Pledge, Prayer, 4-Way Test: Pete Zucco
A moment of silence was observed for Donna Lash who recently passed away. Donna was remembered as a vibrant person who was always ready to help at events like the Wine Tasting, Torchlight Parade and more for many years. Donna lived life well having traveled the world in her life as an airline stewardess. She will be missed for her straight forwardness, charm and healthy personna.
Sergeants Report: Mary Polchaninoff
Raffle Winners: Chip, Mary H, Charlie N
Card Game Winner: Chip
Guests: Beth from Ann Arbor Rotary, Ann
Happy Bucks:
For all the events of Sept. 27 (Walk to end Alzheimers, Shredding Event), a new grandson for Dave Condren, our guests Beth and Lynn, The Red Sox win last night!, the 2-3 page article in the last Saybrook Events publication. Beth was happy to attend our meeting and was "blown away" by the activity of our club! She exchanged banners with Bill (pictured above)
Jan: If you plan to attend next weeks meeting for Student of the Month, please sign up. If you did sign up, be sure to attend as we will be paying for everyone signed up (cost $25)
Dave Condren: Concerning food insecurity
Dave and his committee met last week with Stan, Executive Director of the Estuary. They talked about the needs of Meals on Wheels which deliveries 385 meals every day. They have 4 commercial ovens and only 2 are working. They need to purchase another oven at a cost of $45,000 and so far they have received about $30,000 in funding from contributions. President Jan reached out to the other clubs in the service area to get together to help fund the remaining $15,000. Old Saybrook has pledged $2500 with a matching district grant for a total of $5000. Essex, Clinton and Chester Rotary have pledged a combined $2500 plus a matching grant of $2500 for a total of $5000. So far we have not heard from Deep River. That makes a total of $10,000 with a shortfall of $5000 to cover the total cost of the oven. Gary proposed raising our donation to cover the shortfall. The original motion of $10,000 was approved and the Board will meet to revisit funding to cover the gap.
Outreach Committee Report: Tara Winch, Chair
The committee met last week and a couple of rules were adopted.
- All requests require a 75% approval by vote of the Outreach Committee in order to forward to the club for approval
- Any request over $500 must include a presentation to the club by the requester on how the money will be used. This can be a short 5 minute talk.
The Outreach Committee approved $500 to sponsor the Clinton Rotary fundraiser Silver Threads Oct. 19.
Meals on Wheels: Charlie Renshaw
All is going well
Rotary Day of Service: Joan Winters
Joan will head this up again next year, date to be determined. Here is Joan's report:
1. We will continue with our 3 sites for the Spring Food Drive/Day of Service
2. We will figure out a way to alert more shoppers about donating, esp. in the OS BIG Y location. We will contact the Fire Dept. to get info on how they were able to collect with a paper handout that was created.
3. We will continue to work with our generous donors and sponsors who showed great interest in what we were able to accomplish in our May DOS: CT Water, Ocean State Job Lot and Stop & Shop.
4. Joan is looking into a possible " Thanksgiving SIDES" collection at Stop and Shop the week on Thanksgiving. Stop & Shop was so eager to continue to help us with whatever project we take on.
5. We hope to speak with our Soup Kitchens in the 3 towns to see what they may need to run their distributions. We would not supply cash but can assist with purchasing things that need upgrading: serving pots/pans or utensils, storage units, etc.
John Aforismo: Peace Pole
The dedication ceremony Sunday, Sept. 28th was well attended. The pole is in a great spot, overlooking the water. This past Sunday, a wedding took place at Saybrook Point and the Peace Pole was center in some pictures of the Bride and Groom!
Shredding Day: John Aforismo (Pictures)
This club fundraiser was a success! Since its the second Shredding Day of the year, we weren't sure how it would do but people came out and the truck was filled to the brim (12,500 lbs)! After cost, the net result was $3,592 in revenue for the club. We are thankful for the help of 6 Interact students who worked hard to earn community service hours. A lot went into this including making and planting signs around town, directing traffic, handling the many boxes of documents to shred, breaking down boxes and transporting them to the transfer station for disposal. The weather was perfect and it was a great day for Rotary! The next Shredding Day event is Saturday, April 25, 2026.
Walk to End Alzheimers: Martha Rothchild (Picture)
A good group gathered at Ocean Beach Park in New London. In total, $2,100 was raised for Alzheimers research.
Macaroni Dinner: John Aforismo (Event Page)
October 19 is fast approaching so sell those tickets! Meals will be donated to Social Services, VFW and more. John Giannini is the master chef and a ticket count is needed to determine how much to buy. Visit our event page for more information.
Turkey Drive: Jan P
Turkey leg donor signs are being distributed to our high schools. Liberty Bank is donating $0.25 for every dollar we contribute through our happy bucks collected at meeting through Nov 17. Liberty Bank has included the club in their large outdoor banner. Rotarians will also help distribute meals.
Literacy: Mary P
Mary has contacted Literacy Volunteers, a group of 150 tutors who teach reading to over 200 people. United Way supports them every other year and this is an off year so help is needed. Jan will be talking to Acton Library to discuss their needs as it pertains to literacy.
Arts & Crafts Festival Food Booth: Pete Zucco
This is the weekend of the festival put on by the OS Chamber of Commerce. Pete has been working to get everything organized and ready. Signup sheets have been circulated at meetings to cover time slots - check with Pete for time slots that need to be filled or added to. You can also just show up and jump in to help where needed. Menus and signage have been printed, hotdogs, ice cream, soda, water and supplies have been purchased. 4.5 gallons of Chili is provided (donated) by the Monkey Farm and Cuckoo's Nest which Nancy is picking up with help from her husband Ed. Individual condiment packets will be used instead of bulk bottles. This year, we will be soliciting the exhibitors for food orders and delivering them - a new service. We will accept credit cards as well, another new service. This should result in an increase in sales. We will also put the E-Bike on display and sell raffle tickets (drawing Sunday at 4pm) as well as Macaroni Dinner tickets.
