Club Meeting May 9, 2017

 

Opening and Welcome:  President Jackie Guzie opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and the recitation of the Rotary Four-Way Test. Scott Seabury gave the invocation and led the singing of “God Bless America”.

 

Members Present: Joe Blake, Gayle Demko, Jed Dery, Greg DeSantis, Frank DiGennaro, Natalie Donais, Jackie Guzie, Gail Handley, Richard Kisiel, Jon Kozloski, Luis Lee, Clark Mason, Karen Mason,  Cat Morrow, Jack Muska, Paul Pace, Donald Rawling, Charles Roumas, Scott Seabury, Gordon Stagg, and Nancy Viggiano.  (22/35….62.9%).

 

Guests: Rotary Student of the Month Rachel Roncaioli, and her parents Tony and Linh.  

 

 

-Jon Kozloski thanked the club on behalf of himself and wife Ashlyn for the wedding anniversary flowers delivered to his home.

 

- Nancy Viggiano thanked her fellow members of the Rotary scholarship selection committee for their participation. This included Cat Morrow, Natalie Donais, Jack Muska, and Joe Blake. There were ten total Rotarian Scholarship Recipients:

 

SCHOLARSHIP                               RECIPIENT
Thea Dutcher Coburn                      Kaylee Velasquez

Dr. Alfred Stafford                          Giancarlo Isotti

J. Henry Zavisza                             Azemina Kuljancic

Gerald Holder                                 Caelie Flanagan

Ralph “Nick” Mickelsen                    Caitlin Little

Cpl. Stephen R. Bixler                     John Butler

Lev Ahrens                                     Leah Aronson

Rotary Club                                    Madison Fahle

Rotary Club                                    Kelly Carucci

Elaine O’Brien                                 Marybeth Heys

 

Program: President Jackie Guzie and RSOM Coordinator Natalie Donais were pleased to introduce and congratulate Rachel Roncaioli as May 2017 Rotary Student of the Month. Rachel is also the SHS Class of 2017 Valedictorian!

 

Rachel began her remarks to the Club by thanking everyone for this award, and especially her parents for instilling in her an incredible work ethic. She led us through her many interests and aspirations, including her focus on the allied health field. She attributed this especially to her knowledge attained from her biology teacher, Mr. Mark Beigel, and her internship at UCONN’s Health Center, working alongside Dr. Mark Hansen and his team studying Osteosarcoma’s cells and gene expression.  

 

Among her many other achievements are fluency in Spanish, Interact participation (SHS Rotary org), Project Keep Me Safe, Wildcat Advisory Group, and leadership roles in the National Honor Society, Class Council, and Student Senate. When asked by our President-elect Dick Kisiel about suggestions on how to improve our local education, Rachel responded that she was a big supporter of SHS AP curriculum, and felt it needed more study time and attention to optimize it for the students; the program is a bit “rushed”. Her overall experience was wonderful and she and our club looked forward to a bright future for her and its impact on the community.

 

Blue Ticket Winners: Tom Sullivan had the winning blue ticket, with sides won by Natalie Donais and Clark Mason.

 

Queen of Hearts: Gail Handley had the winning ticket, but did not select the Queen of Hearts. Next week’s pot is $231+.

 

Birthdays and Anniversaries: Frank DiGennaro was serenaded with a rousing rendition of the “Happy Birthday Song” by all club members and guests.

 

Adjournment: Jackie Guzie adjourned the meeting with the assistance of Scott Seabury leading “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” as the closing song.

 

The next meeting is May 16, 2017 with a discussion led by our President-elect Richard Kisiel of our 2017/2018 goals with input solicited from all members.

 

Minutes recorded by Charles Roumas, Secretary on May 9, 2017.