Our regular meetings are held in-person
at the Golf Club of Avon
Please follow all COVID guidelines
Members and guest are always able to attend via Zoom
Zoom instructions can be requested
by emailing: Rotary of Avon-Canton
President
President Elect
Secretary
Treasurer
Immediate Past President
Sergeant-at-Arms
Rotary Foundation
Board Member-at-Large
Board Member-at-Large
Interact Chair
Newsletter Editors
Dr. Arnie Goldman, Salin Low, Larry Haber, Gary Miller, Lauren Gardner
Public Relations
Mike Mezheritskiy - Social Media
Dr. Arnie Goldman, Salin Low, Larry Haber, Gary Miller, Lauren Gardner
Public Relations
Mike Mezheritskiy - Social Media
Don Bonner - District
Membership Committee Chair
Peter Vignati
Membership Committee Chair
Peter Vignati
Community Services Co-Chairs
Gary Roman
International Service Chair
Yvonne Gardner
Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA)
Gary Miller
Interact Advisors
• Canton - Kevin Case, Michelle Traub
Program Chair
Ike Eickenhorst
Ike Eickenhorst
Sunshine Chair
Ann Clark
Webmaster
Gary Miller
Golf Tournament Co-Chairs
Gary Miller, Phil Ferrari, Sue Budde
Tastes of the Valley Co-Chairs
Webmaster
Gary Miller
Golf Tournament Co-Chairs
Gary Miller, Phil Ferrari, Sue Budde
Tastes of the Valley Co-Chairs
Colleen Grasso
Senior Luncheon
Chris Lamadrid
Breakfast with Santa
Dee Boorjian
Tutoring in Hartford
Hank Frey
Chess Club in Hartford
Brian O'Donnell, Mike Mezheritskiy
ByLaws Review Committee
Investment-Scholarship Fund Committee
Gary Hyde
Financial Review & Advisory Committee
Phil Ferrari, Greg DeManche, Robin DiNicola
Rotary of Avon-Canton - Founded 1973
Our 40th Annual Charity Golf Tournament
occurred on
Monday, September 12, 2022
Monday, September 12, 2022
at the Golf Club of Avon
at 160 Country Club Road in Avon, CT
at 160 Country Club Road in Avon, CT
Thank you for the support of our Rotary members, the Golf Club of Avon, Joe Zone our Emcee, and especially our golfers, sponsors, and advertisers. All of you were responsible for an extremely successful event. The funds raised from this tournament will sustain our charitable giving in the community and internationally.
Join us again next year on Monday, September 11, 2023.
Join us again next year on Monday, September 11, 2023.
Dick Kisiel, who served with such distinction during his earlier time of membership in our Avon-Canton Club, returned home to us by rejoining in July. As these notes, which Dick graciously wrote for us, will show, he repeatedly flunked retirement during these later years much to the benefit of the communities in which he continued his professional life and commitment to Rotary service. Here is how he tells his story and reintroduces himself to our club:
After being appointed as superintendent in Avon in 1997, Dick joined the Avon-Canton Rotary Club serving as president in 2003-04. In 2012, he chose to join the Manchester Rotary Club while serving as Manchester's interim superintendent of schools. He continued his Rotary service with the Suffield Rotary Club eventually serving as its president for two years. He currently resides at the Reservoir condominium complex in West Hartford.
Dick grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended his parish elementary and high schools where he eventually met and would later marry his high school sweetheart. While in high school he completed requirements to be named as an Eagle scout. He continued supporting the scouting movement while in college. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Clark University in preparation for an eventual career as a clinical counselor in a school setting. With the absence of positions for which he was trained and the need to support a new family, he launched his fifty-four year career in education by teaching psychology at a nearby high school for two years. Still desiring to pursue his original career goal and training, he was appointed a guidance counselor at Enfield High School and soon thereafter the director of the program.
By accepting the invitation to serve as an assistant principal at the Fermi High School in Enfield, Dick launched his career in school administration. This four-year assignment created a penchant for school leadership which eventually led him to become a high school principal in Granby, Connecticut. During his tenure as principal, he pursued a doctorate degree at Boston University in leadership. Using his new training and insights along with previous experiences, Dick accepted his first position as superintendent of schools in a newly formed regional school district in Southeastern Massachusetts. Thus began a twenty-five year career as a superintendent that also included the towns of Avon, Manchester and Mansfield Connecticut. Dick’s professional career also included adjunct staff assignment teacher of general psychology to adults at the University of Hartford, and a adjunct staff position at the University of Connecticut focused on leadership and change issues with future superintendent aspirants. He worked as an education consultant assisting the Sheff plaintiff’s legal case to reduce the racial segregation in the City of Hartford schools. He ended his professional career by providing ongoing professional development experiences for school superintendents through the Connecticut Association of School Superintendents. On occasion, he still provides consulting services for school district leaders and boards of education on matters related to leadership and change.
Dick was happily married to his wife Janice for 43 years until her untimely death eight years ago. He is fortunate to have the support of his three children, six grandchildren, numerable relatives and friends, and a close personal friend and traveling companion many of whom came to celebrate Dick’s eightieth birthday at Winding Trails in Farmington. Dick enjoys the company of his cat, named Moxie.
In retirement, Dick maintains a training schedule at HealthTrax in Avon, regularly plays golf, and walks/hikes the trails around the Hartford reservoir. He enjoys reading regular and historical fiction, volunteers weekly as a docent at the Connecticut State Capitol, teaches English to immigrants in Hartford, and actively participates in his Hartford church’s interest in helping those less fortunate and forgotten. He anticipates traveling abroad again and will continue to enjoy regular trips to Caribbean beaches. He now regrets not bidding on the trip to South Africa auctioned at the club’s recent golf tournament. He looks forward again to working with a group committed Rotarians and being an active and contributing member of the Avon-Canton Rotary Club.
Thank you, Dick. Welcome back!
Steve Horenstein became a member of the Avon-Canton Rotary Club in February of this year. He was born and raised in Connecticut and is a 1973 graduate of the University of Connecticut. Following graduation he attended a Respiratory Therapy program at Hartford Hospital. He then worked for 12 years as a Respiratory Therapist at Mt. Sinai Hospital. In 1987 Steven left Mt. Sinai and started his own company called Per Diem Medical. It was the first company in the state to supply respiratory therapists to hospitals on an as-needed basis. Five years later Steven started another company called Help at Home, which supplied homemakers, companions and personal care assistants to senior citizens. He sold the company in 2020 and is now retired. Steven lives in Simsbury with his wife Arlene. He has two daughters who both reside in Boston.
Help us support the Rotary Clubs in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Maldova which are providing aid and comfort to the war torn areas and nearly 5 million refugees fleeing the war zones in Ukraine.
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The Rotary of Avon-Canton
is a charitable 501c3 organization
is a charitable 501c3 organization
Rotary of Avon-Canton
Chris Lamadrid, President 2021-2023
P.O. Box 11, Avon, CT 06001
Board of Directors
meets 3rd Tuesday at 5:30 PM
on ZOOM
Community Service Committee
meets 1st Friday at 8:45 AM
Golf Club of Avon
International Service Committee
meets 2nd Friday at 8:45 AM
Golf Club of Avon
Membership Committee
meets 3rd Friday at 8:45 AM
Golf Club of Avon
Service above Self
Avon, CT 06001
United States of America