Our regular Wednesday meeting was opened exactly at 12:17 PM with President Laura Camp presiding for the last time of her second term as President of our club.  A prayer was offered by Alden Welsh, followed by a patriotic song led by John Cuozzo (the first verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic).  Today we had 21 of our members present.   Past President Frank Eberhart extended a warm, but albeit brief, welcome to our members.

 

President Laura announced that there was going to be a change in the order of our normally orderly meeting agenda – we were going to draw the winning ticket for the raffle for the Rotary quilt, to be followed by the installation of the club officers for Rotary year 2022-2023.

 

Laura made sure that the tickets were well stirred up so no one ticket might have a better chance of being selected above any other tickets.  Charles Grotyohan had the responsibility of making one individual quite happy.  He spoke about how, when our club members visited other clubs, the members at these clubs readily came forward to help support the project.  Following the picking of the ticket, there was no drum roll.  The winning ticket belonged to Denise Stanley of Blairstown.  CONGRATULATIONS GO TO DENISE FOR HER WIN !!   A total of $2,322 was raised from this raffle, with the proceeds going to Project Self Sufficiency. 

 

Charles Grotyohan asked all members of the incoming Board of Directors and officers of the Club to come to the front of the assembled group and be sworn in for their respective positions.  Those members being inducted to become officers and directors included (l to r): Marge McCabe, Secretary; Laura Camp, Immediate Past President; Alice Vigiletti, Trustee; Helen Wescott, Treasurer; and, Todd Lattig, President.

Charles provided information to each of these incoming Board members about their responsibilities they are being charged with and their responsibilities to the members of the club.  Following that, Charles swore all of the members in.

 

At the end of the meeting, President Todd presented Laura with a plaque that is traditionally given to all outgoing club Presidents.  This plaque was unique however.  This plaque not only had the traditional gavel and Rotary wheel on it, but it also had two brass plaques that indicated the different Rotary years that Laura served our club as president.

We all thank Laura for taking on the responsibility as club President during a very difficult time brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.  Like Jim Taylor before her, this was a daunting task to keep everything pulled together so that we, as a club, could emerge intact once the virus subsided.

The first Happy Dollar was given by Laura, for this being the day she passes the presidency to Todd.

Bob Shankman gave $8:  $1 for Laura having served as President for the past 12 months, $5 for his daughter coming through breast surgery and recovering nicely, $1 for Todd beginning his 12-month stint as President, and $1 for the saying on the back of his tee shirt.

Marge gave a dollar for a very, very successful Garden Party at Denise’s home.

A happy dollar was given by President Todd, for God having provided such good weather for the Garden Party.

Luis gave a dollar for his 35^th anniversary (the members then sang happy anniversary to him).

Charles kicked up a buck because his daughter is pregnant and due in December.

John Cuozzo ponied up a one-dollar bill, because he will be having 3 teenagers coming shortly to stay at his house for a week.  He asked for prayers – but we were left wondering if the prayers were for him or the teenagers.

Alden Welsh gave a dollar for the efforts of Rotary International, which has been able to raise over 15 million dollars to help the refugees being forced out of Ukraine.

Todd wrapped up the money-fest by donating a dollar for the Rotary belt buckle he received as a gift from Frank Eberhart.

 

 

UPDATED MEMBERSHIP BOOK – It was announced that the new membership books were distributed at the Annual Garden Party at Denise’s house on Saturday.  If anyone present at this meeting did not get to the party, Alice would bring one to your table for you.

 

GARDEN PARTY – President Todd announced that the Garden Party was a complete success this year.  The weather could not have been nicer, there were a lot of people there to celebrate, and there were ample people to help set up and then clean up and break down the tent and put things away.  There was also more than ample hot and cold trays of food, along with plenty of cold drinks to take care of any parched throat.

Wayne McCabe announced that there were 58 people attending this year’s event.

It was also noted that Leanne Clark, of Byram, won the $203 prize from the 50/50.  She very generously returned her winnings back to the club.  We thank her for that magnanimous gesture.

 

NEW NEWTON ROTARY SHIRTS - Alice once again spoke to us about the new Newton Rotary shirts that we have available.  The primary difference between the old shirts and the new ones is that they now include 1923 – 2023, for our 100^th anniversary.  The shirts are available now and cost $30.  Many of the club members who had previously bought a shirt wore it to the Garden Party.  She noted that we have sizes to fit everyone.  Please see Alice for your shirt.

 

ANNUAL NEWTON GOLF OUTING – President Todd spoke to the club about the upcoming 54^th Annual Newton Rotary Golf Outing, to be held on Wednesday, September 14^th at the Newton Country Club.  Because this is being held on a Wednesday, please come to the country club for our Rotary lunch or later for the surf-and-turf dinner if you are not a golfer.  Tickets for golfers, which includes the tournament, lunch and dinner will be $250.  The cost of lunch or the dinner per person will be announced at the next meeting.  This year’s honoree will be Denise Current. 

 

 

For a second week in a row, Barbara Miller was the winner and garnered a whopping $4 for her efforts.   This brought her current grand total for two days to $9.00.    Barbara pulled a card – which turned out to be the nine of diamonds.  The main pot now continues its slow growth, again, and presently stands at $39.00.    CONGRATS TO BARBARA FOR HER SECOND WIN IN A ROW.

 

Next week’s program (July 6^th) will be a surprise to one and all.  As the new incoming Vice President, Carl announced that the club needs people to step forward to start filling some of the speaker slots for our weekly meetings.  PLEASE see Carl if you would like to step up for this or have any suggestions.

 

With no other business to come before the club, President Todd announced that the meeting was formally adjourned at 1:19 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Wayne T. McCabe

Past President (’88 – ’89)