New Canaan Rotary Club Bulletin                                                      January 25, 2008

 

Mea culpa!  Mea culpa!  Mea culpa!  As your dedicated scrivener I have written timely reports of the doings of the Rotary Club of New Canaan.  It is as the 21^st century equivalent of a newspaper delivery boy that I have proved wanting.  The technology has indeed got me flummoxed and that is the reason no bulletin was delivered the past two weeks.  I would never have known had not Roy Riggio taken umbrage at my upbraiding him for not having read the bulletin.  He replied that he hadn’t read it because he hadn’t got it, at which point even the ever diplomatic editor-in-chief piped up that he too had not received his copy.  My attempt to remedy this intolerable situation has led to a veritable avalanche of emails to one and all.  The fault lies with me alone.  My sense of shame knows no limits.

 

In the absence of President Amy and President-in-Hiding David the old pollster himself David Bryant attacked the bell and led the Pledge.  Having not bothered to appoint a chaplain for the day, David fidgeted in the silence until Mike Hobbs filled the void with an unsolicited blessing remembering the recently departed Joe Hussey.  A number of Rotarians filtered in from the funeral service as the meeting progressed.  Fred Baker was not among them as he was with his brother firefighters honoring their fallen comrade.

 

There was some milling about at the head of the chow line as Ad’s absence created uncertainty.  Like the wildebeests at the Mara River in Kenya however, once the first member made a commitment the herd followed.  Once again, the kitchen staff outdid themselves.

 

David then called for the introduction of Visiting Rotarians and guests.  As he could plainly see, there were none.  He then announced that there were no announcements.  The meeting took on a surreal tone.

 

Sergeant Scott brought us back to reality as he allowed that, with no visitors present and most of the dollies not in attendance, he would break out some of what he claimed was his A material.  It was at this point that it became clear how cruel Carolyn Clarke’s recovery from foot surgery really is.  Try as she would, she was unable to escape before Scott commenced.  In this case one was spared the wait for the punch line as the salty language started at the beginning of the performance.  Poor Carolyn looked like one of those poor wildebeests surrounded by a pride of male lions.  Fortunately, it was over quickly and she did not appear to suffer unduly.

 

David then asked Gene Tonkovich to grace us with his bio.  There was a palpable sense of déjà vu as he started with his birth in Brooklyn and his baseball career.  We thought Roy Riggio, who had already departed rather than listen to a blatant plaigiarism of his own life, was up again this week.  Then Gene veered off, claiming Irish ancestry, and regaled us with a year by year account of his evolution from Union Carbide suit to wind power entrepreneur.  Gene and his lovely bride of 37 years, Freddie, have two sons.  One is a partner in a Boston law firm and the other a hedge fund manager in London.  Gene promised a full program on the hot topic of wind power in the near future.  Verrrrrry interesting.

 

Remember to rsvp to Amy for the 2/14 Valentine’s lunch and the Roger for the 2/21 Losers Dinner.

 

Scoop