Rotary Club of Norwich, CT
February 18th, 2026
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE:
Presiding: President Steve Martin
Invocation: Mandy Crispim
Fellowship: Ray Baribeault
Birthdays: Alexis Kahn – 2/18
Anniversaries: Cara Westcott – 2 years and Carolyn Trantalis – 2 years
Guests: None
Visiting Rotarians: None
Ray’s Fellowship was another round of really funny Puns! “Never trust a train…. they have loco-motives!” Many more followed drawing much laughter and applause!
Announcements:
President Steve said he toured the cookie making facilities at the ARC in Putnam and was very impressed. He thanked fellow Rotarian Barry Shead for the tour!
The Rotary Day of Service will be on May 16th. Stay tuned for details on where and when it will take place so mark your calendar now!
The St. Patrick’s Parade will take place on March 8th in Downtown Norwich. Anna Lucas will coordinate our Rotary Club’s participation in the event. Sign up to participate! Mike Goldblatt will have 2 classic cars for Rotarians to ride in for the parade. A party will follow at 280 Broadway to celebrate.
The Whiskey, Wine and Cigar Event will take place once again this year on May 6th at Bella Fiore. Tickets will go on sale on March 6th. This year’s goal is 80 attendees and $6,000.00 raised. Please consider supporting this event by buying a ticket, inviting a friend and be a sponsor!
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.
Membership Minute: Stan Lucas
Stan made a special Paul Harris Presentation to Rotarian Rodney Green. Rodney was presented with another Paul Harris Pin with 6 Sapphire’s! Rodney accepted the pin and urged everyone to support the Rotary International Foundation and he said that he even names the foundation in his estate plans and all members should do the same.
Happy Dollars: Mike Matera
Mike started things off congratulating Rodney for his generosity to the Rotary Foundation. He said he was getting ready to leave for the mountains of Vermont to meet with friends and snowmobile. It’s so remote they are off the grid. No cell phone signal or any other comforts of home!
Jim Daly thanked Rodney for his support of the Rotary Foundation. He also had a pun of his own for Ray!
Anna Lucas said she put in an application to volunteer for the Envision Music Festival in Costa Rica but was initially turned down as they had filled the volunteer pool. She was happy to have received a call a few days later that someone dropped out and she’s in! She’ll be volunteering in the Yoga Zone and still have time to enjoy some of the great music throughout the 7 days of the festival. And to make things even better her brother Mason will be preforming at the festival as well.
Rodney Green said his hip replacement on January 16th went very well and he expected to return to Rotary shortly after, but business commitments and other things kept popping up on Wednesday’s! He’s happy to be back now!
Gary Young and Barry Shead both gave happy dollars to read a tribute of “Pun’s” and “Variations” on fellow Rotarian Ray Baribeault’s last name.
Susy Hurlbert had praise for President Steve and for Rodney. She’s also leaving for a conference in Las Vegas that will include a side trip to the Grand Canyon West Overlook!
Michael Vaz has some sad dollars saying that earlier this week would have been his 34 wedding anniversary. Sadly his wife passed away a couple of years ago. He passed out fliers about the “Seeds of Hope” fundraiser to benefit the Thames River Community Service on April 30th at The Spa at Norwich Inn. He said it will be an inspiring evening to support a great organization in our community and would appreciate members supporting if possible.
Stan Lucas had a funny pun about attorneys for Ray’s benefit!
Ray Baribeault said he’s been called many names, but none of the names that Barry and Gary listed earlier!
Kristin Wickless said she was glad to be back at Rotary after some health issues that included another bout with Covid!
Auction: President Steve very generously donated $50.00!!
Lottery: Bonnie Johnson
Mary Richardson, Barry Shead and Gary Young could not find the Ace of Spades. Paul Gaffney won Barry’s ARC Cookies that were quickly eaten by many in the room!
Program: No Program today.
The meeting concluded with Bonnie Johnson leading the club reciting the 4-Way Test at 12:53pm.
** Looking for volunteers to serve on The RONE committee. Contact Bob Reed (bobr@hallradio.net).**