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Cogitator March 12, 2014
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Bill Sequino and President-Elect Ron Winde
VISITING ROTARIANS/GUESTS
None.
CARIBBEAN LUNCH
Make sure to head to New England Tech (and not Chianti’s) on Wednesday, March 26th. We’ll be there for the Rotaract Club’s Installation of Officers. And, we’ll be treated to a wonderful Caribbean style lunch! Tim Chace and Pat Page from Choose to Matter will also be on hand, and we’ll be able to present to them our club’s donation.
WINE AND WONDERFUL
Jane Boynton reminded everyone that this year’s Wine and Wonderful event will be held on Friday, May 2nd, at the Swift Community Center. Jane promises it will be ‘our best one ever!’ Jane also thanked Beth DeGerlia for all of her work, past and present, on our wine tasting galas.
FEINSTEIN HUNGER CHALLENGE
Don’t forget to bring non-perishable food items to Wednesday lunches over the next several weeks. Sue Dorne is chairing this year’s Feinstein Hunger Challenge. All donations will be matched dollar for dollar by Alan Shawn Feinstein, up to $1 million. Our local campaign will help the East Greenwich Food Pantry at St. Luke’s.
PAUL HARRIS FELLOWSHIP AWARD
Congratulations to Staci Cormier who received her first Paul Harris Fellowship Award today. Vin Meola presented Staci with her official Paul Harris pin, medal, and certificate. Staci is dedicating her award to Rotary International’s ‘End Polio Now’ campaign.
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Staci Cormier receiving her Paul Harris Fellowship Award from Vin Meola
SCOTT CARLSON MEMORIAL ALS 5K
Judy Pratt said 120 people have already signed up to run in this year’s Scott Carlson Memorial ALS 5K. She thanked Sue Dorne for getting so many of her Zumba students on board! Saturday, April 19th is coming up quickly, so please make sure to sponsor this year’s race if you can, spread the word to family and friends, and plan to be on hand that Saturday morning at Goddard State Park.
HAPPY BUCKS
-New Rotarian Jon Whaley was happy and excited to have joined O’Leary Law Associates.
-Judy Pratt was thrilled about her daughter Sami’s Toll Gate Lady Titans, and their victory in the state hockey championship series. Toll Gate is the first public high school in RI to win a girls’ hockey championship.
-Jane Boynton said her daughter, in Sardinia, Italy, had already heard the news about the Lady Titans by the time Jane had a chance to ‘chat’ with her. Welcome to the fast paced tech world.
-Staci Cormier’s daughter had twins! Liam and Logan. Congratulations, again, Staci!
-John Wolcott’s treat last week after the St. Patrick’s Parade—enjoying a beverage in, and the experience of, Patrick’s Pub in Providence, ‘a real Irish pub!’
-Steve Lombardi congratulated Staci Cormier for both her award and her newly arrived grandkids. He also thanked Bill Sequino for his work in getting our Wine and Wonderful event back to the Swift Community Center.
-Bill Sequino was happy to announce yet another grandchild entering the world—his!. Bill’s son and wife welcomed a new baby boy last week!
-Dave Iannuccilli also thanked Bill Sequino for helping our club return to Swift Community Center for Wine and Wonderful.
-Pat Lenihan also thanked Bill Sequino, and she was pleased about Coldwell Banker’s participation in a great program called ‘Homes for Troops.’ Pat also was almost arrested last week for getting too close to Red Sox World Series Championship trophies at an event in Boston!
-Kathy McMahon is glad to be living in Rhode Island this winter. As snowy as it has been around here, at least it’s not as bad as her former hometown in upstate New York!
-Vin Meola announced that Dave Iannuccilli and his brother Len received an amazing honor at the recent Re/Max convention in Las Vegas—Re/Max USA’s Broker-Owner(s) of the Year award! Nice work, Dave!
-Yours truly happily congratulated Sami Pratt on the Lady Titans’ championship season. I also remembered young Sami’s special friendship back in 2001 and 2002 with her next-door neighbor, Scott Carlson, who must have been looking down with a big ol’ smile last week.
PROGRAM/SPEAKER
Bill Sequino, Classification Talk
Bill Sequino credited Mike Lenihan, Pat’s husband and former State Senator, for bringing Bill to East Greenwich, and thus, to becoming an East Greenwich Rotarian doing his classification talk today. Mike was the chairman of the search committee charged with finding a town manager for East Greenwich. When Bill accepted the position, Pat was then able to find him a great house in town!
Bill is a native of Warren, RI and a Roger Williams College graduate. He met his wife, Cynthia, at the Warren Town Beach 41 years ago. Bill and Cynthia have two children, a son and daughter, and both live today in Colorado.
Cynthia works at Happy Hearts on South County Trail, and she is also a very busy, and very good, artist. Bill loves fly fishing and taking off on Fridays for weekend skiing in Vermont.
Bill’s decades of public administration work included: Statesville, North Carolina, where electrical work was a main focus; Owensboro, Kentucky, where the mayor was the local ‘king maker’; Stoneham, Massachusetts, where he enjoyed being close to the Boston political scene; and of course, his successful 25 years as Town Manager of East Greenwich, RI.
Upon retirement from East Greenwich, Bill has managed to remain fairly busy…!
-He was able to participate in, with 80 fellow students, a 3-week class at the Kennedy School of Government.
-He is an adjunct professor at Roger Williams University.
-He works for a consulting firm specializing in selecting police and fire chiefs.
-He is the new Executive Director of the RI Clean Water Finance Agency.
The RI Clean Water Finance Agency just allocated $20 million toward improving Warwick’s sewerage treatment center right off Route 95. Also, the agency helps small water suppliers throughout the state. Bill said he’s proud to be able to help turn $1 of federal or state grant money into $2.50 locally.
Nice job, and welcome aboard, Bill!