Norwich Rotary Club
February 8th, 2023
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: Susy Hurlbert
Invocation: Gary Young
Fellowship: Bob Farwell
Birthdays: Kathryn Tracey – Feb. 12 & Mike Cooney – Feb 14
Anniversaries: None
Guests: Gary Young introduced Jackie Querica. Mary Richardson introduced Linda Smith & Jan Savageay from the Woman’s City Club. Stan Lucas introduced his daughter Anna Lucas and his son Mason Lucas.
Bob’s fellowship was a quiz about the strangest names for groups of animals. Here are a few of the ones that stumped most everyone in attendance! A group of Apes – a shrewdness. Group of Bears – a sleuth. Group of Ferrets – a business. Group of Giraffes – a tower. Group of Hippopotamuses – a bloat. Group of Rats – a mischief. Group of Skunks – a surfeit. Group of Squirrels – a dray. Group of Turtles – a bale. Finally a couple that we could get! Group of Whales – a pod! And finally a group of Baboons – a congress! No not really, the correct answer if a troop. Most agreed that the former would be most appropriate!
Announcements:
*Susy Hurlbert had the following announcements:
*March 15th will be the “Serviceperson of the Month” program. Please make every effort to attend that meeting.
*March 28 will be the Rotary Business Lunch with the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce.
*May 3rd will be the Whiskey and Wine Event!
*May 20th will be a “Rotary Day of Service” and our club will be doing a joint project with other area clubs that day. It will most likely be packing meals this year. Stay tuned as more information will come.
*Golf Tournament will be September 6th this year!
*The Native Son/Daughter Lunch will take place in June 7th and our club will be sponsoring the event along with the Norwich Woman’s City Club.
*The “No Show Gala” will be returning! Plan on donating so you can spend a wonderful evening at home and not showing up to a gala!
*Rotarians are encouraged to please invite prospective members for lunch and introduce them to the world of Rotary.
Happy Dollars: – Jen Granger
*Stan Lucas gave $50.00 in honor of his 45 years in the club and 50th year as a member of the Connecticut Bar.
*Bill Champagne said the Norwich Race Equity Committee will be sponsoring a Chicago Style Dinner on March 28th at Norwich Free Academy at 5:30pm. At the dinner attendees will each be given topics to discuss on race. Bill would like to see at least 3 Rotarians from our club take part in the discussion that promises to be enlightening.
*Alexis Kahn said she was happy to have completed Banker’s School and completed her final paper. She also announced that Mandy Crispin should be returning to meetings soon. She also thanked Bill Champagne for assisting in the closing of her mother’s new home. Bill was the agent for the seller, but she proved invaluable to her as the buyer.
*Gary Young welcomed Anna and Mason to the meeting. He also said he needs members to serve on the Invocation Committee.
*Mary Richardson welcomed all our guests. She also earlier in the week attended the P.E.T.S Training Meeting in New Haven where she met a gentleman that she went to high school with in New Jersey. The Rotary theme next year will be “Create Hope for the World.”
*Mike Cooney brought a pack of Cub Scouts to the town swimming pool for swimming lessons and while in the pool he dove to the bottom of the pool and burst an ear drum. Quite painful to say the least and his wife made him go to the hospital and get it checked out where he had to answer questions where the answers were quite obvious.
*Susy Hurlbert had dinner with her daughter that had some up’s and down’s but ended up being a great evening. She’s proud that her daughter is starting her Ph.D program.
*Jen Granger gave to congratulate the UConn Men’s Basketball team on a big win the night before against #10 ranked Marquette Golden Eagles!
Auction: Mike Cooney $20.00!
Monthly Rotary Trivia: Stay tuned.
Lottery: – Bill Champagne
Gary Young, Joel Etra and Jim Daly drew cards and did not find the allusive Ace of Spades! Only a few cards left!
Program:
Bob Farwell introduced Tom Sullivan who joined via Zoom to speak on his new book “The Sherlock Holmes of Baseball” about the life of Daniel Francis Murphy, the forgotten baseball great who once called Norwich home. Daniel played for the town’s Little League and Babe Ruth League, then went on to play for a number of Major League teams later on in life. Daniel Murphy broke many major league records during his career. Tom’s Sullivan’s book can be purchased through Amazon and this 500 page read will please any baseball aficionado!
Also part of today’s program Stan Lucas introduced his son Mason who is a musician who plays frequently across the US, South America and most recently Costa Rica. He performed a selection of tunes that included “Into the Mystic” and an original composition. Mason is best known in the music world as Don Gato IX and can be found on Spotify under that name. www.open.spotify.com
President Susy led the Club and all recited the 4-Way Test and the meeting was adjourned at 1:15pm
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Reed – RONE Reporter