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Russell Hampton
ClubRunner
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Bulletin Editor
Arnie Goldman
Speakers
Jan 17, 2020
Hartford Wolfpack
Jan 24, 2020
Prism Health Advocates
Jan 31, 2020
East Coast Greenway
Feb 07, 2020
Chiropractic care with alternatives for pain and opioid relief
Feb 14, 2020
Rotary Youth Exchange
Feb 21, 2020
Simple Solutions to Make Your Home Work for You
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Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Immediate Past President
 
Treasurer
 
Secretary
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
 
Foundation Chair
 
Membership
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Asst Treasurer
 
Interact Chair
 
EarlyRiser Presentations
Promoting the Golf Tournament
The Annotated Guide to Ending Polio
GLO Fall 2017 Mission Trip
Club Information
Rotary of Avon-Canton - Founded 1973
Avon-Canton
Service above Self
We meet Fridays at 7:30 AM
Avon Old Farms Hotel
279 Avon Mountain Rd.
Avon, CT  06001
United States of America
DistrictSiteIcon District Site
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November 1, 2019
Carrie Firestone
Operation Warm
 
 
Sergeant-at-Arms Report
Members Present: 27
 
Visiting Rotarians: None  
Guests: (3), Sean Blacker introduced his sister Holly Blacker. Heather Pantano introduced prospective member Jenny Gonzales. Phil Ferrari briefly introduced  speaker Bill Dombos.
Happy Dollars: $8.00
Raffle Winner: No Winner
 
Fines
None this week
 
Birthdays
Brian O'Donnell has enjoyed being a Rotarian for many years, having become involved with our Estonia Project, and also playing chess with kids, and he loves his Friday mornings with Rotary. Happy Birthday Brian!
 
 
 
Happy Dollars & Announcements
Larry Sullivan congratulated the Canton Chamber of Commerce, and also our Club, for a great "Stars of the Town" Chamber event, held at Ski Sundown in New Hartford. Our Club and its members were well represented and also well recognized. "It was a great night for Canton and for Rotary", said Larry.  He continued, noting Remedy One was honored as Business-of-the-Year. Remedy One is a pharmaceutical discount program company that works with businesses to maximize their employee health plan's drug coverage. Their Medical Rebate program negotiates and manages medication rebates that would otherwise be missed by companies' health programs. Community Leader-of-the-Year was Canton high school student Alex Lederman a member of our Rotaract who, in graciously accepting his honor, recognized Rotarians Michelle Traub and Kevin Case for their mentorship and Alicia Canning and Kevin Case as Rotaract co-founders. The Canton Chamber's Service-to-the Canton-Community awardee was Chuck Joseph and the Joseph Family for all the charitable work they do in the local community. Also honored was Kellee Abramczyk, president of Canton Main Street, with the Service-to-the-Business-Community-Award. In concluding, Larry also noted that Gary Roman's wife Angie did the event decorations.
 
Arnie Goldman welcomed Phil Worley back to Rotary and asked for prayers for his wife Kathy, who is quite ill.
 
Gary Miller donated Happy Dollars of an unheard nature [Ed Note: Because certain nameless members, (you know who you are) were talking when Gary was speaking!).
 
Calendar of Upcoming Events
 
November 7th: District Foundation Dinner at Chez Josef in Agawam, MA, from 6:00-9:00 pm. The cost is $55 per person paid by the club. The Keynote Speaker will be Emily Goldman, the DUNN Global Grant Scholar.  Click here to register. The deadline for registration is October 25th. Let Gary Hyde and Joanne Santiago know that you have registered, so that a check can be sent.
 
November 13 - Pub Night - First and Last Tavern in Avon. Starts about 4:45 and provides an opportunity to visit with other Rotarians. Come and enjoy the low key fun!
 
November 22nd: FAVARH Annual Gala featuring Shake-A-Tail-Feather tribute to Motown
 
March 28th: Tastes of the Valley 2020 at Farmington Gardens.
 
Induction of New Members
[Jim Gordon, Alicia Canning, Luke Violette, Heather Pantano]
 
Jim Gordon introduced new member Luke Violette, of New Britain Together, Jim Gordon, Alicia Canning, Heather Pantano, Don Bonner, Josh Gillooly, Anne Cave and Mike Mezheritskiy facilitated Luke's induction ceremony. All members then rose to welcome Luke to Rotary.
 
 
Paul Harris Awards
None today
 
 
 

Awards
 
None this week
 
Community and International Service Grants
 
None this week.

 
Presentation
Bill Dombos
Farmington Valley Watershed Association
 
 
Phil Ferrari introduced Bill Dombos, executive director of the Farmington Valley Watershed Association (FVWA) which was founded in 1953. A University of Michigan law school alumnus, and seasoned environmental advocate, Mr. Dombos was previously the advocacy director for the Acadia Center in Maine, and now lives in West Hartford, with his wife and 2 daughters, ages 5 and 3.
 
Mr. Dombas defined a watershed as "where the water flows", or as an area of land that drains to a single outlet. The Farmington River begins in Massachusetts where it joins the Connecticut River before flowing to Long Island sound. Its tributaries vary greatly in size.
 
Mr. Dombas engaged the audience in a fun quiz revealing in the process various Farmington River facts: The Farmington River watershed is 81 miles in length, the land area of the watershed is 609 square miles, almost half the size of Rhode Island and 1/6 to 1/7 of onnecticut's land area. The number of people getting their drinking water from it is approximately 500,000, with 33 towns included; 10 in Massachusetts and 23 in Connecticut. The biggest pollution threat is storm water runoff which may include agricultural chemicals, as well as raw sewage overflow,    
 
The FRWA helped achieve a "Wild & Scenic" designation for the upper river through collaboration among municipal and state leaders and private organizations. Now they are working on achieving the same for the lower river. They try to find creative ways to protect the river by employing public policy. They also try to mitigate storm water pollution by advocating for pervious parking, swales in parking lots, green roofs and rain gardens.
 
Towns can be assisted and also recognized for their accomplishments as they strive to do more to protect their water resources. FVWA will arrange for monitoring of groundwater, often in collaboration with MDC. Temperature and bacteria are two parameters commonly evaluated. This year they were invited to test the Farmington River headwaters for the first time, allowing comparison with existing downstream conditions. 2 to 3 interns work with the FVWA-employed scientists to assist with various testing programs each year.
 
The recent B-17 crash at Bradley International Airport unfortunately resulted in firefighting foam runoff reaching the river through a tributary stream. Many of these foams are long term pollutants. The involved chemical is also found in Teflon and Gore-tex products, and contains flourine compounds, commonly known as "p-phos". At the airport, efforts are being made to fully separate the sanitary drainage system from airport grounds drainage. The chemical persists in ecosystems and adversely affects birds, fish and wildlife.
 
Mr. Dombos offered these closing thoughts: "Imagine the Farmington Valley without the Farmington River. It's a special asset that needs to be treasured and protected as much as we can." He then showed images of himself, kayaking and enjoying the outdoors with his children. He thanked Rotary and its members for their support, noting 1/3 of the FVWA budget is derived from donations.
 
Larry Sullivan requested information about the completion date of the Collinsville powerplant? Mr. Dombos stated it's moving ahead and will be operational in late 2020.  It will have a 1 -2 megawatt capacity and a boat passageway will be included.
 
Rollie Sterrett asked what the p-phos chemical does to the fish? Mr. Dombos wasn't sure, but knows its impacts include reproduction.
 
Don Bonner noted we aren't supposed to eat fish caught downstream of the Rainbow Dam, due to existing pollution.
 
Phil Ferrari asked what their next goal is? Mr. Dombos noted their ongoing work on several demonstration rain garden projects. He also stated he'd like to focus on community resilience efforts, to help towns prepare for severe storms and also to build up their internship program.
 
 

Special (Sad) Announcements
 
Heather Pantano revealed that Rauf Majidian's mother has passed away and asked that our thoughts and prayers be with Rauf and his family.
 
Don Bonner further noted that Steve Morris has had two severe family crises. First, his children's mother recently died in a tragic accident in Raleigh, NC. Subsequent to that, his daughter and her boyfriend were seriously injured in an automobile accident precipitated by an impaired driver. The only silver lining in this, according to Steve, is that both are expected to recover fully. Our thoughts and prayers must also be with Steve and his family.
 
Mail Bag
None this week.
 
 
Photo Credits 
Today's photographs courtesy of Mike Mehzeritskiy.
 
 
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?