Pledge and 4-Way Test: President Nancy Morin
Prayer: Cheryl
Song: Bill McLaughlin
Guests: Rick Benson (DG), Alex Duverger, Elizabeth Hallihan
Card Game Winner: Marty
Raffle Winners: Cheryl, Joan M, Jan P
Happy Bucks (This is the last week for HB going to the Thanksgiving Fund):
Happy bucks were given for the people in attendance, Thanksgiving drive, the beautiful morning, the day, Bill was happy his daughter Elizabeth was here, Tara was happy her best friend from high school was here, guest speaker, Jessica's induction into the club!
Nancy inducts Jessica into the club. This brings our membership total to 51! Welcome Jessica! Nancy gave some statistics about our membership. There are 15 members aged 60-69 for example. More stats are such as years of service are available.
EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year)
Nancy thanked everyone who contributed to the Rotary Foundation. So far 12 members have contributed. Money donated can come back to the club in the form of grants after 3 years.. go to myrotary.org to donate.
Job Opening: Nancy asked if someone could be in charge of getting raffle prizes for the meetings. You will be reimbursed. Pete Zucco volunteered
Committee Reports: Nancy quickly went through the committees asking if the chair persons had anything new to report.
Charlie Norz, head of the Bylaws Committee is working on language to formalize the purchase/payment process, signing off and verifying invoices before payment is made.
Jan Peruccio will need someone to take her place as chair of the Arts & Crafts Food Booth committee as she will be taking on the Presidency of the club.
Centennial Committee, the 100 Year Logo needs to go on our documents and communications.
Social Committee deserves a lot of credit for their work especially the last meeting at Myrcene Ale. Everyone had a great time. It was well run, food was great! Sandi Dansereau will be away for the winter but but co-chair Gina Johnson and the committee will continue its great work helping make Rotary fun!
The Peace Committee: Cheryl Nadzam reports they will be applying for grants, ideas are welcome
Wine & Beer Tasting and Silent Auction: Marty reports April 4, 2025 will soon be here and planning will begin with a meeting of the committee. Several people will attend the event by the Chamber of Commerce Nov. 7 to observe their online auction to see if it's a viable format and something we should do. Report to follow
Nancy asked the chairs for action plans for their respective committees so that in their absence, the work of the committee will continue with the plan available.
Program: Former District Governor Rick Benson spoke about International Service, an important aspect of Rotary.
Rick Benson from the Westport Club was our District Governor from 2008-2009 so he has a lot of experience engaging with other clubs in the district. "Engage Globally" is the phrase he led with saying we need to encourage and foster the ideal of service and giving beyond our local borders. Since 2000, RI giving has totaled over $4 million in over 30 countries. Rick's slide presentation gave over 20 examples of international service that included scholarships, youth exchanges, action groups, disaster response grants, global grants, Peace Scholars, Global Grant Scholars, vocational training and much more. Global grants are now a minimum of $30,000 which makes it more difficult to do as an individual club so collaboration with other clubs might be necessary. Other topics:
- Rotary Action Groups: 7 areas, disease prevention, water sanitation & hygiene, etc.
- Rotary Fellowships: over 100 from antique cars to skiing to bees to beer
- Project Fairs: virtual or live around the world
- Dick showed pictures of of trips he took to Uganda, Guatemala and more
- Promoting peace, fighting disease (esp. polio), gift of life, saving mothers and children, providing clean water and sanitation, supporting education, grow local economies (money for loans), protect the environment (Bwindi, Uganda)
There are multiple projects underway in Bwindi. In 1991 the government threw out inhabitants from the forests to protect the gorillas and the tourism they attracted. The displaced people needed medical facilities so Rotary built a 155 bed hospital and a nursing school. It was equipped with an Intensive Care Unit, isolation rooms and enhanced telemedicine services. The next step is a dental and vision clinic and the goal is to raise $300K. 6 Rotary districts are collaborating. You can contact Rick Benson for more information, dgrick7980@gmail.com
Message from Nancy:
This past Wednesday's meeting, we had the pleasure of hearing from Rick Benson, a member of the Westport Rotary Club and District Governor from 2008 to 2009. Rick shared various ways Rotary Clubs and individual Rotarians can make an international impact. Please take a look at the attached articles to learn more about the meaningful work Westport Rotarians have done—and continue to do—to improve lives in Bwindi. We’ll discuss on Wednesday whether our club would like to support their ongoing efforts to equip the dental and vision clinics at Bwindi Hospital with a donation.
Attachment 1 - Dental/Vision Clinic
Attachment 2 - Westport Rotary seeking partners for Uganda project
Upcoming Dates:
- Mon, Nov 11 Veterans Day Observance, OS Middle School Auditorium 10-10:40am. Rotary is giving out $10 Dunkin Donuts gift cards to all veterans. Tara announced a Veterans Observance Breakfast at Westbrook High School from 8:30-10
- Wed, Nov 13 Meeting, Student of the Month, Saybrook Point Resort & Marina 7am RSVP Nancy if you plan to attend
- Wed, Nov 20 Special dinner meeting Paul Harris Awards, Old Lyme Country Club 5:30-8:30pm. RSVP Nancy with payment ($45pp)
No meeting Nov 27 - Happy Thanksgiving!
