High Gear, March 13, 2013
You could tell Spring wanted to tease us with a sunny day as we all gathered at the Ridge for an early St. Patrick’s day luncheon. Not a lot of green on the lawns or in our wardrobe, yet, but a hearty plate of corned beef and cabbage with a shamrock ice cream dessert was served. Have to say, I’m normally not a fan, but this was melt-in-your-mouth corned beef.
Peter Klock got us started with a pensive invocation which brought good order to the room. Just in time, too, because Bob Buettner was wandering around feeling guilty from winning so many raffles that he was handing out free tickets to random (?) beneficiaries. Not sure if Guy LaBella was one of them but he ended up the winner.
Oops, getting a little out of chronological order already here. Peter K. was back up to the podium as lunch got started to 
ask our opinion on buying duck calls. The $11 version won out. It really sounded like a classic duck call! The plan is we march in the Memorial Day Parade behind our Duck Race Float and quack up some interest. Correct website is: www.easthartfordrotaryduckrace.org
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Back to Bob Buettner again. This time he “wandered” up to the podium to share a Foundation Minute with us. It was a short description of the Conflict Resolution Program. We could use more of that in every aspect of our lives. Since I’m back on the Bob bandwagon: he was also fined for having his photo in the Gazette giving a flower arranging presentation to the East Hartford Women’s Club last week.
Chuck Clarke introduced his “roommate of 55 years and best friend”, his gracious wife, Esther. Our only other guest was Karen Andrew from the Windsor Club representing the District. More on that as we go on.
It was up to Lionel Lessard and Brian Liss to lead us in the Welcome Song. Brian almost got Art Bradbury to get us started. To his credit, Art jumped in after the first few dismal notes to get us back in tune and rhythm as he does most weeks.
There were a ton of announcements from Sergeant-At-Arms Ned Lynch even though he was late to the meeting (it’s OK, he paid his own fine). George Schoen and Gil Wishart must have taken home their badges last week because they were badge-less today; Dave Amberg gave a shout out for Notre Dame (who cares?); Bob Wood celebrated his 78th birthday by asking anyone above that age to sing “Happy Birthday”. Gotta say, there were an awful lot of voices in that choir.
More to tell: Art had a successful performance of Gaelic tunes at Hannafin’s Pub (return engagement for his group); Judge Barall was happy that he had a great group of kids performing as part of the Health Fair; Club Anniversaries were cheered for John O'Connor, Yvette Roming, and Jay Stewart. By the way, John, glad to see your knee surgery does not look ‘career-ending’.
And more: Guy LaBella thinks it would be a good idea if as many of us as possible could attend this year’s East Hartford Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting on March 28 at Goodwin College; reception at 5:30 with awards at 6:30. He’s got a point there since our own East Hartford Rotary Club will be this year’s recipient of the Community Service Award. He also wanted us to know that chef Billy Grant, a “son” of East Hartford, will be the April 3rd speaker at the “Vital Voices of Entrepreneurship” event also held on the grounds of Goodwin College.
Good news keeps coming. Brian Liss was thankful for the leadership provided by Sue Klock and John O'Connor. |
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South Windsor’s Wood Memorial Library is the place to be this Sunday at 2 pm if you are interested in a free concert by a noted Swedish cellist put on by the South Windsor Cultural Arts. Call Sheryl O'Connor if you want her to save you a seat.
Nice to hear from Jack Sayre that Spurgeon Stoke's cataract operation went so well even his mysterious dizziness was cured. Send Spurge a note at 93 Garfield Road, West Hartford, CT 06107 and don’t worry about having to sign your name in BIG PRINT.
By the time you read this, the Board of Directors will have met.
Thank you to the folks helping out with the Dictionary Program (we had a nice selection of thank you notes from the O’Connell School kids, today) and a big thanks to the crew who put together last week’s recruiting meeting at the Marco Polo Restaurant.
At this point, our guest Karen Andrews came up to the podium and presented a $1,000 District Foundation grant to Chuck and Esther Clarke and Dick McCarthy for the great work on the “Koats for Kids” program. This grant is a reminder to us that our contributions to the Foundation come back around to support local efforts. You should know that our Club has exceeded (130%) our goal to donate to the Annual Programs Fund. This was in very large part to the work, cajoling, nagging, and reminding of our own dear Brian Liss.
Ceil Collins is at the final stages of getting sign-ups for next week’s Paul Harris Recognition Dinner at The Gallery at 6 pm. Get your $45 to her ASAP and select from filet mignon, stuffed chicken, or salmon. At the very least, call Ceil at 860-568-3497. And don’t show up at The Ridge for lunch next week!
When you go to The Gallery, be sure to bring gently used books to kick-off the “Reader to Reader Buck in a Book Drive”. It’s a program to promote literacy by donating books that can be given to communities with little or no resources for libraries or classrooms. The Club will provide the “buck” that will be place in each book (unless you want to). No textbooks, encyclopedias, or medical texts, and make sure there are no names or dedications inside the cover. If you forget, you can always bring a book to our regular meeting on March 27th.
As part of our local push for literacy, tomorrow is the very day we get to go visit our future “Bookmobile” at the Freightliner Company. A grand un-veiling is planned for early May and look for the Bookmobile to join us in the Memorial Day Parade.
Almost forgot: mark your calendar to help out at this year’s Senior Citizen’s Prom on the afternoon of April 24. More on that to come from Jack Sayre.
The meeting ended with an informative presentation from Josh Ritter about the Goodspeed Opera House. Did you know the 6-story building was first opened in 1876 and was eventually saved from an ugly fate by preservationists in the 1960’s? The theatre is the “Home of the American Musical” and has won 2 Tony awards for excellence in regional theatre. The 398 seat venue is celebrating its 50th anniversary with shows such as “Hello Dolly” and has a costume collection that numbers 325,000. Its internship programs in everything from audition classes to scenic design have cultivated young professionals in the industry from Broadway to Hollywood. I, for one, have had my interest peaked to attend a show there soon.
So may the road rise up to meet you, and the wind be at your back, and you don’t imbibe too much green beer or bagels - -
The Empress