1. Luke thanked all involved in planning and executing the 50th Anniversary Celebration for their hard work. The event was a roaring success and included representatives of seven other Rotary Clubs and almost 70 attendees. Gary Hyde was honored with the Nancy Nation Award for exemplary service as our treasurer for 24 years. [See "Awards" section above for further details on the event and award.]
2. Luke announced the imminent departure of Lisa Wright, who has resigned her position at the Golf Club of Avon, and is moving to New Hampshire as of December 1st for a new opportunity. The Golf Club of Avon plans to continue to support us and, at least in the near term, our operations will not be adversely affected.
3. Luke next gave a comprehensive Club Calendar and Strategic Planning Overview for the remainder of 2023, and early 2024.
For the remainder of 2023, our calendar includes:
11/3 Regular meeting: Steve Fine early Self Detection & Prevention of Melanoma.
11/5 Rotary Foundation brunch, at the Delmar, West Hartford, 12 members are registered so far.
11/10 West Hartford steeple project, see Bob Cave for details.
11/15 Turkey trot, see Peter Vignati for details.
11/17 VFW Veterans Breakfast is in the planning stage. Tim Healy is coordinating with us.
11/24 is Thanksgiving, so there will be no regular meeting. The "Worley Commemorative" Lonely Rotarians Society will convene at LaSalle Market at 07:30, as usual.
12/1 Regular meeting: Betty Goldfarb and Blue Path Service Dogs.
12/1 Holiday wreaths tentatively delivered, Art Schaller of New Britain Club is our liaison.
12/8 Regular meeting, Avon HS choir performs.
12/12 Miller Farms Holiday Party 5 PM.
12/13 FAVARH Holiday event.
12/15 Regular meeting, Canton HS choir performs.
12/22 No meeting. Lonely Rotarians Society likely to meet.
12/29 Regular meeting at Golf Club of Avon.
By acclamation the Club agreed that November's Happy Dollars will go towards the turkey initiative,
and the December Happy Dollars will go to the Salvation Army. Further, members making individual contributions to the Salvation Army, will have those matched by the Club.
Looking ahead to 2024 and the New Year: Your Board of Directors is carefully analyzing the direction of the Club with respect to membership, as well as our ability to fund community service grants and international grants.
Specifically, the Club has held the Taste of the Valley (TOTV) event annually since 2008, and the Board feels the event's concept needs re-evaluation. Historically we've held two yearly fundraisers, with the golf tournament as our primary and most productive event.
In contrast, the 2023 TOTV event incurred both higher costs and decreased restaurant participation. TOTV's gross revenue has historically been between $27,000.00 and $29,000.00, over the last three years. with expenses of just $10,000.00. Therefore the net revenue had been about $20,000.00 annually. Indeed, 2021 was a boom year, with 300 people participating. This past year however, has seen sharply increased production costs, leaving us with a net revenue of just $10,000.00. Consequently, "funding for community service and international grants was adjusted downward in our budget for this year," said Luke.
Attending Rotarians then engaged in a wide ranging discussion of the future of the TOTV event. Luke researched other organizations' fundraisers including FAVARH's decided to transition to a concert event at Simsbury Meadows. FAVARH's gala has since became a component of the Simsbury concert series. It took ten years to bring the original conception of the Gala to its highest revenue, but only two years, in concert with Simsbury, to exceed the same revenue.
Working with FAVARH in selling tickets to FAVARH's event is a potential opportunity for us, but Rotary should still hold our own spring/summer event. FAVARH has the ability to approach their events in a unique way, by sometimes giving away tickets, and bartering with large organizations for in-kind services, which keeps costs down. Members of those organizations receive complementary tickets and thereafter enlist others to attend.
So, what's next for us? The Board feels strongly that the TOTV needs to be refreshed or changed. They are seeking ideas and invite all interested members to weigh in.
Discussion
Don Bonner, offered that we could change to a different TOTV model, where the food is not given away.
Joanne Santiago noted restaurants are struggling with high costs, and scarcity of employees.
Lou Daniels noted that sometimes the attractiveness of the venue is the problem. The event can feel disconnected.
Ann Clark, noted FAVARHs gala was too much work, and that was what drove the change to the Simsbury Meadows Concerts for them. She feels TOTV has been very heavily dependent on Lisa Wright's connections, and has no idea whether the Golf Club relationship will continue unchanged. That is also true for our Golf Tournament she cautioned.
Cat Pellino, noted that the Taste of Simsbury is held at Riverview and enthusiastic vendors fill the perimeter.
Josh Gilloolly, stated that we strove to keep TOTV costs down. The Golf Club of Avon and Tower Ridge Country Club before it, were inexpensive venues. Josh feels the Golf Club set up not ideal, with multiple floors causing a disjointed event. Riverview is beautiful, but expensive and ticket costs would have to rise significantly, perhaps to $150.00 per person. Options are limited. Josh commended Colleen for her leadership the last few years and agrees it needs a revamp.
Salin Low, noted it will take time to reinvent our fundraiser, and feels TOTV should go ahead this Spring, but also that we indicate it's to be the last one. "We need a longer runway (in time) to take off in a new direction", said Salin.
Colleen Sullivan noted the Simsbury Club membership is very different from ours and they bring in their own members as sponsors.
Ann Clark noted there are also more young people in that club than in ours.
Chris Lamadrid indicated we will need 1 1/2 years to redefine the TOTV. In the meantime we need to maintain revenue for this year. Dramatic change now will be imprudent, as it risks our total revenue for this year. As we plan for the future, "We cannot fail!", declared Chris.
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The meeting concluded with Cal Miller selecting the raffle ticket, with unfortunately, no winner this week, and then with an enthusiastic recitation of the Rotary 4-way test.
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