High Gear, September 5, 2012
The weather was playing with us—when I left my house this morning, the sun was brightly out; by the time I got to the office, it was raining heavily. This is New England!
Lunch was a “Picnic in the Rain” as advertised by the slate in the kitchen: cheeseburgers, hamburgers, hot dogs, cole slaw, cookies. All that was missing was the beer.
President Sheryl rang the bell on time, we sang, we saluted our Nation’s Flag. Peter Klock gave us a Foundation Minute, information from Deerfield Valley, Vermont, which had been devastated by Hurricane Irene just about a year ago: trees down, roads washed away, power line totally destroyed, deer, moose, bears washed into reservoirs. Through Rotary Foundation, a grant totaling $412,000 went to that area to aid in reconstruction. Apparently the largest single grant ever given by the Foundation.
Bill Saunders gave the invocation, asking us to keep Bob Richmond in our prayers as we mourn the loss of his wife Nancy.
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| Nancy | Richmond |
Our Foundation Committee gave a short video presentation, about three minutes, regarding the Polio Plus Campaign. We are almost there. India has been polio free for more than a year now. We have raised over $200 million, and have given the life saving vaccine to 172 million kids. Wow!
Guests today: Fredrick Issakhani, guest of Mo Moshovos, and Nikki Hart, our speaker. Mo and Janice led us in the Welcome Song.
George Finch was Sergeant-at-Arms: 
Bob Buettner gave a happy dollar, Mary Martin paid beautifully for a birthday, asked all those under 55 to sing—there were only eight! There were three early leavers, one late comer, and George Schoen paid because the Yankees are making the end of the season so interesting, and Dick McCarthy because of their sudden rise to first place.
Various announcements: Brian Liss has magnetic pins. Janice reminded us that October 28th is Noah Webster Tavern Night. President Sheryl had “permanent” pins for Hope Firestone and Jack Martin. Jim Watts is looking for Paul Harris Nominees: application form is on our web site. Golf Tournament: we need Sponsors and Raffle prizes. The USA Women’s Olympic Gold Medal Winning Soccer Team will be here in October. More in a week or so. And we had received thank you notes from the East Harford Interfaith Ministry and the Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy for our contributions.
George Finch won the raffle.
Our speaker today was Nikki (Nicole) Hart,
from Community Care Services. She has a degree in forensic psychology, knows her subject, and is very well spoken. The bottom line: they need 1400 foster homes in Connecticut, in addition to the ones they have in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Many of the kids have complex problems, many have a history of trauma. A household can have only one child (they are aged 6 – 18) for which a stipend of $55 per diem is paid. You need to want to help, you need to have the space and the energy, and if you do, you can make a difference in the life of a child. Nikki fielded a number of questions. Medical expenses are covered, a training course for the foster family is mandatory. It might be a big undertaking, but you might truly make a difference. Think about it.
Makeups: Jay Stewart: East Hampton.
See you next week—Dan Russell