President Nancy Stood Up

ROTARY CLUB OF NEW CANAAN

JULY 20, 2006

President Nancy (stood up) and promptly rang the opening bell. Chaplain Tomaselli, who was pre-warned, performed the invocation, asking God to help clear up the messes we now have going on in the world. His words were met with many hearty amens.

Then it was into the lunch buffet with a surprise. Ad stopped for soup and was passed by two members. A huge breach of etiquette!

Our one-way African traveler remarked that, given today's luncheon display, the RCNC was likely to become one of the healthiest Rotary clubs in the country. Scott Clueless explained that this would foul up the actuarial tables of many insurance companies. The healthy food was blamed on the president who had been asking for chicken salad since her installation.

The meeting started. Guests included a radiologist from East Jesus, New Hampshire who gets lost and shows up at the Sherman about once a month. The president started with a report on the sidewalk sale of Lobsterfest tickets -- which expended 25-30 hours of member service on the 15th. Rucci Sr. asked how many tickets were sold. The president gave him a round figure. Zero. And then Joltin' Joe and Mrs. Robinson went at it. Not a pretty sight. The prez then threatened to bring in a "naughty stool" and institute a policy of "time outs."

Il Duce introduced our speaker, Chip Lewis, district governor of 7980. The DC's first act was to install Jim Azzarito as assistant governor. Now we know this district is in real trouble.

Mr. Lewis had 10 pages of notes, and his jacket had six Rotary badges and pins and he wore a Rotary tie-tack. Chip has been a long time Rotarian and has the Rotary spirit to the Nth degree. He told us about some of the goals of RI president Bill Boyd.

Among them:

Membership: Rotary clubs are asked to each gain one net new member per year. This would add to 33,000 additional Rotators annually.

Water: Chip encouraged Rotary clubs to institute a water project, or join with another Rotary club, to do a water project. (The New Canaan pool doesn't count.)

Literacy: After everybody has water, literacy helps. We were congratulated for the donations of dictionaries to all NC third graders -- which was funded by an anonymous NC Rotarian. Maybe we should do this annually.

Polio-Plus: This writer thought we did this twenty years ago. To the tune of $600 million. But if there is more to do, we should think about it.

The real stuff came in the questions to DG Lewis: What's going on with the RI/Americares partnership?

Here's what appears to this scribe. Americares has a great ability to acquire huge amounts of medical supplies and to transport them to almost any place in the world to respond to whatever disaster may have occurred. Once the goods are on the ground, Americares has no staff/folks/whatever to make sure the materials get to the people who need them. Local governments hold shipments up. Shipments get stolen -- sometimes by the authorities -- and sold to the people who need the materials. Or they just disappear. Americares just isn't able to control what happens on the ground.

But Rotary International has 1.2 million people in 172 countries. And they are people who want to serve. These are good people. They won't steal the medicine. They'll figure out how to get it to the people who need it. Not to the local corrupt cabal.

Isn't this what Rotary is all about?

How can we make it happen?

Important news you may have missed:

The new executive chef at The Roger Sherman is out of control. It is rumored that next week's speaker will be Adele Davis, author of "You Are What You Eat." In her honor, the contemplated menu will include veggie burgers, kale salad in olive oil, tofu casserole and yogurt. Dessert will be carob cake with sesame seed frosting. This ramped-up health food diet promises to improve all members' sex drive. Blame the president. Note that the world's most extravagant hot dog stand at Mead Park sells take-out.

Lawyers in disguise. The American Trial Lawyers Association has today changed its name to the American Association for Justice. Right!

Foul ball. In 1918, the Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, declared that baseball was a non-essential occupation.

It's a riot. Today is the anniversary of England's Riot Act, 1715.

Happy Birthday. Today is also the anniversary of the birthdays of Sir Edmund Hillary, Margot Blake Anderson and Carlos Santana.

Cordially yours,

Kofi Annan