Rotary Club of Norwich, CT
June 25, 2025
Location-Olde Tymes
THE RONE
CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY
Presiding: Stan Lucas
Invocation: Gary Young
HERE WE ARE AT THE END OF JUNE
WITH A CHANGE OF COMMAND COMING SOON
IT’S BEEN ONE OF THE BEST YEARS WE’VE EVER SEEN
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR MAN RODNEY GREEN
RODNEY’S HAD FUN BUT I’LL BET HE’S RELIEVED
THAT THERE’S A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK-HIS NAME IS STEVE
THANK YOU MR. GREEN FOR YOUR UNWAVERING SERVICE
AND MR. MARTIN, WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK-SO DON’T GET NERVOUS
TO STEVE WHO SAYS “YOU” AND RODNEY WHO SAYS “Y’ALL”
WE APPLAUD YOU BOTH FOR ANSWERING THE CALL
FOLKS, WE’RE MINUTES AWAY FROM CHANGING GEARS
SO LET’S GIVE RODNEY AND STEVE A GREAT BIG CHEER
AND LET’S GIVE THANKS FOR THE USUAL STUFF
FOR THE FOOD AND THE FELLOWSHIP ALWAYS MORE THAN ENOUGH
AND UNTIL WE GET TOGETHER AGAIN
LET’S PRAISE THE LORD AND SAY AMEN
Fellowship: Ray Baribeault
Birthdays: Paul Gaffney – June 26th!
Anniversaries: None
Guests: Steve Martin introduced his wife Rebecca
Visiting Rotarians: None
Ray’s Fellowship was, you guessed it…. Puns! “I had to fire the guy who cut’s my lawn…. He just couldn’t cut it!”
Membership Minute: Stan Lucas
Keep it up!
Announcements:
Please bring spare clean egg cartons and give them to Bonnie Johnson.
If you know of a speaker for one of our meetings, please contact Kevin Wickless or Alexis Kahn to get on the schedule.
If there is a Rotarian who is sick or going through a tough time let the Sunshine Committee know and contact Mary Richardson or Nancy Gentes.
Rotary Golf will be September 3rd. Get your 4-somes together as well as sponsors!
Happy Dollars: Molly Bruno
Molly started things off thanking Rodney for a great year. She also had a great lunch earlier in the week at Olde Tymes! She also wished Steve well for a good year as Rotary President!
Stan Lucas said he is super proud of his grandson for getting straight A’s in all his high school/college grade courses!
Pat Marshall said she felt so good when a former guest of the club came to power wash her house and recognized her as a Rotarian. It made her feel good and she’s thankful to belong to Rotary.
Margarida Martins-Querido thanked Rodney for doing such a great job during the past year as president. She also took Monday off as she has been working non-stop. She went to the beach and paid herself back!
Steve Martin said he was happy to celebrate his wife’s birthday last week as well as a nice dinner at Hell’s Kitchen and a concert at Foxwoods.
Mike Matera thanked Rodney for his service this past year as President and wished Steve well for his Rotary year at the helm. He also told a story of when he and his father selling 50 air-conditioners in 4 hours a few years ago during a heat wave.
Andrew Nollman thanked Rodney and Steve for their Rotary service. He also had a great week camping experiencing temperatures from cool to really hot!
Bill Champagne thanked Pat Marshall for stepping in to do the lottery as he forgot it was his week to do it. He also thanked Rodney and Steve.
Mary Richardson wished Steve well as incoming President and thanked Rodney for a great year as President! She too took some time for herself and sat on the beach in front of her house and enjoyed a nicely disguised adult beverage in a paper cup!
Andy Grant was sad that he lost his laptop on a recent train ride on Amtrak and hope it will get returned. He also thanked Rodney and Steve for their dedication to Rotary.
Rodney Green gave $52.00 for his 52 weeks as President of the club!
Barry Shead thanked Rodney and Steve. Barry said he’s been traveling lately spending time on a cruise and at Eastport, Maine. He also has Putnam Rotary Club Duck Race Raffle Tickets and he has plenty to sell!
Roz Etra welcomed Steve’s wife to today’s lunch. She attended a Jewish Federation function in Old Saybrook honoring Mike Goldblatt’s wife Rosa. She also attended a wedding in New Jersey.
Mike Goldblatt thanked both Rodney and Steve. He said the July 16th (weather permitting) for a car show luncheon meeting at his house. July 23rd will be a rain date.
Rebecca Martin gave happy dollars to say she has always found Rotarian’s most welcoming and thanked all for being so gracious to her. She also added how proud she is of her husband Steve for serving as Norwich Rotary President this coming year.
CHANGE OF COMMAND PROGRAM
Following Happy Dollars Stan asked all the Past Presidents and Paul Harris Fellows to stand and be recognized.
Stan presented Rodney a Paul Harris Fellow Award as a thank you from the club for his service as President. This brings Rodney Paul Harris’s up to a PHF+5!
Stan called on Rodney to say a few remarks about his year as President. Rodney commented how fortunate he was to have such great support during his Rotary year. The club went from being days away from losing the club’s charter to more than doubling the membership in a year. He thanked Stan Lucas and his membership committee for their dedication. He also thanked Mary Richardson for being the glue that held things together and her support. Rodney went on to review that many club projects and events that benefited our community.
Stan then presented the slate of Officers and Directors for the 2025-2026 Rotary year!
OFFICERS
President: Steve Martin
President-Elect: Pat Marshall
Vice-President: Cara Westcott
Treasurer: Kathryn Tracey
Secretary: Nancy Gentes
Immediate Past President: Rodney Green
DIRECTORS
2023-2025 Michael Matera and Alexis Kahn
2024-2026 Barry Shead and Ryan Telford
2025-2027 Jeff Brining and Margarida Martins-Querido
A motion was made by Mary Richardson and Susy Hurlbert to accept the slate of Officers and Directors as presented. Motion passed.
**Many thanks to Nancy Gentes and Cara Westcott for stepping up to fill the Secretary and Vice-President positions that were vacant prior to today’s meeting. Service Above Self!
Stan called our new President Steve Martin to come forward for remarks. Steve said he plans on keeping a heavy schedule of events and projects on track and grow and add to some. He went on to say how wonderful all the support Rotary give in our community through events, grants and pointed out that even Happy Dollars can change things for the good as over $1,600.00 was raised for a family that lost everything in a devastating fire a few months ago.
Auction: No Auction
Lottery: Pat Marshall
Rodney Green, Roz Etra and Rodney Green (again!) could not find the Ace of Spades.
Bill Champagne won the ARC Cookies and opened and shared accordingly.
Program: The Change of Command Ceremonies was today’s program.
Bonnie Johnson lead the club with the 4-Way Test and the meeting was adjourned at 1:11pm.