Rotary Club of Norwich, CT
March 18th, 2026
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE:
Presiding: President Steve Martin
Invocation: Cara Westcott
Fellowship: Barry Shead
Birthdays: Cary Trantalis – 3/22
Anniversaries: Andrew Nollman – 18 years & Michael Vaz – 1 year
Guests: Mary Riley from NCDC
Visiting Rotarians: None
Barry’s fellowship was some little known facts about Honest Abe Lincoln! Abe was the tallest President at 6’4”. He was the first President to wear a beard. He was the only President to have a patent. Abe had a high pitched voice. Abe was an animal lover as he kept a few goats at the White House. He was a trained wrestler and won many matches. He was self-educated and had a great sense of humor!
Announcements:
The Native Son/Daughter application form will be uploaded to the Rotary website soon. The deadline for nominations is April 7th.
The Whiskey, Wine and Cigar Event will take place once again this year on May 6th at Bella Fiore. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on March 6th and can be purchased at https://www.norwichrotaryevents.org/ 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!
Rotary Day of Service is May 16th so mark your calendars and help pack meals.
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.
**Reminder** as a courtesy to our guest speakers, guests and fellow members, Rotarians are strongly encouraged to silence all electronic devices during meetings.
Membership Minute: Paul Gaffney
Paul read about a dozen names that were submitted as prospective members and encouraged any members that had any affiliation with these people to encourage then to come to a meeting as a guest.
Happy Dollars: Jen Granger
Jen welcomed our guests from the Army National Guard, especially Specialist Zachary Dibernado, who is being honored today as Service Person of the Month. She noted that her father served during WWII. She said she had a great weekend with her husband who has been in poor health, but is much better as of late.
Bill Champagne said that Mike Gordon is doing much better. Pat Marshall however has been having a rough time and was back in the hospital. He also said he’s been busy with the America 250th Committee and stay tuned for events coming up for Norwich.
Barry Shead welcomed all the military guests today and told a story of his dad serving on a Navy ship during WWII and found out that his dad and Bob Reed’s dad served on the same ship at the same time!
Kathleen Stauffer noted that her dad also served in WWII. She said that the ARC is expanding the cookie business and a traveling truck will also offer ice cream made by the ARC in Massachusetts.
Andrew Nollman said his mom and dad are celebrating their 83rd birthdays this month! He’s also preparing for a trip to Virginia to visit his wife’s family and meet his grandniece for the first time.
Steve Martin is going to North Carolina to visit his brother and then on to South Carolina for a conference.
Rodney Green said he missed last week meeting because he was called away as his wife Lucille had a health scare, but ended up ok thankfully. He said that he and Lucille have been involved with the Chestnut Street Playhouse for over 25 years and he attended the recent play “A Few Good Men” and was impressed by the excellent quality of the production and acting. Best he’s ever seen at the theater.
Margarida Martins-Querido is happy that her son is coming home for the Easter holiday and he’s bringing his girlfriend to meet the family for the first time. She’s also working with OPSAIL-CT to bring the tall ship Amistad to Norwich. Looking for sponsor dollars as it’s not a free endeavor and the ship needs a new main mast.
Susy Hurlbert said now that the snow has melted the trash along I-395 is sadly visible again. She’s heading to Indianapolis next week for a conference.
Gary Young welcomed all our military guests and told a story of his time in the Navy. .
Auction: Bob Reed donated $20.00
Lottery: Bonnie Johnson
Rodney Green, Roz Etra and Kathleen Stauffer could not find the ACE. ARC cookies went to one of the military guests.
Program: Members of the Chamber of Commerce of Southeastern Connecticut’s Military Affairs Council stepped forward to honor Specialist Zachary Dibernardo. Specialist Dibernardo was awarded “Service Person of the Month” and was given a bag of gifts. Our Rotary club also gave a $100.00 donation to the charity of Specialist Dibernardo’s choosing.
The meeting concluded with Bonnie Johnson leading the club reciting the 4-Way Test at 1:00pm.** Looking for volunteers to serve on The RONE committee. Contact Bob Reed at bobr@hallradio.net