Club Meeting April April 2, 2019
Opening and Welcome: President-Elect Gayle Demko opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and the recitation of the Rotary Four-Way Test. Scott Seabury provided the invocation and led the club singing of “God Bless America”.
Members Present: Dale Baker, Gayle Demko, Frank DiGennaro, Gail Handley, Greg Heineman, Jon Kozloski, Luis Lee, Don Miner, Roger Pratt, Jay Presser, Scott Seabury, Gordon Stagg and Nancy Viggiano. (13/31….39%).
Guests: Paul Muska-new member inductee and honorary member Tom Modzelesky.
Announcements:
Gayle welcomed Tom Modzelesky to the meeting.
Events:
The Wine Tasting Fundraiser planning is in full swing. Nancy handed out posters to our members to be displayed in various areas of town. An ad will be forthcoming in the Suffield Observer and our Facebook page has our information. Please invite your friends and neighbors to participate!
Scott Seabury will present a discussion of the making of the movie “A Promise to Astrid” on June 2 at 6 pm at Bethany Assembly of God in Agawam. We are all looking forward to seeing his production on the silver screen!!!
Opioid Project Update: Our District President, Kate Sims, has encouraged all 59 clubs in the district to support a method of disposal of unused drugs. There is a pouch that contains an environmentally-friendly product that will dissolve the unused drugs which she has endorsed for district distribution. Dick will ask CVS if they will distribute the pouches; and if not we will look for another method of providing these pouches to homes in Suffield, perhaps by sponsoring a distribution day or partnering up with other groups in town to handle distribution with us. Funding for the project is also under review.
Program:
Our business meeting this evening featured a discussion regarding the four membership categories that Rotary International has introduced: Service, Family, Young Professionals and Corporate/Business. Various members added their thoughts toward expanding our membership categories. It is agreed that new members who share in the commitment and enthusiasm of our current members are excellent additions and that we need to attract membership to keep our club vital and effective. As we invite interested associates to consider joining, we will continue to assess officially expanding membership roles and categories.
Defined goal:
- Invite as many professionals and interested associates as possible, perhaps denoting one night per quarter as a meeting for prospective members.
- Examine the family membership as spouses of current members as well as prospective members may be interested in community service.
Upcoming professionals, spouses and community members who are committed to community and service will make our organization more successful. Much in Rotary has changed over the past 25 years, our commitment to service and community hasn’t. Rotary gives us the opportunity demonstrate our commitment and share this experience. It is our responsibility to support our present club projects and to set the stage for a successful club future. We have a club with talent, diversification and devotion to the four-way test; sharing this commitment and community involvement will only make us stronger.
Blue Ticket Winners: Blue ticket winner was Don Miner with side winners, Greg H and Gordon.
Queen of Hearts: Jack Muska had the winning ticket and did not pull the Queen of Hearts. Total winning pot now stands at $344.
Birthdays and Anniversaries: No birthdays were celebrated this evening.
Adjournment: Scott closed the meeting with a group singing of “My Country Tis of Thee”.
Next week’s meeting– April 9 - Student of the Month