High Gear, January 30, 2013

The January thaw was upon us today with a cloudy, dismal and dreary, 55 degree precursor to a wet and windy evening.  The Ridge was alive with a larger than average crowd.  Pres. Sheryl, noting the hour, called us together for our normal opening.  She called upon Dan Larson as a fill in for the Invocation, and he thanked the Heavenly Father for the wonderful things He has given us and asked for His blessing for the things we do.  Today's feast consisted of beef cubes and gravy, noodles, green beans, and a fancy cupcake.

After calling us back to order, Pres. Sheryl asked Dave Amberg to deliver the Foundation moment.  He cited Rotary's concern over the recent attacks and killings of polio volunteers in Pakistan.  Hopefully these concerns will be addressed soon so that immunizations can continue as soon as possible.  Pres. Sheryl then indicated that her goal of $100 per club member donation to the Foundation has been met. This is a significant event, and she thanked all for their support. The introduction of guests included Interact delegations from the IB school and EHHS.  From the IB were Rachel Buck, advisor, Mikayla Barnwell, Megan Leubner, Subashini Sridhar and Marian Kanaan.  From EHHS were Dan Pichette, advisor, Lovely Jourdan, Tania Johnson, and Olivia Valerio. In addition, Tom Galvin, our speaker, and Olivia Henze from the Inter Community Health Clinic were introduced.  The Welcome Song was led by Jim Watts and Mo Moshovos.  Sgt at Arms Brian Liss followed with list of miscreants who paid for a variety of good and evil - Hope Firestone for a wayward phone, Bob Buettner for his newspaper appearance, Yvette Roming for leaving early, George Agnelli for being late, Brian Liss for a nice camping weekend with his son, Sheryl O'Connor for Ruth Sheehan's return to good health, and finally, Steve Jacoby for a birthday. 

Caring Moments:  Ceil Collins announced that Dick Seidman is improving, although slowly; Ruth  Sheehan noted that Kathy McCabe is doing well with her treatments; Mo Moshovos mentioned that Skip Guillemette will be undergoing a double bypass operation; and Dan Larson mentioned the passing away of Missy Leone, Bill's mother.

Getting down to today's business, Pres. Sheryl called for the election of George Schoen's remaining board members.  The following were elected:  Alex Wisz, Secretary, Bob Buettner, George Finch, and Bill Saunders as Directors, and Janice Freschlin as Sgt. at Arms Director.  The high point of the meeting was the granting of membership to Ted Hsu, who was sponsored by Yvette Roming.  Next  came the announcements:  1.  On February 13 we will celebrate our 85th Anniversary as a member of RI.  2.  On 1/31  5:30 at the YMCA there will be a Ways and Means Committee meeting to deal with the Duck Race.  All are invited, but additionally the PR and Social Committees should be represented.  3.  We need three more homes to host members of the Turkish GSE team for the week of May 11-18.  Call Larry Hangland if you can help out.  4.  District Conference will be April 26-28.  Let George Schoen know if you can help out.  And now on to our speakers!

Rachel Buck introduced the Interactors from the IB School.  They gave a brief overview of their community involvement.  Their main program - FISH -"food is shared hope" is centered around helping others get adequate food.  A successful food drive netted 1231 cans of food to help.  They also had a toy drive, and a card program for People in Sandy Hook, and helped with the Bell Ringing.  They will work in Manchester on a Rebuilding Together project in the spring, help us with the Duck Race, host the Abelon Memorial walk, and work with an orphanage in Haiti.  Dan Pichette introduced the EHHS Interactors.  They 

are involved in many in-house activities including a food drive, a toy drive which resulted in the donation of over 400 toys, a coat drive which resulted in the donation of over 1000 coats, as well as ringing the bell and helping us with the senior prom. Busy People!

Our final speaker, Tom Galvin, talked about the In-school based health and dental programs. Tom talked about the inception of the program and the great need it serves.  He credits Debby Poerio for her gift of grant writing to get the funds necessary to get the program going.  It now is a Primary Care program and serves under or uninsured children in the community.  He explained the use of the Dental Van which was initiated and heavily funded by our Rotary Club.  The Dental Van is used to deliver portable dental equipment to various school locations throughout the town so that children can be served on site.  Through the efforts of Tom and others, over 980 kids received a variety of dental services last year.  This has lowered the cavity and decay rate to a point where it is now under control.  We can be proud of Tom and our club for helping out in this critical area of health care.

'Til next year - Bob Wood