While driving to The Ridge today, in the merry, merry month of May, I was taken by surprise by cold temps and cloudy skies, and I wondered if the Spring had gone away. But, as always, inside The Ridge I felt as welcome as the flowers in May, and the warm atmosphere inside belied our return to winter sweaters and jackets.
Mo “Le Penseur” Moshovos, caught unawares of his turn to do the invocation, Googled a very
fitting prayer on his iPhone. As a librarian I can’t wholly approve, but his mastery of technology was impressive. Today’s buffet lunch was baked chicken, rice, beans and assorted vegetables followed by cheesecake and strawberries for dessert. Our guests today were Rev. Eugene Taylor, and repeat visitors John Caldwell and Paul Reale. They were serenaded with the Welcome Song by
Janice Freschlin and
Ned Lynch who was caught sneaking back to his table with two desserts. Could there be some new members in our club’s near future? That will mean more cheesecake for everyone!
Happy Jack Martin filled in as Sergeant-at-Arms in Dan Larson’s absence. Jack proclaimed it a good day: Bill Saunders contributed a “yuuge” amount for a list of things including Sue Klock’s “Service Above Self” award; Doug Willett’s pictures from the District Conference (check the website!) President Marc’s leadership; and yours truly and Doug Willett for work on our club’s website. Other monies were given for Dave Amberg’s granddaughter being accepted at Harvard Medical School; Sonny Waldo for Mother’s Day and for 60 years of wedded bliss; Jim Fallon’s birthday; Happy Jack for successful eye surgery tomorrow; John O’Connor for an enjoyable conference; Ned Lynch for the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees; Nick Cecere for his 29th anniversary in the club; Sheryl O’Connor for women Rotarians and mothers of Rotarians. A few missing pins and early leavers rounded out the report. Caring moments: Art Bradbury is home revoking form chicken pox; Bill Saunders informed us that Jean Rowland is in Seabury.
President Marc congratulated the club on being one of only four clubs in the district to receive a Presidential Citation this year. For the first time this award was given in three categories: bronze, silver and gold; we
.jpg)
received a gold for completing all of the goals. Marc also presented
Sue Klock with her “Service Above Self” award. This is Rotary’s highest honor and it is an internationally competitive award given to no more than 150 Rotarians each year. With 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide, this only proves what we already knew: Sue is one in a million! Congratulations!
Mark your calendars:
May 7: Mystery Bus Ride. Please meet at The Ridge at 5:30 p.m.
May 11: District Assembly in Enfield
May 19: Area 6 Social at the “Chops N Catch “restaurant in Manchester. Wish a fond farewell to Marty Fins and meet other Rotarians from the area.
June 12: Duck Race. Alex Wisz has posters and flyers if you know of a place around town to hang one up. Please return your ticket stubs to Mary Martin by June 6. Alex is looking for volunteers to help with the Labor Field clean-up on May 28 at 8:30 a.m. Alex also gave a shout out to Bill Doak at The Gazette for great duck race coverage.
June 29: Installation Dinner
Our raffle master today was Dave Amberg. Nate Quesnel pulled the winning ticket and Dan Russell, recently returned from Florida, was the lucky winner.
Guy LaBella introduced today’s guest speaker:
Mary Ellen Dombrowski, President of the CT River Valley Chamber of Commerce. Mary Ellen mentioned how membership organizations are not thriving these days, and the Chamber decided to merge while it was still strong and viable. The CT River Valley Chamber has 630
members; it’s main office is in Glastonbury but it still keeps a local presence in East Hartford in the Goodwin Building. She highlighted the many events sponsored by the chamber and spoke about the winning strategy of getting funding from the public while enhancing the community. The CT River Valley’s first big fundraiser is Friday May 6. They are sponsoring a fun Cinco de Mayo event at Maneeley’s.
With the ringing of the bell, we adjourned back out into the cold, cloudy day. Hopefully the sun will find its way back to us next week.
Onward and upward,
Susan Hansen
