Cogitator April 13, 2011

GUESTS

Kathryn Lesh, Laura Krohn's elder law colleague, joined us.   

ANNIVERSARIES

Congratulations and happy 47th wedding anniversary to Alan (and Emi) Flynn on the 18th of April.  Also, happy Rotary anniversary to Seth Wilson who joined the club a year ago this week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Bonnie Sauer was impressed with the club's generosity toward the Feinstein Challenge, both in the amount and quality of food donated so far.  Keep it coming!  And keep those cash donations coming as well.  So far, she has raised $386, which really means $772 since our funds will be matched.  We need $114 (thus $228) more to reach the $1000 mark.  Bonnie's Feinstein efforts will continue until the end of April.  Nice work, Bonnie! 

Jane Boynton mentioned that special pricing for parties of 6 at the club's A Taste of the Town will be passed on to parties of 8 as well.  (Bring a calculator, however, and some spare change with you.)  Hey, whether you're paying $35 or $31.67, here's a simpler idea...just gather as many friends and family members as possible for a great night, Friday, May 20th, at the Swift Community Center.   

Judy Pratt had another positive update on the Scott Carlson Memorial ALS 5K, coming up on Saturday, April 23rd at Goddard Park.  More and more registrations are coming in, we're approaching last year's sponsorship numbers, and now is really crunch time for all last minute preparation.  Please make sure to volunteer for set-up duty the day before the race, Friday, April 22nd.  Judy will need as many people as possible at 2pm to set up tables, banners, food stations, and, to get 750 goody bags ready to hand out to registered runners/walkers.  

ROTARY FOUNDATION MINUTE

John Wolcott announced that we raised an extra $261 for the Foundation in March Happy Bucks.  

Also, John presented information on the Rotary Foundation's Group Study Exchange program.  The Rotary World Fund sponsors Group Study Exchange(s) (GSE), typically a 4-6 week exchange program between participating countries.  Since 1965, nearly 65,000 people have participated in GSE.  Last year alone, $4.5 million was spent on GSE.  This year's visiting exchange team will be from Scotland.  They'll be here in Rhode Island for 1 week.  John and several other generous East Greenwich Rotarians have volunteered their homes for several nights as they host exchange team members.  We'll meet the Scottish team on May 11th.

HAPPY BUCKS

Judy Pratt thanked John and Donna Wolcott for recently offering their seats behind home plate at McCoy Stadium.  Also, thanks to Seth Wilson for his phenomenal work in getting 3000(!) PawSox tickets for the ALS 5K race.  Finally, Wayne Harrington, an ALS patient from Parkinson Industries, will throw out the first pitch at McCoy in an upcoming game.  Parkinson's 'Team Wayne' has contributed over $2500 this year to the ALS race with both a sponsorship and a huge number of Team Wayne registrants.

Lou Lepry was happy to announce his seasonal retirement from the daffodil sales business (for the American Cancer Society).

Jane Boynton was happy to get out of the ticket-discounting-math business, while she thanked several Rotarians: Andy Erickson for purchasing a Taste of the Town table of 8; Seth Wilson for SeaScape's terrific 'Free Summer Lawn Care' auction item; Bob Petrucelli for his recent tax work; and yours truly for efforts on the Cogitator. 

Bill TenEyck was happy that A Taste of the Town was recently well represented (a front page story!) in the Pendulum.  

Soozie Sundlun was pleased that EG Photo sold more online pictures last month than in several years.  Also, Soozie's son Max is getting married on May 28th to 'a great gal.'

John Wolcott reported on a fun Santa Workshop weekend with 80 other Santas from all over.  He also reported that he's not quite sure how it happened, but he did actually fork over $650 for special Santa boots!  

Beth DeGerlia also commented on the nice Pendulum article promoting Taste of the Town.  And, Beth promoted a May 6th gala at Rocky Hill School during which you could win an I-Touch (please see Beth for more details). 

PROGRAM/SPEAKER 

Our speaker, Alex Moore, was a no-show...

President Ed offered anyone the chance to tell a story or two, but there were few takers.  Chuck Sauer was willing, but Bonnie vetoed that move and was seen reaching for the duct tape.  

...and the club was happily dismissed by President Ed shortly after Happy Bucks.