On a beautiful and warm sunny day, 32 dedicated Rotarians without noon tee times made it to the clubhouse for lunch, camaraderie and fun. It was a pleasant gathering, albeit a little subdued for this writer, and I could not stir up a thing to make anything noteworthy. There was Jack Martin hawking raffle tickets and trying to sell a Sacajawea dollar piece for above market price. As a banker, I know the value of a buck!

 

Not sure why the lights were off in the vestibule but the shining personalities of Happy Jack and president in waiting, Bill Saunders lit up the room. I asked Jim Fallon for a novel comment to include here but he said no—why start being novel at this point in my life! Gil Wishart who shares with me the committee chair for the New Britain Bees ball game asked me when the game was. Hmmm, not sure what to think but I was honest and told him this Saturday night.

 

I gave $1 to Sergeant at Arms Nick Cecere whom seemed desperate for funds and he asked me why. Ned Lynch chimed in that I was too cheap to give $2, that’s why. Well put, Ned—and true. People gravitated to their seats whilst Mary Martin shook down the group for their Duck Race tickets. She seemed happy—and that is a good thing.

 

The bell was rung, the crowd stood in unison and a chorus of melody filled the room followed by the Pledge. Respect for all and country. Anwar Hossain was summoned to the podium and shared with us a Sufi Prayer for Peace. Prayer is universal as are all of our hopes for peace. Off to lunch—but not before an almost unanimous vote for a BBQ to be held at an upcoming meeting. Sounds good. Chicken Parm, veggies, pasta and salad were highlighted today with a coffee cake desert. Yum yum from this writer.

 

The Welcome Song was performed by the group and led by “infrequent” attendees Marcia LeClerc and Brian Gorman. They made it to almost everyone with a warm handshake so kudos to them.

 

Nick Cecere found the microphone for the sergeant at arms report but refused to use it—he obviously never enjoyed karaoke. A decent list of contributions---Mo Moshovos paid $10 for all the well wishes he received. Nice! Bob Buettner is proud of his granddaughter making high honors in Middle School. Jay Stewart is moving to The Arbors so she contributed funds she found in the seat cushions she is tossing out. Dan Firestone turned 75 and requested a song to commemorate the event. Happy Birthday was sung and thunderous applause as well. Several unnamed Rotarians were celebrating a baseball team in Massachusetts who seem to be building an early lead in the American East division. The money they spend this year is clearly left over from the past two seasons. (Editor comment—writer is a NY Yankee fan).

 

We continue to send our prayers to Art Bradbury as he deals with his condition affecting his leg and now his throat as well. Please get better soon, Art, and call him if you have time.

 

Important dates coming up that President Marc thought I was missing—right back at ya. This Saturday is the baseball outing in New Britain. Arrive at 5 PM for the picnic and obtain your tickets at the table in front of the front gate. June 16^th is the District Installation and Marc offered to car pool anyone who cares to attend. June 29^th is the Club Installation dinner. The 2017 Rotary International meeting is in Atlanta GA. and early bird signups are at a reduced rate of $265 for the conference only. A rare opportunity to attend this great event. The district grant for $1,731.52 was well received.

 

At this time Jay Stewart was asked to come to the podium and receive her Paul Harris Plus Four pin. Congratulations Jay, good luck with the move and glad to hear you are continuing your membership and service to our club.

 

The Duck Race receives its own paragraph. Alex Wisz, Mr. Duck, had Mary, his head Duckling, make announcements about some timing and logistics. Get those tickets in and we are looking forward to a super event. This was the last day for tickets to be turned in, sold or unsold.

 

We then proceeded to have a Club Assembly that was chaired by President Marc and President Elect Bill. The focus of the assembly and our 2016-17 year is Membership. Rotary International has established new parameters for future meetings and attendance. Our club may adhere to them and may also add new opportunities to meet in different venues with the thought of members having more flexibility to meet their busy schedules. We have lists of prior members and also businesses domiciled in East Hartford. These are prospect lists and should be used to garner new members to our club. We will also be establishing ROTARACT Clubs at (hopefully) Goodwin College (Susan Hansen) and Manchester Community College (the Klock’s). There may also be a satellite club. Many ideas were brought up and more to follow on this very important endeavor.

 

So I bid you adieu as I get back to work and wish all of you a great week and look forward to the baseball game this Saturday night.