Pledge: Alan Schwarz
4-Way test: Alan Schwarz
Alan had a great year and was very appreciative of everyone stepping up when needed. The club has been very active and added a lot of new members. Alan thanked his wife for her support. He also thanked Pat Devito, his predecessor, who in a surprise, moved away leaving Alan as president sooner than expected. The future is bright with Nancy and Jan taking over presidency in the next 2 years.
In recognition of his service, Nancy Morin presented Alan with a plaque commemorating his time as Club President.
Nancy introduced our guest speaker, Robert Friend, District Governor. Robert has a long list of accomplishments in Rotary including President of the Madison club. Robert was the force behind the Rotary Day of Service - a very successful community service initiative. In his remarks, Robert praised the leadership for pushing the club to new heights with the many community service projects and successful fundraisers. From our website, Robert saw our projects and activities. The Commodities Exchange is a good step for helping the environment by keeping things that are useful out of the landfills. Our Wine & Beer Tasting and Silent Auction was a huge success and our grant work was excellent. The club has gained many new members that have given rise to new activity that benefits the communities we serve as well as international causes. Robert said we many lead the district in new members over the past year.
Nancy took to the podium and started by thanking her husband Ed in advance for his support in her upcoming year as President. For both Nancy and Robert the journey to an exciting year starts now. Light your passion with fire and people will come from miles to watch it burn! We have been adaptable, a key to success and longevity. Can we do more, are there things we can we elevate and improve, and instead of asking why, ask why not. Robert Friend then installed Nancy as our President followed by installation of the officers and board members. Jan Perruccio attended via Zoom. Nancy and Jan went to PETS (President elect training) together and they came out with new perspectives. Nancy gave a shout out to Pete Zucco for his service as Sargeant-At-Arms for the past 3 years and is making a donation in his name to the Community Fund.
We all enjoyed the meeting venue, The Lyme Art Association, and the food was very good. Thanks to Ed Morin for tending bar! Great night as we celebrated Rotary and the new leadership team!
