High Gear, January 9, 2012

The day was dreary and damp, and the beginning of the January thaw was much in evidence.  Today saw a good crowd assembling in the foyer, while the Scholarship Committee was in the side room busily preparing for the upcoming scholarship season.  President Sheryl called the meeting to order with the bell and Pledge to the Flag.  Yvette Roming gave the Foundation moment and indicated that the Foundation was trying to improve the mortality rate among small children in a remote Indian Village, working to improve sanitation by installing 14 toilets.  Small steps, big results!  The invocation was thoughtfully delivered by Art Bradbury marking the halfway point of Sheryl's term.  We have the opportunity to make the world a better place by working together in the spirit of Rotary, and by truly being thankful for our friends and the fellowship which we treasure.  Following that, we were served a meal of meatloaf, mashed potato, and mixed beans and carrots, with carrot cake for dessert.

Following lunch Pres. Sheryl called the meeting to order and our guests - Matt Lynch, Nikicha Rosas, and Tom Spiller were introduced and then serenaded with the Welcome Song led by Ned Lynch and Fred Issakhani.  Next came Sgt. at Arms Brian Liss with a long list of significant and $$$$worthy events. Four anniversaries led off his report - Pres. Sheryl 6, Guy LaBella 6, Stu Harris 12, and Dan Firestone 37!  George Schoen paid for being a great grandfather (twins), Nick Cecere because he is heading to Aruba, Mark Glass because he had the opportunity to attend the soccer event in Newtown, Bob Wood and Art Bradbury paid for Dave Amberg's Notre Dame semi successful weekend, Jay thanked Larry Hangland for his great work on updating the Sgt. at Arms Red Book, and Bob Wood one-upped the Saunders 5l years, by celebrating his and Debby's 52nd wedding anniversary.  Finally, Nick Cecere and Pat Gately were sung to in celebration of recent unnamed birthdays.

Announcements included: 1.  Ways and Means Committee - 1/10 5:30 at the YMCA, 2.  Community Service Committee meeting - 1/16 11:30 prior to next week's meeting - topic of discussion will be the new bookmobile and the prospect of several matching grants from the Foundation and an Indian Club.  If all goes well we could have a new vehicle for about $3000..  3.  Jack Sayre discussed the Salvation Army bell ringing project which collected over the 4 weeks in excess of $2100 and expressed a special thanks  to those who rang the bell, and especially to Andy Andreo for his generous donation.  We hope to see Andy back soon!  4.  Pres. Sheryl announced a South Windsor Cultural event on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2:00 PM at the Wood Memorial Library.  Let Sheryl know if you need seats. 5.  Our Club donated $3878 to District 7260, Long Island for storm Sandy Relief.  6.  Thank you notes from the YMCA and School Business Partnership for our donations. 7.  Our Club will act as a host Club for the Turkish GSE team for the week of May 11-18.

In keeping with the By-laws, Pres. Sheryl announced the slate of officers for the next Rotary Year.  They will be voted on in two weeks.  The slate:  President - George Schoen, President Elect - Brian Liss, Secretary - Axex Wisz, Treasurer - Mike Derr, Past President -  Sheryl O'Connor, and Board of Directors - George Finch, Bob Buettner, and Bill Saunders.  Sgt at Arms Director will be chosen after the election.

Our first speaker was Nikicha Rosas, one of our scholarship recipients who attends Boston College as a biology/pre med major. She is involved in intramural soccer, the Art Club, and following BC sports, although the football team did poorly, she was happy to see ND lose in the BCS game!

  The main speaker, Tom Spiller, Deputy Fire Marshal, was introduced by Bill Saunders.  Tom is a local, son of Peg and Roy, and active in a variety of fire safety and arson investigation organizations.  Tom showed two videos, one dealing with a stove fire, and the other with a living room fire.  Both were very revealing and illustrated that knowing what to do in each was significant.  In the case of a stove top fire NEVER put water on it - cover it!  This will prevent a very serious flare up.  In the case of the living room fire unless you can stop it in the first few seconds close the door, get out of the house ASAP, and call 911.  When the smoke detector goes off it is too late to put it out.  East Hartford has about a 3 minute time lapse from the initial call until the firefighters show up at the scene.  Not all other towns are as fortunate!  As a rule every family should have a fire exit plan with a designated meeting place upon evacuation, and should hold drills so everyone is familiar with the routine.  Great program- everyone should have seen it!

'Til  next time, Bob Wood