EarlyRiser Newsletter (May 22, 2015)

Bulletin Editor

Dale Bronson (If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)

Speakers

Jul 10, 2015
Kyong Wilson District Gov


Jul 17, 2015
Club Meeting


Jul 24, 2015
Collinsville


Aug 07, 2015
Sarah Bonner
Peace Corps

Aug 14, 2015
Jolly Lux
Guiding Light Orphans-April Trip

Aug 21, 2015
Michele Nahas
Junior Achievement

View entire list

Upcoming Events

Canton Senior Luncheon

Canton Senior Center

Jul 16, 2015
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Club Information

Rotary Club of Avon-Canton - Founded 1973

Service above Self

We meet Fridays at 7:30 AM

Avon Old Farms Hotel

279 Avon Mountain Rd.
Avon, CT 06001
United States

District Site

Venue Map

Stride Adaptive Sports

Karen Clark

- We will be meeting at Tower Ridge -

**Sergeant-at-Arms Report**

May 15, 2015
Members	41
Make-Ups	None this week
Guests	Mike Perkins, Lee Wilson, Mike Ryan and Jennifer Bennett
Visiting Rotarians	Alma Kruh, Simsbury/Granby, Cindy Lang, West Hartford, Steve Mitchell, North Hampton
Happy Dollars	$55.00 donated to VFW Poppy Drive
Fines	0
Raffle	Won by Paul Cioffari, donated to VFW Poppy Drive
Birthdays	None this week

Happy Dollars

Robin DiNicola - the family has a new pup. Everyone is excited about it. Additionally, Robin has surpassed her goal for her upcoming charity run. It's not too late if anyone would like to donate. The website for making donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website is: http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/rnr15/http

Capri Frank - her son will be having his prom this weekend. Capri will be hosting a Sunday brunch for many of the prom-goers. Additionally, Capri knows today's speaker, Bill Neagus, and is happy to see him again.

Bill Neagus - (Visiting Rotarian and today's guest speaker) thanked the Club for giving him the chance to speak today.

John Shea - is excited that is wife is presently hiking for a week on the Appalachian Trail.

Linda Pendergast - had a great time on her bus trip to Gettysburg, She shared a funny joke about an elderly couple that the bus driver told her.

Ted Cowles - over the next three days, his granddaughter will be competing in the National AAU Gymnastics Tournament. Ted and his wife Jan will be moving into Duncaster in Bloomfield. There's no deadline to get out of their Canton home, so the move isn't so bad.

Larry Haber - and his wife Linda had tickets for Friday night at Mohegan Sun to see the Peter Cetera concert. Cetera was one of the original members of the band Chicago. He's been in show business for 45 years.

Announcements

Paul Mikkelsen - asserted that the Community Service Committee will meet immediately after the Friday May 22 Club meeting. All Community Service members are urged to attend.

Salin Low - President Salin reviewed the details for the upcoming Rotary Night outing at the May 29 Rock Cats game. $4 from every ticket will go to Rotary's Polio Plus. District Governor Mike Roy will be in attendance. There will be fireworks after the game. (The deadline has been extended according to the District 7890 website).

Tom Voorhees - thanked those who helped at the two recent Amber Alert events. Upcoming Amber Alert sessons include the Thompson Brook School on May 26 and 27, and the Cherrybrook School on May 29.

Paul Mikkelson - will be participating in Jim Calhoun's Bicycle Charity Run.

The 2015 Jim Calhoun Ride and Walk for Lifesaving Research and Care will take place on May 30 and will start and finish at Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford. The event will feature rides of 12, 36 and 60 miles and a 5K walk, and as the day ends, there will be a celebratory cookout for all participants. Ninety cents of every dollar contributed by riders and walkers and their supporters will go directly to the cause and every UConn Health department will be eligible to receive funds raised annually by this event. (From The Hartford Courant). See Paul for further details.

Susan Budde - announced that this year's golf tournament will be her last time chairing the Raffle/Auction Committee. She would like Club members who would consider becoming the chair in 2016 to join her this year so they can see what the job entails.

Nancy Nation - distributed golf tournament ad folders and explained that this year's ad book will be in color. Sponsors can now choose black and white or color for their advertisements.

Salin Low - President Salin stated the Friday, May 22 meeting will be in the Towpath Room.

Note On The Golf Tournament from Nancy Nation

If everyone brings in ONE ad this Friday, the Golf Tournament will be off to a great start. Let's make this the best tournament yet!

Please help the advertising committee by bringing in your ads SOONER THAN LATER.

Nancy

Note on Taste of the Valley from Chuck Joseph

Invitation To the 2015 TOTV Committee Members...

Thought we should spend some time to celebrate and debrief this year's event so we can set the stage for the 2016 edition. I'm pleased to announce that Steve Roberto has agreed to co-chair Tastes of the Valley for next year!! Thanks so much Steve!!

My thought is Tuesday, May 26, 5 PM at Dish n Dat. And, in celebration of this year's success, I'll buy the drinks, which will be served promptly at 5 PM.

Please reply so I'll know if you can make it as I'll need a count. If you can't make it, I'd appreciate if you'd email any feedback you have.

Looking forward to getting together!

Chuck

FAVARH

Bill Neagus has been the business developer at Favarh since January. Favarh, aka the Arc of the Farmington Valley, is a non-profit agency that helps persons with developmental challenges find employment and residential placements. Follow-up is ongoing.

Bill has a background in newspaper work. He is a member of the Farmington Rotary. He spoke at the Bloomfield Club the day before our meeting.

The focus of Bill's presentation was group supported employment. In this paradigm, 4 or 5 participants and a job coach go to the employer's site to perform any number of repetitive tasks. The participants thrive on repetition. What might seem like menial chores to more skilled workers is meaningful work that the participants are happy to do. Their attendance records are typically higher than non-challenged staff, and their enthusiasm is boundless.

Group supported employment creates win-win situations. Favarh's participants get to experience the dignity of having a job, and the employer and staff get to concentrate on more meaningful assignments knowing the repetitive work is being done right by the Favarh clients and job coach. Another benefit to the employer is that Favarh takes care of payroll and worker's compensation for its clients.

At present, Favarh has group employment participants involved in manufacturing, laundry work, warehouses/stocking, food preparation and restaurant assignments (food portioning, stocking, cleaning, setting tables, etc.).

Club member Don Bonner asserted that he recently did a job for a customer that involved collating over 9,000 printed pieces. The Contract Services Team from Favarh handled the collation work "perfectly." Favarh also has a crew that splits and delivers firewood and a crew that has assembled over 40,000 lights for miners' helmets.

Including group employment workers and independent placement workers, Favarh provides support to over 150 clients. More jobs are nonetheless needed.

Bill asked Club members to contact him if they come across a situation involving repetitive tasks that would be a good fit for a Favarh Group Supported Employment Crew. He will follow up on any lead provided.

In the Mail

Dog Star Rescue:

The Club received a Thank You note from Dog Star Rescue, a group which received a donation at the April Club Day. The note states there were people who didn't think Dog Star Rescue would be successful. Those people forgot to factor in Rotary's generosity.

Avon Dollars for Scholars:

Steven Hahn, the Dollars for Scholars President, thanked the Club for this year's gift of $4,000. He wrote "we are all aware that the financial cost for students entering college is enormous. With your help, their burdens are lessened. We also know the students appreciate your ongoing support."

Farmington Valley Trout Unlimited:

(The following e-mail was received and is passed along. The Club made a donation to this group back in January).

For those who have supported the Trout In The Classroom program for the Focus school of Canton, here is an update.

The students have done an outstanding job raising their fish thru the school year and the time has come to release their trout fry into the wild. The release will be taking place on Thursday May 28th at Matthies Grove, Peoples' Forest in Barkhamsted.

Those wishing to either observe the success of the students and see the release or don a pair of boots to help out the bug sampling the students will be doing, are cordially invited to attend.

Most releases start around 9 - 10 am and run about 1/2 to 3/4 of a day.

I will be sending specific arrival times and directions to those interested in attending.

Again, THANK YOU for your support. It has been a very successful program, and the students have done wonderfully!

Carl Swanson
Farmington Valley Trout Unlimited
Trout in the Classroom Coordinator

Rotary Pub Night

Our next Rotary Pub Night will be Wednesday, June 3nd from 4 to 7 at the Lyme Grill in Avon. This will be a special Wednesday edition of Pub Night for members who find it difficult to attend on Tuesdays.

The July Pub Night will be held Tuesday, July 7th at the Crown & Hammer in Collinsville. It too will be from 4 to 7.

Rotary Pub Night is an informal gathering of Rotarians providing opportunities to socialize and get to know each other better. Friends, acquaintances, spouses, partners, significant others, co-workers, new-member-prospects, etc. are all invited to participate.

Members of other Rotary Clubs are also cordially invited to attend. Attendance will qualify as a "Makeup" for a missed Friday morning meeting of the Rotary Club of Avon-Canton! Inform the Sgt. at Arms within two weeks for Makeup credit.

Photos:

Photos from the meeting by Phil Worley

Photo of Peter Cetera from PeterCetera.com

Photo from High Society courtesy of Getty Images