Rotary Club
of East Hartford
  High Gear

Volume 73 | Issue 10, September 11, 2019

 

President Bob rang the bell, and with some improvement over a week ago, our small group sang a creditable rendition of R-O-T-A-R-Y, settled down to say the pledge, and then turned to face the podium where Marc Glass delivered a thoughtful invocation.  Marc encouraged us to remember hurricane Dorian’s victims, who continue to struggle with the effects of that devastating storm, to remember all those who lost family in the terrorist attacks eighteen years ago and concluded by exhorting us to continue striving to make this a better world.

 

Golf Tournament Tees Off on Monday

Following this rather serious kickoff, those in the know rose quickly to get to the lunch offerings – two pizzas, one cheese, the other pepperoni, accompanied by a large mixed-greens salad with a creamy Italian vinaigrette dressing.  The two pizzas were large but not sheet size and ran out before the last in line reached the table.

 

We sang our welcome song for our guest, Toral Maher, Senior Program Officer for Liberty Bank, who presented our program today.

President Bob had various members bring us up to date on club happenings. 

 

    Jack Sayre reported on last Saturday’s Habitat for Humanity project, home improvements right here in East Hartford.  Jack explained that 10 lucky folks were chosen out of 300 applicants for projects in the Hartford area.

 

    Anwar Hossain has arranged for us to help at Food Share in Bloomfield on September 30, October 31 (wear a mask?), November 2, and December 16.  Stay tuned for confirmation of the dates in November and December.

 

    President Bob clarified that the December 11 event at the Publick House in Sturbridge is not a Rotary-sponsored event.  But, he did say it should be great fun.  Cost is $57/person.  (For those planning ahead to that busy holiday time, our own Holiday Party will be December 18th.)

 

    Neal Cunningham mentioned the water station for the Hartford marathon and began passing around a sign up sheet for volunteers.  It is also possible to sign up on line.  Neal can provide a link for that to anyone tempted to try out the process.

 

    George Schoen, golf tournament committee co-chair, noted there is a great weather forecast for our tournament this Monday, we have had more raffle items contributed since last week’s meeting, and we have a healthy number of volunteers.  All good news!

 

   Correction to last week’s information:  Coats for Kids will occur October 20th, not the 6th, which I reported incorrectly last week.  My apologies to Chair Dick McCarthy and others who need to be there.

Cards or calls in order 

Caring moments:

 

Larry Frazier has been told to limit his driving, but he will be visiting our area when his daughter is planning a visit here.

 

Kevin Kickery’s car was “attacked” by a tractor trailer as Kevin was leaving the Costco parking lot in New Britain.  The miracle here is that Kevin escaped with a mild concussion; assume his car was not so lucky.

 

Jim Fallon is thinking of us but unable to be out and about yet due to his compromised immunity system caused by chemo treatments.

 

Jacquie Jacoby is in critical care after suddenly experiencing a general shut down of significant organs on Monday.  Those of us who shared a table with Steve at the meeting were very affected by his description of Jacquie’s condition; he was emotional and unwilling to speak to the whole group about this.

 

Hope everyone will keep these folks in your thoughts this week; perhaps send a card or make a call.

 

    Sergeant-at Arms Marc Glass reported:

Jack Sayre paid for losing his badge and having no pin. 

Ned paid so he does not have to talk about the Red Sox.

Dan Larson paid in memory of the 9-11 victims and to say he’s happy to be married to Dorothy.

George Schoen paid for his birthday, which is next Tuesday.  We sang Happy Birthday, and in saying thank you, George said it was the best singing he’d heard all day.

 

Raffle winners – regular raffle was won by Ned Lynch AGAIN, and Bob Wood won the flowers, donated by President Bob.
Liberty Bank Offers Match on Turkey Dinners

Today’s program:  Toral Maher has been with Liberty Bank for fifteen years and currently leads the Liberty Bank Foundation.  She explained that though there is no Liberty Bank in East Hartford, there is a branch nearby in Glastonbury, and generally it has branches nearly everywhere in Connecticut, with the exception of Fairfield County.  She joined us to explain the bank’s Thanksgiving efforts, partnering primarily with Rotary Clubs throughout the state, to ensure that everyone can enjoy Thanksgiving. 

 

In fact, the motto for this year’s efforts is “Let’s All Eat.”

 

Without recording here the various ways a Rotary club can help with this effort, we learned that the bank will match our funds 25¢/1$.  Of course, there are conditions, and if we become involved, a few members of our club will have another layer of responsibility at the time of our annual efforts to help some families in East Hartford at Thanksgiving.

Ultimately, our board, with guidance from President Bob, will decide. 

 

The program was well received. 

 

Submitted by Sue Klock, Rotarian.

 

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