Norwich Rotary Club

THE RONE Newsletter of the Norwich Rotary Club 6/19/24

Norwich Rotary Club

June 19th, 2024

Location-Bella Fiore

THE RONE

PresidingPresident Mary Richardson

InvocationGary Young

HEY EVERYBODY-TAKE TIME TO LISTEN

TO THESE WORDS THAT EXPLAIN WHAT SOME OF US ARE MISSIN’

TAKE HEART-BE THANKFUL-QUIT SINGING THE BLUES

IT COULD BE WORSE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES

 

IF YOU’RE GOING THRU LIFE AND IT’S HARD TO COPE

AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE AT THE END OF YOUR ROPE

AND EVERY DAY SEEMS LIKE ANOTHER SLIPPERY SLOPE

THEN STAND UP-KEEP FIGHTING-DON’T GIVE UP

 

YOU’RE PART OF A GROUP THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

NO MATTER WHAT OBSTACLES INTERRUPT OUR WAY OF LIVING

WE’RE HELPFUL AND FRIENDLY AND TELL THE TRUTH

AND LIKE I’VE SAID BEFORE WE ARE LIVING PROOF

 

THAT WHEN WE ALLOW GOD’S LOVE TO SHINE

EVERYTHING SEEMS TO TURN OUT JUST FINE

 

NOW LET’S GIVE THANKS FOR THE USUAL STUFF

THE SMILES AND FELLOWSHIP ALWAYS MORE THAN ENOUGH

AND UNTIL WE GET TOGETHER AGAIN

LET’S PRAISE THE LORD AND SAY AMEN

 

Fellowship:  Ray Baribeault

Birthdays:  Roz Etra and Cara Wescott

Anniversaries:  Gary Young – 25 years!

Guests:  Margarida Querido introduced her husband Silvio Querido and Melissa Root from the CT Maritime Heritage Festival

Visiting Rotarians:  None

Ray’s fellowship was another round of his famous puns!  Here’s a couple!  “To make an oil joke would be just crude!”  “Reincarnation is making a comeback!”

Membership Minute:  Stan Lucas said his membership committee met earlier in the day.  Since the membership drive started 12 new members have installed!  There are also prospects in the pipeline so let’s keep it going!  It will take everyone to grow the club!

Announcements:

President Mary had the following announcements:

The Rose Garden luncheon was cancelled due to Juneteenth Day and city employees had the day off.  Not too bad as it’s in the 90’s today and it might have been a little uncomfortable outside anyway.

On June 20th from 1 to 3pm there will be a meal packing event at the United Way/ Gemma Moran Food Center in New London.

The Rose Arts Festival will be on June 29th.  Consider volunteering a couple hours at the Rotary tent that day along with our friends from the Sunrise Club and the Rotary Community Corps!  Gary Young passed around a sign-up sheet.

Anyone knows of a Rotarian who has been ill, please let the Sunshine Committee know.

September 9th will be this years “Celebrate Cultural Diversity” event.  Mark your calendars now!

Please bring spare clean egg cartons and give them to Bonnie Johnson.  

If you know of a speaker for one of our meetings, please contact Kevin Wickless or Alexis Kahn to get on the schedule.   

***Next Wednesday, June 26th will be our Change of Command Ceremony! ***

September 4th will be the Annual Golf Tournament!  Brochures are at check-in at our noontime lunch.   Go get sponsors, raffle items and golf teams!  Mark your calendar now as it will be here before you know it!

Happy Dollars:  Mike Matera

Mike welcomed our guests.  He told a story of interrupting his son’s video game to discuss his son’s grades that came in the mail.  He was happy to report that his son excelled in all his subjects! 

Gary Young said that he and Stan Lucas played in a golf tournament earlier in the week and Stan hit a shot that he thought ended up in a sand trap.  Gary said he thought he didn’t and bet him a Payday candy bar that he was safe.  Well, Gary was right and Stan had a Payday and “Payed up” at today’s meeting!

Mike Cooney will miss next week’s meeting as he will be camping with his son Matt.  He is happy that his daughter Katie’s softball season ended and they had a winning record after a rough start.  Mike also had praise for President Mary for the fantastic job she has done leading the club over this past year as well as previous years! 

Pat Marshall had a story about growing up in Boston in a neighborhood where if you were a person of color you couldn’t buy a house there.  Thankfully things have changed today.  She said she has brought up her children to have no prejudice and that all are equal in the eyes of God and should be in our eyes too!

Margarita Querido welcomed her husband to today’s meeting and was happy he was her guest.  She said that this was her first year in real estate and is very happy.  Margarita reminded everyone that “Our differences are our beauty.”

Cara Wescott said she is celebrating her birthday along with her twin brother!  She also was happy to be finishing the annual budget for UCFS and it’s a ton of work to prepare for the Board of Directors to approve.  She’s looking forward to family vacations this summer.  She concluded that she enjoys Rotary very much and is happy to be a part of the club!

Bonnie Johnson said this week has been busy watching all her grandchildren graduating from grade school and high school from home and in California via You Tube.  Also, she saw a few grandkids going to proms.

Stan Lucas said his grandson who is a 5th grader received a Presidential Citation for all the books he’s read!  He was so excited he told his grandpa that the letter was “Signed by Joe!”

Roz Etra said she took the train from New London to Philly for the first time and it was quite an experience!  She traveled there to see her 5 year old grandson graduate pre-school! 

Weekly Auction:  Tom Adams donated $20.00!  Mary Richardson had a bouquet of 10 pink roses in a glass vase and asked Mike Cooney to be the auctioneer.  After some spirited bidding Gary Young was the high bidder at $21.00!  Lucky Romer!

Lottery:  Andrew Nollman

Gary Young, Roz Etra and our guest speaker Melissa Root could not find the Ace of Spades! 

No Barry’s Cookies this week!

Program: Our speaker this week was Melissa Root, Director of the Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival. She invited all to come and celebrate Connecticut’s rich maritime history and our connection to the sea!  This fun-filled weekend has Military and Private Ships, Flock Theatre’s Burning of Benedict Arnold, Little Mermaids and Sea Monsters Parade, Coast Guard Helicopter Search and Rescue Demonstration, Sea Service Showdown – a Maritime Skills Challenge, Fishing Clinic, Kids Nautical Zone, Rum Tasting, Live Music, Local Vendors, Food Trucks, and more.  New this year is the joining of the Basque Festival on Saturday for a full weekend of nautical fun!  For more information on this festival that will take place September 7th & 8th at Fort Trumbull State Park and New London Waterfront Park, log on to  https://ctmaritimefest.com/ 

 

The 4-Way Test was led by Bonnie Johnson and the meeting was adjourned at 1:10pm.