President Fred was on time and Kerchoff the Elder improved greatly...April 3, 2014

New Canaan Rotary Club Bulletin                            April 3, 2014

 

President Fred was on time and Kerchoff the Elder improved greatly on last week's wholly inadequate blessing.  In keeping with Jim Cole's membership blitz Laura Einstein's friend Ann Cheney was once again in the room as was Jim's guest Police Commissioner Stuart Sawabini.  Let's support Jim's effort.  Get creative.  Who do you know who is willing to work to change the world for the better?

 

Head Dictionarian Keith thanked host and caterer Rich Townsend for the use of his office, the pizza, wine, beer and soda; and elf dictionarians Amy, Ed, Fred, John M., Marty and Mike for making short work of labeling the dictionaries on Monday evening.  They have been completely paid for [thanks to the anonymous members who make this project possible] and Keith is awaiting word from the schools regarding distribution dates.  Anyone wishing to help with that effort should contact Keith at

keithsimpson@hotmail or 203-966-7071.  B.T. was heard volunteering to return to his alma mater, West School, in an effort to demonstrate to the faculty who predicted his failure that he has scaled the heights of capitalism.

 

Dates to remember:  April 23, Gridiron women; April 25, Gridiron men; April 26 at 9:00 in the NCHS parking lot Clean Your Mile;  May 2, 3, 4, the District Assembly and Conference in Mystic;  May 6, combined NCHS Band and Summer Theater of NC free concert at NCHS; May 8, Golf Tournament at CCNC;  June 14 from 6:00 - 9:00, Wine, Cheese and Art at the Carriage Barn; June 26, coronation dinner.  In addition, April 4 at 7:00 in the NCHS auditorium, Nathaniel Philbrick, author of One Book New Canaan selection In the Heart of the Sea; and April 6 in the Lamb Room at 4:30, Henry Urbach, Director of the Glass House.  There will be a test.

 

Assistant District Governor Ben reported that he and Fred had engaged in a Skype interview with South Salem native Kevin Nascimiento, a young man who served three years in the Peace Corps in Ghana and now works for an NGO in that African nation, who is interested in being sponsored for a R.I. Peace Scholarship.   South Salem has no Rotary Club so, since we are the closest Club to his home, he contacted Fred.  Ben and Fred were mightily impressed by the young man and have forwarded his application on to District from where it will be bucked up to Evanston.  They said that talking with Kevin gave them optimism for the future.  We will follow the application with interest.

 

In the next couple of weeks Treasurer Tom will send out quarterly dues invoices with a reminder of each member's Every Rotarian Every Year status.  Program Chair Ken ran into recent speaker and Republican Lt. Governor hopeful David Walker who ran to his car and returned with a Bridgeport Rotary Club banner which he presented to Ken.  David is a very new member.  Foundation Chair John Bemis, continuing his splendid incumbency, shared that East School Principal Bunny Potts had contacted him regarding $6,000 that the East School community has raised to help provide library books to typhoon-battered areas of the Philippines.  They are interested in us helping to arrange for responsible boots on the ground to receive this largess and ensure it is distributed in accordance with their wishes.  John is communicating with Philippine Rotary Clubs to identify the right people.

 

Sergeant Scott explained the fascinating difference between celibacy as a choice or the result of circumstance.  Then as he passed amongst us Laura had a sad for her son's encounter with keratatonous [sp] and a happy for his recovery; Camner had a happy at the prospect of becoming an uncle; Carolyn a happy for long-suffering Leo whose brace was to be removed imminently; and the Sarge himself for having his name associated with a liberal climate change Advertiser piece actually authored by Skip Hobbs.

 

In the absence of our scheduled speaker Lisa Oldham gave a brief overview of the current status, plans and programs of the Library.  Very active and exciting stuff with more than five percent of NC's population walking through the doors each day and many programs having to be moved off-site because of overflow crowds.  She indicated that the Library was in the  midst of a feasibility study to determine how much money could be raised to build a new Library.  In the absence of a speaker Mike Hobbs gave a brief summary of last year's Library diverse focus group of locals led by Centerbrook Architects which improbably went from existing site and building to proposed design enthusiastically endorsed by the group in the remarkably compressed period of one extended meeting each month for four months.  The resulting design is available for viewing in Lisa's office.  As more speaker's time was still available young John Engel rose and delivered a book report on In the Heart of the Sea.  As I understood it, the private equity moguls, hedge fund managers and investment bankers of today's Nantucket have nothing on the whaling captains of the book's vintage when the island was the richest spot on earth.  Fortunately for generations of high school students, Herman Melville was on the island when some survivors returned with tales of the Essex being rammed and sunk by a whale.  Thus, Moby Dick and longer, more erudite and formal book reports from generations of students.

 

Call Me Ishmael