Norwich Rotary Club
July 31st, 2024
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: President Rodney Green
Invocation: Barry Shead
Fellowship: Barry Shead
Birthdays: None
Anniversaries: None
Guests: Mike Matera introduced his son Jonathan. He also introduced his childhood friend John O’Sullivan who owns ServPro. Molly Bruno introduced Kim Tandreau from CorePlus Credit Union.
Visiting Rotarians: None
Barry just returned from a vacation in Alaska and gave a few interesting facts about our 49th State. First he landed in Seattle and said that city was less than a great place to visit. On to Alaska and he said he could have saved 12 grand and gone to Maine instead! Anyway, the state motto for Alaska is “Last Frontier.” The state is so big that it has land in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. It also is the northern-most point in the United States. 17 of the 20 highest mountain peaks are in this state. 3 million lakes! 100,000 glaciers! 70 active volcanos!
Membership Minute: Stan Lucas asked members if anyone had any ideas for events that could build membership. Also seek out businesses that could join in a Business Membership category. Reach out to members you know that have not attended a meeting in a long time and invite them back. Keep recruiting and inviting prospective members to lunch.
Announcements:
September 9th will be this years “Celebrate Cultural Diversity” event. Mark your calendars now! Volunteers needed!!
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.
September 4th will be the Annual Golf Tournament! Go get sponsors, raffle items and golf teams! Mark your calendar now as it will be here before you know it!
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.
Happy Dollars: Andy Grant
Andy gave an apology to Roz Etra for suggesting someone who could do some chimney repairs for her only to find out that the guy doesn’t do that type of work anymore! He welcomed John O’Sullivan and urged members to form 4-somes for the golf tournament.
Andy Nollman came to today’s meeting feeling a little out of sorts as he met an obnoxious driver at a traffic stop. He had sad dollars to say that his 17 year old cat died from kidney failure last week. He followed with $21 Happy Dollars to say that he will be attending a Metallica concert this coming weekend that he has been waiting 21 months to see!
Bill Champagne gave $20.00 as he’s excited that the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is coming up soon and he’s co-chair of the Norwich 250 Year Committee that will organize many event throughout the year to commemorate the occasion. Norwich has 400 years of history and the state committee visited and they too are excited by what Norwich can offer for the 250th statewide celebrations. It’s been 6 years since the “Peace Run” has come through Norwich and they will be returning again and an event at the new Uncas Leap Park will hopefully be in place to welcome them.
Mike Matera said he played golf over the weekend with Steve Martin and John O’Sullivan and enjoyed it. He and his son Jonathan took their boat to Napatree Point over the weekend and were met by hundreds of thousands of dragonflies! He had a sad dollar for Jonathan as school starts in less than a month!
Steve Martin said he enjoyed playing golf with Mike Matera and John O’Sullivan. He looks forward to playing again on Friday with them.
Pat Marshall said she’s the “Go To” person at work. She says that with her 6 foot tall appearance and her strong, but calm, approach she can get people to do what she wants them to do! Sadly she lost 2 patients last week. She’s also watching the Olympics.
Mary Richardson said she was sorry for the loss of Andrew’s cat. She urged him to adopt another cat soon as there are many that need good homes like Andy can provide.
Susy Hurlbert enjoyed a weekend in Maine riding her bike over 30 miles to the beach and back! She’s also enjoying watching the Olympic Games!
Gary Young welcomed John O’Sullivan and thanked him and his company ServPro for cleaning up a big mess at his home office a number of years ago when a toilet froze and burst.
Stan Lucas said he’s leaving on a 2 week vacation with his son Mason and 2 of his grandchildren to Nova Scotia, Iceland and Greenland. He also told the result of taking his grandson on a “Hangout” (another word for a date) with a girl he’s interested in. Mini golf, dinner and ice cream cost his grandson nothing, but cost Stan $150.00!
Barry Shead gave for his relative Stephen Nedoroscik for winning a Bronze Medal in the Pommel Horse and he’s being compared to Clark Kent!
Rodney Green told a story of traveling across the country on a road trip in 1982. The odometer on his car was approaching 100,000 miles and he was able to document the big event taking a photo while driving 75 miles per hour!
Auction: Molly Bruno auctioned off a $50.00 restaurant gift certificate. Susy Hurlbert was the high bidder at $25.00!
Lottery: Barry Shead
Tom Adams, Rodney Green and one of our guests drew cards to no avail. Barry’s cookies were won by our guest.
Program: Club Assembly
The topic was the proposed Rotary Clock Project and if the club should to continue to move forward with the project as only about half the estimated $30,000 required has been committed. Stan Lucas has committed $5,000 in memory of his parents and Andy Grant also committed $5,000. Knowing that the project is within reach of reaching the goal needed. President Rodney suggested a working committee be formed and put a focus on raising the rest of what would be needed to complete the project. Suggestions also were also brought forward to make giving less confusing and make it easier to get the information required on donating. Subjects such as QR codes and maybe a fundraiser under the tent at American Wharf Marina were discussed.
Rodney led the club with the 4-Way Test and the meeting was adjourned at 1:17pm.