Welcome to the Rotary Club of West Hartford
Celebrating 65 Years of Service Above Self

West Hartford Rotary Club

June 10, 2019 Luncheon Meeting Minutes

1. Our speakers were Erica de Francesco and Bob Savage representing Live Well, a Southington group who offer services to people with dementia and their families. The organization promotes awareness in the surrounding communities and works with Dementia Friends, a support group. According to them there are 7000 people who are diagnosed with dementia in Connecticut. It is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. The mission of Live Well is to give those suffering from dementia the opportunity to live well and determine the course of their lives and to have access to the care and support they need. But like any organization providing help and support for others, they also need support for them to continue their mission.

2. The Rotary Foundation still is looking for contributions to the annual fund. Our goal of $10,000 has not et been met. Only 37% of our membership have fulfilled their pledge.

3. Celebrate West Hartford was a success. We netted around $5,300. Kudos to Bennett and all who volunteered to do the hard work of grilling and serving hot dogs and hamburgers to the hungry folks celebrating the arrival of spring. For once no rain dampened the event.

4. According to Tony, we will have to sell 200 tickets at $100 each to make a profit at the Jazz brunch. This is dependent on the cost of the musicians, the support from the Friends of Music and any sponsorships we can get. There will be a change in the venue this year, The Artisan Restaurant at the Delamar Hotel. Let’s all work to make this a success.

Respectfully submitted,

Oscar M. Santo Domingo

West Hartford Rotary Club

May 13, 2019 Luncheon Meeting Minutes

1. Christine Looby gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. During our lunch a check for $1,000 was presented to the Center for Children’s Advocacy as one of our donations to local organizations. According to the Organization, this amount will pay for a year of defense to obtain his or her rights for abuses that occurred when he or she was a young child.

2. Our speakers were Rick and Elin Lawrence. They have an ongoing water and sanitation project in Guatemala. Rick gave a slide presentation of the project. Lack of potable water and poor sanitation are conditions found in many parts of the country. This project was primarily funded through Rotary Club donations and donations are still needed to maintain the project. Elin brought local handcrafts to sell on trip trip to sell in order to raise money for the project.

3. Eileen Rau is still reminding us to contribute to the Rotary Foundation. She is hoping for 100% participation.

4. Get ready to march in the Memorial Day Parade on May 27. Wear you Rotary Shirt.

5. Volunteers are still needed for Celebrate West Hartford. Go to the website to sign up. Bennett needs more helping hands especially for the following shifts:

• Saturday, June 1 – 12:00 to 3:30
• Sunday, June 2 – 11:30 to 2:30
• 2:00 to 5:00
• Clean-up 4:3 to 7:00

West Hartford Rotary Club

April 29, 2019 Luncheon Meeting Minutes

1. Our last meeting, designated as “Club Assembly”, to make a time for us to label all dictionaries for the third graders. Several Rotarians were assigned a school for distribution of dictionaries. These Rotarians are responsible for coordinating with their assigned school as to when the kids will be available for distribution. Please report to Christine Looby as to when you are planning this distribution to avoid conflicts. The distribution will have the services of “Noah Webster” to inform the students of the history of the dictionary. All Rotarians are encouraged to attend at any scheduled dictionary event.

2. We had a visitor from the Plainville Rotary club, Craig Carroll. He informed us that a student exchange organization from Europe is sending high school students to the US to get experience in our education facilities, participate in job training and science and engineering. He is looking for Rotarians who would be willing to participate in this program to host these students.

3. Tom Wood was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow Award for his exemplary service in the name of Rotary. He has helped the club manage its finances including expenses, stock purchases and investments.

4. Proposed locations for the spring Jazz Brunch were put to a vote. A majority voted to have the event at the Delamar Hotel in Blueback Square. Tony Rodriguez will investigate this possibility.

Respectfully submitted,

Oscar M. Santo Domingo

West Hartford Rotary Club

April 15, 2019 Luncheon Meeting Minutes

1. Today’s speaker was Christopher Conway, the executive director of the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is an organization composed of Town businessmen and managers of institutions. They meet at the Noah Webster Library in the morning and they have a site on Facebook. Joining the Chamber gives members a network of other businessmen and marketing opportunities. Members may use their memberships to promote their activities, fund raise. The club’s objectives are to enhance the development of our town’s businesses, civic organizations and cultural well-being. They are located at

948 Farmington Avenue

West Hartford, CT 06107

Tel. 860 521-2300 Web site – www.whchamber.com/

2. We had three visitors today Mary and Joe brought Ralph Balbasare and Kyung Soon, who had just arrived from South Korea. A future member, Tanya Falcon, was also our guest.

3. Our Club is still behind in our contributions for the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus. Time to send in your donations.

4. The books have arrived for the Dictionary Project. We need at least 3 SUV’s to haul them from the United Bank to the Pond House so that we can place the labels and assign volunteers to each elementary school. The labeling is scheduled for April 29, our Club Assembly Meeting.

Guest speaker Christopher Conway

West Hartford Rotary Club

April 1, 2019 Luncheon Meeting Minutes

1. Spring has arrived! Many came out to greet her and the meeting was well attended. Christine Looby gave the invocation; Eileen Rau encouraged members to donate to the Rotary Foundation. She suggested using the Club Runner as an easy way to do this.

2. Those in attendance for this club assembly meeting were happy to discuss methods for improving our fund-raising efforts.

3. Kyle Egress mentioned that we did not do a good job on reaching out to organizations we support for their support in selling tickets for our Vines of March event.

4. Eileen and Bennett mentioned that we complete our list of organization we support on our Club Runner so we can connect to them electronically for our solicitations. Some members suggested that the most effective way to approach an organization is to talk to the manager.

5. According to Tom, our treasurer, our financial status to June of this year is in good shape We will be able to meet the yearly donations we have decided to make.

6. Our Club met with members of the Children’s Museum to ensure that our donations are being well spent. They will need to provide receipts, plans and a description of where the money has been spent to us. We need these in order to report to the District Grant Chairman before May 1