Isabelle Ceballos - Executive Director, Horizons at Ethel Walker School
Brett Frank (son of Capri Frank)
Visiting Rotarians
Hap Leapman, Asst Governor Area 9, West Hartford Club
Bill Neagus, Farmington Club
Happy Dollars
$ 40.00
Fines
None
Raffle
$20.00 - No winner
Birthdays
Jolly Lux said there was not much to explain about what she does in her spare time. She has been a massage therapist for 30 years. GLO occupies the rest of her time keeping her busy and out of trouble. Her Foundation check will be sent to Joanne.
Happy Dollars
Evan Cooper was happy to have spent time with her son, Ben, in Namibia. Ben has been gone 17 months on his Peace Corps mission. Evan described the vast chasm between the wealth and devasting poverty she saw. She took a number of wildlife tours with their private driver. Giraffes, multitudes of wild birds, and elephants along so many miles of dirt and gravel roads. She described the life of a 7 year old girl that lived with the family befriended by Ben. The young girl’s life revolved around caring for and feeding her elders. Little food was left for her. Ben said that all the children in his school were hungry. Despite the poverty and hunger, Evan said all the people had great joy. Ben is working on establishing a library in his school. His tour ends in October. Evan suggested everyone become Facebook friends with Ben to see all the wonderful pictures he posts regularly. Facebook: Benjamin Cooper
Joanne Santiago give 2 Happy$ for Ben
Linda Pendergast asked Ann Clark to stand up with her. They had both shown up wearing the same outfit top.
Bob Cave urged President Don Bonner to relate the story of the noises in his chimney. Don and his wife had heard strange noises emanating from their chimney. Upon investigation with a flashlight, Don saw two eyes staring back him from the flue damper. He enlisted the aid of his neighbor, Tom Voorhees, who suggested calling Roaring Brook Nature Center. The culprit was identified as a Barred Owl and was subsequently removed and taken to the Nature Center.
Dale Bronson filled in for Bill Barnes to remind us about the significance of Friday the 13th. You can read all about “triskaidekaphobia” on Wikipedia at Friday_the_13th. The latter term is actually just a fear of the number 13. The correct term for the fear of Friday the 13th is “paraskevidekatriaphobia.”
Devra Sisitsky was happy that her Makerspace project had passed a major milestone and would soon break ground at the Colt Building. She also gave a happy $ for her son who has a job with a parts maker running a large computerized manufacturing machine.
Rollie Sterrett added that the number 13 has a great significance to his alma mater Colgate. Hamilton, N.Y., was still a frontier settlement in 1817 when 13 men met to found the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York. The founders are said to have backed up their experiment in education with 13 dollars and 13 prayers. Read more at: Colgate Origins.
Capri Frank was happy to have her son, Brett, home from college and thought we should find a way to help Ben Cooper with his library project.
Announcements
Tom Voorhees announced that an Amber Alert session was being held at Roaring Brook School in Avon on Friday, the 20th from 6–8 PM. He passed around a clipboard for help with the event.
Hap Leapman, Assistant District Governor - Area 9, announced that District Governor Frank Wargo had charged all the the District 7890 AG’s to organize an international program amongst their area clubs. Hap has been working with Craig Buhrendorf and other representatives from the clubs in Area 9. After much discussion, the group has decided to work on a hospice project in India with an initial start of $7,000 which will be increased to $12,000 after District and International matches. The group will continue to communicate to keep this project and others like GLO and Farmington’s Artists for Peace project.
Important Notice
As we've announced several times, we will vote (paper ballots) on our Favarh Initiative at our Friday meeting, January, 20. If you cannot attend this meeting, please vote, "yes" or "no" in an email to both Don Bonner (bonnerco@comcast.net) and Paul Mikkelson (mikbenefit@comcast.net) by noon, Thursday, January 19. We need a two thirds vote for approval. We are simply voting to continue working on this Initiative - our Favarh Committee will iron out the details. We will announce the results at our January 20 meeting. Thank you!
Awards, Donations, etc.
Joanne Santiago, Foundation Chair, invited Rick Heath to join she and President Don at the podium. Rick had earned the next level with a Paul Harris Fellowship pin with two additional saphire stones (PHF +2). Congratulations to Rick on his continuing support of the RI Foundation. Joanne reminded everyone that next week we would award three community Paul Harris Fellowships. All members with a PHF award should wear their medallions and pins for the celebration.
Scott Nardozzi represented the Community Service Committee by presenting a check for $500 to Isabelle Ceballos, Executive Director of Ethel Walker’s Horizons program. Horizons at The Ethel Walker School builds brighter futures for girls from low-income families by creating year-round academic, artistic, and athletic opportunities, nurturing potential, and inspiring individual dreams in a safe and supportive community. Horizon’s provides a six-week, full-day educational enrichment summer session for Hartford public school students with a range of academic abilities, blends exceptional academics with cultural enrichment and swimming instruction, and reflects the culture, values and educational standards of The Ethel Walker School. The program currently services 3 schools and 60 girls in grades K–3 but will expand to K–8. Read more about the Horizons Program
Brian spoke to us about customer service. He credited his success with a chance meeting with the real Doctor Hunter Adams, better known as “Patch” Adams, not the Robin Williams movie character. Patch Adams founded the Gesundheit! Institute in 1971. Each year he organized a group of volunteers from around the world to travel to various countries where they dress as clowns in an effort to bring humor to orphans, patients, and other people. Patch Adams believed that spending time with patients and keeping love in every conversation played a significant role in their recovery.
Brian reminded us of the kind of customer service that used to be part of going to the gas station when a uniformed attendant would pump your gas, check your oil and tire pressure and clean the windows. The station Brian’s father used to visit even brought him a cup of coffee. Brian said that his Dale Carnegie training also taught him that customer service was all in the “eye of the beholder”. Brian says it’s his mission to meet the expectations of his customers by incorporating individuality into everything he does. Disney and Starbucks follow this philosophy religiously. Following this philosophy will differentiate your business from others.
Brian finished by paraphrasing Neil Armstrong who said that when he saw the earth from his Gemini 8 capsule, he noticed immediately that their were no boundary lines and that everyone was connected. Brian finished by charging all of us to add love to our day.
Mail Bag
No mail today!
Photo Credits
Club meeting photographs courtesy of Phil Worley, unless otherwise indicated. Ben Cooper photo from his Facebook page. Others from Wikipedia.
Editors Notes
Submission Deadline: Members are kindly encouraged to submit all materials for each week's Early Riser as quickly 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.
