Norwich Rotary Club
August 10th, 2022
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: Former President Mary Richardson & President Susy Hurlbert
Invocation: Gary Young
Hey Rotarians-listen up-Beg your pardon
Today you’re going to learn about a kindness garden
And here is what we hope you find
It’s simple-It’s useful, beneficial and kind
When God created the heavens and the earth
He saw that it was good and had great worth
He told mankind to subdue and take care of it all
But for thousands of years we have dropped the ball
But wait-things aren’t as bad as they seem
There was a special 6 year old girl who had a precious dream
This young lady loved animals, butterflies and bees
And she actually told them-if you need help-just lean on me
This young lady did not make it to the age of seven
But she’s probably up there smiling in Heaven
Urging her mom to keep teaching others
That we need to be kind to all of creation-not just sisters and brothers
So Lord we give you thanks for the usual stuff
For the food and the fellowship always more than enough
And until we meet again
Let’s praise the Lord and say Amen
Fellowship: Nancy Gentes
Birthdays: Tom Adams-August 12th
Anniversaries: No Anniversaries
Visiting Rotarians: Jenny Hubbard-Newtown & Carrie Syzmanski-Norwich Sunrise
Guests: Molly Bruno brought Aviana Lozano and Angela Adams. Kathleen Tracey brought Cathy Chester, and Gary Young brought his lovely wife Romer.
Nancy’s fellowship was some interesting and humorous signs from billboards, businesses and other places! A few of the best ones were the following.
Sign at Burger King: Why eat with a clown when you can dine with a king?
Things that tell the truth: Small children, drunken people and yoga pants!
My New Year’s resolution was to read more, so I put subtitles on my TV!
Car Repair Shop: Mechanic $100/hour minimum, $150/hour if you watch, $175 if you help, $200 if you worked on it first and $250 if you tell me how to do my job!
Ad from the London underground: Visit a place where your accent is an aphrodisiac.
If life shuts a door, open it again, that’s how it works!
Personal Days: We provide 104 Personal Days a year; they are called Saturday’s and Sunday’s!
Announcements:
*Mary Richardson had the following announcements:
*The Celebrate Cultural Diversity Committee is meeting at noon on August 18th at the Sikh Art Gallery located at 7 Clinic Drive, Norwich. This Committee is led by Roz Etra, Carrie Czymanski, and Kathryn Tracey. They have a full plate with CCD coming up in September, and could use your help. The Peace Pole rededication will be on September 21st, International Peace Day, the date suggested that we bring a bag lunch to Rotary Park. This should be a good meeting.
*Rotarians are encouraged to please invite prospective members for lunch and introduce them to the world of Rotary.
*The club will be looking for speakers. Should you know of an appropriate guest speaker contact Bob Farwell or Kevin Wickless.
*September 7th will be the date for the 2022 Annual Golf Tournament. Register at 9am. Tee off at 10am. More golfers needed!!
Happy Dollars: – Andy Grant
*Andy started things off saying he was happy to win 3 of 4 Pickleball matches and thanked Gary Young for all his efforts running the golf tournament.
*Kevin Wickless thanked Mary Richardson for stepping up to run the meeting until President Susy will arrive. Kevin also said he was visiting colleges in Colorado with his daughter who will be finishing up high school in Vermont.
*Bill Champagne said he attended the Celebrate Diversity meeting last week and he’s helping to look for much needed Volunteers.
*Carrie Syzmanski urged members to attend the next Cultural Diversity meeting.
*Barry Shead had a great time in Maine last week on vacation. He climbed a very steep mountain for a 3rd time! He’s thinking of retiring from such steep climbs!
*Gary Young welcomed his wife Romer to today’s meeting.
*Andy Nollman is happy that part one of his vacation will be starting this week renting a cottage on the coast in Stonington!
*Mary Richardson will be taking a well-earned vacation in Maine next week!
*Roz Etra was happy that her daughters visited last week with all the grandchildren!
*Jeff Bruning spent a great 8 day’s sailing to the Elizabeth Islands off Cape Cod last week!
*Bonnie Johnson had her son and his wife & kids visiting last week and the kids had a ball jumping off the topside of their boat into Hamburg Cove during the heat wave! She was also happy to be taken out to dinner for a few nights instead of making dinner every night! One was even at Bella Fiore!
*Susy Hurlbert was a little late getting to today’s meeting as she was meeting with Congressman Joe Courtney! She also planted her Basil Seeds that were a gift from the District Governor!
Auction:
Suki Lagrito was not in attendance today but will donating to the cause. Molly Bruno however had a great auction item of 4 New York Yankee tickets! The high bidder was Andy Grant for $150.00!
Weekly Rotary Trivia: Terry Congdon asked 3 questions on subjects that were covered in this month’s Rotarian magazine. Andy Nollman, Kathleen Tracey and Susy Hurlbert answered correctly.
Lottery: – Bill Champagne
Jenny Hubbard, Terrie Congdon & Cathy Chester did not find the Ace of Spades! Jay Waitte won the cookies!
Program:
President Susy introduced Jenny Violet Hubbard of the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation. The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation is a Connecticut-based nonprofit organization working to promote compassion and healing through human-animal connection, founded in 2013 to commemorate and honor the life of Catherine Violet Hubbard, a six-year-old victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. Catherine always said that one day she would care for animals and that nurturing them was her passion. If she were with us today, there is no doubt she would have realized her dream to work with and care for animals.
In 2014, the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation was awarded over 34 acres of Connecticut state farmland by a unanimous vote from the Connecticut State House of Representatives and Senate, which would become home to the Catherine Violet Hubbard Sanctuary. The sanctuary pays tribute to Catherine and her spirit of kindness towards all living things by honoring the bond between humans, animals and the environment. There’s something taking root and growing in Connecticut and Long Island…kindness! KINDNESS GARDENS, an environmental initiative between the sanctuary and the Manhasset Rotary Club, work to beautify the land while increasing the number of truly native plants in each ecoregion. 2021 Kindness Garden plants were grown specifically for the Long Island region in order to thrive in the coastal climate while promoting local pollinator health and propagation. Over 5,000 square feet of pollinator habitat was planted as a result of the initiative.
Since the foundation’s inception, we have raised over $6.5 million in funding, including grants from Petco Love, ASPCA, Tito’s Vodka and more to support our breadth of programming, including our pollinator protection initiative providing critical shelter, sustenance and migration space for butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and other critical ecosystem pollinators, free community workshops around animal care and environmental protection, aid for seniors to keep and care for their pets and much more. Our donor contributions also go towards our ongoing construction of sanctuary facilities, including a vet in-take center, learning barn and Catherine’s Library.
President Susy led the Club and all recited the 4-Way Test and the meeting was adjourned at 1:25 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Reed – RONE Reporter