Yearbook of the President's Pages
for Frank Winkler's  term from 2006-2007

                                                    July 18th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
        It's the third week of the month, and that can only mean it is back- to- back Rotary meetings. We held our regular weekly meeting on Tuesday (July 18, 2006) and followed that with the first meeting of the new Board of Directors on Wednesday (July 20, 2006). Both meetings were very positive - each in their own way.
        Program Chair Bruno Giulini helped us resolve a problem with the meeting speaker schedule. Some confusion over the speaker's schedule was resolved, when Bruno invited one of his own men, Officer Ron Jenkins, to be our speaker. Officer Jenkins outlined many of the City of Groton Police Department's outreach programs which target young people. His main topic was the ACE Program. About 30 youth qualify each year for this program. After learning about many aspects of flying, the students end the program with a plane ride and actually have the opportunity to fly the plane. Ron gave an outstanding presentation. Our club members were very appreciative of the talk, as many had not heard about many of these programs where the police try to reach the kids before they have more serious problems.
        We have no photographs from our first two meetings, because no one has stepped forward to take any. Don't be bashful. Step up to the plate and try. You don't have to be a professional photographer, only someone willing to stand up, point and shot a few photographs and send them by e-mail to our Webmaster Ed Kolar. It is time for someone to pitch in and help the Rotary team.
        Our first Board meeting was very productive and positive. Two new applications for membership were approved. They are Tricia Roland and James E. Cordock. The secretary will circulate letters for these two prospective members next Tuesday. Members will have 10 days to submit comments regarding these proposed new members. Comments must be submitted in writing to Club Secretary John Silsby.
        The Board approved the request of Past President Barbara Buchanan for a three month sick leave. Barbara injured her neck recently and has limited mobility.
        Bob Perry reported that the container for the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Books Project has arrived at the Schools Administration Office Property on Flanders Road. Surplus text books are being sought from the Groton and Ledyard School systems. The books will be stored in the container, hopefully filled to capacity and then be transported to the ravaged Katrina hurricane area in Louisiana.
        Assistant District 7980 Governor Doretta Colburn attended the Board meeting. She reported that District Governor Chip Lewis will make his official club visit on Tuesday, October 24, 2006. Doretta said she has scheduled a meeting with the new club presidents in our area for August 1. Your president will attend.
        The Board discussed our goals for the Rotary Year 2006-07 and fine tuned them. We will present them at next week's assembly and also discuss some of the other subjects we talked about at our meeting.
        Wear your Rotary Pin proudly. You don't have to wait until our next meeting. You might get an inquiry from someone in the community, asking the question, "What is Rotary?" Your great answer could translate into the person joining our club. We can only live our motto, "Service Above Self," if we all get involved and bring new members into the club to help us live our motto more fully.
 Next Tuesday's (July 25) meeting will be a club assembly.
Have a great Rotary week!
Yours in Rotary, President Frank Winkler And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

                                                    July 25th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    Tuesday's meeting was our first Assembly meeting meeting of the new Rotary year.

    Visiting Rotarians were Bruce Barrett of the New London Club and Seth Wakeman of the Mystic Club.

    Happy birthdays were in order for Lee Vincent and Bill Johnston. Lee opted to forego the singing and Bill was not present to make that decision. Stan Cardinal was not present to have us sing happy anniversary.

    The membership discussed whether to change how we recognize 13 weeks of service and indicated a preference for glasses, but give the recipients a choice of glass.

    Rotarian Jerry Scarano recommended that the Club commit to striving for the Rotary District 7980 Charles W. Pettingill Outstanding Club Award. This is given to one club in the entire district each year for significant achievement in the four avenues of service and the Rotary Foundation during the three prior years.

    For the past few months, the Board of Directors have been reviewing goals for the coming year. Having reached a consensus, I presented the following goals for Rotary Year 2006-07 to the club:

    Assess the Possibility of Developing and Implementing a New Hands-on Community Project

    Raise $6,000 for the RI Foundation, Including Every Rotarian Every Year and Paul Harris

    Apply for a Simplified District Grant

    Increase Public Relations Efforts

    Partner with An Oversees Club to Sponsor a Clean Water Proejct in a Developing Nation

    Review All Fund Raising Projects

    Streamline Mundane Rotary Tasks

    Increase Membership by Three New Members

    Member Bo Bohannan will give a presentation on the Rotary Foundation during our Club Assembly on August 15.

    Next Tuesday (August 1, 2006) a representative from the Groton Business Association (GBA) of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce will be speaking on a new Greater Groton event, Groton's Fall Festival, scheduled for Saturday, October 7.
    Have a great Rotary week!
    Yours in Rotary, President Frank Winkler 
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

August 1st, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

    Tuesday's meeting was our first meeting of the new month. Can we really be in August already?

    Visiting Rotarians were Bruce Barrett of the New London Club and Larry Fowler of the Norwich Club.

    President-Elect Mike Riegel distributed forms for the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) program to support the Rotary International Foundation and its great programs around the world. The program calls for a minimum donation of $100 for each Rotarian every year. It is a good way to participate in the Foundation and the true spirit of Rotary. Mike reported that last year, Rotary Year 2005-06, a total of ten (10) members of our club participated in EREY. Hopefully we can top that in Rotary Year 2006-07!

    Secretary John Silsby announced that dues for the next Rotary year are now due. If you haven't paid them already, please do so as soon as possible. Dues are $110 for the year. Two payments of $55 each are acceptable, if you can't pay the full amount now.

    Our guest speakers were fellow Rotarian Lian Obrey and Lorraine Sanborn. Lian is the co-chair of the upcoming Groton's Fall Festival, sponsored by the Groton Business Association (GBA) of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce. Lorraine is the co-chair of the GBA. Lorraine traced the history of the GBA to days when it was affiliated with the Eastern Chamber of Commerce and through its current connection with the Greater Mystic Chamber. Lian outlined the details of the coming Fall Festival which will take place Saturday, October 7, 2006 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Poquonnock Plains Park in the Town of Groton. The heart of the Festival will be an Arts and Crafts Show with the exhibitors displaying their wares along the walking track at the park. A band concert and a karaoke competition will be featured at the park throughout the day. Across the street, a special skate boarding exhibition will take place at the Skate Board Park in Sutton Park. An automobile and motorcycle show will be featured at the Ella T. Grasso Regional Vocational School just up the hill from Sutton Park. Lian said exhibitors are signing up to participate and was urging all businesses to participate as well as non-profit organizations. She suggested that the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club might want to consider setting up a food booth at the site to earn some money.

    Earlier in the day, I met with Assistant District 7980 Governor Doretta Colburn and other Rotary Presidents from District 11. Doretta intends to have these meetings quarterly so that we can exchange ideas and discuss common problems. The meeting was a good opportunity to get to know my fellow presidents in the district which should prove helpful throughout the year.

    Doretta confirmed District 7980 Governor Chip Lewis will make his official visit to our club on Tuesday, October 24, 2006.

    Tricia Rowland will be inducted as a member of our club during next week's meeting. Rotarian Lee Vincent will do the honors.

    I received a phone call from fellow Rotarian George Letz the other day. Regrettably the news was not good. George says his absence from Rotary meetings the past few weeks has been due to the illness of his wife, Beverly, whom he said is quite ill. George says Beverly is receiving help from both Hospice and Home Care. He says he has been doing everything he can also, but this has left him weakened. Our best wishes go out to George and Beverly with sincere hopes that all will improve soon.

Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

August 8th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

    Vacations are wonderful, but they tend to upset one's regular schedule. While I did preside at our weekly meeting, I am just getting around to making a report.

    First, there is some very sad news. Fellow Rotarian George Letz' wife, Beverly, passed away this week. The sympathy of his fellow Rotarians at the Groton-Ledyard Club goes out to him and his family.

    A graveside service will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 19, at Wheeler Cemetery in North Stonington. A reception will follow at Gray's yellow house , Antiques and Accommodations, 32 Main Street, North Stonington. There are no visiting hours.

    In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be directed to Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut, PO Box 902 Uncasville CT 06382 or the Third Baptist Church, Rocky Hollow Road, North Stonington CT 06359.

    We had two guests at this week's meeting: Judson, grandson of member R. B. Kent, and Bob, the President's brother.

    State Senator Cathy Cook was our guest speaker. She reviewed the findings of a bi-partisan legislative study of the efficiencies of state government. The study was conducted by the legislature's Program Review and Investigations Committee, which is a bi-partisan committee authorized by state statutes. Sen. Cook was the Committee's Co-Chair.
 
    Tricia Rowland is the newest member of the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club. Lee Vincent installed Tricia during a ceremony held during the meeting.


    If you have not paid your membership dues, please do so immediately. The July 31 deadline has passed.

    The Board of Directors will be meeting next Wednesday, August 16, at 8 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at the City of Groton Municipal Building at 295 Meridian Street.

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler 
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

August 15th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
        Every week is a good Rotary week. But this is the third week of the month which means a regular meeting and a Board of Directors' meeting.
        We had two guests again at this week's meeting: Diana, wife of fellow Rotarian Stan Cardinal, and Larry Fowler from the Norwich noon time club, or as Larry calls it, "The Lunch Bunch."
        
    Jim Cordock is the newest member of the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club. Lee Vincent installed Jim during a ceremony held during the meeting.
       
    If you have not paid your membership dues, please do so immediately. They are now overdue.
    Our guest speaker this week was our every own fellow Rotarian, Bo Bohannan. Bo gave us a mighty fine report on the Rotary International Foundation and all the ways we can help RI complete all its wonderful projects around the world. He reminded us that fifty (50%) percent of all the money that is donated to RI's Foundation comes back to Rotary Districts in the form of grants for redistribution within that district.
     Bo explained that there are many ways to give to the RI Foundation, including Paul Harris Fellows with which our club has a good track record. We currently have three or four groups, donating $200 a year until all members of that group receive their Paul Harris. One group is completing this year, and another group of five was signed up at the meeting to fill the gap. Congratulations to the men and women of the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club for their generosity and support of this program.
   Club members are also participating in the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) Program. This is a separate program from the Paul Harris Fellows. To qualify, a Rotarian donates $100 or more each year to participate. Contact Rotarian Mike Riegel who is coordinating our EREY Program.
   If you have any specific questions about the RI Foundation, please contact Bo, who is our chairperson for this program.
    The Board of Directors met Wednesday, August 16 in the City Council Chambers at the City of Groton Municipal Building at 295 Meridian Street. This was our second meeting of the Rotary year. We continue to have good discussions and debate. While we may linger on some items, we have managed to keep us moving toward the fulfillment of our Club goals for Rotary Year 2006-07. We pushed our one hour limit once again to the 70-minute mark, but I think it was worth the extra ten minutes.
    The Board has agreed to review its yearly goals every two months as a means of keeping on track of those goals.
    Mike Riegel, chair of our Fund Raising Study now has a full committee of seven (7), which will begin meetings soon.
    Secretary John Silsby reported that we have six new members join in the past six months. The Club now has an official total of 50 members. Let's keep up the good work and continue to talk to members of the community about our service organization. There are many willing to serve, but it is our job to find them, communicate with them and persuade them that Rotary is worthy of their time and commitment.
    The Board has agreed to recognize 13-week attendees with Rotary glasses for the immediate future. Members will have their choice of glasses from the available supply. This will continue while the Board pursues alternatives.
    The Board also decided to invite new Rotary Club members to our Board of Directors' meeting as a part of their Rotary orientation. We will invite two members each month to our meeting. The Board concluded that this would allow new members to have a better understanding of what Rotary is all about and learn more about our organization locally.
    Our meeting on Tuesday, August 22, 2006, will feature the students from area schools who were recipients of our Annual Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club Scholarship Awards. Please make every effort to be there and help us congratulate these worthy recipients.
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler 
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

August 22nd, 2006
 

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

    Some weeks in Rotary are more special than others. This past week. was one such week. Why? Because we hosted and were able to experience in person the fine winners of this year's Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club's annual scholarships for students in area high schools.

    Fred Keith, chairman of the Scholarship Committee, introduced three of the four winners. The fourth winner, Kyle P. Kelly from Fitch High School was unable to attend due to a family funeral. Fred summarized the outstanding qualifications and qualities of each winner. It was clear that the Committee did a great job with their selections, although one has to believe that the decisions must have been difficult if the winners were any indication of the quality of the candidates.

    The winners present were: Brittany N. Hildebrand from Ledyard High School, Miss Jazzmine S. Carrillo from Ella Grasso High and Lawrence E. Lash, the adult student winner from Groton. The high school students each received $2,000 scholarships and the adult student received a $1,000 scholarship.

    So when we are all working hard raising funds for the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Foundation in order to raise money for scholarships each year, all we have to do is think of these fine award recipients and it should inspire us even more in our fund raising efforts.

    We had two guests again at this week's meeting: Mr. Carrillo, the father of one of the winners, and a gentlemen from Florida and a former member of our club from way back. Sorry I didn't get his name.

    A donation from the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Foundation has been forwarded to Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut in memory of Beverly Letz, wife of fellow Rotarian George Letz.
Our meeting on Tuesday, August 29, 2006, is a Club Assembly. Club members wishing to bring any ideas to the members for discussion may do so at this meeting.

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.

 

August 29th, 2006
 

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    This is the fifth week of the Rotary month. This is the time for our Club Assembly.
    I reported on two of our members who are on the sick list. Fellow Rotarian Ed Lorenz is out of the hospital and back home. He is on 24-hour care by Hospice. Barbara continues to improve and awaiting another MRI test in early September. Bo reported that Skip K. was experiencing a setback in his recovery from his recent operation.
    Mike Riegel updated the club on the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) program. Five (5) club members have participated to date. We had 11 members during the past year.
    We make a valiant attempt to sing Happy Anniversary to Lori Jalbert. Gil Gunn missed out on his anniversary serenade, or is that lucked out?
    A highlight of the meeting was the President’s presenting Bob Perry with his 38-year service pin. Here’s a hearty and sincere congratulations to Bob and to all the other longtime members of our club for their long and faithful service above self.
Lori Jalbert and I, Frank Winkler, received glasses for 13 weeks of service.
Discussion was heard on several fronts and subjects during our Club Assembly portion of the meeting. Many of the suggestions were about fund raising. Mike Riegel, chairman of the Fund Raising Committee, dutifully took notes on the suggestions for his committee’s review. The committee will have its first meeting on Wednesday, September 6 at 3 p.m. at the Submarine Museum.
We had two guests again at this week’s meeting: Dick Cheney. No, it wasn’t the sitting Vice President of the United States of America , but the very affable and friendly Dick Cheney of the Mystic Rotary Club.
The second guest can only be described as our first ever “mystery guest.” This young woman entered the room, filled up her plate and sat down by herself. She was invited to joint RB’s table. She introduced herself as a project manager. We sang to her and Dick Cheney. The “mystery guest” then excused herself. Greg, she was your guest right” Wrong! Jim, she was your guest, right? No! Oh well. As I said our first “mystery guest.”
 

    Bo Bohannan, our local chair for the Rotary Foundation, recommended that we read a weekly “Rotary Foundation Thought.” I started it off this week and read The Rotary Foundation Thought about PolioPlus. The President and Bo are looking for volunteers to help in reading these thoughts.
Next Tuesday’s guest speaker will be Louise Schneider, Chairman of the Board and Program Director for Community of Hope, Inc. Community of Hope is a new non-profit charitable corporation located in Groton with a mission to provide a supportive environment to recovering substance abusers and homeless persons.
 

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler 
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

September 5th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    A new month is underway. September came in on a strong wind, but here’s hoping for a great New England fall.
    I would describe Tuesday’s meeting as a good one. It had a flow, a sense of humor and a feeling of camaraderie which has not seemed to be always experienced at meetings. Simply, the President’s impression.
    President-elect Mike brought Capt. Mark Ginda, commanding officer of the Naval Submarine Base, to the meeting as his guest. There were no “mystery guests’ this week!
We have made the weekly “Rotary Foundation Thought” a part of our meetings. Fellow Rotarian Randy was this week’s official reader. See Bo if you would like to help out with this weekly task.
Gil Gunn returned this week. He did a makeup meeting in New London and was hob knobbing with the District Governor and the Assistant Governor. Gil Gunn may have missed out on his anniversary serenade, but he was put on the hot seat this week. He not only choose to hear us sing to him, but also paid two dollars instead of one. You’ll have to ask Gil if he thought he got his money worth.
After it was quietly suggested that the President not sing into the microphone, I tried to recruit Lian and Lori to lead us in the singing. That effort failed, and Lee Vincent stepped up to the plate - again. Lee offered that our club must be really hurting vocally if he was leading us in song. Michelle, please hurry back!
    Bob Perry received a Rotary glass for 13 weeks of service.
Our guest speaker was Louise Schneider, Chairman of the Board and Program Director for Community of Hope, Inc. Community of Hope is a new non-profit charitable corporation located in Groton with a mission to provide a supportive environment to recovering substance abusers and homeless persons.
Lousie outlined the history of the organization, and gave examples of how it was helping recovering substance abusers and homeless persons. She explained the many difficulties the organization faces as it tries to meet its mission. Since the group is such a new organization, she noted that funding was one of its biggest challenges.
    The guest speaker at next week's Rotary meeting will be City of Groton Deputy Police Chief Patrick McMahon who will speak about a youth group, "The Young Marines," with which he is involved. Deputy Chief McMahon is a MATURE former Marine. 
    Mary Ann Nash, a nutritionist at the Lawrence Memorial Hospital, will be our speaker on Tuesday, September 19.
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler 
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

September 8th, 2006
 

This an addendum to my last Present's report.


Dear Fellow Rotarians:

I failed to report one of the most important items coming out of last week's (September 5) meeting. Perhaps it can be called a senior moment, or, in this case, a Presidential senior moment.

I went to the post office to pick up the mail before Rotary, as I usually do. Only this time there was a full box of mail. I took all the mail to Rotary, where I opened the envelopes up, one by one.

Well, imagine my surprise when I opened up a letter from Pfizer and found a check for $1,000 made out to the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Foundation! The check was from the Pfizer Foundation Volunteer Program, a charitable foundation established by Pfizer Inc. The program is truly a wonderful program. Pfizer employees and retirees who give at least 72 hours a year to a non-profit service organization are allowed to have $1,000 donated to the organization in the name of the employee.

Nolan was quite humble when I asked about the check. I was not clear about the how and why this had come about when I first opened the envelope.  But, Nolan quickly explained the program he was able to take part in at Pfizer and credited Michele Mencer with telling him about its existance. Michele had learned about the program from some friends in another non-profit local organization. She told Nolan and the rest is history.
Thank you Nolan Nixon! Much gratitude is owed you from your fellow Rotarians in our club. We are grateful that you are participating in this program.

Nolan says he will continue to participate in the Pfizer Foundation Volunteer Program in the foreseeable future.

Thanks again Nolan Nixon.

Thanks Michele for your important role in this donation.

Now that was a terrific Rotary moment!

Yours in Rotary, President Frank Winkler 
And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

September 12th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    As we move ever so quickly to the first day of fall, we try to make the best of the waning days of summer. At least that’s accurate according to the calendar. However, the weather man tends to challenge that much too frequently.
    We have made the weekly “Rotary Foundation Thought” a part of our meetings. Fellow Rotarian Nolan Nixon was this week’s official reader. See Bo if you would like to help out with this weekly task.
After listening to our attempts to sing earlier in the meeting, Nolan Nixon decided that it would be wise to pay the two dollars and celebrate his birthday in silence. There were no anniversaries, years of service or thirteen weeks of service to be noted.
    During announcements, I reported that Ed Lorenz remains at home under the care of Hospice. The family requests no visitors. Bill Miller said he ran into Skip Krawczyk, who said he hopes to be back in 6-8 weeks. Barbara Buchanan is without collar and has begun therapy! Verified by Nolan Nixon and Dave Stryker. So among the bad news, there are some rays of hope. I also read an e-mail from our Webmaster, Ed Kolar, who is on his annual retreat to the North Woods of Wisconsin. Ed wanted to convey his warmest of feelings to the guys and gals of our club.
    Our guest speaker was City of Groton Deputy Police Chief Patrick McMahon, who spoke on the “Young Marines.” He had as a sub-guest, Bianca Johnson, a staff sergeant in the Griswold Young Marines.
    McMahon explained that the Young Marines Program is for youth between the ages of 8 and 18. The program was founded in 1958 to promote the mental, moral, and physical of development of young Americans. The Young Marines offer a variety of activities specifically designed to develop greater self-esteem, discipline, and self confidence in its members. In July 1993, the United States Marine Corps officially designated the Young Marine’s program as “the focal organization for fulfilling its participation in the Department of Defense’s drug demand reduction activities.”
    Staff Sergeant Johnson told about her involvement in the organization which she joined at the age of nine. She is now a 16-year-old junior at Ledyard High School. She is a member of the Griswold Young Marines, one of the only two in Connecticut.
    MaryAnn Nash, a nutritionist at the Lawrence Memorial Hospital, will be our speaker on Tuesday, September 19.
    The next meeting of the Board of Directors is Wednesday, September 20, at 8 a.m. in the Council Chambers at the City of Groton Municipal Building. Just a note that any member of our Club is welcome to attend these meetings.
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

September 18th, 2006

 Fellow Rotarians:
    We have lost a longtime fellow Rotarian, Ed Lorenz. Ed passed away Saturday, September 16, 2006 after a short illness. We will all miss his smiling face after all these years that he has been a member of the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club.
      We extend our deep sympathy to his entire family.
      A Funeral Mass will be held at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Route 12, Gales Ferry.       Relatives and friends are invited to attend and may also call at the Mystic Funeral Home, Route 1, Mystic, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday  evening. Burial will take place in Edson, Wisconsin, at a later date.
President Frank Winkler
 

September 19th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    This was a sad week for the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club as we learned of the passing of our fellow Rotarian Ed Lorenz.  Visiting hours were held for Ed later this day and a funeral Mass and Celebration of Life were held at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Gales Ferry on Wednesday afternoon.
Our club honored Ed with a moment of silence and personal prayer. Peter Lamposana recalled his longtime friend and fellow Rotarian with poignant memories and ended his homily with the 24th Psalm.
Stan Cardinal’s daughter, Kimberly, was a guest as was Kimberly’s son, Nathan, who displayed the latest in fashion for the very young with a spontaneous fashion show, while standing on a chair. Grandpa Stan seemed to enjoy his most social able grandson, Nathan. Bruce Barrett of the New London Club, who we usually tab as an honorary member of our club due to his many visits, was among the guests also.
    RB Kent was gracious and read this week’s Rotary Foundation Thought. We moved the place of this reading from the early part to a place after the introductions of guests.
    Dan Boisvert and Bruno Giulini were honored for 13 weeks of service.
    Michele Mencer is still taking one of her college courses until December, so she was not present to have us sing her Happy Anniversary. I offered to pay a dollar to have the Club sing a distance Anniversary serenade, but was persuaded to withdraw my offer.
Our speaker this week was Mary Ann Nash, a nutritionist in the Community Cancer Center at the Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. One of our former speakers, Kelley Anthony, the Director of Public and Media Relations at the hospital, introduced Many Ann.
Mary Ann had the attention of our membership like very few other guest speakers have been able to do. The title of her speech was “Live Healthy, Live Longer! Is It Possible?” By the time she had completed her most informative talk, Mary Ann had us all convinced that the answer to that question was an unequivocal “yes!”
    She outlined her 9-steps to a healthier you, which she said could add 5-10 years of quality life to all our lives. Her 9-step plan was a no-nonsense, easy to follow blue print to a healthier tomorrow. Some of the suggestions we perhaps had heard at some time or other, but they became more relevant in the content of her speech. Many of her steps were surprising to some, as they seemed to counter some of our longtime misconceptions on what is good or bad for us from a health perspective.
Next Tuesday is a Club Assembly. Please make every effort to attend as we will review discussions and decisions of the Board of Directors at this month’s meeting and will ask the Club to act on our recommendations.
     Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.

September 26th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    The first quarter of the 2006-07 Rotary Year is coming to a quick close. It seems like the installation of new officers was only yesterday. Then again, isn’t that what we post-39-year-olds would say!
This was the last Tuesday of the month, and that means Club Assembly and no speaker. A report on that below.
    RB Kent, Nolan Nixon, and Jerry Scarano were honored for 13 weeks of service.
There were no birthdays, anniversaries or years of service to recognize.
    We even had a week of no guests.
    Since this was a Club Assembly, I gave a report of the Board of Directors’ September meeting.
The Board voted to grant Kim Winkleman a leave of absence for the months of September and October. Kim has been busy training a new assistant manager and has been unable to attend our weekly meetings. She assured me last week that she should be back on a regular basis near the end of October.
    Directed by the membership to make the final decision on how to recognize members with 13 weeks of service, the Board took the following action: Once the current supply of glasses is gone, club members with 13-weeks of service will receive a pen with the Rotary logo on it.
The Board also discussed the Liberty Bank / GLR Turkey Drive, a fund raising effort for the Groton Food Bank. This will be held on Fridays and Saturday mornings at the Groton Branch of Liberty Bank. A raffle will be conducted in conjunction of this fund raising program. A sign up sheet for Groton-Ledyard Rotary members to participate was circulated during our Club Assembly. There is still a need for more members to come forward. The effort will take place during October.
    Our club needs to embark on a membership drive. I have been unable to persuade someone to chair this important club effort. Membership is a key to our future as an active and effective Rotary Club. If anyone in the club is interested, please contact me.
    I think this goes to another important issue. As we enter the last three-quarters of this Rotary, we should all ask ourselves how can we contribute to helping the club reach our goals for this year. Rotary is a team effort. It takes a total commitment to live up to our motto, “Service Above Self.”
At the end of the meeting, Lian Obrey suggested that our club take on the effort to get the Welcome to the Submarine Capitol of the World sign off I-95 lighted. A couple of club members have agreed to investigate the problem. In fact, I ran into State Senator Cook at another meeting Wednesday night. She has contacted the State Department of Transportation for more information on what can done. There is some indication that the underground electric cable feeding the site may have been cut.
    Speakers for our meeting. Ah, yes an old subject, but not an unimportant one! Let’s rally around Bruno Giulini and give him the help he needs to keep our speaker program going. With nearly 50 club members, theoretically each of us would have to come up with only one speaker each year! Now that doesn’t sound hard, does it?
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

October 3rd, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    To the best of my knowledge, there was nothing in the job description for Rotary Club President to be able to carry a note - high, low or otherwise. I have tried unsuccessfully to get someone to please help us get started with our singing. But no brave soul has stepped forward yet. Tuesday I asked for someone to get us started with America. No one responded, so I started it in the key of whatever. It was not pleasing to the ears. We did improve slightly after getting into the song. Oh, well, there has to be a better way.
    There were no birthdays, years of service or thirteen weeks of service. but John Silsby will be celebrating his fourth anniversary. Being a man of much wisdom, John paid two dollars and mercifully declined listening to the group’s version of happy anniversary.
    With the exception of our guest speaker, there were no guests.
    Bill Anhalt announced that he had received news of the passing of Jack Hawkins, a former member of our club. Jack was a former Commanding Officer at the U. S. Naval Submarine Base.
A proud R. B. Kent announced that he had contacted Governor Jodi Rell about the lighting at the Welcome to The Submarine Capitol of the World sign. R.B. says the governor promised that she will get on it.
    I confirmed that Rotary District 7980 Governor Chip Lewis will make his official visit to our club on Tuesday, October 24. Chip has also agreed to assistant in the presentation of Paul Harris Awards to three members of our club.
    Lori Jalbert introduced our guest speaker, Sue Murphy, one of her colleagues at Liberty Bank. Sue is vice president for corporate communications and community relations for Liberty Bank. She also serves as vice president and secretary of the Liberty Bank Foundation. At Liberty Bank, she is responsible for overseeing the charitable giving of the Liberty Bank Foundation, as well as managing the bank’s sponsorships, special events, media relations, and internal and external communications.
Sue explained that the Liberty Bank Foundation has programs which enhance the life of low and moderate middle incomes. She said that the Foundation gives general grants. A total 30 percent of those dollars go to New London County to qualifying groups. Many grants are given to human services agencies, she explained. The Foundation accepts grant applications year round.
    Sue said the Foundation offers 15 scholarships to schools where Liberty has a bank. Schools are also eligible for enrichment grants.
    Our club is joining Liberty Bank to conduct a fund raising effort for the Groton Food Bank. The drive will be held at Liberty’s local branch Fridays and Saturdays during the last three weeks in October. Liberty Bank will match every dollar raised with 50 cents. A raffle will be conducted in conjunction of this fund raising program. Community Service Chair Dan Boisvert is seeking Groton-Ledyard Rotary members to participate. See Dan to sign up.
    Sue said that her bank has issued a challenge to the 21 Rotary Clubs conducting fund raising drives. She said this year’s challenge to the clubs is to raise $40,000 and Liberty Bank will match that with $20,000.
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

October 10th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    Time waits for no man and no woman. So it is with Rotary business. Tuesday’s meeting marked the 15th week of the 2006-07 Rotary year.
    There was one birthday to celebrate – Doug Crandall. An interesting move by Doug. He paid two dollars, but insisted that we sing Happy Birthday. We were in our “usual elegant voice!” There were no anniversaries, years of service or thirteen weeks of service to celebrate.
    I gave a report on my conversations with Agnes Cunha and Stacey DeBruin. Agnes has been recovering from her second cancer operation for the last couple of years. She says that club activity is not possible, because she simply does not have the necessary energy level. Stacey reported that she is doing much better. She is up to the point where she is working full time during the week, but using the weekends to totally rest. Rotary membership is simply not possible for her at this time. We will miss our fellow Rotarians Agnes and Stacey. We thank them for their contributions to Rotary and wish them well.
    I added my kudos to the Rotary team that performed so well at the Groton Fall Festival, selling apples and apple cider. The camaraderie and work ethic was most appreciated. Event chair Mike Riegel said that we did the best financially that we ever did at these type of events.
    I reminded everyone that we will be working on placing labels in the dictionaries that our club has purchased for third graders in the Groton school system during next Tuesday’s Club Assembly.
The last meeting of the month, October 24th, will mark the official visit of District 7980 President Chip Lewis. Members are urged to make every effort to attend. In addition, Chip will present Paul Harris’s to three of our members. A special event indeed.
    R. B. Kent announced that the State Department of Transportation is moving forward with its review on the lighting at the Welcome to The Submarine Capitol of the World sign.
    Our club is joining Liberty Bank to conduct a fund raising effort for the Groton Food Bank. The drive will be held at Liberty’s local branch Fridays and Saturdays during the last three weeks in October. Liberty Bank will match every dollar raised with 50 cents. A raffle will be conducted in conjunction of this fund raising program. Community Service Chair Dan Boisvert is STILL seeking Groton-Ledyard Rotary members to participate. See Dan to sign up.
    Dave Brown introduced our guest speaker, Debra Morgan, who has 33 years in nursing. Her subject was Fairview, a skilled care facility in Groton. She explained the difficulties involved in this phase of health care industry. Debra noted that they are subject to more regulations than a nuclear power plant. “It is a challenge to meet the needs of residents,” she emphasized. In addition to the skilled care available, Fairview has an independent living facility for 20 persons. It is called Fellowship Manor.
    The Board of Directors will conduct their monthly meeting on Wednesday, October 18, in the City Council Chambers at the City of Groton Municipal Building at 295 Meridian Street.
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend to our next meeting.
 

Regular Meeting of October 17 and the Board Meeting of October 18, 2006
 

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    This has been a period of much activity, which is good. That means good things are happening.
For example, the Turkey Fund Raising event started last weekend at the Liberty Bank branch in Groton. Dan and Lori report that it is off to a good start. This event continues through the end of October. Some slots are still available if you have some time to devote to this fund raiser.
    Tuesday’s meeting was a Club Assembly. There was a flood of activity with everyone helping to put names on the covers and decals on the inside of dictionaries saying that the dictionaries were donated by our Rotary Club. The dictionaries will be presented to third graders in the Groton School System next week. Dan, our service chair, and I will be present at Fitch Senior High School auditorium Monday morning when the dictionaries are formally presented to representatives from the various third graders from the town’s elementary schools. This is the third straight year that the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club has participated in this outstanding Rotary project.
    The activity continued Wednesday morning when the Board of Directors convened in our meeting location at the City of Groton Municipal Building. I confess to being late, causing a slow start to the meeting. However, we had a good turnout and had some good discussions.
    Jim Mitchell has assumed the Vocational Service chair. Actually, the Board declared the position was his, after he explained our club’s involvement with career days. Jim will pursue the possibility of our club’s involvement in a career day project at Fitch. He will talk about this at the Club Assembly on October 31st and determine our Rotarians’ level of interest and willingness to participate. Essentially this would involve Rotarians going one on one with students and explaining their experiences in their particular vocation. Thank you Rotarian Jim for being a good sport about this. Rotary loves volunteers!
Upon my invitation, Moshe Laurie attended our Board meeting to outline a potential joint water project in either Uganda or Rowanda or both. The plans call for our Rotary Club and the Rotary Club in Uganda or Rowanda or both to become involved. Our club would administer the project here and the other clubs would implement the project in their respective countries. The Board voted that our International Chair, Ted Colburn and Moshe pursue this project further and report back to the club.
I asked the Board to be prepared for a brief meeting after next Tuesday’s regular meeting to hear about a potential project in a small village in Mexico. We had a guest from Mexico on Tuesday. His name is Brian Tomich who was here seeking financial support for his project. Unfortunately, the other reason he is here is his mother’s imminent surgery. Brian says help is needed in financing an on site clinic at a village Retirement Home which is one-and-a-half hours from medical facilities in the City This retirement facility is for people whose families have abandoned them. The home is supported by charity. However, help is needed to finance the on-site medical clinic.
    There was one birthday to celebrate – Bo Bohannan. However, Bo is in Argentina for three weeks. Bill Miller reminded us that his 56th wedding anniversary is coming up and should have been mentioned this week. He cheerfully paid the two dollars to have us refrain from singing happy anniversary. I am sure his wife would have approved also if she were at the meeting. Stu Murray received a Rotary tumbler glass for 13 weeks of service. There were no years of service awards to be given.
    I announced to the Board that the nominating committee will present a slate of officers and Board members for consideration at our first meeting in December. Our By-laws state that this is our annual meeting to elect officers for the next Rotary Year 2007-08. The nominating committee consists of my self and the two past presidents, Jim Mitchell and Barbara Buchanan.
    Next week, on Tuesday, October 24th, our District 7980 Governor Chip Lewis will make his official visit to our club. Members are urged to make every effort to attend. In addition, Chip will present Paul Harris’s to three of our members. A special event indeed.
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of October 24
and the Special Board Meeting of October 24, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

    The past week was an “All Rotary Week”. It ended with our District 7980 Governor Chip Lewis making his official visit to our club during Tuesday’s regular weekly meeting.. Assistant District Governor Doretta Colburn formally introduced the visiting governor. Chip spoke to the club at length with a presentation which was informative, interesting and inspiring. He covered all the avenues of service with Rotary, including club service, international service, vocational service and community service. Chip gave us good insight into and information on the workings of the Rotary Foundation.

    At his point, club member Bo Bohannan, our Rotary Foundation Chair, presided over the Paul Harris Fellows award ceremony with Governor Chip presenting the certificates, the medal and pins to Rotarians Jim Mitchell and R.B. Kent. Bruno Giulini was not able to attend the meeting and will receive his Paul Harris at our November 7 meeting when our special guest will be Pam Atkins, a former District Governor, who will talk about the Rotary Foundation in observance of Family of Rotary month.

    Chip thanked our club for our grants to local non-profit groups and our third year of participating in the dictionary project for third graders. I indicated that our club will make every attempt to continue our support of the dictionary project again next year.

    Chip concluded his talk by encouraging all Rotary members to attend the District 7980 Foundation Dinner on November 10 and the District 7980 Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York May 31-June 3.

    There was one birthday to celebrate, Lori Jalbert’s, but she was unable to attend the meeting due to work commitments. Bo Bohannan and Dave Stryker will be celebrating wedding anniversaries, but paid the two dollars for us not to sing our congratulations. Vicki Anderson was not present to make the big decision to sing or not to sing our famous version of happy anniversary. There were no years of service or 13 weeks of service to recognize.
Brian Tomich from San Felipe Rotary Club, Chihuahua District (4110), Mexico and Bruce Barrett from the New London Club were this week’s guests.

    After our regular meeting, the Board of Directors convened a special meeting. Mike Riegel presented the application of Capt. Mark Ginda, commanding officer of the U. S. Naval Submarine Base, for membership. The motion carried unanimously and Club Secretary John Silsby will circulate the necessary letter at our next meeting.

    I introduced Brian Tomich from the San Felipe Rotary Club, Chihuahua District (4110), Mexico. Brian overviewed a project that his club is seeking a partner to help implement. They are raising funds to purchase used medical equipment for a medical clinic for the elderly and the poor. Through having a partner, an RI grant may be available. Brian was in the process of preparing a formal presentation. I asked him to make another presentation when he had more details.

    Our club was active last Friday and Saturday and again this week with the raffle fund raising event at the Liberty Bank branch in Groton. This event continues through the end of October. All the money raised will be given to the Groton Food Bank.

    Monday is another major part of this “All Rotary Week”. I joined fellow Rotarian Jim Mitchell for the formal presentations for the dictionary project. The ceremony was held at Fitch Senior High School. Jim presented awards for the school system’s summer reading program, and I presented dictionaries to representatives of the third grade students in the Groton School System. The principals at each school will present the dictionaries to their students during special assemblies. This year, we funded a total of 360 dictionaries for third grade students.

    On Saturday, October 23, I attended the Council of Presidents at the Yale Graduate Club in New Haven. Presidents and Presidents-Elect in Rotary District 7980 were in attendance to learn more about Rotary in that they may better serve their clubs and the district.

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of October 31st, 2006
 

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

    It was Halloween Day. The Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club indeed survived this scariest of days. We had no visiting ghosts, goblins, or Frankensteins.

    We did have a dynamic meeting, thanks to a dynamite speaker. Our speaker was scheduled to appear later in the Rotary Year, but he came to our rescue in a scheduling pinch. His name is Peter J. Christ. Given that teaser lead-in, it is now safe to say that Peter is the treasurer of a group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Otherwise known as LEAP.

    Peter and his group, LEAP, believe this country “must end drug prohibition.” LEAP contends that this will save lives, and lower the rates of disease, crime and addiction, as well as to conserve tax dollars.

    Peter says he has seen the failure of prohibition first hand. He is a retired police officer, serving 20 years in a town in upper state New York. He was a patrol officer for some 15 years, was promoted to Lieutenant and finally ended his career as a Captain.

    Why legalize drugs? Peter says because prohibition failed as means of keeping people away from both drugs and alcohol and creates other problems. He said this is true now for drugs and in the early part of the 20th century for alcohol. Prohibition fails and creates other problems and consequences which are more damaging to society, he states.

    For example, he points to the prohibition of alcohol during the twenties. Peter said all this did was provide a means for organized crime to finance their operations.

    How about today? Well, Peter points to what the prohibition of drugs has done in today’s world. He claims it has produced modern day thugs who sell drugs to everyone. “There isn’t a prison in this country,” he says, “Where drugs are not sold.”

    In addition, the prohibition also sets up an enormous revenue stream for terrorists to finance their deadly operations.

    Peter says how the drugs are sold once legalized is a matter of public policy. That is to be determined, he explained.

    However way you look at it, Peter concludes that whether you are talking about the prohibition of alcohol, or the prohibition of drugs, prohibition has failed as a means for controlling either substance.

    There were no birthdays or anniversaries to celebrate. We did have one big celebration. Walter “Doc” Brown was presented his pin for 43, yes, forty-three, years of service. He was greeted with a healthy round of applause. Walt also was cited for 13 weeks of service.

    Mark Ginda, who has been recommended for membership, and our “honorary member,” Bruce Barrett from the New London Club, were this week’s guests.

    Pam Atkins, a former District Governor, will talk about the Rotary Foundation in observance of Family of Rotary month during next week’s meeting.

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
 

Regular Meeting of November 14th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

    November is almost half over! Can you believe it? I guess we have to believe it, because Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. Tuesday, November 21, 2006 is our “official” Thanksgiving meeting. Not only that, but it is special, because we will have 15 men and women from the U. S. Naval Submarine Base as our guests. There will be a sit-down Thanksgiving meal. In addition, Commander Anthony Trapani, chaplain at the Sub Base, has accepted my invitation to join us and give the invocation.
    We had several guests at our Tuesday, November 14, 2006 meeting. They were: Dick Cheney from the Mystic Club, Mark Nickerson, a former member of our Rotary Club; Marge Fondulas, Director of Welfare for the Town of Groton; Alexis Ann, publisher of the Resident newspaper; and Megan McGory, a reporter for the Resident newspaper.
    There were no birthdays, no anniversaries and no years of service to celebrate. However, we recognized Ted Colburn and Mike Riegel for 13 weeks of service.
    I publicly thanked Bo Bohanan, Bill Anhalt and Ted Colburn for representing our club at the District 7980 Rotary Foundation diner on November 10.
    Lori Jalbert, who has been the lead on the Liberty Bank Fund Raising Program, updated the club on that project. The last baskets will be raffled in time for the final tally on Saturday, November 18th. That is the deadline to turn the money we raised over to Liberty Bank for the 50 percent match by the bank. Our club has agree to add $500 to the total money raised to make our total contribution higher and to take advantage of the 50 percent Liberty Bank matching program.
    After the meeting, a photo was taken with our club members and Marge Fondulas, as the check from the Groton Lions Club was presented to her. The Lions added their money to ours so that the contribution was eligible for the Liberty Bank matching grant. Rotarian R. B. Kent arranged the collaboration with the Groton Lions Club.
    It is always a good meeting when a new member is installed. Lee Vincent installed Capt. Mark S. Ginda, commanding officer at the U. S. Naval Submarine Base, as our newest member. President-elect Mike Riegel, Mark’s sponsor, pinned him with the official Rotary International pin.
Our guest speaker was Jackie Kinsey, who spoke to us on extended health care. She explained the advantages of having long term care insurance as we entire our later years. Kinsey did note that it is cheaper to start this type of insurance before you get into your sixties as the cost escalates considerably as you get to the late 60s and older. She also explained many of the different options available as paying for cost escalation. Given the age of our club members her talk was most interesting and relevant. Jackie is a member of the Norwich Rotary Noontime Club.
   

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of November 21st, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

    Our Rotary Club started the holiday week early with a special event at our regular Tuesday meeting. We hosted 15 men and women from the U. S. Submarine Base for our annual traditional Thanksgiving dinner for our military. It was an honor to have these outstanding members of the nation’s military as our guests. Bev and the staff at Groton Inn & Suites did a great job with the meal. Bev even thought of serving everyone a dessert, an incredibly delicious cake – choice of chocolate or Tiramisu.

    Our newest club member, Mark, as he is called as a Rotarian, but Captain Ginda, Commanding Officer U. S. Naval Submarine Base, by our guests, gave a general introduction of the 15 Navy personnel. He had each of the men and women introduce themselves and give a brief background of their hometown, family, Navy experience and duties.

    One of our guests told us a most interesting story. While on a tour of duty in the orient, our guest and his buddy decided to climb Mount Fuji in Japan. They unfortunately ended up on an expert climbing trail. Dehydration and lack of food resulted in our guest passing out on Mount Fuji. He had no pulse and no heart beat. Fortunately, his buddy had been a life guard during his earlier life and literally brought our guest back to life by using CPR. He is finishing his rehabilitation and is ready for redeployment to a new duty station. Now we know why Thanksgiving Day is such an important holiday. It prompts all of us to count our blessings and be thankful for the blessings bestowed on others.

    At the end of the meeting, Bruno Giulini asked all the local Rotarian “salts” to rise. By gosh, our club has a very good number of “old salts.”

    Among our guests this week were Doretta Colburn, Assistant Governor of Rotary District 7980 and wife of our fellow Rotarian, Ted Colburn, and a guest of Stan Cardinal’s, a lady from Cox Communications. I believe she is also a prospective member, having visited us earlier. Sorry, but I forgot her name.

    There were no birthdays, no anniversaries., no thirteen weeks of service, and no years of service to celebrate. We offered to sing Happy Anniversy to Bob Perry, but for some reason or other he declined and paid the two dollars.

    Lori Jalbert has done a great job with the Liberty Bank Fund Raising Project in which our club has participated for some six weeks. Lori managed to put together several gift baskets which were raffled off each week to raise money for the Groton Food Bank. Liberty Bank matched every dollar raised at a formula of 50 percent. Our club members manned the table at the local Liberty Bank on Long Hill Road on Friday and Saturdays. R.B. Kent brought the Groton Lions Club into the venture so their fund raising dollars were also eligible for the matching grant. The Lions gave their $3,000 to our fund. Lori wouldn’t come up to the podium and announce the grand total. I thought this was her privilege and honor, since she was the force behind the whole project. The grand total for this fund raiser was a whopping $7,039.84. This total includes another $500 for the two bonus categories which our club won. Hats off to Lori, our club members who participated, the Groton Lions Club and the generosity of the Liberty Savings Bank! After the meeting, Lori and I went to the Liberty Bank branch on Long Hill Road and presented the check for $7,039.84 to Heidi from the Town of Groton Department of Social Services.

    I also updated our club on the status of past president Barbara Buchanan, who continues her physical therapy for her broken neck. Unfortunately, her recovery is not sufficient enough to return to Rotary at this time. I announced that the Board of Directors has voted to have our annual auction on Saturday, March 10, 2007. It’s time for club members to start thinking about potential donors. I explained that Ed Kolar’s return to Groton from Wisconsin was delayed for the second time - the first time due to the weather and last week due to the birth of kittens from one of his many cats.

    Our November 28, 2006 meeting is a Club Assembly. We will be having a special meeting of our Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club Foundation to discuss possible changes to the Foundation By-laws. Please be sure to make every effort to attend this important meeting. I will also give a status report on how we are doing meeting our club goals for the 2006-07 Rotary Year.

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of November 28th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    This was our Rotary Club’s monthly Club Assembly. We used part of this time for a special meeting of our local Rotary Foundation to consider changes in our Foundation By-laws.
The changes approved will make the Foundation By-Laws consistent with the Clubs’ By-laws. The main changes involved including the President-elect as an officer of our Rotary Foundation and increasing the number of At-Large Directors to three (3) from two (2). Approved was a deletion which prohibited a Director-at-Large to succeed himself, but tempered that with a prohibition against a member being a Director of both the Foundation Board and the Rotary Board.
I also give a status report on our goals for the Rotary Year 2006-07.

· We continue to purse a workable hands-on Community Project.
· We have raised $4,700 of our $6,000 goal for the Rotary International Foundation. In an e-mail, Bo Bohanan corrected the $5,700 figure which he reported at the meeting.
· We are still reviewing the possibility of applying for a Simplified District Grant.
· We have much to do with our goal of increasing our public relations efforts.
· We continue to pursue a Clean Water Project in a developing nation in partnership with an oversees club.
· We continue our review of fund raising projects.
· We have done much to streamline mundane Rotary tasks.
· We have already met our goal of increasing membership by three new members. We need a few more new members to meet the Rotary International goal of one net new member per club.
    I reported on the progress of our effort to attain a Rotary District 7980 Governor’s Citation for 2006-07. This was discussed at our recent Board of Director’s meeting. We started early on in this process so that we can correct any weaknesses which might leave us short of qualifying.
    There are six categories in which clubs must meet the minimum requirements. They are Community Service, Vocational Service, Membership & Public Image, Club Service & Administration, The Rotary Foundation, and International Service. We have already met at least the minimum or more in three of the categories. We are only one shy in Vocational Service. We have yet to meet any of the criteria in Membership & Public Image and International Service categories.
While we have a few deficiencies in some categories, the good news is that we have until next spring to correct them. Applications must be in the hands of the Assistant Governor no later than April, 10, 2007.
    Bill Miller had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.
    Among our guests this week were Doretta Colburn, Assistant Governor of Rotary District 7980 and wife of our fellow Rotarian, Ted Colburn, and longtime Rotarian, Paul Suprin, a member of the Niantic Rotary Club.
    We also hosted six members of the Fitch Interact Club. The members are working to gain recognition by Rotary International by meeting certain criteria. Their visit to our club was one. On Wednesday, Board Members Ted Colburn and Jim Mitchell, Secretary John Silsby, and myself visited the Interact Club for their meeting. This also meets another of the criteria to qualify for the award. Our Interact Club Liaison Barry Leon says the Fitch Interact Club will likely meet all the criteria for the Rotary International recognition.
    In addition, the Fitch Interact Club will be responsible for the Christmas Tree Gift Program. The “tree”, in the form of a cut-out, is in the lobby of the Groton Inn and Suites. Customers and employees take a paper sheet on the tree with the age and sex of the child. They then buy a gift and return it to the hotel. The Board has made the $1,000 which was donated by an anonymous donor last year to the club to buy presents for the kids. They will shop for gifts on December 8, organize them over the weekend, and deliver them by the December 11 deadline. One-third of the gifts will be given to the Ledyard Social Services Department for distribution and the other two-thirds to the Groton Social Services Department.
    There were no birthdays, no anniversaries. and no years of service to celebrate. We wished our fellow Rotarian Jerry Scarano a Happy Anniversary. Bill Miller and your president were given glasses, noting thirteen weeks of service.
Nolan Nixon updated our club on the status of past president Barbara Buchanan, who continues her physical therapy for her broken neck. Unfortunately, when she attended her physical therapy session last week, she had some chest pains and breathing difficulty. After more than two hours in the emergency unit, she was dismissed. She had a follow-up doctor visit scheduled this week.
    Our December 5, 2006 meeting is designated in our By-laws as the day for the annual election of officers and Board of Directors members. The Nominating Committee will present a recommended slate. Rotarians will also be allowed to nominate candidates from the floor. `
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of December 5th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

    This was our annual meeting to elect club officers and Board Members for the Rotary Year 2007-2008. Our By-laws require us to hold this meeting the first meeting in December. We are also required to file the names of our new officers and directors with District 7980 and Rotary International by December 31.

    So much for the rules. Here are the new officers, including directors, for the Rotary Year 2007-2008, with the exception of Secretary, as voted upon at Tuesday’s meeting:

        President Mike Riegel
        President-Elect Dan Boisvert
        Vice President John Silsby
        Secretary Open at this time
        Treasurer Lori Jalbert

        Board of Directors
        Frank E. Winkler Past President
        Lee Vincent Assistant Secretary
        Bruno Giulini Sergeant at Arms
        Jim Cordock
        Ted Colburn
        Lian Obrey
    We currently have an opening for the Secretary position for next year. Club members contacted by the Nominating Committee said that they had too many commitments to take the position at this time. The Nominating Committee will present a candidate in the next two weeks. Any Club Member interested and willing to make this commitment as secretary, please contact a member of the Nominating Committee (Frank Winkler, Barbara Buchanan or Jim Mitchell). Please keep in mind that this is the first step in going through the chairs on the way to becoming Club President.

    Jerry Scarano gave the invocation this week. He is leaving for Florida soon.

    Jim Cordock had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought, which centered on Rotary International’s response to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

    Among our guests this week were two old friends, Dick Cheeney from the Mystic Club and Bruce Barrett from the New London Club.

    During announcements, I read a letter from Marjorie D. Fondulas, Director of Human Services for the Town of Groton. She thanked our Rotary Club, The Groton Lions Club and the Liberty Bank for the $7,039 contribution for Thanksgiving Food Baskets for eligible families and individuals in our community. The good news is that 423 food baskets were distributed, including 32 food baskets for elderly and disabled homebound individuals in Groton.

    Mike Riegel talked up the Every Rotarian Every Year Program. He distributed booklets outlining the program and explaining how one can easily stretch out the payments over the course of the year or simply use debit or credit cards.

    There were two birthdays to celebrate – Lian Obrey and Pete Lampasona. There were no anniversaries and no years of service to celebrate. Bob Perry was given a Rotary glass, noting thirteen weeks of service.

    Bo Bohanan updated our club on the status of Skip Krawczyk, who is still struggling after his back surgery and his chemotherapy treatments.

    Our December 12, 2006 meeting is our traditional Christmas turkey feast for our guests from the U. S. Naval Submarine Base. We are expecting 17 guests. Hopefully everyone will make a special effort to honor these men and women serving in our military.

    In addition to having our special event for the military, Jerry Scarano will be presenting a Paul Harris to the minister of his church. Rotarians who have a Paul Harris are requested to wear their Paul Harris ribbons and medallions next week.

    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of December 12th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    This was the meeting for our annual traditional Christmas turkey dinner for our military friends at the U. S. Naval Submarine Base. We had 15 men and women from the Navy, stationed at the Sub Base. We had each guest introduce themselves and tell us what they do, where they are from and something about their families. As usual and similar to the Thanksgiving dinner for the Navy, there were many parts of the country and ranks represented. One of our guests was even completing his military career and heading for a new career in the civilian life. I thanked our guests for allowing us to honor them and extended our club’s appreciation, respect and gratitude for their commitment to defending our way of life at home and abroad.
    There was also a Paul Harris presentation at this week’s meeting. Jerry Scarano gave a talk on the history on both Rotary and the Paul Harris award so that our military guests would understand what the presentation was all about. He explained the history of how Rotary got started and tied that into the origin of the Paul Harris award. Jerry related many of his own Rotary experiences during the talk to give it that extra personal touch.
    The recipient of the Paul Harris award was the Reverend Charles W. Baker, the minister at Jerry’s church. Rev. Baker seemed quite humbled and honored to receive the award.
By the time we meet again (Tuesday, December 29), Jerry will be on his way to Florida. He indicated that he is possibly going to take permanent residence in Florida. Jerry plans to follow up on his health problem at the Mayo Clinic. We will all miss Jerry, who has served our Rotary Club for more than four decades during his 92 years. As one member told me going out the door on Tuesday, “Jerry was giving his farewell speech.” We all hope he will return for visits should he decide to stay in Florida permanently.
    Bruno Giulini had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought, which centered on Rotary International’s District Simplied Grants and their uses.
There was one birthday to celebrate – Dave Brown. He requested that we sing and we did. There were no anniversaries, no years of service, and no thirteen weeks of service to celebrate.
Unbeknown to us all, the morning of this week’s meeting was a bad one for our fellow Rotarian Barbara Buchanan. During the night, she tripped, fell and hit her head on a table in her bedroom. She went to Pequot the following morning. Conclusion - no concussion, but a badly bruised head. No further damage to her healing broken neck. She was taking a few days off from therapy due to the fall and related discomfort.
    A gentle reminder to all club members that this is the time of year when we show our appreciation for our waitress Sharon. This Tuesday, December 19, is the last time to put your contribution in the tip can. We will present her with the cash gift at Tuesday’s meeting.
Due to conflicts at our normal meeting site, the December meeting of the Board of Directors was changed from Wednesday and will be held Thursday at 8 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at the City of Groton Municipal Building.
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of December 19th, 2006

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    Christmas is nearly upon us. How about the New Year? Time waits for no Rotarian. Time is a challenge when trying to be at our community’s service.
    Our meeting this week was special in its own way like most of our meetings. We had the pleasure of one of our Rotarians, Barry Leon, as our guest speaker. After modern technology nearly short circuited the presentation, Barry’s notebook computer responded and the presentation went on. Barry who is a senior engineer at Electric Boat talked about the operation of EB’s Land Level Facility. As we all learned quickly enough, this is the flat area which projects out into the Thames River and the adjoining shed where the submarines are fabricated. When all the sections of the submarine are welded together, it transported by a rail type system. The sub travels from the shed out onto the flat area. Once in that position it can be moved sideways onto the marine railway which is flooded. It can be put on blocks for other work and then the railway is flooded to allow the ship to enter the Thames River. So called “launchings” are actually conducted at this railway site. Barry explained that the submarines are so large now that the days of the submarines launched down ways, so called sliders, ended quite a few years ago.
    Barry also traced the construction of the subs from the Quonset Point shipyard in Rhode Island, where the sections are manufactured and then shipped by barge to Groton. The sections are then moved by the railway system into the shed and welded to other sections. The slide presentation was most interesting and had the full attention of all club members. Thanks Barry for educating us about the latest at EB.
    This past week was the return of the natives so to speak. Ed Kolar returned from his annual trip to Wisconsin and Michelle Mencer returned after a fall semester class which was only available on our Tuesday meeting days. Welcome back Ed and Michelle. It is great to have two of our most involved Rotarians in our midst again.
    Our guests this week included Ed’s wife, Jeanne; Rotarian Sharon Stryker of the Stonington Rotary Club and wife of our Rotarian Dave Stryker; and members of the Fitch Interact Club.
Doug Crandall had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought, which centered on Rotary Foundation and the ways they are supported.
    There were no birthdays to celebrate , no anniversaries, and no thirteen weeks of service to celebrate. We did have the honor of celebrating Ted Colburn’s 11 years of service. Congratulations Ted.
    We presented our waitress Sharon with a cash gift at Tuesday’s meeting in celebration of the holidays and her outstanding service during the past year. As always, Sharon is most appreciative of anything people do for her. Thanks Sharon for your service and being you.
I will leave a report on last week’s meeting of the Board of Directors until this Tuesday’s meeting which is a club assembly. We will also discuss our annual auction and receive a nomination for secretary from the Nominating Committee.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of December 26th, 2006

 Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    This was our last Rotary meeting of the calendar year. Essentially that means that we are half way through the Rotary Year 2006-07. It wasn’t hard to conclude that it was the day after the Christmas holiday, as our attendance was down. Only 20 of our members were in attendance.
    This was our monthly Club Assembly meeting. We had a good discussion on our up and coming auction, our biggest fund raiser of the year.  The date this year is Saturday, March 10, 2007. Among the topics discussed were the minimum price for a bid, the minimum amount of the spread, whether to keep the proxy bids, and trying to get higher priced and quality items to attract bidders.
    I presented the Nominating Committee’s choice for Secretary for the year 2007-08. Michelle Mencer’s name was placed in nomination and she was elected unanimously. Michelle will serve as secretary for the coming year, but has decided not to go through the chairs after serving her term as Secretary.
    We also discussed items of interest from last week’s Board of Directors’ meeting, including the possibility of having an evening social perhaps with another area Rotary Club such as Stonington, have two members of the Fitch Interact Club be our representatives to the February 2007 Rotary Youth Leadership Day, inviting the Fitch Interact Advisor to one of our meetings, ideas for a gift that our club can donate for the Rotary District conference raffle, and dates for Board discussion of our 2007-08 budget.
    Walt Brown gave a report on the status of Gil Gunn. Gil had an operation in mid-November for a problem in this intestine. After being hospitalized for a few days, he was transferred to the Bride Brook Rehabilitation Center in East Lyme. It is located at the end of the Rocky Neck State Park Connector off I-95. At the end of the connector, turn left and make a quick left. There is a road which leads up to the Center. Visiting hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. I visited Gil on Wednesday and he seemed pleased to see a Rotarian. I think visits from other Rotarians would be most welcomed. He will be there for at least another two weeks.
    I forgot the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought and fined myself one dollar.
There were two birthdays to celebrate – one was Jerry Scarano, and the other was Jim Mitchell. We actually celebrated Jerry’s before he left for Florida. Jim was not at the meeting Tuesday. Randy Tupas had an anniversary, but he chose to pay $2 instead of having us sing to him. There were no years of service. But, we had a large number of Rotarians to recognize for thirteen weeks of service. They were: Pete Lampasona, George Letz, Jerry Scarano, RB Kent, Dan Boisvert and Bruno Giulini.
    Please note that we need speakers for our weekly meetings. We have no speaker for Tuesday’s meeting. Please do your best to help Bruno fill up the schedule for speakers for the coming meetings.
A healthy, Happy New Year to you and yours.
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of January 2nd, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    Happy New Year! We are off and running in the New Year. This was our first meeting of the last half of Rotary Year 2006-07. We accomplished much in the first half of the year, but we have much more work to do, not the least of which is having a successful annual auction on March 10.
    Yes, we did have a speaker thanks to a last minute suggestion by Ed Kolar and Bruno Giulini’s connecting with the guest, who agreed to appear on very short notice.
    Our speaker was Jerry Delmato, a home mortgage consultant for Wells Fargo, who spoke on Reverse Mortgages. Jerry explained that reverse mortgages are a way for persons 62 years or older to take advantage of the equity in one’s home. Jerry said Wells Fargo’s Reverse Mortgage program enables them to convert some of their home’s equity in tax-free funds for any personal financial need. He explained that since HUD sets the interest rate that you need only comparatively shop around for who will provide you with the best service.
    Jerry explained that this allows for the person’s independence as they continue to own and live in their home. They receive monthly payments of instead of making them, giving the person liquidity. In using this type of mortgage, one has a choice of fund and distribution plans such as lump sum, monthly installments, a line of credit, or an upfront sum plus monthly allotments.
    Jerry emphasized that the amount a person owes never exceeds the home’s value. In addition, this mortgage does not affect Social Security of Medicare benefits.
    He explained that the person has freedom in that no repayment of the loan is required as long they live in their home. Heirs can keep the property once the reverse mortgage is paid in full.
On behalf of our Rotary Club, I would like to extend our grateful appreciation to Jerry for being our speaker on such short notice and providing us with such an interesting topic.
    Kathy Lathrop read the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.
    This was the annual birthday cake day, sponsored by Barbara Buchanan, George Letz and myself. I paid the dollar to hear everyone sing Happy Birthday, because we were in pretty good voice during this meeting. George and Barbara have to make their choices next week.
    Cliff Hurley was not present to celebrate his anniversary. Lori Jalbert was recognized for two years of service. Ted Colburn was out when it was the day to celebrate his 11 years of service, so I presented him his pin today. There were no thirteen weeks of service to note.
    Please note that we need speakers for our weekly meetings. We have no speaker for Tuesday’s meeting. Please do your best to help Bruno fill up the schedule for speakers for the coming meetings.
Good luck with your canvassing local businesses for donations for our annual auction!
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of January 9th, 2007
 

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    The New Year is well underway as we conducted the second meeting of the year. However, we were absent a speaker this week. Your help is greatly needed to keep our speakers’ program going.
    We had two guests at Tuesday’s meeting – Doretta Colburn, our Assistant District 7980 Governor, and bride of member Ted Colburn; and Bruce Barrett, a familiar face from the New London Club.
    Tricia Roland had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.
    We had two birthdays to celebrate – Barbara Buchanan and George Letz. Barbara is still recovering from her injury and fall, but has returned to her physical therapy treatments for the broken vertebrae in her neck. Even an observation from the President that the Club was in pretty good voice last Tuesday, George Letz quickly raised his hand high in the air, holding two dollars, signaling his wish that we do not sing.
    In the absence of a speaker, we continued with business concerning our annual auction. Ed Kolar brought in a list of businesses who are usually visited by many of our Rotarians who are spending the winter months in Florida or on the sick list. A few club members stepped up to help, but nobody to the degree that R. B. Kent did. R.B. agreed to follow-up on a large number of businesses. Thank you R. B. for leading the way.
    At next week’s meeting, Ed Kolar will pass out forms and auction flyers to Rotarians for the businesses which they solicited in recent years. Hopefully the Rotarian’s familiarity of those businesses will go a long way in obtaining a donation from that business for the auction.
    On Friday, I delivered 1,000 flyers on our auction to Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce which will reach their members by February 1. The flyer also has a letter from Mike Riegel, President-Elect and Auction Chairman, to local businesses seeking donations. A total of 1,700 more flyers will be printed next week for distribution with the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce’s newsletter which will be mailed on February 2. This two mailings to local businesses coupled with the separate mailing of Mike’s letter to past donors should help us get good publicity on the auction. It is then up to all of us to do our part.
    Allow me to state the obvious – Our annual auction is our biggest fund raiser of the year. Last year, we raised more than $11,000 for the Rotary Foundation. This allowed our club to award high school scholarships and make some grants to some very worthy local non-profit groups. Good luck with your canvassing local businesses for donations for our annual auction!
    Please note that we need speakers for our weekly meetings. We have no speaker for Tuesday’s meeting. Please do your best to help Bruno fill up the schedule for speakers for the coming meetings.
A reminder goes out to those who are paying their club dues on a semi-annual basis that they are due and payable as of January 1, 2007.
    I called Bob Perry who is a patient at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital on Friday. Bob has been hospitalized with an infection in parts of his lower abdomen, including his blood. He has been taking antibiotics both intravenously and orally. On Friday, he was waiting the clearance of the last of his three doctors so that he could be released. He says he is improving, and he may be home by the time you read this week’s president’s message.
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of January 16th, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    The weather may have changed from spring to winter this past week, but I hope your positive attitude about Rotary is only changing for the better. For the second straight week, we were absent a speaker. However, people have stepped up their commitment since then. Bruno tells me we are now set for speakers through the end of February. Think March and the months beyond and let’s keep a steady stream of good speakers coming to our weekly meetings.
    Fred Keith had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought. (You can read them all at this LINK)
    We had one birthday to celebrate – Mike Falk – but he was not present to make that important decision as to sing or not to sing. There were no anniversaries or years of service to recognize. We did have three (3) Rotarians to cite for thirteen (13) weeks of service. They were: Stu Murray, Nolan Nixon and Ed Kolar.
    In the absence of a speaker, we once again continued with business concerning our annual auction. Ed Kolar passed out forms and auction flyers to Rotarians for the businesses which they solicited in recent years. Hopefully the Rotarian’s familiarity of those businesses will go a long way in obtaining a donation from that business. There are still more opportunities for sponsorship, as the unclaimed pile is still relatively large.
    I delivered a total of 1,700 flyers for distribution with the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce’s newsletter which will be mailed on February 2. Mike with the help of Michele and Cathy are working to address and stamp his letters to prospective bidders. Cathy is donating the postage for this mailing. It is now up to all of us to do our part and hit the road to solicit donations. Think big! Think positive! And “Lead the Way” by spreading the word about Rotary.
    Welcome back to Bob Perry who had been hospitalized for several days.
    The Board of Directors held their monthly meeting on Wednesday.
    Dan suggested that the Club consider doing a DVD to send to prospective members with a letter inviting them to be members. The consensus was that we should give it a try.
Planning is going well for the dinner at the Senior Citizens Center on Thursday, February 8th. There is always room for more Rotarians, if you consider that family and work crises arise at the least opportune time. See Dan to sign up.
    The Board will begin discussions on our Rotary Year 2007-08 budget during our March meeting. Mike will be back from PETS and hopefully have some good ideas and thoughts to further improve our budget process.
    The Board also decided to switch our bank from Citizens to Liberty Bank. This is to facilitate things for Lori, our treasurer. After all, we are all volunteers, and we owe it to each other to make things as practical and easy as possible for our fellow members.
    I will be meeting with our Assistant District Governor Doretta Colburn and other Rotary presidents for our second meeting. In her invitation, Doretta says: “Our first and only meeting was well attended and helpful. This time I thought it might be good to talk about where you are at in your year and help to answer any questions you might be having. Also it is a good time to think about the process of beginning to hand over the reigns come spring.”
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of January 23rd, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    We are nearly four weeks into the New Year. Are we all getting that much older, or is the cliché that time stops for no man or woman simply ringing true?
    Lee Vincent had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought
    It was a rare week in that we had no birthdays, no anniversaries, no years of service and no thirteen weeks of service to celebrate.
    Our speaker was recommended by our Assistant District 7980 Governor Doretta Colburn, who also agreed to introduce her at our meeting.
Speaking was Lynda McCrea, the executive director of the Mystic Area Shelter and Hospitality (MASH.)  The mission of MASH is to serve homeless families. The organization serves Groton, Stonington, North Stonington, Ledyard and Westerly since December, 1999.
    In practical terms, MASH provides safe, secure, quality, short-term, emergency housing to homeless children and families who otherwise would have found themselves with a safe and secure place to live. This is provided by five, fully furnished and equipped apartments, two of which MASH now own and three of which it rents.
    A gentle reminder to those who signed up to help out at the dinner at the Senior Citizens Center.  The day is near - Thursday, February 8th.
    Our annual auction is Saturday, March 10. As of next Tuesday’s meeting, there are only 40 days to the auction. “Lead the Way.” We need your help in obtaining auction items, if the auction is to be a success!
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of January 30th, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    January has left us. Only 47 weeks until we will be celebrating another new year --- 2008! In the meantime, we have another more important countdown. Our annual auction, our largest fund raiser of the year, is only slightly more than a month away. Ed Kolar reported last Tuesday only $2,000 in merchandise and services has been collected for auctioning. This is a long way from our usual $23,000 plus we normally have. “Lead the Way” my fellow Rotarians!
    Martha Laurie had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.
There were no birthdays, no anniversaries, and no years of service to celebrate. We did recognize two of our fellow Rotarians for thirteen weeks of service. They were Walt Brown who was present and Lori Jalbert who was not at the meeting.
    During announcements, Walt Brown reported that Gil Gunn is settling in at home after several weeks convalescing from his operation at Bride Brook Rehabilitation Center. Walt said Gil will likely not be back for at least six (6) weeks or more.
    I reported that Skip Krawczyk was still home and continues his chemotherapy treatments. His wife says it has been a rough road for Skip, but says Skip’s condition can best be described as even kneeled or perhaps a slight down turn.
    I reported that Barbara Buchanan has completed physical therapy and is checking with her doctor on what is next. She is okay, but is still not ready to return to regular meetings.
    Barbara gave me a report on Jerry Scarano who is in Florida. He has had no surgery yet, but is going through the Mayo clinic. Jerry is planning to be back in the spring for a visit.
    Our speaker was Tricia Cunningham, President of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce. Tricia outlined many of the benefits of being a Chamber Member. Our club just joined a few months ago. She pledged to help out with our auction by donating Mystic dollars and a Chamber T-shirt. She noted there are potential opportunities for some joint projects with the Chamber.
This is the week of our first of three yearly sponsored dinners at the Groton Senior Citizens Center. It is on a weeknight - Thursday, February 8th. The dinner starts at 5 p.m., but preparation, i.e. set-up begins at 3:30 p.m.
    My special thanks goes out to fellow Rotarians Nolan Nixon and Mike Falk who joined me to help paint at the River Front Children’s Center on Saturday, January 27. There were also volunteers from the Navy and other organizations. This is the type of hands-on community project which truly embodies our motto, “Service Above Self.” Hopefully we will all have more opportunities to become involved in similar type community projects.
    I am including a message from Dave Stryker who arranged for our speaker for next Tuesday (February 6) meeting. Dave recommends that you bring your spouse or significant other due to the topic.
    “Patty Copp has just written a book called "What Do We Say When We Say I Do?" She and her husband of 55 years, Web Copp, are Justices of the Peace. They have performed hundreds of wedding ceremonies over the years. They do them as a couple. Patty is very funny, and will give a very light-hearted talk about all the many situations they have experienced with the couples they married. I am sure our members and, hopefully, their guests, will enjoy the meeting.
    There was an article in "The Day" last week about Patty and her book. That caused a non-stop line of people to come to her book-signing in Mystic on Sunday. We had to go out the car four times to get her more books.“
    Thank you Dave from the President.
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of February 6th, 2007
And the Senior Dinner of Feb. 8th, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    Our first meeting in February was a vivid reminder to one and all that our auction, scheduled for Saturday, March 10, was approaching with all deliberate speed. According to figures supplied by Ed Kolar, a total of $4,500 in goods and services had been donated to date for the auction. That leaves some $34,000 in possible donations, based on our past donors’ contributions, still outstanding. Ed reminded us that at this time last year, we had three times as much collected for the auction. Proxy bidding will start 5-7 days prior to the auction. Let’s all “Lead the Way” to a great auction.
R. B. Kent had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.
    There were three birthdays to celebrate: Mike Riegel, RB Kent and Bob Perry. Mike and RB chose to have us not sing. Bob wasn’t present to make the big decision. There were no anniversaries to recognize. I completed by three years of service. Mike Riegel and Gil Gunn, who is still out recuperating, qualified for thirteen weeks of service awards.
    Our speaker was Patty Copp, who has just written a book called "What Do We Say When We Say I Do?" She and her husband of 55 years, Web Copp, are Justices of the Peace. Patty spoke about her and her husband’s experiences as Justices of the Peace.
    She noted that they have married couples in many interesting places and in challenging weather. These examples included a couple who wanted to get married on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. The plan was nearly foiled by a security guard who was about to stop the groom to be, because he had hidden the ring in his pocket. After whispering into the guard’s ear of his intentions, the guard cleared the way and the groom presented the ring to his intended and the ceremony followed. Patty also gave an interesting example of a couple who insisted on getting married on the beach – in the middle of winter. The groom left the wedding rings in his vehicle and had to retrieve them before the ceremony could begin. The bride and groom abandoned their coats, but Patty said that she and her husband were less courageous and kept their outer wear on.
    These were a couple of examples of the many stories Patty related in her talk. She was most entertaining in her story telling and an absolute delight in her presentation. Thank you Patty and Web.
Many thanks to the Rotarians who helped out at the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club sponsored dinner at the Groton Senior Citizens Center on Thursday night, February 8. We had a good turnout of club members. Several members of the Fitch Interact Club also joined us for which we are most appreciative and grateful. It was an unbeatable team – regular club members and Interact members living our motto, “Service Above Self”.
    Next week’s program should be quite interesting. One of our previous scholarship winners will be our guest speaker.
    Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of February 13th, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    Another weekly Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club meeting is in the books. Valentine’s Day has even come and gone since we last met. This weekend includes Presidents’ Day, a time when we honor all the Presidents – past and present - of these United States of America.
    I had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.
    There were no birthdays, no anniversaries and no years of service to celebrate. Ted Colburn was cited for thirteen (13) weeks of service. I also recognized Mike Riegel for his thirteen (13) weeks of service, because I forgot to last week.
    Our speaker was Erika Gradecki recipient of a Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club scholarship and a 2001 graduate of the Ella T. Grasso Vocation High School. After graduating from the University of Connecticut, she joined the News Times weekly newspapers. She covers Mystic, Gales Ferry and Ledyard, writing feature stories.
    Erika had an interesting experience while at UConn. In order to meet her language required, she completed two years of Japanese. Interestingly, her mom comes from Japan.
    She is now awaiting the results of an application she filed to be part of JET. This translates to the Japanese Exchange Teaching program. Erika is hoping to be accepted to the program so she can teach English in the hometown of her maternal grandmother. If accepted, she would be teaching in Japan for a year, starting this summer. We wish her the best of luck in her ambitious endeavor.
    The value of goods and services brought in as of Wednesday, February 14 is $12,973. Value outstanding is $29,621.
    I will continue to remind you weekly that we have been getting behind last year’s collection rate of donations. Please make every effort to contact businesses which donated in the past. You should also feel free to seek out new businesses which may not have been approached. Help to fulfill the motto of this year’s Rotary International President, and “Lead the Way.”
    Next week is a club assembly. We will devote the majority of the time to our March 10th Annual Auction. However, this is also the time when members are encouraged to bring up new ideas and any other subject for the good of Rotary.
    A reminder to the Board of Directors. We are scheduled for our monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 21. Same time – 8 a.m. Same place – City Council Chambers at the City of Groton Municipal Building.
    An early heads up for all Club members. Keep Thursday, April 19, in mind and put it on your save the date calendar. Club officers-elect and Board members-elect should especially be aware of this date. It is the date of the next Rotary District 7980 Club Assembly. District Assemblies are great opportunities to learn more about Rotary, especially for those who will be part of next year’s Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club leadership team. Stay tuned for more details!
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of February 20, 2007 and
The Board of Directors’ Meeting of February 21, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    Eight weeks into the new calendar year. I guess we can no longer call it the new calendar year – it is here! This was the third Tuesday and that means it was a Club Assembly. More on that later.
David Hamilton, an intern in the Town of Groton Recreation Department, was a guest,
    Lian Obrey had the honor of reading the weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.
    There were no birthdays to celebrate. Martha and Moshe Laurie are celebrating their wedding anniversary on a cruise in Hawaii. I guess that beats our singing to them. Bill Miller and I were both recognized for thirteen (13) weeks of service. In an ironic twist, Pete Lampasona was not present to receive his 39 year service pin. Pete, we’ll catch up with you next week.
    Hats off to Cathy Lathrop, Dave Stryker, Nolan Nixon and Ted Colburn for helping out last weekend at the Amber Alert at the Home Show at Mohegan Sun.
    I reminded everyone that the 2007 District 7980 Conference will be held May 31st through June 3rd at Saratoga Springs New York. You can register online at the district web site at www.Rotary7980.org.
I relayed the news that Barbara Buchanan fell again. Thank goodness that an MRI showed no new injuries or breaks, only some bruises. She will be resuming physical therapy.
    During the club Assembly we held a discussion on the upcoming annual auction, scheduled for Saturday, March 10.
    On Wednesday morning, the Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting.
Tyler Olson spoke to the Board of Directors about sponsoring a blood drive on March 26 at the Groton Regency. The Board agreed to sponsor the blood drive. Dan Boisvert, our community service chair, will coordinate the event. Olson will speak to the club at our March 13th meeting.
    The Board of Directors voted to use the proceeds from our Bingo sales fund raiser to help finance an international project, since our Rotary Foundation Bylaws require all those funds to be used locally.
The Board decided to defer a possible fund raiser by selling Mohegan Sun basketball tickets until we have completed the Bingo fund raiser and determine how successful that was.
    A discussion was also held on the possibility of buying the show “toaster” used during our auction. The Board wanted to investigate all the possibilities further and gather more information in order to make a sound decision.
    Remember to finish up your soliciting for Rotary auction items. “Lead The Way” for the good of Rotary and our community projects and grants.
The value of goods and services brought in as of Friday, February 23 is $18,189. Value outstanding is $24,538.
    Have a great Rotary week! President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of February 27, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:
    This was a sad week for the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club. We learned of the passing of longtime member, Jasjit Bindra, who died February 23 at the age of 64. We preceded the invocation with a period of silence and prayer for our departed fellow Rotarian.
    Richard “Dick” Cheney of the Mystic Club, was a guest. Dick is a very good natured gentlemen. He has to be to field our members kidding him about having the same name as the Vice President of the United States.
    There was one birthday to celebrate – Ed Kolar, who chose to have us sing our famous version of Happy Birthday. There were no anniversaries, no years of service, and no thirteen (13) weeks of service to be recognized.
    We received a thank you letter for our club’s participation in the painting day at the Riverfront Children’s Center on Thames Street. We also received another letter from the Town of Groton Department of Human Services for our holiday donations.
    This week our guest speaker was Jim Malloy, the administrator for Fairview, a non-profit care facility located in Groton. Fairview originally started out as a retirement home for senior members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Connecticut Grand Lodge. Today, Fairview not only remains true to its original purpose, but has grown to include Fellowship Manor, an independent living retirement community; Fairview, a skilled nursing facility with convalescent and rehabilitation services; and Friends Learning Together, a 44 student child development center.
    Jim Malloy traced the history of Fairview through the years. Most the patients are now non members of the Odd Fellows Connecticut Grand Lodge. Most of the residents have their care financed by Medicare. He noted this means that financing is difficult, because there are fewer residents who pay the full rate. He noted that Fairview has become very active in fund raising to keep the facility financial sound.
    Ed Kolar asked us to have our auction items in no later than early next week. He can process only OLD (Same as last year) donations starting Tuesday. So, if you have any NEW Donors or Old Donors with Different Items, get that info to him before Monday afternoon, please. Proxy On-Line Bidding should start by 8PM Tuesday.
    The value of goods and services brought in as of Saturday, March 3, is $23,628. Value outstanding is $19,532.
     Have a great Rotary week!  President Frank Winkler
    And, please bring a friend as your guest to our next meeting!
 

Regular Meeting of March 6th, 2007

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

     The countdown to the Groton-Ledyard Rotary Club’s annual televised auction has begun.  Our meeting this week was devoted to finalizing matters pertaining to the auction.

    The key now is to talk up the auction with our friends, families, colleagues and business associates.  Toward that end we have issued a press release to the media and will be running an ad in The Day, which will run in Thursday’s Night & Day insert and in the region section on Saturday.

    The total value of goods and services now stands at more than $26,000.  If we can obtain bids close to 50 percent of the value, we will break our record of more than $11,000 set last year.

    Randy Tupas had the honor of reading the Weekly Rotary Foundation Thought.

    There were no birthdays, no anniversaries or thirteen (13) weeks of service to celebrate.

     There were two outstanding years of service milestones to recognize and salute.  Jerry Scarano, who is in Florida, has completed 34 years of service.  We all had the honor of recognizing Pete Lampasona for 39 years of service at the meeting!  Congratulations Jerry!  Congratulations Pete!

    President-Elect Mike Riegel and myself helped place a pin on our club banner, recognizing our Interact Club and our Club for our participation in the 2006 World Interact Week.  The pin and letter came from W. B. (Bill) Boyd, President, 2006-07, Rotary International.