 | The Rotary Club of |
High Gear
Volume 78 | Issue 28 / Feb 8, 2023
Today’s hybrid meeting format had a new twist. Your scribe attended remotely along with five other Rotarians. Our guest also attended remotely. Nine of our club members were present in person.
I was a few minutes late logging in. I am assuming that the Rotary Song, the Pledge and the 4-Way test took place in the order that we normally follow. Deirdre was kind enough to send me a copy of the invocation that she delivered today:
We are thankful for this day that you have given us, for its blessings, its opportunities,
its challenges. May we appreciate and use each day that comes to us. We pray for
strength and guidance for each day as it comes, for each days duties, for each days
problems. May we be challenged to give our best always, and may we be assured of
your presence with us. AMEN
When I logged in, I saw folks at two tables enjoying their lunch and carrying on social conversation. Alex texted me later that lunch today consisted of Chicken Marsala, Chicken Parmigian and tuna grinders and salad.
I had asked the guest speaker to join us at 12:40 so that the folks attending in person can enjoy their lunch. It also allowed President Alex to take care of the club business and announcements.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Birthdays for Sue and Ray this month. Connor was surprised to know that Ray was so young. Sixty is today’s forty.
- Club Anniversaries for Dan, 47 years; you make most of us look like rookies.
- Art is now under Hospice Care at the same facility in Glastonbury. May his days be peaceful.
- DG Randy Chappell will be our guest next week. Please try to attend to show our support for his visit.
- Please bring items of clothing for donation for the co-op at Goodwin next week.
- February board meeting has been canceled. Please send President Alex any suggestions of issues to be discussed at the March Board meeting.
- Connor requested others to join the scholarship committee. He will hold the first planning meeting towards the end of this month. His goal is to get the applications out by March 1. Ceil indicated the Lions Club has already advertised their scholarship program.
It was almost 12:40 and our guest speaker joined remotely. The twist that I described earlier was to test how well the OWL works with some attending in person and others as well as the guest on zoom. Sitting in the comfort of my home,I had no difficulty introducing our guest. Screen sharing was a bit tricky so we need to look at that. We got the audio only of the video that our speaker tried to play for us. The problem could have been at her end.
Our speaker, Barbara Shaw, the executive director of HANDS ON HARTFORD, a social service nonprofit organization, serves Hartford’s most economically challenged residents in the area of food, housing, and health care.
She enlightened us about the issue of homelessness in CT. There are approximately 3000 homeless people and not enough resources to serve them adequately. Lack of affordable housing, funding issues, mental illness and trust among the homeless population all contribute to this social issue that shouldn’t exist in a country like this and a wealthy state like CT. For many it takes an event such as a job loss, car breakdown, or a large medical bill to send them spiraling down to homelessness in a short period of time. She emphasized that homelessness in CT is a regional problem. Homeless folks from suburbs move to urban centers because that where services to help them are found.
At about 1:10, President Alex extended a gentle reminder that our speaker has about five minutes to stay within the constitutional meeting time limit of Club rules. She was able to handle a few questions from us. She really made me reflect on what it means to be homeless and how close some of us are in becoming one.
President Alex rang the bell to end the meeting around 1:25.
Signing off until next week, your scribe for the month, Anwar Hossain