Norwich Rotary Club
October 27th, 2021
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: President Andy Nollman
Invocation: Rodney Green
Fellowship: Nancy Gentes
Birthdays: Rodney Green – 10/30
Anniversaries: None
Visiting Rotarians: None
Guests: Molly Bruno brought Aviana Logano and Barry Shead brought Kara Spinnato from Dime Bank. Guest Speaker Dana Dowdell brought her Personal Assistant Allie Geilich
Nancy gave some interesting facts that she got from Mental Floss. Just a few fun facts were the following: There really was a Captain Morgan! Maine is the closest US state to Africa! Actress Hedy Lamar invented the technology that was the basis for modern GPS, WI-FI and Blur Tooth. An average Cumulus cloud weighs 1.1 million pounds. There is a basketball court in the Supreme Court building in Washington that is above the actual Supreme Court chambers that makes it the highest court! The national animal of Scotland is the Unicorn!
Announcements:
Andy had the following announcements:
*The Liberty Bank Thanksgiving drive is well under way and Liberty Bank will match .25 cents on the dollar for all funds we raise. Again the Swartz Manor residents will be issued gift card to purchase food for their Thanksgiving food needs. This year there is a “TRIPLE Challenge” so if every member can donate the usual $20.00 plus $40.00 more we can knock it out of the park for Swartz Manor this year!
*Next week’s meeting will take place at Surplus Unlimited on 360 West Main Street in the warehouse in the rear of the building. Kevin Hogan from Channel 3 will be there with a camera crew to document Rotary’s Coat Project. Parking is behind the building and Rodney said he will provide lunch for the meeting. Following that meeting there will be a work day at the Rotary Flag Pole to plant and clean up the area at the harbor where it’s located. Meet there at 2pm.
*The No-Show Gala is in full swing. Be sure to donate. We are currently at 40% of our $10,000 goal. Be sure to donate on-line at the Norwich Rotary website and share with your friends to donate too!
*Madonna Place Trivia Night will be held on November 12th. The Rotary will be entering a team. See Nancy Gentes for details on entering a team or getting on the Rotary team.
*Jen Granger reported that the Rotary Dictionary Project will be delivering dictionaries to both the 3rd and 4th grades in the Norwich Schools this year. November 10th will be the date of deliveries. 16 people are needed to volunteer that morning at UCFS on 34 Town Street at 9am. You must be vaccinated or show a negative test for Covid in order to enter any of the schools. Contact Jen if you can donate a couple hours that morning to help.
Happy Dollars: Andy Grant
*Andy started things off that he was exited that his youngest daughter Patty who is in college is dating finally!
*Barry Shead welcomed Kara Spinnato to today’s meeting!
*Mary Richardson said Roz and Joel say hello to everyone. She also recognized fellow Rotarian Mike Goldblatt for him bringing 3 of his classic cars to the Lyman-Allyn Museum for their recent opening.
*Kathryn Tracy gave happy dollars for the Liberty Bank Thanksgiving Challenge.
*Andy Nollman said his wife Lona has completed he training at L&M Hospital and she will now actually be home on weekends and they will finally spend a Thanksgiving together as well!
*Gary Young was happy to report he signed Molly’s application to join the Rotary Club! He then followed up with a “Dumb Blonde Joke.”
*Jeff Brunig welcomed Molly and said he was finally pulling his sailboat out of the water for the winter season.
*Aviana gave dollars to welcome Molly.
*Dana Dowdell was happy to be invited to speak at today’s meeting and gave kudo’s to Molly for organizing the “Trunk or Treat” event that was held in Norwich.
*Jen Granger gave to inform the club that the Happy Dollars Committee distributed $1,500.00 to help pay for a $5,500.00 furnace for a family who were flooded out a few weeks ago during the bad storm we had in Eastern Connecticut.
Auction: Bob Farwell donated $20.00 to the effort.
Lottery: Terry Congdon: Rodney Green drew a card to no avail. Next was Jim Daly and he drew a loser. Guest Aviana drew another card that was not the ever allusive Ace of Spades! Jen Granger was the winner of the Cookies from Barry Shead and the amazing folks at ARC!
Program: Andrew Nollman introduced Dana Dowdell for Boss Consulting who gave an interesting presentation on Employment Law and HR guidelines for small businesses. For more information log on to https://www.bossconsultinghr.com
At 1:15pm Rodney Green led the club members in the 4 Way Test and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Reed – RONE Reporter