Norwich Rotary Club
February 15th, 2023
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: Susy Hurlbert
Invocation: Gary Young/Rodney Green
Fellowship: Bob Farwell
Birthdays: Alexis Kahn – February 18th
Anniversaries: None
Guests: Andrew Nollman introduced Marrelle from Chelsea Groton Bank. Marrelle will be joining the club under Chelsea Groton’s Corporate membership.
Bob’s gave an interesting fellowship about one of Connecticut’s lesser known characters in history, Ezra Warner. If it were not for Waterbury’s own Ezra Warner cooks might be fumbling for a rock and a bayonet to get to their dinners in a can. While the original investors of the canning process thought a lot about how to keep food safe and fresh in its can, they didn’t think much about how to actually get the food out. To open tin cans soldiers used bayonets. Instructions for civilians read, “Cut round the top near the outer edge with a chisel and hammer.” In 1858 Warner turned his innovative mind to the process of opening cans. Warner developed a new can opener – the first patented in America – that had a lever and a cutter. That allowed “the operator to cut as fast as he can move his hand,” he explained in the patent for the device. Storekeepers found Warner’s opener useful to pop open cans and sell the contents to customers. The biggest success for Warner came when the Union Army adopted his can opener during the Civil War.
Announcements:
*Susy Hurlbert had the following announcements:
*March 15th will be the “Serviceperson of the Month” program. Please make every effort to attend that meeting.
*March 29th will be the Rotary Business Lunch with the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce.
*March 28th the Norwich Race Equity Committee will conduct a workshop on “Race” at NFA at 6:30pm. Bob Farwell will be the moderator for the event. The attendance to the discussion is limited and 50 people. 4 Rotarians are requested to take part. There is no charge for attending but registration is required. A light dinner will be served.
*May 3rd will be the Whiskey and Wine Event!
*May 20th will be a “Rotary Day of Service” and our club will be doing a joint project with other area clubs that day. It will most likely be packing meals this year. Location is 3 Rivers Community College.
*Golf Tournament will be September 6th this year!
*The Native Son/Daughter Lunch will take place in June 7th and our club will be sponsoring the event along with the Norwich Woman’s City Club. Nominations deadline is March 8th.
*The Centennial Clock Project is on track and a vote on March 6th will give the final approval for the project to move to the fundraising stage. Stay tuned for more information.
*The “No Show Gala” will be returning! Plan on donating so you can spend a wonderful evening at home and not showing up to a gala!
*Rotarians are encouraged to please invite prospective members for lunch and introduce them to the world of Rotary.
Happy Dollars: – Jen Granger
*Jen Granger was pleased to announce she has finally hired a new assistant who started this week!
*Bill Champagne said the Norwich Race Equity Committee will be sponsoring a Chicago Style Dinner on March 28th at Norwich Free Academy at 5:30pm. At the dinner attendees will each be given topics to discuss on race. Bill would like to see at least 4 Rotarians from our club take part in the discussion that promises to be enlightening. There is no cost to take part.
*Kevin Wickless thanked Rodney Green for spearheading the annual coat project and welcomed Marrelle to the meeting. He also congratulated Stan Lucas on being a member of the Connecticut Bar for 50 years!
*Mike Matera gave some sad dollars that Dan Dennis has passed away. He also told a story of in 1986 he used his old K-Car as a vehicle to move materials and tools when he was building his house. During that process that year there was a day when 18 inches of snow fell and the K-Car got stuck in the driveway and he needed a tractor to push it out of the snow bank!
*Rodney Green has been looking for a chef for Old Tymes and he thought he had found the perfect applicant. The applicant had a wonderful resume, plenty of experience, everything he was looking for in a chef. He hired the guy and asked him to start the next morning. Unfortunately the guy never showed up for work and he hasn’t heard from him since. Rodney also enjoyed the meal as he just came from a colonoscopy and was starving!
*Stan Lucas thanked Kevin Wickless for the kind words and was happy that he was the MC at the event where he got his 50 year pin for the Bar.
*Mary Richardson is very happy to be leaving for London next week to visit her sister! They will be taking a side trip to Amsterdam as well. Mary also gave a very generous check in honor of her birthday she’s be celebrating on March 1st! She urged people to look to the heavens and view the Starlink satellites tonight at 6:40pm. She also has praise for Tribe Productions what produced the Super Bowl halftime show. The owners of Tribe live in Salem!
*Lottie Scott said she enjoyed all the stories people had today and said “most sounded like the truth!”
*Gary Young gave to say he was pleased to see Joel Etra and Lottie Scott at today’s meeting. He also had a story of how he just paid for a new power steering unit to be installed on his car that only lasted a few hours!
*Susy Hurlbert ate a great dinner the night prior at Paul’s Pasta in Groton. She strongly urged everyone to eat there if they haven’t already done so.
Auction: Jim Daly gave $20.00! Susy Hurlbert auctioned off 4 tickets to the Home Show at the Mohegan Sun. Stan Lucas bought them for $10.00 and then tried to auction off the other 3. No takers!
Monthly Rotary Trivia: Stay tuned.
Lottery: – Kathleen Tracey
Mike Matera, Mary Richardson and Rodney Green drew cards and Rodney finally found the Ace of Spades! Rodney also won the cookies!
Program:
No program today.
President Susy led the Club and all recited the 4-Way Test and the meeting was adjourned at 12:40pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Reed – RONE Reporter