High Gear, October 10, 2012

The day dawned overcast & rainy, and that hadn’t changed much at meeting time…so, East Hartford Rotarians donned raincoats or ran twixt the drops. After the R-O-T-A-R-Y song, PDG Dick Seidman offered a heartfelt Foundation Minute, we saluted our beautiful American Flag with the Pledge of Allegiance, and listened to Bob Buettner’s invocation in which he asked the Lord for our Club’s Ability, Strength, and help in meeting the challenges of today’s world. Then we lined up for a delicious buffet served by our friends at Krause Caterers: a brisket of beef, Hawaiian Chicken, baked beans, sweet potatoes, and cole-slaw, with a dish of fresh fruit for dessert. A really tasty repast!

With a lot to cover today, President Sheryl O’Conor called for introduction of guests and we greeted PDG Dick Seidman, DGE Mike Barnett, soon to be member Fred Issakhani, (see below); and still-a-Rotarian (or maybe not) Louise Mazzoli. Ruth Sheehan and Sue Klock were called on to lead the Welcome song, but In the absence of its author, Tom Westbrook, and the “mind-meltdown” of this scribe, good ole George Schoen finally saved the day with the right tune and pitch.

Sgt-at-Arms Jack Sayre fined our President for another pic-in-the paper, there were some no pins and early leavers, and then he suggested a year’s fine with a discount (or not) for the perennial late arriver. Proud Dad Marc Glass paid for his son’s having scored the winning goal in a recent Ithaca College soccer victory, Stu Harris’s son is newly engaged and has moved out (not sure which event he was paying for!), and Frank Collins nicely paid in recognition of the PR Committee’s articles highlighting club news.

Announcements: 1) There’ll be a Golf Committee mtg. next week, Oct.17^th at 11:30; 2) the Paul Harris Committee will meet in two weeks, Oct.24^th, at 11:00; 3) Guy LaBella told of 3 upcoming Chamber events: Oct. 18^th breakfast meeting at Goodwin College with a speaker on Fiscal Responsibility; Nov. 8^th reception & networking, also at the College, on “Vital Voices in Entrepreneurship;” and Thursday the 11^th (tomorrow) an after-hours soiree at Hoffman Ford.

Caring Moments enlightened us with news of Spurge Stokes and Jean Wishart, both soon to be home, Spurge cause he’s better, and Jean cause she’s reached the Medicare limit.

Club Business: The Board of Directors has approved the application for Membership from Fred Issakhani.

If no negative vibes are received by the Board in the next two weeks, Fred’s Induction will happen on Oct.24. Our club has not found any area companies interested in corporate membership so we have resigned from that program. We have given $500 to “Women for Women, a support group for oppressed women in Africa. Also, last week’s High Gear failed to mention the $500 check given to the speaker, Pat Jones, at the E.H. Library, for the purchase of new books. Neal Cunningham reported on plans for the Water Station workers at this weekend’s Hartford Marathon. Be there at 7:00AM. Fireside Chats are in progress. Please go when assigned or call to make a swap. DGE Mike Barnett made a presentation of a $500 grant check to Peter (and Sue) Klock for their stellar work on Shelter Boxes. Good job, guys!!! Plans are well in hand for the Job Shadow day on Oct.24 with 27 hosts! Brian Liss has 14 reservations for the Foundation Dinner on Nov.1^st; President Sheryl showed the Proclamation signed by Mayor Marcia in connection with Polio Awareness day coming up on October24th; and Ceil Collins says all systems are “go” for the Noah Webster House Tavern Night on Oct.29. (Anyone not paid should send checks to Ceil ASAP).

And lucky Ned Lynch won the Raffle!

Speaker today, introduced by his chief financial guy (our own Mike Derr) was Giovanni Tomasi, President and CTO of RSL Fiber Systems, a local advanced technology company right here on Pitkin Street in East Hartford. RSL stands for Remote Source Lighting, and Gio traced for us the several centuries-old development of portable light, from the old Roman candle to today’s fiber optic cable, enabling the transmission of heat and light through a micro-thin wire. Successful applications have been found commercially and militarily (they have contracts with both the U.S. and Italian navies), and RSL has succeeded in placing small enough-to-fit-in-your-hand lighting devices in ships and planes. The non-electric nature of the fiber optics approach also has made in-roads in the mining of oil and gas, a natural for industries where an accidental spark can cause major disasters. This was an immensely interested program, and we thank Mike for bringing it to us.

It was, again, good to be together………………………………………………………………………………………………Arthur