The Rotary Club of Trumbull
Club No. 6755, District 7980, Region 1
August 31, 2001 Meeting

President-elect Mike Redgate called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Jack Quinlan said the invocation. Steve Hodson led us in singing “Home on the Range”.

Attendance:  38 of 62 members attended. Marjorie Anctil, Ray Baldwin, Jr., Jim Barden, Jim Baum, Jayne Bolton, Doreen Boutote, Bev Cambras, Jackie Carlino, Barry Diamond, David Dunn, Don Emond, Lynn Fontana, Tony Gagliardi, Tom Galla, Keith Gatling,  Tom Heaney, Steve Hodson, Steve Jakab, Phil Lane, Jim Lang, Ron Lesko, Dana Lonergan, John McBride, Ian McMillan, Preston Merritt, Ted Merritt, Jack Quinlan, Michael Redgate, Joe Ruospo, Ray Rzasa, Dale Seymour, Rose Marie Spatafore, Paul Squillace, Dick Stein, Steve Taylor, George Voynick, Dave Wilson, Bill Zeidenberg.

Guests: Prospective member Joanne O’Connell, a guest of Doreen Boutote. Hermina Henega, an elementary school teacher from Romania, and Yungping Shangguan from China, who is presently a student in Budapest. Both were guests of Jim Lang.

Happy Dollars:
Phil Lane because one of his colleagues was just pronounced “Cancer free”.
Jim Lang gave one happy dollar for each of his two guests.
Dale Seymour gave three happy dollars. One for a recent assignment to write a story for the American Motorcycle Association Magazine regarding the Hillclimb Championship at Monson, Ma. One for a trip to Atlanta on 9/5/01 for the press introduction of a new Triumph motorcycle. One “Thank You” dollar for the fine job guest Joanne O’Connell (a guidance counselor at Trumbull High School) did in helping three of his daughters through Trumbull High School. He also gave one sad dollar for the stock market.
Bill Zeidenberg gave a happy dollar because his wife Karen spent hours weeding our planting bed at the corner of Stroebel Road and Daniels Farm Road.
Preston Merritt then gave a matching dollar for the planting bed.
Steve Jakab gave two dollars to announce an upcoming Golf Tournament on September 12^th at Tashua Knolls that will benefit Bridgeport Hospital. Steve says it’s a great chance to get a practice round in before our Rotary Tournament the following week.
Jayne Bolton gave a sad dollar because her daughter started kindergarten.
Tom Galla gave a happy dollar for his daughter Nicki who just received her first paycheck earned as a public school teacher. She then treated Sandy and Tom to dinner.
Jack Quinlan gave a happy dollar for one of his grandsons who just started kindergarten and wanted to drive the school bus.

Birthdays and Anniversaries:  None were announced.

Committee Updates:

Ted Merritt invited all interested members to attend our next Board Meeting to be held on September 5^th at 7PM at The Marriott. Ted distributed an agenda for the meeting, which is included with this week’s newsletter. He also announced that we may be able to obtain a one thousand dollar grant for a worthy project in Trumbull, if you are aware of one.

Barry Diamond reported that Trumbull’s Own Chamber of Commerce has been asked to present a series of eight lectures to a class about becoming a business entrepreneur, being sponsored by Junior Achievement.

Jim Lang announced that our club has more members who support the Rotary Foundation than any other club in the district. He is looking for host families to house a member of the visiting GSE team from Brazil.

Preston Merritt reported that we still need more tee and green sponsors, and a lot more golfers, to keep Tom Galla’s hair from falling out. Preston reminded everyone to request golf tournament gifts from merchants when shopping, especially if you are going out to dinner. Contact Bill Zeidenberg with your prize donations. We only have two weeks to go and  only have fifteen foursomes registered.

Ted Merritt and Mike Redgate extended congratulations to Lynn Fontana and Dave Wilson for obtaining great speakers for our meetings over the summer.

Program:  Dave Wilson introduced our speaker, State Representative T. R. Rowe,  whose district includes most of the town of Trumbull. Among other things, T R said the following:

1.     Jack Stone and Larry Miller are the other State Representatives whose districts include sections of Trumbull.

2.     There are 151 members of the State House of Representatives and 36 members of the State Senate. The Democratic party has majority membership in both houses.

3.     The legislature meets for biennial sessions. The first is from January to June, and the second section is from mid-February to mid-May. The time commitment, although considered part-time, is still extensive.

4.     During the past year there was a budget surplus, even after spending a lot for school construction and for the purchase of  Kelda Water Company land throughout the state, including several acres in Trumbull.

5.     The in-ground oil tank removal program was originally funded two years ago with two million dollars. Because of a flood of applications, it was re-funded with 20 million dollars, adding income qualification limits.

6.     Fifty million dollars has been allocated to fund a Transportation Strategy Board.

7.     There is now a three year moratorium on so-called “affordable housing” in Trumbull.  

8.     The exemption period for emissions testing for new cars has been extended to four years.

9.     Drivers licenses will now only have to be renewed every six years.

Raffle:  Ron Lesko and Jack Quinlan drew for $560.00, with no winner selected.

                        UCOMING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

September 5     Board meeting at the Marriott 7PM

September 7     Business meeting

September 11   Monroe Rotary Club Golf Tournament at Whitney Farms

September 17   Trumbull Rotary Golf Tournament at Tashua Knolls

September 28   Thelma Hoyt speaking about Rotary “International”

October 12      District Governor John Annick

Respectfully Submitted,

Dale J. Seymour