Norwich Rotary Club
February 9th, 2022
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: President Andrew Nollman
Invocation: Rodney Green
Fellowship: Barry Shead
Birthdays: Kathleen Tracy – 2/12 and Mike Cooney – 2/14
Anniversaries: Theresa Madonna-14 Years
Visiting Rotarians: None
Guests: Molly Bruno introduces her friend Carol.
Barry gave a fellowship with some facts about Valentine’s Day. In 2019 American’s spent $20 billion on the holiday. $27.7 billion in 2020. The average gift was worth $196.00. Men spent an average of $291.00 and Women spent an average of $106.00. Valentine’s Day is the second biggest holiday for cards behind Christmas. American’s spend $27.6 million on Valentine’s presents for their pets! $17 million on cats alone! $5.8 billion is spent on jewelry. 6 Million couples get engaged on Valentine’s Day!
Announcements:
*Andy Nollman had the following announcements:
*Andy reminded that the Covid protocols are in effect for our meetings and masks should be worn when not eating or when one comes forward for Happy Dollars and the Lottery.
*Rotarians are encouraged to please invite prospective members for lunch and introduce them to Rotary.
*The club will be looking for speakers. Should you know of an appropriate guest speaker contact Bob Farwell or Kevin Wickless.
*Saturday April 9th will be the “District Day of Service” and a project for Habitat for Humanity is scheduled along with the RCC and the Norwich Sunrise Club. Work will by 8am to 11am that morning with a lunch provided by Olde Tymes.
*Terry Congdon will be conducting a “Rotary Trivia Game” beginning in March. Be sure to read the Rotarian magazine as that’s where the answers to all the questions will be!
*The 7980 District Assembly and Conference will take place on April 23rd at the Mystic Marriott in Groton. The club will cover the cost for up to 4 members to attend. Contact Andy Nollman before the March 15th deadline if you care to attend.
*Wednesday May 4th the club will host a “Whisky Event” at Bella Fiore at 6pm. Tickets are $75.00 and can be purchased via Eventbrite. The sponsor will be Franklin Wine and Spirits. Dinner, Whisky and Cigars as well as an auction will take place. Stay tuned for further details. Put the date on your calendars now!
*September 7th will be the date for the 2022 Annual Golf Tournament.
*Please pay your dues!! If you did not receive an Invoice contact President Andrew.
Happy Dollars: Jen Granger
*Jen gave to say how much she was enjoying watching the Olympics! Especially the Skating events.
*Gary Young told a humorous story of having dinner at the home of fellow Rotarian Stan Lucas and having Stan’s grandson Sasha guess his age. Gary regretted asking the question because his guess was 78!
*Bill Champagne said he was happy to be back in person to the weekly meeting as the Covid rate has dipped below 10! He also suggested a great book to read in honor of Black History Month by reading a book by Clint Smith titled How the Word is Passed.
*Mike Cooney told the tale of his daughter Katie running through the house with a lit candle! Never dull at Mike’s house! He also said that the Norwich Little League is holding a Comedy Night fundraiser on March 12th and he has ticket and sponsor forms.
*Mike Matera was happy to report that his lungs are free of blood clots! He also has a good amount of white boards at his store that he’s willing to part with for free!
*Rodney Green said that 49 million cases of beer will be consumed this Super Bowl Sunday!
*Andrew Nollman Gave $50.00 Happy Dollars in honor of quarterback Tom Brady’s retirement! He was also happy to report that he is now the proud owner of a new bar for his living room!
*Molly Bruno is happy to have a closing today and she is starting Tap Dancing Classes! She also welcomed her friend Carol.
*Suki Lagrito welcomed Carol to the meeting.
*Bob Reed said he attended the UConn Men’s Basketball game the night before and the woman who was singing the National Anthem forgot the words in mid-song. The arena of fans ended up supporting her and the Hartford Police Color Guard by singing at the top of their lungs along with her and gave a thunderous ovation at the end. It was a nice moment of support.
Auction: Mike Matera made a $20.00 donation.
Lottery: Bonnie Johnson: The first ticket drawn was Jim Daly’s! He asked President Andrew Nollman to draw for him and guess what! It was the Ace of Spades! Jim graciously donated the kitty for the annual coat project!
Program: Andrew Nollman informed that our scheduled guest speaker Jan Mallet had to cancel and will be rescheduled for a later date. Andy read some excerpts from a Rotary Blog Post from www.rotary.org that he found interesting. February is “Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention” Month. Here are few things that Rotary is doing across the globe to promote peace: In Nigeria, the Rotary club of Jalingo Prestige collaborated with a local non-governmental organization to host a peace building symposium for youth and community leaders. In the US the Rotary Club of Killeen Heights delivered toys to a local family shelter that supports victims of domestic abuse. The Rotary Clun of Ukraine and the Rotary Club of Marmaris in Turkey signed a twin club agreement during an Intercountry Committee friendship conference as a long term commitment to advance international understanding and cooperate on service projects. Log on to www.rotary.org to read of many more great projects happening throughout our Rotary world.
At 12:51pm Bonnie Johnson led the club with the 4-Way Test and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Reed – RONE Reporter