It was a cold but sunny day. Still no sign of snow on the ground which is not normal for this time of the year. Perhaps in March mother nature will make it up by dumping all the snow that we did not get in January and February.

We had a lean attendance, 18 of us including three guests. Acoustical intensity of the Welcome Song and Pledge-of-Allegiance reflected our low turnout. Jack Sayre’s invocation was about being thankful for our friends, fun and fellowship of Rotary. Three kinds of pizza were waiting in covered boxes ready to be snapped up by the hungry crowd. Thanks to Jack Sayre for keeping in mind the dietary preference of your scribe and Dan Firestone who very much enjoyed box lunches with veggie sandwiches. Jack gave us a sneak preview of next week’s lunch – chicken teriyaki. Should we expect a large turnout?

President Bob rang the bell to get the meeting going. Our three guests today were Bob Dugan, Joe Jaconetta and Alejandro. George and Art led the Welcome Song. President Bob called Bill Saunders to the podium to honor him with PH+7 pin. Thanks, Bill, for your generosity.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  1. Eight Rotarians including our two new volunteers, joining hands with a few non-Rotarians, sorted out over five thousand pounds of meat on Monday at FoodShare. Stay tuned for the date in March.
  2. Habitat for Humanity’s fundraising event Charity Give Back Night will be held on February 25 at Maggie McFly’s. Ten percent of your bill will be donated to the cause.
  3. Our guest speaker on February 26 will be Sean Dwyer from Parks and Rec who will also receive his donation check from our club.
  4. Joint meeting of Manchester Rotary and EHRC will take place at the Manchester Country Club on March 10. A local band will perform that evening. This meeting will be in lieu of our meeting on March 11.
  5. Our weekly meeting on March 18 will be at Goodwin University. Here is my understanding of what Guy said and clarified by Dan Larson. Lunch will be provided by GU followed by a tour of the new manufacturing program. We will pay our usual $15 which will go in its entirety to our club. Thanks, GU.
  1. Paul Harris Dinner will be held at the Gallery on March 25. Sign up sheet was in circulation today.
  2. FoodShare Walk Against Hunger will start at Dunkin’ Donut Park in Hartford on May 10.
  3. We will present a check to Rick Lawrence for the Guatemalan Water Project at the Manchester Country Club on June 16. All are welcome.
  4. District and EHRC installations will be held at Maneeley’s Banquet Hall on June 17.
  5. Rotary in Motion will take place this year on October 3.
  6. President Bob and your scribe are looking into the possibility for our club to host a program for Inter-religious understanding. This program is organized by the Connecticut Council for Inter Religious Understanding (CCIU). In order to provide an opportunity for our club to know more about this program, your scribe will have the new executive director of CCIU come as a guest speaker. We can then decide if EHRC wants to be the cohost along with Goodwin University for this program. You might recall that Terry Schmitt, the former executive director of CCIU, was the guest speaker at our club in November 2017.
CARING MOMENTS:
  1. Ceil is recuperating at home from a back spasm. We wish for her speedy recovery.
  2. John Mozzicato is no longer at Vernon Manor and most probably is recuperating at home.
Ned Lynch, known for his persuasive approach as SAA, was able to extract happy dollars from all 18 of us in attendance. Here is the list of the victims:
  1. Art Bradbury, Jim Watts and Dan Russell were happy to be here.
  2. President Bob appreciated our SAA coming on time.
  3. Neal and Ruth were in mourning for the Red Sox.
  4. Dan Firestone is going through a “taxing” experience. I did not know that there were accountant jokes also.
  5. Your scribe was happy to have Dan Larson and Chickie Amberg as the two new volunteers at FoodShare.
  6. Guy LeBella was happy to be back, two weeks in a row, after a long break which paid off because he won the Flower Raffle again this week.
  7. Dan Larson was happy to see Guy, but he is not very happy about being under the weather.
  8. Your SAA celebrated his recovery from a very serious ski accident six years ago. Remarkable progress, Ned.
  9. Jack Sayre paid handsomely but wouldn’t tell Ned why.
  10. George Schoen is now rooting for Milwaukee.
  11. Bill Saunders was happy that his son-in-law had successful knee surgery.
  12. Alejandro paid handsomely for being invited to attend the meeting. He is the one who brought delicious tiramisu that he baked himself. Love to have you come with more of the same.
Last week’s double raffle winner Guy pulled the winning ticket for Dan Russell and the winning number for himself for the flower raffle. Will that raise any eyebrows bringing home flowers two weeks in a row?
We signed off early because Jack Massey from the East Hartford Hornets did not show up.  He was to say a few words after getting the donation check. I wonder if the idea of public speaking scared him away.
Signing off until next week, your scribe, Anwar Hossain