Fall colors, vibrant and bright, were hard to miss as I approached the Ridge, and the sun was shining contrary to the forecast for the day. It was a small group today with one guest and the guest speaker. The bell was rung on time. We sang the Rotary Song, recited our Pledge-of Allegiance and listened to a thoughtful invocation by George Schoen about the joy of caring and sharing which we do well as an organization.
As we were about to head out to get our lunches, Jack Martin announced that the lunch was not here yet. President Bob altered the sequence of the meeting and started with the announcements.
Announcements:
- Koats-for-Kids gave out 77 coats last Sunday although 110 had originally signed up.
- Another successful FoodShare volunteer event last Monday was made possible by members from our Rotary Club who sorted out 3,795 pounds of assorted food and non-food grocery items.
- The First Paul Harris nominating meeting took place today. Jim Watts and his committee will come up with recommendations soon.
- Our weekly meeting on October 30 will reflect the theme of Halloween. Participants are free to dress up accordingly.
- The Foundation Dinner will take place at Chez Joseph in Agawam on November 7 and will honor, among others, our own Jim Watts.
- Next Board meeting will take place on November 12.
- Fireside Chat will take place in lieu of the regular lunch meeting on November 13 at the Ridge. President Bob will provide topics for discussion soon.
- D.G. Mark Brady will be the Guest Speaker on November 20. Let’s show our support by attending.
- Cheese-and-Wine will be served before the meeting on November 20. A check will be presented to EHPD the same day.
- Debbie Bain will be our guest speaker on December 4. She will talk about how to navigate through the health insurance maze.
- Mr. Xin, an exchange teacher, will speak to us about Chinese culture on December 11.
- Jack Sayre passed around the sign-in sheet for bell ringing.
- The winter protocol for no meeting will follow school closings in East Hartford. No school, no meeting, simple to remember.
- Marc Glass has several filing cabinets, empty no doubt, that are up for grabs. Bob Wood will take the 2-drawer one.
“Lunch has arrived,” announced Jack. Two kinds of pizza, salad and dressing greeted us at the table. Dan Firestone and Laura Floyd got the “special” box lunch. Ned Lynch was not around to pass the cookies that President Bob provided for us.
The second ringing of the bell resumed our meeting. Steve Jacoby had just walked in and provided a report on Jackie’s health. She has moved out of the hospital to a rehab center. Therapy is working. She continues to improve but cannot have any visitors yet. Cards are welcome at:
Jackie Jacoby, c/o Jerome Home, 975 Corbin Avenue, New Britain, CT 06052.
Dan Firestone, our SAA for the month, provided the following report:
- President Bob paid for a successful Koats-for-Kids event and a nice day today.
- Dan Firestone paid for a successful FoodShare event.
- Laura Floyd for leaving early. I believe she left earlier that we had expected.
- Larry Hangland paid in advance for “in case he does anything wrong”????.
- Dan Larson for the 9th grandchild on the way.
- Dan Russell paid because he is enjoying retirement and therefore lots of time to read.
- Lowell Waldo for his fourth club anniversary.
- Jim Watts for a good cause.
- Wes Willett because his house was rented.
- Bob Wood for the Washington Nationals.
- Ruth Sheehan paid the Astros win over the Yankees.
Bob Wood won the regular raffle while Laura took home the flowers.
Yours truly introduced Ilana Bernstein, the Development and Marketing Director of Community Renewal Team or better known as CRT. She enlightened us with the various programs which started in the sixties as “War-on-Poverty”. Programs such as energy assistance, meals on wheels, senior services, housing, money management, mental health, education, etc. touched 67,000 people last year in their service area. She indicated that 83% of CRT’s $50M annual budget funding comes from the Federal and the State governments. She assists in the fund raising for the rest.
Signing off for this week, your scribe, Anwar Hossain, from his kitchen table