Club Meeting March 26, 2019
Opening and Welcome: President Dick Kisiel 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, Jed Dery, Frank DiGennaro, Gail Handley, Jackie Hemond, Richard Kisiel, Jack Muska, Roger Pratt, Jay Presser, Don Rawling, Scott Seabury, Tom Sullivan and Nancy Viggiano. (14/31….45%).
Guests: Margaret Hale (our speaker) and Renae Ransdell (prospective member) and Paul Muska – who will be inducted next month as our newest member.
Announcements:
Dick welcomed Margaret and Renae to the meeting and announced the date of Paul’s induction.
Our District Governor, Kate Sims, has appointed a committee to organize a district Opioid Crisis action plan. As a portion of this plan, an initiative is asked of each Rotary Club to plan a program to purchase and distribute Deterra Drug Deactivation System pouches. Dick is leading the investigation into the purchase and distribution phase of this project and we look forward to assisting with this worthwhile effort. (Thanks to Jon K for Windsor Federal’s immediate pledge of support to this project).
In answer to questions about the product; Kate provided the following:
What it is: The Deterra Drug Deactivation System is an independently tested, safe, and environmentally sound solution to permanently deactivating, destroying and disposing of unneeded pills, patches, liquids, creams and films at-home and in clinical and public settings.
Why Deterra Pouches? Deterra can be used to positively impact communities by mitigating the misuse and abuse of prescription medications while helping to preserve the environment. More information can be found at https://youtu.be/
Jackie Hemond announced the 350th anniversary committee golf fundraiser has been rescheduled to May 12 at SCC and hopes our Rotary team(s) will plan to attend. Let’s put our banner on the golf cart!
Wine Tasting: May 17 @ Suffield by the River. Tickets available from Nancy and Gayle; attendees were provided 5 tickets apiece to sell. Our maximum attendance permitted is 150 and the goal is to fill the dining hall to its max! We will have wine, beer, liquors as well as the bar in the dining hall available; Suffield by the River is providing wonderful appetizers.
Program:
Margaret Hale was introduced and relayed her 10 year history of the development of the Nutmeg Senior Rides program. The mission of Nutmeg Senior Rides is to improve the quality of life for people 50 and older and adults with visual impairments by providing members affordable, door-through-door, personal transportation. Margaret, the Executive Director, works with the local towns who currently provide transportation to fill the specific needs for those who cannot be serviced otherwise. The program has volunteers and paid drivers (40 cents a mile pay rate) who use their private cars to pick up seniors and provide transportation to area destinations with a 14 mile fee cap with rides costing $4 pickup fee and $1.50/mile charge. Scheduling is done online; drivers login to learn what rides are requested and can pick the rides they would like to provide. Interested in volunteering? https://www.nutmegseniorrides.org/ has all the information!
Blue Ticket Winners: Blue ticket winner was Tom Sullivan with side winners Nancy and Frank.
Queen of Hearts: Jack Muska had the winning ticket and did not pull the Queen of Hearts. Total winning pot now stands at $234.
Birthdays and Anniversaries: None.
Adjournment: Scott closed the meeting with a group singing of “My Country Tis of Thee”.
Next week’s meeting–Apr 2
Business Meeting – Membership Initiatives. We will discuss the various membership types Rotary International has sanctioned:
Family memberships, junior memberships to young professionals, corporate memberships and service membership
Each type of membership can have its own policies on dues, attendance, and service expectations which each club determines. Rotary will count these people in your club membership and will consider them active members if they pay RI dues. A trial basis of one year is suggested prior to changing by-laws to include a new category of membership and its definition.