Norwich Rotary Club
December 8th, 2021
Location-Bella Fiore
THE RONE
Presiding: President Andy Nollman
Invocation: Gary Young for Lottie Scott
Fellowship: Ray Baribeault
Birthdays: Erin Gizio – December 12th
Anniversaries: None
Visiting Rotarians: None
Guests: Kathryn Tracy introduced Karla Drairrville. Also, our guest speaker Christopher Brescia, owner of FreshTech and his partner were introduced.
Ray gave a fellowship of puns with the help of Jim Daly that brought the usual amount of both groans and cheers! Funny stuff!
Announcements:
*Andy Nollman had the following announcements:
*There will be no Rotary Meeting on December 29th the Wednesday before the New Year holiday! Many members are off work that week and traveling or with family for the New Year holiday, so we’ll get together in the New Year!
*Our guest speaker for the December 15th meeting will be Steve Caron of A&D Tree Service.
*The No-Show Gala is still happening between now and the end of the year. Be sure to donate. We are currently $400.00 shy of the $5,000.00 goal. Be sure to donate on-line at the Norwich Rotary website and share with your friends to donate too!
*Andy reported that at the Board Meeting that took place before today’s meeting Molly Bruno was approved for membership will be inducted into the club at next week’s meeting on December 15th. Please make every effort to attend and welcome Molly to Norwich Rotary.
*Former Norwich Rotarian Jim Konrad is looking for volunteers to help with this year’s Tommy Toy Fund. Contact Jim if you can help.
*Jim Daly and Mary Richardson are working on the slate of Officers and Board Members for next year. If you wish to serve please contact either of them.
*The Board has regretfully accepted Michelle Scott’s resignation. Her job has changed which she will be unable to attend meetings. President Andrew made it clear to her should things change she is welcome back anytime.
*Please invite prospective members for lunch on a Wednesday and introduce them to Rotary.
*The club is booked up for the rest of this year with guest speakers. Should you know of an appropriate guest speaker for early next year contact Bob Farwell or Kevin Wickless available dates.
Happy Dollars: Andy Grant
*Andy has been enjoying playing Pickle Ball and is looking forward to spending the winter in Utah in a few weeks.
*Mary Richardson passed out photos of the 15 goats her Presidential Project bought for the Haitian Health Foundation.
*Rodney Green had concerning news relating to his wife Lucille failing a memory test at the doctor. He followed up that there was a news article in The Day newspaper yesterday about Viagra being used to treat memory loss in patents with the onset of dementia. It brought a couple laughs, but in all seriousness we wish Lucille nothing but the best.
*Andy Nollman gave $10.00 Happy Dollars as this past weekend he celebrated a friends 50th birthday with a trip to a brew pub and some football on TV. He also said that his wife Lona’s 52nd birthday is coming on Saturday!
*Jeff Brunig had happy dollars saying he has missed a few meeting as of late and will be missing a few more coming up as he and his family will be heading to Utah skiing. He just returned skiing with his family at Lake George in New York and said he was freezing riding the lift with his son and had snow and ice stuck to his beard. His son was loving every minute however!
*Barry Shead was sorry he was late for the meeting and thanked Andy Grant for steeping up to host Happy Dollars. Barry is also happy that his daughter will be spending Christmas with him this year!
*Stan Lucas has just gone through surgery on his shoulder and hopes to be back playing tennis again soon. He’s not too sure how his golf game will be affected. He also added that he will be celebrating his 77th birthday down in Costa Rica with his children and checking out some property he has purchased to build a home on. Stan was also pleased that the Town of Ledyard approved the zoning for him to have his law office at his home there. He is selling his current building in Norwich and reconfiguring the second floor to an apartment and the first floor for offices.
Auction: Mike Gordon. Mike was not in attendance as he is recovering from heart surgery.
Lottery: Kathryn Tracy: Our guest Karla Drairrville drew a card to no avail. Next was Gary Young and he drew a loser. Final try was Mike Matera and no luck as well! The pot grows! Drawing for the ARC Cookies was won AGAIN by Andy Grant! He graciously shared the cookies with everyone as usual!
Program: Andy Nollman introduced Chris Brescia, owner of Fresh Tech, an IT and Cyber security firm. Chris talked about the importance of having a firewall installed in your office or home to guard against ransomware creeping into your business and holding your business hostage. For more information on Fresh Tech log on to www.freshtech.it
At 1:00pm Rodney Green led the club members in the 4 Way Test and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Reed – RONE Reporter