High Gear, September 3 2014
What a day! Can it get any nicer outside?! It is a blessing just to feel and breathe the Connecticut air in September!
And then after coming inside and entering the dining room, I happily observed that candy was once again being offered to us all! But when I got to my table I noticed that Jim Fallon had placed all of its candy bars right in front of my seat. Perhaps it was so that there would be no confusion (Jim may have thought that I would think he was changing his seat for some reason), while pointing to the candy he was quick to say, “Here, this is your place.” And he did not appear to be chewing anything and his shirt pocket looked empty. The gesture was apparently real. What a generous guy! I take back everything I wrote about him in last week’s High Gear.
One of our guests today, Cate Evans from the South Windsor club, came over to our table to thank Neal Cunningham for tickets to the Big E that he had given to her a year or so back. I may have been wrong, but at the time I thought it only right to point out to her that he does that for all the girls. She looked disappointed then and I felt badly.
I felt badly too for President Mary upon her ringing of the bell to begin the meeting. Her effort seemed at first to yield little effect and she looked a bit forlorn. It seems to me that the club must learn that the Empress is brilliant of mind while quiet, mild, and peaceful of soul. Her delicate rappings of the bell demonstrate only her gentleness, and Rotarians being generally of an enthusiastic vigorous nature, her work is thus made difficult. Nevertheless, in exemplary graciousness, after finally securing calm, she quickly forgave us, and led us in the pledge, and then into the presence of the Greatest Forgiver of All, where we took a minute to silently remember the two Rotarians and friends we lost this past week, Roy Spiller and Dick Lemieux. Surely God who loves us all more than we can ever understand, and who never lets us go no matter what, guards and keeps Dick and Roy now, and always will!
A formal visitation with the Spiller family is scheduled for 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM at De’sepo Funeral Home, 30 Carter Street in East Hartford, Thursday, September 4. The funeral will be at 10:00 AM on Friday, September 5, at First Congregational Church, Connecticut Blvd and Main Street, East Hartford.
A visitation with the Lemieux family is scheduled for Saturday, 9:30 AM at Newkirk and Whitney Funeral Home, Burnside Avenue, East Hartford. The funeral will follow there at 10:30 AM.
In addition to Cate Evans, there was another guest, Conrad Sienkiewicz, from the Torrington Club. After a bit of grousing by Mo Moshovos, he and Ned Lynch led a fine energetic rendition of the Welcome Song.
Dan Firestone, perhaps too nice a guy to be Sgt@ Arms (not like some other members who shall remain nameless Dave Amberg), Dan did politely get some real money from Bob Buettner because Bob’s Jaguar is almost ready to drive again, Neal Cunningham because he donned neither pin nor badge, President Mary for her birthday tomorrow (Happy Birthday, Mrs. President!), from me for sporting no pin and in celebration of my daughter April’s wedding this past Saturday, and Ned Lynch needed to pay well for being late because Dan didn’t have any change! Dan’s nice but he has his ways!
President Mary reminded us that dues are past due and then explained that the East Hartford Social Services program, “Koats for Kids,” is now completely a Rotary Club program. Our club partners with Burlington Coat Factory and our Rotary District to purchase winter coats for young people in need in East Hartford. Last year we paid 90% of the cost of 100 coats and Burlington Coat factory paid the other 10%. This year, with increased support from the District and a commitment from Burlington Coast Factory to pay 15% of the cost per coat, we will be able to purchase coats for 125 East Hartford children. If you’re not proud to be an East Hartford Rotary Club member now, then I didn’t write that story clearly enough!
Bill Saunders reminded us that each club member is asked to contribute a raffle prize for the golf tournament. Prizes can be turned into him, or Yvette Roming, or Larry Frazier. In response to my suggestion last week that I might contribute a free sermon for a raffle prize, Bill said the committee thought that if our Empress would bring her horse to the tournament, I could preach from atop it as a sort of Sermon on the Mount. I think it could be done but to whom might the sermon be addressed? I would say that it could be addressed to the club and members could sort of stand around and act as if they were listening, but I don’t know if a club even as talented as ours could make it look genuine? The idea may still need some work.
The weekly raffle was won by Bob Buettner, the winning ticket being drawn by Dan Larsen. As far as I am aware they are both honest men, but the club still groaned. I’m not always privy to everything.
Our fall speaker series began this week with Joel Rinebold, Director of Energy Initiative at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. This department of Connecticut state government is committed to enabling small businesses in the state utilize energy conservation financial resources which are already available from state and federal sources. The goal is to increase business competitiveness through energy conservation. It was a compelling and enlightening twenty minutes!
Have a fantastic week!
Ted Mosebach