Presiding: President extraordinaire Mike began the meeting with a selection of music, so called. A bare majority agreed.
Invocation: Featuring the stentorian voice of Keith Caplet!
Fellowship: Provided by raconteur without peer, Barry Shead!
Birthdays: None identified
Anniversaries: Stan Lucas, 42 years! John Mancini a few.
Guests: Gary Young introduced Sherri Pascal.
Barry edified the club with a selection of aphorisms, practices, activities and once commonplace events that have fallen into disuse. An exemplary collection includes the colloquialisms kit and caboodle, and Heavens to Betsey. Gone but not forgotten devices include pagers, 8 track tape players and hood ornaments. A selection of nostalgic activities included bobbing for apples, rummage sales, surreptitiously listening in on party lines and nuclear bomb drills. Mercifully omitted but equally sepia toned would be references to brill cream, red dye #2, Billy Beer, Lawrence Welk and Ford Pintos.
Announcements: President Mike regained control of the podium and produced a canon of noteworthy announcements. These included a plea for guest speakers and via Mary Richardson the announcement of the next meeting of the Native Son and Daughter Committee at noon on March 18. The carnival is slated for Memorial Day Weekend at a site to be determined. The 100th anniversary of our club will be celebrated during a regular meeting. There will be cake, but no bread. There will be a softball game involving extreme muscular exertion. The next meeting of the Centennial committee is March 4. The One World Variety Show is March 27 at NFA. Depleted by this recitation, President Mike yielded the floor Barry and Happy Dollars.
Happy Dollars: Barry reflected on his birthday call to his daughter and the dogs howling on cue (that’s what my notes say anyway). Mike Gordon thanked Barry for assuming Happy Dollar duties in his stead. Mike also allowed that only he and Stan remained from the original Rotary softball team. He and Joan have repaired to Niantic but he will maintain his allegiance to the Norwich club. Huzzah! Mike eloquently described two nearly pristine mountain bikes available for the modest donation of $200 to the club. Empowered by Mike’s offer Stan immediately pledged that sum. Rich Pascal announced that he and Sherri have been married almost 38 years and only his hair and eyesight have been affected. Inspired by Barry’s descriptions of things past, Jim Konrad recounted watching an episode of the Rockford Files with his daughter and her astonishment at learning that pay phones were once commonplace. Jim mused at length over the paucity of individual rolls of toilet paper available at retail locations and portentously, the ascendance of gargantuan mega packs that could service the sanitary needs of entire states. Sherri Pascal thanked Gary for inviting her to lunch and reported on several initiatives sponsored by the Rotary Community Corps (RCC). Included were Harbor Lights in June, and a scavenger hunt. Other activities of note included the Sweet Potato Festival. Mary Richardson apprised the club of a forthcoming presentation by Teala Avery and Teala’s forthcoming photography exhibit at the Otis Library. Gary welcomed Sherri and reported on his visit with Joel at Backus Hospital. Gary provided Joel with a (slightly) melted Klondike Bar. Undeterred, Joel happily consumed it! President Mike described Matt’s trip to the dentist and a hike with Katie. Katie was much exercised that Matt, who was born on February 27, was getting all the attention on that day.
Auction: Mary provided $20 and no auction occurred.
Lottery: With William Champagne, Esquire.
Ray: No!
Mike Matera: No!
Jim Daly: No!
A sullen crowd quietly muttered passages from Barbara Cartland romance novels but eventually turned their attention to a spirited discussion of the virtues of Iceberg versus Romaine lettuce.
Animated by the philosophical implications of the lettuce dialectic, President Mike described the virtues and benefits of the new club web site and the many features that would make our lives as Rotarians easier, more secure and fully compatible with the tenets of our republic.