  1. Concentrate on digital rather than print media to publicize Rotary. Work with Interact for promoting Rotary on Social and Digital media.
  2. Continue with our efforts with FoodShare, Goodwin Food Bank and other hands on projects we have been doing for a while.
  3. Help Rockville Soup Kitchen one Saturday a month.
  4. Society is changing, and the Rotary needs to keep up with the change to survive.
  5. Participate in Town run community projects.
  6. Work with the Chamber of Commerce.
  7. Interface with Goodwin College.          
We left the meeting with a lot to think about. The message was to think about one or two new projects and focus on their implementation.
 
Signing off for this week, your scribe, Anwar Hossain