Membership seems to be gradually adjusting to our club’s new normal, i.e. Zoom meetings. Twenty-three of us joined today, gathering virtually and ready to go at 12:15. President Bob led us in the pledge, then shared an invocation which incorporated Rotary’s Four-way Test.
Bob welcomed a potential new member, Connor Martin, who mentioned he was drawn to Rotary through his working with Dan Larson at Goodwin University.
Today’s meeting was largely following up on and making some progress with items from the last few meetings. Wes reported on his efforts to get us a Zoom account. We are currently relying on Marc’s district account, but the club prefers to have its own. Zoom requires a credit card. President Bob indicated he will follow up by supplying Zoom with his own credit card. Watch for emails with details for next week’s Zoom meetings, one from Bob about the club meeting and one from Marc about Bingo Happy Hour.
Scholarship information has not changed. The deadline for applications is May 20th, next Wednesday, and there are currently just 9 applications.
Monday Night Bingo continues, and is fun, even for the “losers.”
Tomorrow, Thursday, there is a Rotary International Zoom meeting originating in Nigeria. Marc and Bob will be participating, and Bob invited anyone interested in joining to contact him for sign-in information.
Brian Liss has told Bob that he still is planning to place memorial flags on veterans’ gravesites, but he is not sure of the exact date. This will probably occur sometime between late May and July 4th.
Please call Brian if you are interested in helping with this. His cell phone is (860) 716-2224.
Burlington Coat Factory and East Hartford Social Services will cooperate again with our club’s Coats for Kids project. This will occur in October. The club will be seeking help from the district again via a district grant funded by the annual fund of The Rotary Foundation.
Treasurer George reported that he has received a few voluntary “in lieu of lunch” donations. We have not yet received the $700 from the district, our club’s share of the money the district was given by The Rotary Foundation for covid-19 relief projects. We will have those funds as well as $550 left after donations were made to police and fire departments.
President Bob opened a discussion about the greatest need for use of these funds locally.
After the discussion Bob asked for 3 volunteers to look into the feasibility of some of the suggestions. Laura Floyd will look into how we may be able to help grocery stores’ staffs. Connor Martin volunteered to check with the School Superintendent and the School Board about best ways we may be able to help students who need internet access for remote learning. Alex Wisz offered to check with Burnside Avenue Food Banks about how we may best assist them.
Caring Moments: Happily, Ray Maselek shared a video of a birthday parade for his granddaughter’s 8th birthday. It was so fun for us all to witness her surprise and happiness, and it was incredible for us to see how easily we can share a screen during a Zoom chat.
The COVID-19 crisis is having a significant impact on our club’s ability to raise funds for the charities that we support. Please consider donating the money you would have spent weekly on lunches to help fund our COVID-19 related activities, such as additional food bank donations. Checks should be made out to EHRC Charitable Fund, include a memo that donation is for COVID-19, and send to George Schoen at 53 Duxbury Lane Glastonbury, CT 06033. Thanks for your support!
Submitted by Sue Klock, taking notes for our May 2020 club meetings