West Hartford Rotary Club Meeting

November 26 Proceedings

1. Susan Oslander requested a day of fun with the Hanoc children. We need volunteers and a time and date. Eileen will find out when this is to happen.

2. We discussed the outreach program (aka the Food Pantry). The board seems to feel that we have too much on our plates with the Vines of March looming. David Mangs has asked for a donation and volunteers to make it a one-day affair. Hopefully the Rotaract will extend their hands. According to Greg Friedland there might be only 5 students who are interested in joining Rotaract.

3. Jeff Brevin gave the Club some information about what is happening at the American School for the Deaf. Bruce Stanger gave an update about his yearly bike trip to Israel.

4. Ken Flourde talked about his involvement with the opioid Crisis and would like to talk more about the subject for a future meeting.

5. Steve Nimz of New Britain Rotary was at the meeting to sell holiday wreaths. This is their seasonal fund-raising project.

6. Vines of March has started planning for the big event. Kyle led the meeting after summarizing what are needed to make this event successful. The ticket price was raised to $75 per person. However, anyone buying his or her ticket before February 8 can get it for $70,

7. The Rotary Board propose to make the Dec.17 meeting our Holiday party since next coming year we will be occupied with the planning of the Vines of March.Watch for more update for this event. Sign up for the party It will be fun, good food and relaxing.

Club President Oscar Santo Domingo, Rotarian Mary Silverberg, and guest speaker Susan Oslander

Club Assembly Meeting - November 12 Proceedings

1. Honoring our veterans: Ed Cape Harvey Davidson and Dave Gerol were honored. Both Ed and Harry recounted their experiences during their time as soldiers.

2. Eileen Rau passed around polio virus dolls that she had from another club meeting

3. We presented our donation to the Children’s Museum for $ 6,000 to start the development of a Learning Lab for children 3 years old and up. As Mike Werle said, the room will symbolize Rotary’s essential goal. Our Rotary Emblem will be part of the room. The Children’s Museum director is in talks with the Town Official regarding the possibility of relocating the building

4. Our visitors, Ellen and Jeff Shaw were introduced. Mile Werle and Joe Defeo were also recognized.

5. Tony Rodriguez was happy about the attendance for the Jazz brunch, but let the management know about its shortfall in the kitchen and table management.

6. The Vines of March as announced by the co-chairman Kyle Egress. Tom Wood will assist Kyle for this fund-raising event.

7. Joe Stafford met a group that builds wood furniture. He will invite them to address our meeting to give us some pointers as to saving or replacing the Rotary benches in Town.

8. A Rotary party is in the works, but after the festivities. Eileen will help organize it.

9. The Berlin Rotary Club will be at our meeting on November 19 to take orders for their Christmas wreath sale.

              LUNCHEON MEETING, October 22, 2018

1. Peter Lamothe from Jackson Labs was our guest speaker. Jackson Labs is a non-profit organization located on the UCONN Dempsey campus that focuses on mammalian genetics research. Their research at present is on developing medications tailored for each patient’s genetic makeup. According to Peter, they have around 10,000 mice used for testing. They use mice because they have the closest DNA to human being. Jackson Lab’s main office is in Bar Harbor Maine. Their focus is on basic research which they share with other labs in the hope that it will help them in their own particular research.

2. The ticket sales for the Jazz Brunch are excellent. As of Oct. 24, we have sold and received payment for 230 tickets. A sudden influx of buyers is coming in and now we are afraid the we will go over the capacity of the Hartford Club’s dining room. Tony suggests that our web site should announce that the ticket sale is closed (it was closed).

3. The 30th anniversary of our World Polio Eradication Drive was held on October 24. We still have not achieved our goal of world-wide elimination. Don’t forget to donate to the Fund. In addition to polio that we have known, there is a new virus that resembles polio that is infecting children much is the same way that polio did.

1. Our speaker was Mark McGovern, Town of West Hartford. He talked about the ongoing projects that are taking place around town such as:

a. the Trout Brook exit from I- 84. This will handle a larger volume of traffic.

b. IDEANOMICS has purchased the UCONN site. They are applying for zone changes to the area to accommodate their plans for the area.

c. The recent sewage problem on Linnard and other streets was mentioned, and the MDC is currently repairing the damage.

2. Eileen Rau gave us an update on the celebrations planned for the 30-year anniversary of the Rotary’s campaign to eradicate polio. Please continue to donate to the Polio Plus fund. We are almost in reach of our goal to eradicating polio

3. Turkey Legs are coming. From today’s meeting until Thanksgiving, our Happy Dollars will go to the Liberty Bank as donations to this fund