Sept 18 Rotary Club of New Canaan

Rotary Club of New Canaan

Sept 18, 2009

 

 

Much to the glee of members, our seldom seen president, Bill Walbert emerged from Loch Ness, the Himalayas or a remote wooded area of the Northwest where it was reported that he had been spotted, to lead this merry group of malcontents.

Ad Tomaselli led us in prayer and offered up a special prayer to the Almighty for Joe Rucci, of whom it can only be said that every morning when Joe gets up and puts his feet on the ground, Satan and Beelzebub look at each other and say “Oh crap, he’s up.”

The last push for Lobsterfest tickets is underway. If you have not sold yours, signed up for a shift or two and collected clamshells for baked goods, you just might be out of luck, because maybe there are no more tickets available, maybe all the slots are filled and maybe we have a surfeit of baked goods!!  Maybe not!!

Scott Hobbs requested that you bring baked goods to the Historical Society, not his house, and refrain from items that need to be refrigerated.

Thanks to Fred Baker, who obtained our much needed health certificate.

Business cards are still being sought to add to our fund raising effort.

The first annual golf outing will take place October 14^th, and according to our sources you don’t actually have to be a good golfer or even a mediocre one to participate and have a good time. And if you don’t wish to do that you can certainly show up at the cocktail party following the time on the green.

Scott reported that he had no jokes, which was followed by wild and enthusiastic applause. The good news/bad news segment was highlighted by Frank Bernardo’s sad announcement that for the first time in 18 years “Beer here” will not be echoing off the hills of New Canaan at the Lobsterfest. It has been suggested that a recording be made and utilized during the event. Further confirming the devil’s opinion of Rucci the Elder, Joe suggested dressing the Rotary Elf up as a lobster and having her walk the streets of New Canaan.

Though unemployment may be on the rise, it is good times in the Walbert household with the news that Bill’s daughter has landed a job with an architectural firm in St. Louis.

The guest speaker was Amy Gildea, a mortgage loan officer with The Bank of New Canaan. An active member of the community and the mother of four Amy has been involved in numerous activities including being the driving force behind girls’ hockey and helping found a medical school in Tanzania. A lawyer and a graduate of Purdue, Amy emphasized the personal relationships that BNC develops with their customers. This is the bank where everyone knows your name. In addition, to having lots of money to lend, Amy reported that with low interest rates this is the ideal time to purchase a home.  It is BNC’s mission statement to offer exceptional service to the local community. Amy also gifted each Rotarian with a lovely bag of goodies. Not to be outdone our own member/banker Sandy Parks will show up next week with a lovely bag of money for each of us.

 

Submitted

Christopher Dodd

 

Rotary Club September 10, 2009

New Canaan Rotary Club Meeting

September 10, 2009

 

In accordance with its new policy of vetting presidential talks, the New Canaan Board of Education (a/k/a Republican Town Committee) reviewed and approved of most of President Bill Walbert's remarks to the New Canaan Rotary Club today.

 

Probably just a well, because what was left of Bill's speech was so sanitized that it did not receive the usual "You lie!" shout-outs from the honorable members.

 

Rick Kellam and Albert Fleur were guests.  Mr. Fleur, from the Mt Kisco Rotary Club, spoke briefly about "Shelter Boxes" which are 4'x4'x4' boxes containing everything a family needs to survive a disaster, including a tent, food, water and cooking implements.  The Mt Kisco club is raising money to buy these boxes to give out to needy people in case a Katrina-like disaster hits our area.  His club is having a big meeting on this at the Holiday Inn in Mt Kisco next Wednesday at 12:15 pm. 

 

John Engel described the Golf Outing fund raiser in October and Scott Hobbs gave out 24 plastic clam shells to each club member for the 24 desserts we each must prepare and bring to the Lobsterfest in September.  Do not mix these dates up!  John Engel will have no idea what to do with 24 brownies other than to put them into his Shelter Box.

 

Our featured speaker for the day was Alon Marom of Kids in Crisis (www.kidsincrisis.org), an organization based in Cos Cob, which provides counseling and housing to children who, for one reason or another, are separated from their families.  One of its activities, Teen Talk, provides a counselor to New Canaan High School who talks to children who are in trouble.  Most impressive about this organization is its 24/7 aspect so that at risk children are given immediate and continuous attention once their problems develop.  Kids in Crisis distributes "Safe Place" signs which libraries, stores, fire departments, etc. display at their entrances so that children will know that if they get to these locations, help will be called and a Kids in Crisis counselor will come to assist the child.

 

Honorable Joe Wilson

 

 

Rotary Club Sept 3 09

 

 

New Canaan Rotary Club Meeting

September 3, 2009

 

 

The gathering of Rotarians was led this week by President in Waiting, Scott Hobbs. Once again current President Walbert was missing and has become so elusive that he has been listed with Bigfoot, Champ and the Loch Ness monster as something that is reported to exist, but no credible sightings have been confirmed.

Guests included Atty. Burnham of the august law firm Rucci Burnham. He is the nice one. Not a very high bar, all things considered. Rick Kellam made a guest appearance looking fit, tan and happy to be among us once again.

Everyone, yes everyone, is urged to get out there and sell tickets for the much anticipated Lobster Fest which will be held Friday and Saturday, September 25^th and 26^th. Clamshells for desserts, at least 2 dozen per member are expected. Inexplicably, neither past president Rucci nor future president Hobbs will be in attendance because Scott reported that the two of them will be camping in the woods with Wee Princesses or something like that. Garland Walton, a recently returned Ambassadorial Scholar to France was our speaker several weeks ago and she told us that she had the recipe for the world’s best goat cheese tart on her website, but left without sharing her email address. It is www.blog garlandwalton.com. Now we can all eat cheese tarts.

This week’s Montreal Moment: Quartier Latin. Rue St-Denis offers top restaurants long with lively nightlife. It’s also one of the best areas to take in the passing scene at an outdoor café.

Guest speakers were Julianne Grace, Cynthia Gorey and Susie Repko. It was explained that the economic times indicated the wisdom of combining the United Way with the New Canaan Community Foundation. The work formerly done by the United Way will now be under the auspices of Neighbors United. One of the most impressive parts of the talk was that the spirit of cooperation and doing what was best for the community prevailed over petty concerns and politics. The result is that the community will continue to benefit from the work done by these organizations. Let the politicians in Washington and elsewhere note this example.

In addition, several members of the Rotary Club are active members of the Foundation. They included Bill Walbert, Leo Karl who took a few minutes to request the cooperation of everyone in the fall fundraising of the foundation, Dave Rucci, Frank McBrearity and the unassuming but always charming Ben Bilus.

 

Sarah Palin