From Maine to South Florida, the pre- meeting chatter centered on the weather, snow in the North and sunshine in the South. We East Hartford Rotarians are a diverse lot, and we enjoy a variety of climates as we provide service to the world.
 
President Bob took time from the demands of vacating his business to not hear DG Marc ring the bell on his behalf, the lack of peal coming from the empty vessel Marc employed in the absence of the bell. Marc offered the invocation as well and the meeting was underway.
 
Our only guest was Kristi Kinnard, the President of the Athens, Ohio Sunrise Rotary Club who was also our speaker. More to follow on Kristi. Also joining us from snowy Lewiston, ME was old friend, Larry Frazier.
 
Ceil reported that Frank Collins has been hospitalized with some heart issues. He is expected to return home this weekend. Cards or calls to Mr. East Hartford Rotary would be much appreciated.
 
President Bob went through the announcements before stepping aside to tend to business issues.
 
First off, President Bob announced the slate of officers and board members proposed for the 2021-2022 Rotary year. This slate will be voted on by the Club at our annual meeting on December 30. The slate is as follows:
President – Sue Klock
President- Elect, Vice President – Alex Wisz
Treasurer- Wes Willett
Secretary – Open
Board – George Schoen, Anwar Hossain, Dan Firestone, Connor Martin, Neal Cunningham, Jack Sayre, Laura Floyd.
Past President – Bob Buettner
 
Treasurer George Schoen announced the distribution of 40 twenty-five-dollar gift cards to East Hartford Social Services for distribution to needy residents. George also announced that thanks to our participation with People’s Bank, our $6200 investment turned into $7835, which we distributed to seven food banks in the area.  
 
The Zoom Holiday gathering and Ugly Sweater party will be held on December 23rd from 7-9 p.m. Depending on the number participating, we will break into smaller groups to play party games.
Our guest speaker today, was Kristi Kinnard, President of the Athens, Ohio Sunrise Rotary Club. This club was recently featured in the Rotarian magazine for its outstanding growth in membership, increasing from an original group of 23 Rotarians in 2017 to today’s number of 75. Kristi reviewed the circumstances of this growth, including the focus on making every member feel important, valuing the time of all its members, listening to project ideas from all members, not just the leadership and, when something needs to be done, making a specific ask rather than just calling for volunteers.
 
They also have an active social media presence, try to achieve a social/service balance, have a well defined membership platform, are willing to throw out traditions if they stand in the way of being inclusive and have a checklist to gauge suitability of their projects. Thanks, Anwar, for bringing us another interesting Zoom presentation.
 
That is it for November. Sue Klock and Anwar will be covering the months of December and January.
 
Yours in service,
 
Doug Willett