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Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
ClubRunner
Bulletin Editor
Salin Low
Speakers
Jun 22, 2018
Jun 29, 2018
Real Estate Agents Recycle
Jul 06, 2018
Jul 13, 2018
Signers of Declaration of Independence
Jul 20, 2018
Creative Arts and Having Fun
Jul 27, 2018
Rushford Drug Treatment-Substance Use and Treatment Options
View entire list
Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Immediate Past President
 
Treasurer
 
Secretary
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
 
Foundation Chair
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Asst Treasurer
 
EarlyRiser Presentations
GLO Fall 2017 Mission Trip
Eastern Europe Trip to Vienna and Prague Presentation
Avon Village Center Project Presentation
Club Information
Rotary of Avon-Canton - Founded 1973
Avon-Canton
Service above Self
We meet Fridays at 7:30 AM
Avon Old Farms Hotel
279 Avon Mountain Rd.
Avon, CT  06001
United States
DistrictSiteIcon District Site
VenueMap Venue Map
March 23, 2018
“Cycling for Peace, Partnership and the Environment”
Sergeant-at-Arms Report
March 16, 2018
 
Members Present: 31
 
Make-Ups: None  
Guests:  Chris Lamadrid (Prospective Member and Guest of Salin Low), Derek Slap (State Democratic Representative), Tim LeGeyt (State Republican Representative), Leslee Hill (First Selectman of Canton), Vickie Dirienzo (McLean Meals on Wheels), Conrad Thamm (former member of our club, now a member of the Hyannis Club).
 
Fines: None  
Happy Dollars: $ 40.00  
Raffle Winner: Peter Vignati
 
Birthdays
 
Alicia Canning has been a member of our club for about eight months. She has become very involved in the activities of the club. She likes the things are club is doing and enjoys the people. Happy Birthday, Alicia.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ike Eickenhorst has been a member more than 25 years. He sat next to Rollie Sterrett the first time he attended a meeting and still returned. Amazing! He was president of the club in 1996-1997 and was very active in the student foreign exchange program. Happy Birthday, Ike. We're glad you kept coming back.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Happy Dollars
 
 
 
 
President-elect Michael Mezheritskiy was happy to be back from PETS - training for incoming club presidents. He learned a lot about Rotary and met lots of new people.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Linda Pendergast was happy, sort of, to be back after two weeks in Florida. She spent an afternoon with Nancy and Craig Nation and encouraged us to keep them in our prayers. Nancy has a new doctor in Florida and was waiting for results of recent tests to determine an appropriate course of treatment. They plan to stay in Florida until May.
 
Phil Worley gave $5 because he was happy that Jolly Lux had made a presentation about Global Light Orphans at the Canton Center Congregational Church. Jolly also gave $5.00 because that connected helped her to receive the support of the CIGNA Foundation.
 
Peter Vignati was happy to announce that Robin DiNicola is joining Edward Jones and training as a financial advisor. Robin was glad that she had passed the FBI background check and promised to give more happy dollars when when her income increases.
 
Alicia Canning was happy that she had been in Atlanta for a week with her grandkids.
 
Gary Miller encouraged members to take part in a grants webinar, so the club is eligible for district and global grants. (See Gary for further information.) He also discussed progress with polio eradication. In 2017 there were only 22 cases of polio in the wild. There is still an emphasis on inoculation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.Since the beginning of Polio Plus in the 1980's, Rotary has contributed $11.7 Billion to this effort. The World Health Organization is now recognizing the role of women to reach family members in the home.
 
Paul Mikkelson gave not so happy dollars to remind us to stay up on health checkups and to see a doctor if there are concerns. His wife's sister died recently from cancer, which was too advanced to cure by the time she finally saw a doctor.
 
Tom Voorhees told a joke about a doctor and a lawyer. Hard to believe either one is very funny.
 
Len Dunstan was happy. about being with his family.
 
General Announcements
 
Phil Worley announced the next Pub Night will be Tuesday, April 3, at the Saybrook Fish House. at about 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. It's a chance to visit with other members in a relaxed setting - usually with some snacks provided by the restaurant. Come and bring a friend or your spouse. What could be better than getting a makeup for having a good time!?!
 
Phil and President Don also displayed a new membership brochure. Members are encouraged to have one or two available to share with people they think would be good Rotarians.
 
Calendar of Upcoming Events
 
Friday, May 18: Joint Rotary - FAVARH Yard Goats Game Event. See Paul Mikkelson for details.
 
Friday, June 8: 2018 President's Installation Dinner at Farmington Woods Club House. President-Elect Michael Mezheritskiy and a new slate of Officers and Directors will be installed for the 2018-2019 Rotary Year. Don Bonner, Heather Pantano, and Colleen Grasso will receive Paul Harris Fellowships for club service. Tickets will be $45 each.
 
 
Awards and Community Service Grants
 
 
Vickie Dirienzo received a check for $500 from Paul Mikkelson and the Community Service Committee on behalf of McLean Meals on Wheels. The program served approximately 20,000 meals last year to 152 recipients, which was the most ever provided. The program serves people in Avon, Canton, Granby, and Simsbury and delivers both a hot and a cold meal at the same time. Some recipients can pay for the service, but most receive the meals at a reduced cost. Our donation helps with the packaging and other auxiliary expenses. Eligible recipients are the elderly and the disabled of any age. They have clients 33 -103.
Presentation
Bipartisanship in the State Legislature
 
 
Bob Cave introduced Derek Slap (Democrat representative for Avon and West Hartford) and Tim LeGeyt (Republican representative for Canton) as an example of the successful result of bipartisanship.
 
The representatives acknowledged that bipartisanship doesn't always happen, but it can be productive when it does. Tim announced that he will not run for reelection next year. Leslee Hill will run for his district. When Tim was first elected, the state house of representatives was composed of 114 Democrats and 37 Republicans. The Democrats could ignore the Republicans when passing bills, and they charged ahead. In 2017 many more Republicans had been elected, and the Democrats had a majority of only four votes. With some representatives crossing over to back the other party on various legislation, the Democrats didn't always have a reliable majority and had to pay attention to Republican initiatives.
 
The budget process was truly bipartisan, because it had to be to pass. The decision was made to keep the governor out of negotiations. This was necessary to pass a budget that the governor couldn't block, so that there was support from both parties. The governor vetoed the first budget, but it could be passed again with a large enough majority to override his veto. Derek quoted Chris Buckley, who said, "Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship."
 
The Democrats were especially interested in funding of higher education, while the Republicans wanted greater cuts in that area. The Democrats wanted candidate assistance and and funding of teachers' pensions. The governor wanted one-third of pensions paid by towns. Both Democrats and Republicans hated that suggestion, because it would have resulted in huge increases in property taxes. Derek was concerned that West Hartford would have lost state support on which it depends.  The next cycle will not be any easier. The new federal tax law has implications for the state with its limitations on deductible state and local taxes.
 
The two men agreed that for bipartisanship to work it is important to find the humanity in one another. They must forget about labels and consider what they have in common. It is hard to expect the legislature to be less partisan when the electorate is more partisan. In order to work together, it is necessary to challenge comfortable ideas. Craig Buhrendorf asked about a package proposed by the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth to overhaul the state's tax and funding structure. The reps stated that the whole package may make sense, but there are tough parts for each side. It would be hard to pass such a major initiative in a five-week session. There are so many sins of the past that weight on the budget.
 
Bob Cave was concerned about young people leaving the state. The outflow is about 2,000 people a month. Legislators are even more concerned about the wealth that is leaving the state because of the tax burden which has grown in recent years.
 
Leslee Hill wondered whether the legislature has the will to challenge the SEBAC (state employees' unions) agreement approved in 2017. In order to challenge the agreement now, there must be the declaration of an emergency, which would have to be ratified by the state supreme court. It is more likely to happen in two years when layoffs are allowed. There can be a reduction in employees at this time through attrition. There was agreement that the issue of overtime in pension calculations should be abolished. It has been reduced in recent years by calculating the average overtime over 20 years rather than three years as in the past. There is some discussion of privatizing some functions currently handled by the state.
 
A show of hands demonstrated that there is fairly broad support for highway tolls. Of course the devil is always in the details. Where should they be? How will they be assessed? How will the money be used? Bipartisan support will be essential to that change.
 
This was a very good discussion. May there be more.
 
 
Mail Bag
None today.
 
Photo Credits 
Photographs courtesy of Phil Worley unless otherwise indicated.
 
Editors Notes
Submission Deadline: Members are kindly encouraged to submit all materials for each week's Early Riser as early as possible. Please note that some editions may be published and distributed as early as the Saturday following our meetings, and during those weeks further contributions to the Early Riser will be included in the subsequent week's edition.
“The Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do”:

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all Concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?