WEST HARTFORD ROTARY SPOTLIGHT

(See more news on www.westhartfordrotary.org)

MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF

June 16th, 2014 - 12:15 PM

The Pondhouse Cafe

Present: 29 Great Rotarians and 1 guests.

Mary Silverberg gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Club President’s opening remarks:

1.Hap noted that billings are behind and that we are working to catch up.  After the next billing, we will switch to a system based on Club Runner, so the appearance of the bills will change.

2.– noted that we are instituting a New Member Orientation program as well as a mentoring program.  It is intended primarily – but not exclusively - for members with less than two years in the club.

3.– stated that we will be conducting a survey of club members in the near future

4.– discussed an initiative to increase our communications, especially external, to ‘get the Rotary message out.’  He intends to lead this effort personally. 

5.– talked about our October event at Pond House.  They are sponsoring the event and providing food and a cash bar – tickets will be ~ $20 and Pond House will help sell them.

6.– reviewed several thank you letters; from West Hartford Community TV, Conard HS for a Safe Grad donation, and both Conard and Hall scholarship recipients.

7.-  displayed a large cardboard check which he presented to Park Road Playhouse.

8.Donna Griffin – thanked all for the support for Celebrate West Hartford, and announced that we netted $4918 this year, helped by ASD buying back unused meat.

9.Eileen Rau – reminded all that time is running out for the 2014 Foundation giving period – it expires at the end of June. 

10.– Discussed ‘Zones’.  Our club is in district 7890 and is one of 20 districts in Zone 32, and includes New England, Bermuda, and Quebec.  Zones have several coordinators with several assistants in a variety of functional areas (Foundation, End Polio Now, Public Image, Rotary Coordinator, and Endowment / Major Gift Advisor).  Zones have several training events and Eileen, and Don and Susan Chandler will be participating in the fall.

11.Cindy Lang – announced that the NICU golf tournament raised $12K, and that there will be a fall fundraiser.

12.Kyle Egress – noted that Lobster fest is less than a week away and pushed us to sell tickets and / or sponsorships. 

13.– The order for steak and lobster will be placed on June 16^th, so he will need a good handle on ticket sales by then.

14.– Help is needed with the event – Friday setup, Saturday at the event, and Sunday cleanup. Contact Kyle if you can help!

Sergeant at Arms Todd Bower reports 29 Rotarians are present.  One guests was present:  Eric Powers, a guest of Don.

Happy dollars were collected. The pot is up to $128 but no one drew the winning card.   

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30, with Hap leading the 4-way test.  The next meeting is July 7th, 2014 at Pondhouse Cafe.      

Respectfully submitted,

Chad Licht, scribe