Norwich Rotary Club
August 30th, 2023
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: Mary Richardson
Invocation: Gary Young
LORD WE GIVE YOU THANKS FOR THIS FINE DAY
FOR YOUR LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT AND SHOWING THE WAY
BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN WE NEED TO TAKE A BREAK
FROM THE EVERYDAY GRIND AND THE NEWS THAT IS FAKE
TO RELAX AND UNWIND IN GROUPS OF FOUR
OR AS VOLUNTEERS TO GIVE BACK A LITTLE MORE
SO LET THERE BE NO SADNESS OR ANY REMORSE
BUT NEXT WEEK WE’LL BE OUT ON THE NORWICH GOLF COURSE
WE’LL TRY TO SHOOT PAR-OR EVEN BETTER GET BIRDIE
AND SHOULD BE DONE BY 2 OR 2:30
FINISH UP WITH THE AUCTION AND SOME GREAT FOOD
THEN EVERYONE GOES HOME IN A GOOD MOOD
NOW 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: Nancy Gentes
Nancy announced there were no birthday’s this week, however Kathryn Tracey pointed out that General Jay Waitte’s birthday was last week and he was in attendance this week so the birthday song was sung in his honor! Jeff Brining also was celebrating his 4 year anniversary as a member of Norwich Rotary! The only guest in attendance was our speaker Jeff Lewis from the Verdin Company who will be making the Rotary clock! The Rotary welcome song was sung in his honor! Nancy then proceeded with a fellowship of pun’s that included some of the following. “There is a ban of shredded cheese here in America – Let’s make America grate again!” “Whenever I try to eat healthy I look around and see a bar of chocolate – It makes me Snickers!” “My relationship with whisky is on the rocks!”
Announcements:
The Montville Rotary Club is looking for volunteers to help with their Annual Road Race. They are looking for 4 volunteers from our club to help set up on September 9th and work the race on September 10th. See Mary Richardson for contact information.
Mike Matera said that the Amber Alert Project is on hold as the program for recording the information is no longer supported. Mike said that it will not be the end of Amber Alert recording but we may be handing out “Kits” to the adults who bring the children and they can do the photographing and fingerprinting and submit the information on their own. Right now future Amber Alert projects are on hold until the new system is in place. Mike estimated it will take a couple months for this to happen.
Gary Young reported that the golf tournament has 17 4-somes in place and lots of sponsors too which he credited Andy Grant for. All volunteers should show up to the Norwich Golf Course the morning of the tournament at 8:30am.
Celebrate Cultural Diversity event on September 18th needs volunteers. The event will take place on Chelsea Parade this year and not Brown Park.
Rodney Green reported that the coat project is moving along and he has met with Madonna Place, Catholic Charities and Thames River Family Program to get information on number of coats needed this year.
Mary Richardson (Sunshine Committee) reported that Roz Etra is still at Broadbrook and Joel is still at the Groton Regency. They both hope to be home soon.
Membership Minute: Stan Lucas
Stan reported that the “Membership Mingle” is only 2 weeks away. He reminded that members should bring a guest that they feel would make a good Rotarian. The cost of the evening will be $20.00 per person. Spouses, significant others and children are also welcomed. This will be a social event and a light dinner buffet will be served. 5-6pm is Cocktail Hour followed by a presentation on the 5 avenues of service. The event will take place on September 13th at Stan’s residence at 280 Broadway in Norwich. RSVP to Stan at slucas@lucaslaw.comcastbiz.net
Happy Dollars: Andy Grant
*Andy gave $40.00 of his winnings from last week’s lottery to welcome our guest speaker Jeff Lewis and to say he’s looking forward to kayaking with George Mattern soon.
*Barry Shead told a story of picking up a cheese pizza on the way to his office only to find the pizza only had tomato sauce on it and NO CHEESE! “Who Stole my Cheese!” He’s also looking forward to seeing his friend ED from Tennessee.
*Rodney Green held up a copy of this month’s Rotarian magazine that had a photo of Singapore that had a casino built of 3 acres of land that was reclaimed from the ocean. It had 4 huge high rise hotels on it as well and a huge walkway almost as high.
*Andrew Nollman is back from a great vacation. He regrets he will miss the membership event at Stan’s as he’ll be traveling to Hershey, PA to a conference. Andy mentioned also that he has his seats for the Patriots on September 10th to see Tom Brady’s return to Foxboro for a huge tribute.
*Mike Cooney said his kids are going back to school! He’s not too keen on attending a conference that will be held on a cruise ship in December as his wife will have to stay home with the kids alone and Mike really isn’t too keen on boats!
*Bob Reed told a tale of attending a Rotary World Conference in Singapore in 1999 when the city was nice, but not nearly as nice as it is today. After a 20 hour flight to get there, he was treated to a hotel upgrade by Captain Jerry Egan’s company Swissco. It pays to know freighter ship captains!
*Mary Richardson welcomed our guest speaker Jeff Lewis and said she had tickets to a “Touch-a Truck” event for kids is any members cared to use them for their kids.
*Our guest speaker Jeff Lewis gave Happy Dollars to say prayers for the people in Florida who are weathering the hurricane.
Weekly Auction: No auction this week.
Lottery: Barry Shead
Bill Champagne, Andy Nollamn and Susy Hurlbert drew cards and the Ace of Spades was not found. Jay Waitte won Barry Shead’s ARC Cookies!
Program: Mary Richardson introduced Jeff Lewis from the Verdin Company that will make the Rotary clock that is proposed for Brown Park. Jeff gave valuable guidance on fundraising for the project and how to do donor recognition plaques to help fund the cost.
President Mary called on Bonnie Johnson to lead the members reciting the 4-Way Test and the meeting was adjourned at 1:28pm See Below for important Golf Tournament Information!
THE ROTARY CLUBS OF NORWICH ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 – NORWICH GOLF COURSE
VOLUNTEER NEWS!!
IF NOT FOR FRIENDLY AND WILLING VOLUNTEERS THIS ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT WOULD NOT EXIST. TO THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED IN THE PAST – THANK YOU! TO THOSE WHO ARE SIGNING UP FOR THE FIRST TIME – WELCOME ABOARD. THIS BRIEF NEWSLETTER WILL HELP EXPLAIN THE VARIOUS VOLUNTEER DUTIES AND PROVIDE OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
SOME OF YOU HAVE ALREADY RAISED YOUR HAND TO VOLUNTEER ON SEPTEMBER 6, BUT TO MAKE SURE WE KEEP THE NUMBERS STRAIGHT AND ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE, PLEASE – ANTYONE WHO WANTS TO VOLUNTEER – TAKE TIME TO DO THE FOLLOWING:
SEND AN EMAIL TO VOLUNTEER CAPTAIN ERIN GIZIO egizio@preston-ct.org AND CC TO GARY YOUNG, COMMITTEE CHAIR rgaryyoung@att.net. IF ANY QUESTIONS ARISE YOU CAN CONTACT ERIN AT 860-230-8006 OR GARY AT 860-608-3674. PROVIDE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION AND MAKE SURE YOUR EMAIL CLARIFIES “I CAN STAY ALL DAY” – OR “I CAN ONLY STAY UNTIL______”, OR “I CANNOT ARRIVE UNTIL _______” NOTE: ANYONE WHO SENDS A VOLUNTEER EMAIL AFTER WE HAVE REACHED OUR VOLUNTEER LIMIT WILL BE PLACED ON A LIST AND INVITED TO VOLUNTEER IN CASE SOMEONE ELSE HAS TO WITHDRAW
REGISTRATION, PUTTING CONTEST, SILENT AUCTION, SALE OF RAFFLE TICKETS ALL START AT 9AM…SO, PLEASE ARRIVE AT NORWICH GOLF COURSE FOR A QUICK VOLUNTEER MEETING AT 8:30. ALL VOLUNTEERS WILL BE PROVIDED COFFEE AND PASTRIES TO START, A BOX LUNCH – AND IF YOU ARE STAYING TIL THE END, A GREAT TASTING BUFFET AT END OF PLAY.
NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: 20 +/- AND WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED
- ONE VOLUNTEER AT REGISTRATION TABLE TO HELP PAULA AND HER MOM
- TWO VOLUNTEERS AT PUTTING CONTEST
- ONE VOLUNTEER TO SERVE AS GUARDIAN OF SILENT AUCTION AND RAFFLE ITEMS
- EIGHT VOLUNTEERS: TWO AT EACH OF THE FOUR PAR 3 TEE OFF AREAS
- EIGHT VOLUNTEERS: TWO AT EACH OF THE FOUR PAR 3 GREENS
VOLUNTEER DUTIES:
- REGISTRATION TABLE: ASSIST PAULA AND MOM BY MAKING SURE ALL GOLFERS RECEIVE A GOODY BAG; MAKING SURE ALL GOLFERS ARE REMINDED OF PUTTING CONTEST; MAKE SURE ALL GOLFERS ARE OFFERED A CHANCE TO PURCHASE RAFFLE TICKETS – AND POINT OUT THAT SILENT AUCTION AND RAFFLE ITEMS ARE ON THE DECK JUST OUTSIDE THE RESTAURANT; HELP MAKE SURE ALL GOLFERS ARE OFFERRED A CHANCE TO PURCHASE STRINGS/MULLIGANS. RAFFLE TICKETS WILL BE 10 TICKETS FOR $10 OR AN ARMS LENGTH FOR $20. MONEY FROM SALE OF RAFFLE TICKETS SHOULD BE TURNED OVER TO JIM DALY. PURCHASED RAFFLE TICKETS ARE TO BE HANDED OVER TO VOLUNTEER WHO IS GUARDIAN OF SILENT AUCTION AND RAFFLE ITEMS ON THE DECK
- PUTTING CONTEST: STARTS AT 9AM – ENDS AT 9:50AM. 3 PUTTS FOR $10. MEASURE ANY PUTTS THAT GET CLOSER TO HOLE THAN PREVIOUS PUTTS; WRITE DOWN NAME/PHONE NUMBER AND DISTANCE TO HOLE FOR EACH CLOSER PUTT UNTIL WE END UP WITH A WINNER. WINNER SPLITS THE POT WITH ROTARY. IN THE EVENT OF A TIE, ROTARY STILL KEEPS 50% AND REMAINING 50% IS SPLIT EVENLY. WHOEVER IS HANDLING THE MONEY – TURN IT OVER TO JIM DALY ALONG WITH WINNER INFO WHEN CONTEST IS OVER. NOTE: GOLFERS CAN PUTT AS MANY TIMES AS THEY LIKE AS LONG AS THEY KEEP PAYING THE $10 FOR 3 PUTTS.
- GUARDIAN OF SILENT AUCTION AND RAFFLE ITEMS: THE EASY PART IS KEEPING AN EYE ON THINGS DURING TOURNAMENT PLAY. DURING PLAY ONE WINNING RAFFLE TICKET WILL BE DRAWN FOR EACH RAFFLE ITEM. WINNING TICKET NUMBERS WILL BE POSTED ON RAFFLE POSTER. NOTE: WHEN TOURNAMENT IS OVER THERE WILL BE A SHORT INTERVAL WHEN GOLFERS CAN CONTINUE TO BID ON SILENT AUCTION ITEMS – AT WHICH TIME THEY CAN REVIEW RAFFLE POSTER AND CLAIM THEIR PRIZE. IT WILL ALSO BE YOUR JOB TO REVIEW SILENT AUCTION BIDDING SHEETS TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE WRITING DOWN THEIR BIDS, THEIR NAMES AND THEIR PHONE NUMBERS AS LEGIBLY AS POSSIBLE. AFTER BUFFET, ALL BIDDERS WILL CHECK TO SEE IF THEY HAD THE HIGHEST BID – AND WINNERS WILL PAY FOR THEIR AUCTION ITEM WITH CASH, CHECK OR CREDIT CARD
- VOLUNTEERS ON THE COURSE – TEE OFF AREA. YOUR JOB WILL BE TO THANK FOLKS FOR PLAYING TODAY AND SELL THEM A “HIT THE GREEN” TICKET FOR $5. IF A GOLFER WHO HAS PAID THE $5 LANDS HIS DRIVE ON THE GREEN, HE RECEIVES A TICKET AND WILL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING – WINNER SPLITS THE POT WITH ROTARY. TICKETS AND MONEY SHOULD BE HANDED OVER TO JIM DALY AFTER PLAY IS OVER. NOTE: YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO A GOLF CART FOR BATHROOM BREAK IF NEEDED
- VOLUNTEERS ON THE COURSE – AT THE GREEN: YOUR JOBS WILL INCLUDE: 1) GIVING A THUMBS UP WHEN A GOLFER LANDS HIS DRIVE ON THE GREEN(THIS WAY THE VOLUNTEERS AT TEE OFF AREA WILL KNOW TO HAND OUT A “HIT THE GREEN” TICKET); 2) THIS IS SUPER RARE – BUT KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR ANY HOLE IN ONE; 3) EACH PAR 3 HAS A “CLOSEST TO THE PIN” PRIZE – SO, MAKE SURE GOLFERS WHO LAND CLOSE TO THE HOLE MEASURE THEIR DISTANCE TO HOLE AND WRITE DOWN THEIR NAME/CELL PHONE AND DISTANCE IF IT IS CLOSER THAN PREVIOUSLY RECORDED DISTANCE. A POSTER AND TAPE MEASURE SHOULD BE AT EACH GREEN; 4) THANK THE GOLFERS FOR PLAYING TODAY. YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO A GOLF CART FOR BATHROOM BREAK IF NEEDED
THANK YOU!!