We were thankful to have several guests (mostly extended Rotary family) at today’s meeting: Chickie Amberg, Charlotte Turner, Peggy Schoen, Sandy Buettner and Bob Dugger. Lunch was baked flounder with coleslaw, tomatoes, rolls and salad, and for dessert: an abundance of cookies was placed on the table.

 

Our Sergeant-at Arms, Jack Sayre, reported that no fines would be levied in honor of the holiday, but cash donations were happily accepted. Bob Buettner paid for Sandy’s birthday, Ruth Sheehan paid for Kevin Kickery and Kevin paid for Ruthie…I’m not sure if it’s a (well-deserved) mutual admiration club between the two or a sign of thanks that baseball season is behind us. Hope and Dan Firestone donated in the spirit of Thanksgiving, and Susan Hansen donated because she is happy to be taking her son on a “victory” vacation to celebrate his partial cancer remission. Jack reminded us that the ringing of the bells is upon us; he has one opening left so if anyone would like to sign up, please give him a call. In honor of the holiday, Jack told us he is especially thankful for four Rotarians who had far-reaching influence on his life: Joe Lysik, his Rotary sponsor; Roy Spiller; Gene Belhumeur and last, but not least: Marc Glass for remembering how to dial 911!

 

Caring moments: we continue to hold Ruth Sheehan’s son-in-law in our thoughts and prayers. Bob Wood told us that he spoke to Gil Wishart, and he thought Gil sounded a little lonely. You can call Gil to say hi and let him know we miss him: 860-573- 2388.

 

 

Announcements: Dan Larson read an update on the Foodshare “Turkey and Thirty” food drive held at Goodwin College that our club supported. In total, Goodwin received 55 turkeys and $1465 in cash (a dozen turkeys and $450 were from our club!) That cash donation will allow Foodshare to provide over 3000 meals to people this holiday season. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

 

Ceil Collins wants us to know that the sign-up for the December 14 holiday party will begin next week. The four dinner choices are Prime Rib, Filet Mignon, Chicken Marsala and Salmon. Cost is $50/person; cocktails at 6:00, dinner @ 7:00. There is a Board meeting on Monday, November 28 at 5:30; the Annual Meeting will be held December 28.

 

Bill Saunders read a note from Mike Derr. Mike will be transferring to a more local Rotary Club and he thanked us for all the friendship and fellowship over the years.

 

Susan Hansen and Kevin Kickery represented the club at East Hartford High School’s “Community Awareness Day” today. Many different service organizations in town were there to talk to the students about our organizations and what we do.

 

Frank Collins shared the news that the Rotary Foundation has been named the 2016 Outstanding Foundation by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, its top honor. From that first donation of $26.50 almost a century ago, the Rotary Foundation’s assets have grown to $1 billion today.

 

Susan Hansen had the distinct honor of recognizing President Bill Saunders with his Paul Harris +4 pin. Thank you, Bill, for your commitment to our club and to supporting the Rotary Foundation. 

 

Marc Glass presented President Bill with the Interact Club’s Presidential Citation certificate.

 

Our raffle today had two prizes: the first lucky raffle winner was Kevin Kickery who took home a beautiful cornucopia floral arrangement (courtesy of Bob Buettner) and Chickie Amberg won the money.

 

George Schoen introduced our guest speaker today, his best friend, the Reverend Al Turner.

 

Al shared a few poignant stories with us and remarked upon how we learn what it means to be thankful when we are children. Sometimes we say the words “thank you” without being truly mindful of what those words should mean.

 

Al mentioned a book called “Attitude of Gratitude” whose last chapter is about living each day as if it were your last. How many of us would choose to spend a last day worrying over trivial things? Most would spend that precious time letting our friends and family know how much we love them. Al reminds us that our presence alone can be the greatest gift we give to someone else.

 

Before we left the meeting, Al led us in a prayer of Thanksgiving. And so, our holiday begins!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

 

Susan Hansen