New Canaan Rotary Club Bulletin                                            April 9, 2009

 

David breezed into the Roger promptly at 12:14 and 47 seconds, dropped his satchel at his throne and rang the bell.  No preamble, no schmoozing, no networking.  Pastor John Kerchoff saw this as an opportunity and filled the void with a lengthy prayer.  Having been forewarned by the reappearance of ADDT in the parking lot, the crowd parted like the Red Sea and Adolph marched from the rear of the dining room through the opening unimpeded to the buffet where he filled his plate, accepting homage and accolades from the members as is his due.  Because Joe Rucci was absent no turf wars developed between the FBI and local law enforcement represented by NC Police Chief Ed Nadriczny in our midst.  The meeting was off to a sublime start worthy of the glorious spring day on display beyond the windows.

 

Aside from the large number of speakers, our only guest was Jose from Brazil in his farewell appearance for this visit.

 

President All Business All The Time Rucci leapt to the podium, acknowledged the absence of President-Elect Lots of Talk Most of the Time Walbert, which allowed for a largely truncated announcement session, and got right to it.  April 25 at 4:00 pm at the NC Library the Lyme Disease film, sponsored in part by our Club and featuring members of the Deer Committee [at least the program will feature them; I’m unclear about their presence in the film] will be shown.  David assured us that the program will be a hoot.  The Gridiron events will be April 15 for the womens and 17 for the mens commencing around 6:30 at the Country Club.  Our 50^th anniversary celebration, WHICH IS IN LIEU OF NEXT THURSDAY’S MEETING [you will recall that members’ tickets are covered by the application of the cancelled meeting’s tariff to the anniversary celebration], will be held at the Carriage Barn on April 18 starting around 7:00pm.  The Kerchoff family is putting together a high tech digitized retrospective and Dr. John requested that any photos, articles or other memorabilia not yet in his hands be delivered either to John his own self or son Andy at the humming Hummer Building at Karl Chevrolet.  Ex-President, Ex-Assistant District Governor Frank Bernardo will represent our humble Club at the District Conference in Newport.  It was whispered that President David had been forced to ensconce him in the Breakers and ply him with lobsters and champagne, but at least we will not be humiliated by a lack of representation.  Following his birthday celebration success, Frank offered to parachute in.

 

In the absence of both Scott and Steve, and with David having exhausted his A material last week, Frank was called upon to act as Sergeant-at-arms.  Following an interminable story about being rousted by the fuzz as he navigated the hood returning from Passero’s house on foot one evening last week, Frank gave a half-hearted effort and then passed among us as John Burns seized the floor for some right wing schtick.

 

Fireman Fred then rose to introduce our attractive, articulate and timely speakers, the aforementioned Chief Ed, Red Cross Head Stacey Hafen and Red Cross volunteer Susan Boston.  Due to a pressing appointment at Dunkin Donuts, Ed went first so he could leave early.  He opened with a little schtick of his own before launching into the meat of the program which was local preparedness for whatever the modern world has in store for our community in the future.  There are natural disasters, possible unpleasant school scenarios, potential terrorist activities, infrastructure failure, power disruptions, etc., etc.,etc.  They reviewed the training and preparations that first responders have been taking and indicated that it was now time for the citizens to prepare thoughtfully and intelligently to be independent, with no outside help of any kind, for up to a week.  Develop a family plan, how will we communicate, where will we meet, what supplies and equipment do we need; call Santella to purchase a generator; make sure your address is visible to any emergency worker; familiarize yourself with the website “newcanaanready.org;” think what to do with pets; reach out to vulnerable friends and family; learn first aid and CPR and how to administer the Heimlich maneuver.  If disaster strikes we don’t want to look like the Ninth Ward.  A timely and well-delivered program.  The Red Cross will be running a Readiness Fair on April 25 in front of Town Hall to further this effort.

 

Bulletin:  This just in.  There will be a Board Meeting at David’s office next Tuesday at 5:00 pm.  He will serve cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

 

Mayor Ray