The Rotary Club of Trumbull

Club No. 6755, District 7980, Region 1

          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  “The Little Drummer Boy”. The meeting was held at the Rosedale Assisted Living facility on Reservoir Avenue, thanks to our own Joan Farley.

Attendance:  38 of 65 members attended. Marjorie Anctil, Ray Baldwin Jr., Jim Bardon, Jonathan Baron, Jim Baum, Greg Bivona, John Bogannam, Jayne Bolton, Doreen Boutote, Dawn Dalrymple, Sy Davidson, Barry Diamond, Joan Farley, Lynn Fontana, Tom Galla, Len Germano, Tom Heaney, Steve Hodson, Thelma Hoyt, Phil Lane, Jim Lang, Ron Lesko, John Makar, Ted Merritt, Frank Metrusky, Jack Quinlan, Mike Rappa, Michael Redgate, John Rosati, Joe Ruospo, Ray Rzasa, Russell Schwartz, Dale Seymour, Dick Stein, Steve Taylor, George Voynick, Bill Zeidenberg

Guests: Steve Lupien, a guest of Steve Taylor, Mary Berarelli, a guest of Lynn Fontana, and District Governor John Annick

Happy Dollars:

Jim Lang - 1 - for the hospitality extended by Rosedale and our own Joan Farley.

Thelma Hoyt - 1 - for the continuation of our Club’s singing group.

Barry Diamond – 1 – for the Rotarians who came to Trumbull’s Own Chamber of Commerce Holiday Party.

Mike Rappa – 2 – for the group of volunteers who helped pack all the donated books Mike has been graciously storing for us at his factory, and one for all the Rotarians who mistakenly went to the Marriott for the morning meeting.

John Annick – 1 – for the continued fine efforts from our club.

Dale Seymour – 1 – One because his daughter Colleen has found a house to rent, and is moving out of the family home. Colleen is in need of living room furniture, for anyone who has some to donate.

Len Germano –1 – for the total of over 70,000 books weighing 50,000 pounds we shipped to a Rotary Club in South Africa, for needy school children.

Bill Zeidenberg – 2 – for an upcoming vacation to Florida.

Birthdays and Anniversaries: The club sang Happy Anniversary to John and Lillian Makar.

Announcements:

Richard Blumenthal, the Attorney General for the State of Connecticut, will be our speaker for our Celebrity Breakfast scheduled for January 11, 2002 at the Marriott. Sign-up sheets were passed around for table sponsors and for Rotarians willing to serve as waiters. All proceeds will benefit our scholarship fund. Each club member is being asked to obtain a table sponsor at $100.00 for the breakfast. Sending out ten of our pre-printed letters is a good start. There is no charge for the food. All tips and sponsorship dollars will be profit for our scholarship fund. Don’t forget to call all your attorney friends for this one! Phil Lane is the chairman of this event. Phil wants everyone to provide a count of guests they expect to attend the function by this Friday, so that we can provide a head count to the Marriott.

Mike Redgate discussed the minutes of our last Board Meeting.

Mary Berarelli has been approved as a new member and will be installed soon.

Bill Zeidenberg discussed our new fun and fundraising event, a bike-a-thon to be held in Trumbull on June 9^th , 2002. A local bicycling club will assist us in presenting this event.

George Voynick announced that work is under way at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport to refurbish a classroom. Construction should be completed by the end of the year. A dedication ceremony will then be held. This project is a joint effort with several other local Rotary Clubs.

Ted Merritt stated that a special Rotary Foundation dinner would be held in Wallingford on March 2, 2002. More details will follow soon. Ted also thanked Len Germano for obtaining the grant of $4,325.00 to ship our collected school books to South Africa. Ted also said that at our next Board Meeting, which will be on January 2, 2002, we will discuss funding for refugees from Afghanistan who have fled to Pakistan. A Rotary Club in Pakistan will manage the distribution of funds.

Program:

Mike Redgate introduced our host Joan Farley. Joan introduced Judy Begley, the Executive Director of Rosedale, and said that she hoped that our breakfast at Rosedale would be an annual event. A tour of the facility was offered to those who had not been on last year’s tour. Rosedale is an assisted living facility, not a skilled care nursing home, such as Maefair. Rosedale is affiliated with Maefair. Assisted living is defined as independent living with a level of personal care tailored to the needs of each resident. There is a dementia unit for those suffering from Alzheimer’s or similar conditions, and there is a physical therapy unit. Rosedale has been very involved in our community, and will always be there to lend a hand.

Raffle:  No fee was collected for breakfast and no raffle tickets were sold.

                        UCOMING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

December 21   Frank Metrusky – “New School Architecture”

December 28   Marriott

January 2          Board meeting at the Marriott at 7PM.

January 4          Dr. Ron Travaglino – Director of Bloodless Medicine and Surgery

January 11        Scholarship Celebrity Breakfast with Dick Blumenthal

January 18        Fred Astaire Dance Studio

Respectfully Submitted,

Dale J. Seymour