Pledge/Prayer: Pres. Bob Chase
Song: Bill McLaughlin
Brents Card Game Winner: Lee David
Sergeants Report: Keith
Raffle Winners: Lee David
Happy Bucks: Lots of happy bucks for the success of the Wine Tasting & Silent Auction
Sofia Portukhay (Exchange Student from Ukraine):
Sofia started by thanking the club for sponsoring her stay in the United States and allowing her to experience so many wonderful things. She went to New York City twice, Washington D.C., and most recently, Newport where she visited the famous mansions. Sofia thanked the Davids for taking her to many places, Boston, Mystic and Gilletts Castle to name a few. She really enjoyed the Hard Rock Cafe. Sofia made the honor roll at Old Saybrook High School taking her studies very seriously. This coming Sunday, Sofia goes to live with a family in Westbrook for the next 3 months. Lee and Holly will miss her very much but plan on seeing her again as her new family are vegitarians - but in all seriousness, Lee thanked Rotary for the opportunity to host such a lovely young lady as Sofia for the past 3 months.
Announcements:
Pres. Bob: Tonight, from 5:30 to 7pm, the Chamber Lights meeting will be at Saybrook Health Care.
Pres. Bob: Read a thank you letter from Stephen Britt, last months Student of the Month from Old Saybrook.
Pres. Bob: Our holiday dinner meeting will take place on Dec. 17 at Luigi's restaurant. They never fail to put out a great meal. Gerri says there are only 7 openings left so please sign up before you get closed out.
Pres. Bob: Thanked Marty and Bob for chairing the Wine Tasting and added that it took alot of time and effort to pull off. Thanks Bob
Wine Tasting Report
After expenses, the Wine Tasting and Silent Auction netted about $8,700. Some money is still coming in and there is one more bill to pay but it will settle around there. Marty thanked all the club members who worked to make the event the success that it was. In particular, Mike Velgouse deserves a lot of thanks for all the work organizing the auction. There were many items to classify and the event itself requires a lot of coordination. Thanks to Bob Antoniac for securing the location which costs the club nothing - an important consideration to our bottom line. Bob did so much behind the scenes as well including taking care of the catering which drew rave reviews. Great job Bob! Others who played important roles both before and during the event: Stan Niemerski, Donna Lash, Matt Rubin, Matt Vogt, Brent Taylor, Bill O'Shaughnessy, Walter Osborne, Jesse Wenzel Shirley Von Dassel and our fine MC, Bill McLaughlin.
Marty wanted to recognize Rotarians who went above and beyond by selling lots of tickets. The following people sold 6 tickets: Andy Anderson, Angus McDonald, Bill Bernhart, Bill O'Shaughnessy, Bill Suits, Bob Antoniac (7), Bob Hester, Brent Taylor, Charlie Norz, Ed Pinn, Jason Smith, John Donnelly, Keith Wescovich, Marty Drobiarz, Matt Rubin, Paul Moore, Sam Fulginiti, Shirley Von Dassel, Stan Niemerski and Joan Michaud (7). The following sold 10 tickets: Matt Vogt and Walter Osborne and the Rotarian with the highest ticket sales with 12 was Jess Wenzel. Thanks also to the sponsors who paid $100 each: Old Saybrook Education Foundation, Stop & Shop, Mathew and Hadass Rubin times 4, Saybrook Health Care, McDonald Sharp & Associates, Nerds to Go, Northeast Medical Products, and Clayhouse/Emerson Books who shared a sponsorship.
Music was provided by Katie Herley and Joe Vilardi. They were outstanding. The event was fun for all and except for a few glitches, ran smoothly. Thanks to the wine vendors and Art at Seaside Wine & Spirits for presenting their fine products. The food was supplied by Chuck Euskolitz, Food Service Director at the OS High School who brought a great team of 3 who prepared the food, put it out on tables and passed it around as well. The provided a touch of class to the festivities and we are thankful to them.
Next year, we will book the event before the festivities that take place in town, namely the Saybrook Stroll and Torchlite Parade as we did this year. It seems to help attendance as we were at capacity. A new sound system will be installed which will help out a great deal as well.
Other Business:
There will be a Board of Directors meeting to discuss moving some money from the club account to the Foundation to help pay some bills. It is understood that once money moves to the Foundation, it cannot be transferred back to the club.
Bill O'Shaughnessy noted that we had the Chamber Connections meeting booked for Jan. 8 but it was decided we didn't have enough time to prepare so it will be cancelled leaving someone else the opportunity to host the chamber for the evening.
Marty talked about the Torchlight Parade which takes place on Sat. night Dec. 13. A show of hands was asked for anyone who could help and a Torchlight Crew was formed.
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