Pledge, 4-Way Test: President Nancy Morin
Prayer: Debra Lee
Greeter: Pete Zucco
Card Game Winner: with 4 deuces - Cheryl
Raffle Winners: Joan W, Gary, Kathy
Happy Bucks:
MP daughter going to Europe, PZ for the auction, NM for our guests, Chip for meeting great people today, RF great day at the library in OL and OS, SB was happy to be here, GJ vacation starts today, CN for winning the card game, CR for the ChiliFest, JA for the day, GM for the speech contest
Speaker: Nancy introduced our guests Cami Parente and Jordan Wells. Jordan is a past president of the Essex Rotary Club. His daughter received a scholarship from us and is now a PhD candidate.
Kara Pachniuk: Greater Chamber of Commerce Executive Board President Kara Pachniuk is the outgoing President of the Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce and currently sits on the Board of Directors. She owns the business, Nourish & Nosh on the Boston Post Rd opposite Staples. Kara moved to Old Saybrook 12 years ago and has been a member of the Chamber for 9 years. She's very busy running a business and caring for her 3 children. Kara tries to make things better. This year's Chili Fest was the best ever! Even with the upcoming retirement of Judy Sullivan, she still wants to make things better for the organization and membership. One of her ideas is to improve on the relationship Rotary has with the Chamber. To that end, Kara proposes becoming part of the President's Circle. She discussed ways it would benefit Rotary. By creating brand awareness through digital media, Rotary would achieve a higher profile which could lead to higher membership and increased support of our events. A digital magazine is sent every other month with sponsors getting a half page ad for whatever they wish to promote. The Chamber has a social media department. Perhaps Rotary and the Chamber could team up, for example, our Shredding Day with Saybrook Sparkle an Earth Day initiative. Our 2 organizations have similar goals reaching similar demographics. We would be given access to the Chamber email list. The cost is $5,000. Answering questions, Kara stated the Chamber was not approaching other service clubs. She would look into the possibility of a discount due to our nonprofit status.
Business:
Next week's meeting is breakfast, Student of the Month at Saybrook Point. Please let Nancy know if you plan to attend. A signup sheet was passed around at the meeting.
June 11 is the Changing of the Guard meeting. Incoming President Jan Perruccio will be presenting the year in review and honoring President Nancy Morin. Please sign up if you plan on attending. Payment is appreciated prior to the meeting as last year, we didn't collect the full amount of the catering bill as some signed up but did not show.
There was discussion about a "Sunshine Fund" to pay for flowers, cards, etc. for Rotarians who are ill or going through a difficult time. The Board will discuss this.
Nancy thanked everyone who participated in the Chili Fest. It was a lot of fun and though we didn't win, it was worth the effort.
Chip Adams talked about the 4-Way Test essay contest. Old Saybrook has a very good applicant. The semi-finals are March 22 in Norwich at NFA and the finals is April 26 at Old Saybrook High School.
Chip is also working on RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) a well established Rotary youth program. It happens end of May and so far there are 4 applicants.
Joan Winters is in charge of the Food Drive and she has enlisted Big Y and Stop & Shop. The Club agreed that a Food Drive, including non-perishable foods, toiletries and other paper products, can be an impactful and much needed project for our annual Day of Service on Sat. May 17th. We will be having a tent or table at places in Westbrook, Old Saybrook, and Old Lyme as collection places.. those sites are TBD. The event will run from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM, rain or shine. Once our drive is completed, all items collected will be dropped off at the Food Pantry in each of the towns.
Gina Johnson is helping with "Purse Day" - an activity to fill purses with feminine hygiene products and more.
Our next social meeting is April 30 at the Highliner III Cafe.
Marty gave a report on the Wine & Beer Tasting and Silent Auction. He passed around the latest update of Sponsors which is available on our website. We are about half way to last years total. Now is the time to go into high gear selling tickets, getting items for the auction and talking to potential sponsors. Pete will be coordinating the auction so please fill out the Item Information Form and send on to Pete. You can bring your items in to the meeting Wed, April 2 or to the Pavilion Thursday April 3. We have access to Saybrook Point April 4 all day to decorate and lay out the items for auction and raffle.
Cheryl Nadzam talked about our support of local libraries. Please click here for more information on this project of support to our libraries. Money was obtained through Rotary District grants and recently $5000 was shared by 2 libraries in Old Lyme.
Cheryl stated that more grant money is available and can be used to fund RYLA for example.
