New Canaan Rotary Club Bulletin                                                      May 22, 2008

 

A large crowd of eager grantees joined an animated group of Rotarians at the Roger in anticipation of the year’s most inspirational luncheon – allocations!  As 12:15 came and went there was a leadership void, as rumors spread that Amy had run off with a cadet after her District Conference weekend at West Point.  These proved false as Amy arrived breathless after David Rucci, in another naked grab for power, led the pledge and requested a prayer.  Your humble editor was in the anteroom and could neither identify the pray-er, nor hear the prayer, so we must accept on faith that the spirit and delivery were strong.

 

I heard that the food was excellent, although by the time I reached the buffet it looked like an Ethiopian picnic.  A few pieces of brown rice stuck to the bottom of the serving dish, one piece of cauliflower, and a spoonful of curried chicken.  The good news is that our guests ate well.

 

Amy, sans cadet, reported that the Club had been awarded both a Presidential and Outstanding Governor Citation at the District Conference.  Congratulations to President Amy and the Club.

 

Visiting Rotarians were John Watson from Westport and Paul Burnham from Wilton.  Ex NC Rotarian Pat Criss, now a third year seminarian at Yale was also in attendance representing a grantee group [more detail to follow].

 

Fred Baker announced that, as head of our Clean Your Mile effort, he planned to be absent, but last year’s leader Laura Rubinfeld would meet our team at the intersection of Farm Road and South Avenue this coming Saturday morning, May 24, at 9:00 am to attack South Avenue from Farm Road to the Parkway.  Team members can park in the YMCA parking lot.  This is a much easier route than the traditional 123 from Lakeview to the Parkway.  Let’s try to exceed the four members who showed up for our recent service project, particularly if you have not contributed any Rotary service recently.  Let Amy know by email if you plan to serve.

 

Frank Bernardo, standing in as the Sergeant of the day, told a totally appropriate joke for the occasion and collected dollars from Amy and Andy for their birthdays, and from Andy as an afterthought on his engagement, as well as child bride Susan Eng’rs 20^th wedding anniversary.

 

As we contemplate Conan replacing Leno and Kimmel replacing Conan, we witnessed Ben replacing David.  It was a jolting experience, and frankly only marginally successful until Gentle Ben zinged the Outback by confusing them with Strays and Others, and then noting how easy that actually was to do.  Nice edge.  Ben started with the international grants to our Rotary District Project, the South Asian Pure Water Initiative, and then moved on to the U.N. Committee for New Canaan and their school for Afgan girls project, Hospital Sacre Coeur in Haiti, and our friends at HALO who continue to demine the killing fields of Cambodia.  Americares provided a nice segue from international to domestic recipients as they announced their grant would be used in their Norwalk Free Clinic.  Ben then distributed envelopes to the Getabout, Camp Hand in Hand, Magical Music For Life [represented by the aforementioned Pat Criss], Meals on Wheels, and Fireman Fred who will use the money to install smoke detectors in homes without them.  Ben pressed on with grants to the NCHS Scholarship Committee, New Canaan Library [who qualified even without the heavy hand of David Bryant on the lever of the Allocation Committee], Nature Center, Historical Society, Ambulance Corps. YMCA, Nursing and Home Care, Strays and Others, the Outback [these are in fact separate organizations], Summer Theater, and, finally, the Town of New Canaan for the upgrading of waste receptacles around town.

 

It is always inspiring to recognize how many citizens of this town find meaningful ways of providing service to their fellow New Canaanites.  A truly fun and uplifting lunch and, dare we say it, perhaps a star is born.  Nice job, Ben.

 

David Letterman