Pledge: President Gerri Our guests last week were: Jan Perruccio, Superintendent of Schools ; Carl Fortuna, First Selectman (potential new member?) and our friend Mike Velgouse visited us from Georgia! Very nice to see you again, Mike. Good news! We are signed up for a table at the The Chamber's annual EXPO which will be at the YMCA this year on October 10th, from 5:30 - 8:30 P.M. Please SAVE THE DATE. This is a great way to get the word out about our Rotary Club and ways one can participate in supporting community projects locally and internationally. .. Welcome, again, to our 3 new members: Eric Reisner (Westbrook); Amber Scherber (Old Saybroook); and Christy Burnham (Old Saybrook). This makes 5 new members this year so far. We're on a roll!! AG Jack Solomon will be swearing in our 6th new member Jan Perruccio on October 2nd- Bill McLaughlin is her sponsor. In October, we have 5 weeks of meetings. As always, the last Wednesday, October 30th, we will be having another evening dinner meeting. BTW, Angus had back surgery about a week ago. We wish you all the best for a speedy recovery Angus, and look forward to seeing you back at our meetings again. Upcoming Rotary Programs: 10/2: Business update; Alicia Farrell: Marijauna and the effects therefrom 10/9: Student of The Month (English) 10/16: Dave LaMay, Essex Financial 10/23: Steve Glick: Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) 10/30: Evening Dinner Meeting: Marty OS Rotary website PPT
Prayer: President Gerri
Song: Paul Moore
Brents Card Game Winner: Joan Michaud
Welcome Guests: Carl Fortuna, Mike Velgouse, Jan Perruccio
Sergeants Report: Glen filling in for Kathy
Raffle Winners: John, Joan, Carl Fortuna
Happy Bucks: Eric for his first meeting as a member, guests including our First Selectman, for Mike Velgouse, Boston Red Sox, AC/Heat off, Ken and his recent trip to Toronto
Glen is planning an evening meeting for October 30. We will vote as a club for either Luigi's ($28.95), Penny Lane ($30) or The Hideaway ($26). Ask Glen for the menu offerings. Marty has the program and will give a presentation of our website. It'll be a live demo showing how to access the different areas for information and current events on our club.
Program: Gerri talked about the Turkey drive now underway. Liberty Bank has sponsored this program for many years and donate matching funds to our donations. Money raised is given to the 3 towns' Social Services who then give supermarket gift cards to those in need so that they can enjoy a great Thanksgiving dinner. Amber Sherber will enlist the Interact Club as well.
First Selectman Carl Fortuna
Following introduction (very long and impressive resume) Carl Fortuna, who has been our First Selectman since 2011, talked about the last time he spoke to our club. It was at JAMSS Restaurant - a temporary location due to the Storm Sandy having inflicted severe damage to our regular meeting location at the time, Saybrook Point Pavilion. Carl talked about our towns recovery and the importance of receiving FEMA money to restore many things including a sea wall at Kornfield Point, the mini-golf, road endings and more. FEMA paid 85% of the sea wall cost which exceeded $500,000.
A capital account was created several years ago to deal with this type of disaster and Carl is happy to say it exceeds $450K which is there for emergency use. The state of the town was never better despite looming expenses for the new police station and school improvements. Our bond rating is very good which is important when we apply for the bonds that raise money for these expenditures. Strong bond ratings mean lower interest rates.
An important addition to our town government is our new Finance Director, Lisa Carberry. Lisa is doing a great job providing professional management and her position is not subject to elections which is good for the town.
New items for Old Saybrook include the Big Y complex and Tractor Supply coming to town which will make Old Saybrook an attractive retail destination. There will be a bond referendum in October. Union contracts are being negotiated. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will have an impact. For one thing, 30 hr/wk employees are considered full time and that will effect insurance costs the town is responsible for. 
md
FROM GERRI:
Good afternoon. Last week's program was our First Selectman, Carl Fortuna. If you missed it, stop in and see Carl and the new renderings of our Police Station. If you want to talk to Carl, his door is always open.
So, mark your calendars folks. Marty will be giving us a crash course on navigating our OS Rotary website at this meeting. Thanks, Marty. One of the restaurant choices Glen brought to the meeting last week was Luigi's and before we voted, the Club wanted to know about space. I was talking with Lenny DiBella on Saturday evening, and he is willing to close the entire "new area" downstairs where the bar is and give us that entire space if we choose to be there at our evening meeting. So, something to think about before we vote on Wednesday.
Finally, your dues is due in full by October 1st, please. THIS IS YOUR LAST CALL. Thank you.
We're really enjoying your breakfasts Stu, Kelly and Marilyn. Great to be with you at The Estuary....Thanks, all, and kindly remember to tell me if you are bringing guests to a meeting so we can let Stu know for food. Have a good day, enjoy the weather and be well. g
9/25: Tony Plansky: Life Care
