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Bulletin Editor
Lauren Gardner
Speakers
Sep 30, 2022
Membership
Oct 07, 2022
Africa Trip
Oct 14, 2022
Town of Avon Updates
Oct 21, 2022
Oct 28, 2022
Nov 04, 2022
Medicare
View entire list
Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Secretary
 
Treasurer
 
Immediate Past President
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
 
Rotary Foundation
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Interact Chair
 
Club Information
Rotary of Avon-Canton - Founded 1973
Avon-Canton
Service above Self
Fridays at 7:30 AM
Golf Club of Avon
160 Country Club Road
Avon, CT 06001
United States of America
Fax:
(860) 760-6364
All meetings are hybrid both in-person and Zoom available
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District Site
VenueMap
Venue Map
 
June 24, 2022
FAVARH
Update on Favarh
 
The meeting will be held both in person and via Zoom. 
Watch for an email from the Club for Zoom access and
please note we use a recurring ID for your convenience.
 
Sergeant-at-Arms Report 
 
 
Rotarians Present: 25 in person + 4 via Zoom
 
Visiting Rotarians: Mike Sherber
 
Guests: John Rottkamp, Maggie Gibbons, Megan Ausere, Ella Cookman, Aidan Kalafus, Nathan Clark
Happy Dollars$28.00
 
Raffle Winner: Sue Budde
 
Fines: None today.
 
Birthdays:  None. 
 
Happy Dollars
 
Yvonne Gardner had a mix of three happy dollars, her mom had a heart attack the previous week but is doing well, she well was enough to attend Lauren Gardner's Jack and Jill party that was hosted on Sunday, the Jack and Jill party was a great success! The third happy dollar is that Fore Autism Charity Golf Tournament for FOCUS Center for Autism is on Monday 6/20.  
 
Deb Altschwager had a grateful $20. Deb shared a story about her daughter who was struck by a vehicle right as she was completing a 20-mile bike ride turning into the driveway of her new home that she moved into the week prior. She sustained several broken ribs and a bruised heart. Deb was grateful that she could spend a few weeks with her daughter who is now on the mend and can hopefully return to marathon training in 6-8 weeks.
 
Kevin Case was happy to have Canton graduates in attendance today and happy for another successful school year. Kevin finished 36 years in Canton and 16 years as a superintendent.
 
Gary Miller was happy to finally celebrate his 50th high school reunion after a prolonged period of planning. He also stopped by his family cemetery in Vermont and interred his cat Bucky who lived a full 18 years. 
 
Mike Sherber said his company in Stamford is merging and they are going remote so he is looking forward to rejoining our rotary club.
 
Sue Budde said it's that time of year! The golf tournament is starting! See her for ads, tools, and any other questions!
 
Announcements
 
Chris Lamadrid spoke about the passing of longtime member David Burke. Larry Sullivan said David was passionate about our club so much so that when he fell ill around 10 years ago and could no longer attend meetings, he still insisted on staying a member and continued to pay dues. He was a great guy, a hoot to be around and he will be dearly missed!
 
Steve Morris reminded the club that at FAVARH next week to please park in the LOWER parking lot! Masks are not required. Breakfast will be provided by Beanz and will include a breakfast sandwich, fruit and coffee - no steak - sorry, Rollie
 
Sue Budde announced that the planning for the 40th Annual Charity Golf Tournament has started with the launch of the website and Save the Date information on Facebook and emails. Northwest Community Bank will be our Event Sponsor again for 2022. The tournament is September 12th. All the information and forms are available on our website. Brochures will be available at the next meeting. Sue reminded everyone that the golf tournament from three-quarters of all the money we raise for projects and grants. We are currently looking for a member to chair the auction committee and a prospective 2023 tournament chair to work with co-chairs Sue, Gary and Phil. A short info session will be held next week.
 
Alicia Canning reminded everyone that the President's Installation Dinner is Friday July 8th at Golf Club of Avon. The website has the link to sign up, make dinner choices and pay.
 
Salin Low is looking for at least one additional scribe to prepare the Early Riser one time a month. The current crew has worked together for about six years. They have a number of scheduling conflicts this summer, so it's a good time to try out your editorial skills. Gary Miller is a pro at training new scribes, so it's a fairly smooth learning curve. If you are willing to be a summer intern, please let Salin know.
 
Calendar
 
July 8th: President's Dinner at Golf Club of Avon. Dinner cost is $55. Meal choices are: chicken marsala; grilled salmon; filet mignon; and a vegetarian option. You can sign up and pay on the club website now: President's Dinner Sign-up
 
Induction of New Members
None this week.
Awards
None this week.
 
Community and International Service Grants
None this week.
 
PRESENTATION
 
Canton Scholarship Recipients
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Canton Dollar for Scholars has grown from $15,000 to award $98,000 this year in scholarships. Collinsville Trick or Trot is their largest fundraiser. Rotary awarded 7 scholarships in Canton for $8,000. This morning four recipients joined us for breakfast, they each said thank you and shared a few words.
 
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Maggie Gibbons will be attending Providence College undeclared major switching to business or global studies.

 
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Megan Ausere will be attending Southern Methodist University in Cox School of Business and will declare her major sophomore year.

 
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Ella Cookman will be attending Brandice University as a biochemistry major with a minor in women and gender studies.

 
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John Rottkamp will be attending Rochester Institute of Technology for aerospace engineering.
 
Evan Masseto could not attend but wrote a thank you letter. He will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for aerospace and mechanical engineering. Aidan Kalafus and Nathan Clark are also recipients who were not in attendance.
 
Kevin Case discussed the past year as superintendent for Canton Public Schools. He commented that the students present today are exemplary of the students in the Canton Public School system. The past year was a difficult year with the ongoing pandemic. The year started with masks, students eating in classrooms, high positivity rates, and many sleepless nights where Kevin worried if there would be enough staff at the schools. Thankfully with lots of moving parts, everything worked out. The second half of the year ran much more smoothly and the year ended on a positive note. All of the principals showed student achievement scores and with all things considering, the scores are still on the rise. 
 
Canton also enjoyed a good year for their athletic teams, and worked over 9 months to come up with an equity statement. They had 45 community stakeholders, including scholarship recipient Ella Cookman, form a coalition called We Speak that addressed diversity, equity, and inclusion.  Canton administrators want all students to feel like they are in a safe and inclusive environment to achieve at the highest level possible, and while this is always a goal, it is now a major focus. There were eight professional development workshops focusing on this during early release days in equity.  
 
Kevin also discussed school safety in regards to school shootings and intruders. They often practice protocols with the Canton Police Department which has proven effective with a quick response time when someone accidentally activated the emergency response system. Canton also hired a contractor to make sure doors close and latch right away. The town was also granted $130,000 to upgrade security cameras and install security film on the windows. The security film is not bullet proof, but will prevent the windows from shattering and allowing intruders in the building. They are revisiting the possibility of hiring resource officers. When entering the building, guests must provide a driver's license that is run through a database. Those convicted of sex offenses and certain felonies are not allowed in the building – this includes parents with these convictions. 
 
There was conversation about mental health and reporting on students with concerning behavior. Kevin commented that Canton was able to hire additional school social workers and a school psychology and the Canton Public School system has a goal that every student can have one adult that they can trust. This creates community that helps to address any red flags. 
 
Turning to a lighter subject, Kevin said he was just as surprised as us to see that Canton High was removing trees. He even opened an email from an 8th grader with the subject line "The Lorax is not happy". The downed trees are making room for a new softball field and they will be planting new trees as the project progresses.
 
After 36 years in the Canton Public School system and 16 as superintendent, Kevin is going to retire after completing the next academic year. He said that being superintendent is like a ministry and he wants to continue ministry work in a different way while studying at The General Theological Seminary in Manhatten. While he is not sure ordination is in his future, he looks forward to the next step in his journey. 
 
Rotarians also asked the high school graduates about what it was like applying for college this time. They all agreed it was very unusual given that thousands of more students who took a gap year from the pandemic were applying at the same time of them. John commented that at RIT over 54,000 students applied - over 3 times as many as before the pandemic. Many colleges do not require SAT scores and the students had to make difficult decisions whether or not to include them to stand out. Ella commented that she chose to write an argumentative essay which earned her admission rather than sending in test scores. 
 
 
 

Special Announcements

None this week.
 
Mail Bag
None this week.
 
Photo Credits
Mike Mezheritskiy
 
Technology Credits
Zoom platform management expertise by Mike Mezheritskiy.
 
Editor's 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?