Happy Dollars
Sgt at Arms, Heather Pantano, was assisted by her daughter, AJ, today.
Joanne Santiago gave her happy dollars in honor of Salin's husband, Bill, and Hank Frey. Her father is being honored by induction into the NJ Hall of Fame for Sports Medicine. Joanne was a bit nervous about making a speech at the event.
Nancy Nation honored Hank and his tutors for the work they do the Hartford schools.
Larry Sullivan had $5 happy dollars for the golf tournament which netted nearly $45,000. He praised Heather Pantano for running the raffle and auction very successfully. He said that Heather was panicking in July, but he was able to talk her off the ledge.
Bill Barnes was happy with the Red Sox season. He also recalled that our speaker, Corey Gabel, was formerly a member of the Farmington Symphony Orchestra.
Bruce Sayward said he and his wife celebrated the 27th wedding anniversary with a trip to Block Island. It was apparently a bit creepy staying at the Sullivan House.
Robin Dinicola attended an event at Avon Old Farms School with a speaker, Jason Redman, who was a former Navy Seal. Jason talked about his experiences which are related in his book, The Trident. Robin welcomed anyone that wished to read the book.
Len Dunstan thanked Salin for leading with our weekly singing.
Gary Miller was headed off to Hanover, NH, to attend Class Officer's Weekend at Dartmouth. Debbie volunteered him to be his class' new Secretary. He was going to be trained this weekend.
Peter Vignati and his wife, Susan, are headed to northern Italy on vacation.
Bob Cole did a make-up at the Bloomfield Rotary Club. He said that Phil Schenk sent his regards to her former club members.
Paul Mikkelson gave his happy dollars for Salin and the golf tournament with thanks to Don, Nancy and Larry.
Announcements
Meeting on September 30th will be at Tower Ridge Country Club
Nancy will only be on selling Golf Umbrellas for $25 until Friday. The rest will be given to speakers throughout the year.
President Don Bonner announced a Club Forum for the October 21st meeting. All committee chairs will be summarizing their activities for the year.
Rotary Chess Club
Join Paul Mikkelson, Brian O'Donnell and Mike Mezheritskiy Tuesday afternoons at 3:30 PM at the Noah Webster School for some challenging chess and exercise for the mind!
Rotary Foundation
The Foundation Dinner will be held at Chez Josef in Agawam on November 3rd. The dinner always has great speakers. She encourage our members to attend as the expense of the club. Carpooling can be arranged for anyone wishing to share a ride.
Rotarians are reminded to make their voluntary Rotary Foundation pledge, traditionally done at the time of one's birthday, however, the earlier in the Rotary year the better. World Polio Day is October 24th. Happy Dollars will go to Polio Plus to be matched 2:1 by the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation.
Rotary-in-the-News
All the news that's fit to print: [ !!!!! ].
The Gabel Basket Brigade has used the Lewis Mills High School as the assembly point since 2009. Volunteers from many groups come together to fill 800 food boxes. The goal for 2016 is 1000 boxes. The distribution of the boxes to needy recipients is handled through many organizations that identity families in need. The Gabels work all year long to raise funds and determine the food requirements. In the early days of the program, they collected most the food themselves. Now they work with Gnazzo Food Center in Plainville, which supplies everything at cost. Each box costs $30 and contains a complete Thanksgiving dinner including a turkey, stuffing, vegetables, brownie mix, etc.
