A Bend In The Road

ROTARY CLUB OF NEW CANAAN

BULLETIN FOR MARCH 30, 2006
President Jim was in place, in charge, and “in da house.” Bill Walbert gave a most remarkable prayer, inspiring us to do some good and in our hearts, we want to. The lunch was rich and fulfilling, the energy in the inn was the same.

Guests:
Fred Baker, New Canaan’s new Fire Marshall. (When our President-Elect, Nancy Robinson offered him a lit cigarette, this reporter was aghast.) Fred has a good idea: “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery” (in your smoke detector) this weekend as daylight savings time begins.
Nancy Belon introduced two friends who paid us a visit:
Beth Ganns owner of the Etheria Spa in New Canaan
Stacey Scruggs from the Trumbull Rotary Club
Various Announcements, some resulted in gifts to the basket:
John Engel our official blogger delivered detailed instructions for adding to the blog he created for us. Time to get blogging, it’s free, it’s an opinion venue, and it keeps hope alive!
Scott Hobbs delivered up a knee-slapper of a joke to bring joy to all of us.
Tom displayed another way to to keep hope alive, via the Tree of Hope which is a tool of giving and guilt, a patented means of collecting funds to replenish funds we will contribute to the Mead Park hot dog stand for baseball players. $7,500 has been given to the tree so far, not bad.
President Jim is working on a Rotary presence on Saturday, April 22nd, the opening of the stand and baseball season at Mead Park. Also, Jim’s mother completed her full and valuable life of 99 years, earlier in the week. Condolences and appreciation from all of us for a life well lived.
John Kerchoff gave some happy dollars to report on his family vacation in St. Martin, visuals to follow.
Nancy Robinson will be headed to the District Assembly on Thursday, 4/6, call her to hook up.
Easter Egg Hunt (which we sponsor) will be THIS SATURDAY 4/1, at Dunning Field or Waveny or at the NCHS gym, depending on weather. Please report at 8 AM.

Program:
Sandy Parker introduced Bonnie McEneaney who provided thoughts and words that we’ll never forget. Bonnie is the widow of Eamon McEneaney, a 9/11 victim, a poet and a man with a remarkable connection to life and his own vulnerabilities. Bonnie told us how Eamon began to predict his own death some years after he saved 60 people in the first WTC bombing of 1993. He saw his future with great precision and uncanny accuracy. From “knowing” the year he would die to a heightened sense of impending death on Labor Day (9/2/01) at a family gathering, to his discomfort on the morning of 9/11, Eamon seems to have been connected to some larger life force. We can be skeptical of the idea that some of us are so connected to the cosmic but Eamon’s poetry and Bonnie’s loving and careful talk combined for one of the best programs in our Club’s long line of Thursday presentations. (Also, copies of Eamon’s collected poems in a volume titled A Bend in the Road from Cornell University Press, are available at New Canaan Library.) Apologies for that plug but Bonnie left some of us wanting to know even more about a man we never met.

Respectfully submitted,

Charlie O. Finley

John Burns then rose . . .

New Canaan Rotary Club Bulletin March 23, 2006

The meeting started auspiciously when the elusive President Jim arrived and called us all to order. The Pledge was performed without incident and Adolph called down God’s blessing upon the assemblage with particular attention to himself and Marty Skrelunas. No reason was proferred for this request, none was asked for, and lunch proceeded apace.

Peter M. Santella, charter member of our Club and local entrepreneur was with us once again, looking healthier than members half his age, preparing for physical therapy following his recent triple bypass. Pete has long been an icon in the Club and he continues to show us how it’s done.

The word of our lack of decorum has evidently spread far and wide as no guests or visiting Rotarians showed the requisite courage to infiltrate our midst. This turned out to save considerable embarrassment when Sgt-at-Arms Steve Risbridger [who was surprisingly seen above ground in the month before April 15] rose and offended everyone in the room with an extremely tasteless tale of the wild west. One can only shudder at the potential fallout if outsiders had been assaulted with his performance.

Ben Bilus gave a brief overview of the Rotary International Foundation. We strive to donate $100 per member per year to this efficient and effective organization. The Foundation is huge, understands how to leverage its assets, and has the incredible advantage of having Rotarian boots on the ground to accept, account for and distribute whatever aid is being delivered. Ben noted that our Club had met its goal the past few years, but only because of the generosity of a few, not $100 from each member. Let’s support Ben and the Rotary International Foundation this year. It is a great place to put your philanthropic assets to work.

Frank Bernardo had a copy of an article regarding the difficulties currently being encountered in the final stages of the eradication of polio from this planet. As we all know, this has been one of the primary efforts of the Rotary Foundation. Frank, with the aid of IT maven John Engel will post a copy of the article on our blog.

Next week the very same John Engel will bring a how-to sheet for the technologically challenged members in an effort to afford access to the blog for all. Be there or be square.

New member John Burns then rose to deliver his very impressive biography. In fact, one wonders why John would want to be associated with any club that would have Groucho as a member. He came out of Belmont, MA, Boston College, Harvard Business School, the U.S. Navy and Goldman Sachs to become the president and ceo of Allegheny Corporation, which he ran for 37 years. He has a wife, Barbara and five grown children and has lived in New Canaan for 37 years. In his retirement he is working 40 hours a week as a security analyst. He capped off his riveting presentation with a stirring rendition of Ode to a Bos’un’s Mate, proving once again that our home grown programs are frequently our best. Welcome John.

Bernie Williams [Designated Hitter]

Back from journeys across our great land . . .

ROTARY CLUB OF NEW CANAAN

BULLETIN FOR MARCH 2, 2006

Back from journeys across our great land was President Jim, swinging the gavel, trying to re-establish his leadership role. He seemed to get his footing despite the snowy day and we settled into a delightful luncheon with great food, random topics for discussion, and the joy of being re-united at the Roger Sherman Inn.

Guests:
Boris introduced former New Canaanite, Ken Bonner.
John introduced his son (who is becoming a regular guest), Andy Kerchoff

Various Announcements, some resulted in gifts to the basket:
-President Jim suggested a visit to Mead Park to see the amazing construction of the Mead Park Lodge, where Boris has helped design the “Rotary Patio.”
-Joe Rucci enjoyed a wedding anniversary.
-Ben Bilus, looking 56 announced his 57th birthday.

Program:
We welcomed Kurt Chesko, Program Officer of The Halo Trust in New York City. Kurt and his colleague in good work, Nigel, have visited our Club before. Always impressive, The Halo Trust seemed particularly important today as Kurt described three areas of focus for the organization: landmine removal, small arms and light weapon disposal, and disposal of ordinance. With an abridged but effective PowerPoint slide show, Kurt showed some of the 6,600 staff of Halo and volunteers (including Cindy McCain) at work in Sudan, Cambodia, and Afghanistan three of the places where the debris of war persists as a threat to agriculture and citizens. Halo harvests 100 mines each day in Cambodia and Afghanistan. This is painstaking work. Kurt showed a map of Cambodia, marked by land mine incidents, with a noticeable “belt” of injuries in the northwest part of the country – legacy of Pol Pot’s Kahmar Rouge. (As part of our Club allocations to significant international projects, we will review a grant request from Halo to fund land mine removal in a portion of that NW Cambodian belt.) The mission and success is impressive. Quality, caring people like Kurt and many volunteers have benefiting people in places where life is harder and made worse by the weapons of war left long after conflict has ended.

Respectfully submitted,

Johnny Pesky

President For Life?

While it has been two years since he led the New Canaan Rotary Club, David Bryant casts a long shadow in this club. This image on our web page shows he hasn't relinquished office. I guess you just can't put a good man down.

For The Fun Of It, Right In The Middle of Winter...

ROTARY BULLETIN
February 23, 2006

For the fun of it, right in the middle of winter, we threw open the doors for an evening of conviviality and what do you think happened? Eleven members with a combined total of 156 Rotary service years arrived with eight spouses for the occasion. Ad played the roll of gentle greeter as he and Helen held forth in a quiet corner of the Sherman's new taproom. Along about seven, it looked as though we had reached full muster, and the Inn's elves scurried to the anteroom to set the table and kindle the fire. No, this was to be an egalitarian gathering, thus forefend the dais. The round table elicited visions of King Arthur's knights supping in the glow of a crackling fire. Though a little large for tiddley-winks, we could all gaze upon one another and for the most part, converse pleasantly with any participant. Sandie brought Barbara and Margo up to date on The Care Center. Kathy and Nancy relived some hockey moments from the games in Italy. The Kerchoff's led us in the pledge of allegiance, and Faith fell silent as John thanked The Provider for our blessings. No sooner had Jean Marie And Ellen placed their napkins than Dr. Bernardo rose to post a query. If we had nothing else on our plates after desert, would we like a sneak preview of the pictures taken on the Mombassa safari? Well, clearly, the house was not going to whip up crepes Suzettes after dinner, thus Frank went into setup mode. He fiddled and fiddled, got not a bite of salad and very little dinner, was saved by "go back" and finally the PowerPoint presentation commenced. The fauna of Kenya, the vistas and the close-ups of Derek Pope and Frank dazzled us. The parade of animals ranged from Frank's pet rooster to wildebeests and lions. Soon to come will be more on the classrooms and infrastructure at the local school.

As the embers died down, the group dispersed still glowing from a warm evening of fellowship and congeniality.

Charles Dickens