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 “Auld Lang Syne”

Attendance:  22 of 66 members attended. Ray Baldwin, Greg Bivona, Bob Braun, Willie Costello, Sy Davidson, Dave Dunn, Don Emond, Tom Galla, Len Germano, Ed Hedrick, Steve Hodson, Jim Lang, Bob Matthews, Frank Metrusky, Jack Quinlan, Michael Redgate, Joe Ruospo, Ray Rzasa, Dale Seymour, Rose Marie Spatafore, Paul Squillace, Dave Wilson.

Guests: Prospective members Kathleen Bunting, and Steve Lupien.

Happy Dollars:

Jim Lang – 2 happy - for a lot of reasons, and one sad for the members who missed our meeting.

Jack Quinlan – 2 – for taking his children and grandchildren to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show.

Ed Hedrick – 1 – for attending a recent Sound Tigers hockey game at Bridgeport.

Joe Ruospo – 1 – to promote the idea of moving Winterfest to Buffalo, NY.

Steve Hodson – 1 – because his 4 brothers and 2 sisters were home for Christmas, and because one of them is going to adopt a Chinese baby.

Dale Seymour –1 – for an upcoming Ken Burns documentary film on PBS about Mark Twain.

Birthdays and Anniversaries: none

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. 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. Call Mike Redgate or Phil Lane if you would like to help with this event. Our function can accommodate 300 people. There will be musical entertainment provided by our own singing group as well as a group from Christian Heritage School.

Ed Hedrick announced that he is checking with local businesses to see if they will man a lawn and garden show exhibit area at Winterfest.

Michael Redgate invited everyone interested to attend the Board Meeting on January 2^nd.

Program:

Mike Redgate introduced our “last minute” guest speaker, fellow Rotarian and new Trumbull First Selectman Ray Baldwin. Ray gave us an update on town progress since the election. We are all proud of Ray and all he has done for Trumbull and our Rotary club for many years, not just recently. Among other things, Ray said:

1.      A new Director of Finance, with experience in Weston, CT, has been hired.

2.      A new Police Chief, James Berry, has been hired.

3.      Ray thanked many Rotarians for helping him in his efforts as First Selectman, including Dave Wilson, Frank Metrusky, Bernie Helfrich, Tom Galla and Dale Seymour.

4.      Ray is attempting to be as bipartisan as possible while guiding the Town, and has been succeeding. He commended the bipartisan help he received when selecting the new Director of Finance and Police Chief.

5.      The Police Department will return to “First Responder” status.

6.      Police Officer Kevin Hammill has won his arbitration case before the labor board and will resume his duties as Youth Officer.

7.      An additional School Resource Officer (SRO) will be appointed from the ranks.

8.      Ray would like to have an entertainment band shell constructed at Indian Ledge Park.

9.      A statue of Jonathan Trumbull will be erected in front of Town Hall. The statue bears an amazing resemblance to former First Selectman Dave Wilson.

10.  Plans for the new Elementary School are moving forward.

11.  The Dare program, which Rotary has generously supported for many years, should return to Trumbull.

12.  The present Senior Center on Pricilla Place, which is very popular with the seniors who go there, will be renovated. A grant of $200,000.00 has been received form the State, which hopefully can be utilized for this purpose.

13.  There is a shortage of  “one and one half schools” in town. Therefore, a new school administration building may be constructed at Hillandale, to save school space. Some of the property at Hillandale may be sold as residential building lots. The present building at Hillandale needs extensive renovation, so it will probably be demolished.

14.  NASDAQ and Trumbull Shopping Park may expand, which will be good for the town. Robert Scinto wants to construct a new office building on Quarry Road, next to the theatre complex.

15.  The new police chief will be sworn in at 7:30PM on January 9^th at the Library.

Raffle:  Frank Metrusky and Jack Quinlan drew for $400.00, with no winning card selected.

                        UCOMING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

January 2          Board is meeting at the Marriott at 7PM.

January 4          Rose Marie Spatafore will speak about the 2002 Rotary Convention to be 

                       held in Barcelona, Spain.

January 11        Scholarship Celebrity Breakfast with Dick Blumenthal

January 18        Fred Astaire Dance Studio

Respectfully Submitted,

Dale J. Seymour