High Gear, March 7, 2012
With Daylight Saving Time arriving this weekend, and the feel of Spring a promise in the air, bright sunshine welcomed us to The Ridge. Thank you notes from the 3rd grade recipients of our dictionaries abounded on the tables, and following the R-O-T-A-R-Y song and salute to our beautiful flag, we quieted down for the ‘short notice’ invocation offered up by George Schoen. (Word has it that God accepts all of our thanks, even those spoken with only short notice!) Krause Caterers did their part for the noon hour, serving up a tasty dish of Chicken Marsala along with Eggplant Parmesan Casserole. A dessert of chocolate mousse topped it off.
We’d never really noticed before, but there must be a semi-official dress code for Rotary meetings; at least 5 members were noted wearing white turtle neck shirts, dark blue blazers and khaki slacks. Sitting across from 4 of them, it certainly looked like the “uniform of the day.” Quite natty!
At this point in the proceedings, Marc Glass began to give us periodic updates on the ongoing score of the UConn-West Virginia roundball game. He told us that UConn was losing, when actually they were only a little behind. As anyone knows who followed the game’s ending on arriving home, the Huskies beat the Mountaineers as OT ran out, 71-67. An exciting and thrilling finish!
In keeping with his reputation as a song leader, Tom Westbrook, by himself, led a truly rousing version of our Welcome song, showing once again why East Hartford Rotary is known as a singing club. This gave a segue to Sgt-at –Arms Dan Larson’s report in which all the choir members present sang Happy Birthday to Bob Wood (77), Neal Cunningham (71) and John O’Connor (56). Also enriching the party coffers were Bob Buettner for telling of WTIC’s Rotary ads, and many gifts both pro & con for the outcome of the Uconn/Notre Dame ladies game. It should be noted that N.D. alumnus Dave Amberg, while paying up, got in the last word with his memorable quote: ”It ain’t over yet!”
President Peter Klock, as well as a few other Rotarians present, spoke meaningfully about our loss of fellow Rotarian Bill Leone. Peter’s wife, Sue, whom we all are proud to call our District Governor, told of the upcoming PETS week-away, and we were glad to learn that Peter and Sue have been given a well deserved Presidential Service Award in recognition of their work with Shelter Boxes.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Gil Wishart confirmed that the recent management change at the New Britain Rock Cats will nor effect our planned ball game trip on May 4th, and sign-up sheets should be around soon.
Marc Glass is making up new name tags where needed. Call him if yours needs updating.
Steve Jacoby reminded of invitations to Mayor Marcia LeClerc’s Charity Ball, Call him if interested.
Yvette Roming told of a Duck Race committee meeting next Wed. at 11:45. Tickets coming sooooon!
And then….the Raffle, won today by Stu Harris, the first time, he said, in 10 years!!!
Make-ups reported for John Mozzicato in Chartlotte Harbor, and Steve Jacoby in Weth/Rocky Hill.
Jack Sayre introduced today’s speaker, Sandra (Sandy) Muller. A registered nurse of long standing, Sandy’s dossier includes many roles in the nursing and teaching profession, among them as a charming lady who serves as President of the Connecticut Science Fair Association, Inc. The 64th annual Fair will be held on Mar.13-17 at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. Any school in the state can enter a project (130 did!). From around 10,000 submissions, 476 projects were selected to compete, and from those, there are 180 finalists, the seven winners to be sent on to the International competition in Philadelphia. Ordinary folks like Jack Sayre, Dan Firestone and Roy Spiller serve as volunteer judges (and more are always needed and welcomed) to determine the winners. Prizes totaling $135,000 are awarded in the form of scholarships, savings bonds, and gift certificates. There’s a long list of no-no’s in the subject matter of the projects; for instance, nothing to do with alcohol, tobacco, or firearms. In writing up the research papers required for every project, there is always a testing of the originality and truthfulness of the research, due in large measure to the vast amount of material available on the internet.
This was a most interesting and informative presentation. Thank you Jack and Dan, and whoever else helped bring it to us!
God Bless America” closed our meeting today, reminding us how great it is to be an American!
Nice to be writing High Gear again…..see you next week!.................................Arthur