November 18, 2022 Meeting at FAVARH Rotary BuildingMaria Mascoli
Avon HS Transition Program
The meeting will be held both in person and via Zoom.
Watch for an email from the Club for Zoom access and
please note we use a recurring ID for your convenience.
Sergeant-at-Arms Report -
Rotarians Present: 21 (including 4 via Zoom)
Visiting Rotarians: Ed LaMontagne - Simsbury-Granby Club
Guests:2LT George Pavlakis USA (Speaker)
Happy Dollars: $10
Raffle Winner: No raffle today - rollover to next week.
Fines:None today.
Birthdays
None this week.
Happy Dollars
Salin Low has been busy officiating at weddings on Wednesday and Thursday. She was headed back to RI. She met John's brother for the first time. She was also happy that all the bell ringing slots have been filled but could use a couple fill-in volunteers. Wreath orders have been submitted and will be available at our December 2nd meeting.
Peter Vignati was at the UCONN Women's basketball game at Gampel last night and was looking forward to the men's game which he expected to be a tough match.
Joanne Santiago was pleased with the District 7890 Foundation luncheon on Sunday. Our club was well represented and was presented two recognition awards for Polio Now and Serving People Around the World. Jolly and Kurt Lux were honored to present their latest water project in Uganda.
Cal Miller-Stevens said Thank You to all the Veterans.
Gary Miller was happy to have had a great weekend in Vermont with his grandchildren. They accomplished a lot of work on the family tree farm and survived well on Miller Farm Maple Milk. The milk comes from his cousin Paul Miller's dairy farm in Vernon, VT. Gary is sure the cows are fed maple sugar candies or maple leaves--something like that!
Rollie Sterrett reported in on Zoom from Washington, DC, where he and Brian O'Donnell (pictured left) joined other veterans at a Vietnam Wall ceremony for Veterans Day. Each participant was given 40 names to read. Rollie said the reading brought many to tears.
Ed LaMontagne from the Simsbury-Granby Rotary Club was visiting us again and spoke at the upcoming Group Home Christmas Party which will be a joint event with our club. Ed handed out cards with the names of gift recipients. The cards have the recipients name, resident home, and wish list. See the details below.
Announcements
Christmas wreaths support New Britain-Berlin Rotary will be delivered on Dec. 2. Contact Salin at salin@revslow.net
Our meeting will be at the Rotary of Avon-Canton Building of FAVARH on Friday, the 18th, and the Lonely Rotarians Society will meet at Lasalle Market and Deli on Friday, the 26th.
FAVARH Christmas Party - December 8th - Joint with Simsbury-Granby Rotary
This event run annually by the Simsbury-Granby Club will be a joint effort with our club this year. Residents of the various group homes will participate in a Christmas party with gifts from many donors. Ed LaMontagne (Simsbury-Granby) and our own Cherie Morris will chair the event. 71 residents will be celebrate at the event with 150 partiers including Rotarians, resident staff, and the residents attending. Gifts should be wrapped with a tag that clearly states the recipient's first name, last initial, and resident home. Contact Cherie if you would like to get a gift card.
Calendar
Pub Night - Tuesday, November 15th - 110 Grille in the Farmington Valley Shoppes. It starts at 5:00 PM and continues until about 7:00 PM. Some folks stay for a light supper. Good conversation and fellowship are available!
Rotary Board Meeting - November 15th at 6:30 PM via Zoom
Miller Farm Annual Christmas Party on December 6th at 4:00 PM - See Cal Miller-Stevens for details.
Induction of New Members
None this week.
Awards
None this week.
Community and International Service Grants
None this week.
Surprise Guest Revealed
2ndLT George Pavlakis USA
Salin Low introduced our "surprise guest", 2ndLT George Pavlakis, who was home for the weekend from his post in Germany. Salin had last seen George when he gave her a very thorough walking tour in München which resulted in the need for foot surgery. George was able to deliver his quarterly update in person. George is sponsored by the Munich International Rotary Club. The meetings are held in English, although George is quite fluent in German.
A 2017 Avon HS and 2021 West Point USMA graduate, George remarked that it has been a year already since we headed off to Germany to earn a Masters Degree at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with the help our our small Rotary Scholarship. George's studies follow the Peace and Conflict Resolution Rotary Area of Focus. George's program consists of two semesters, and internship, and a thesis. Since talking with us last time, he and his fianceé took a three-week trip to Southeast Asia. Despite being dragged from one war memorial or museum to another, she continues to hang in. They planned to be married this summer.
George said TUM is Germany’s best university and one of the best in Europe. He is taking the Politics & Technology M.Sc. program which includes coursework from the political science department and other STEM departments. He has also taken courses from the political science, business management, civil engineering, computer science, materials engineering, and aerospace engineering departments.
George joined the Bundesverband Sicherheits Politik (BSH) and in his second semester has been taking courses on international security, challenges in energy markets, autonomous driving, and trade secret protections. The BSH holds discussions on the Russo-Ukrainian War. He travels to other countries as much as possible to add to his studies and recently published an article on the Belorussian Crisis.
George is currently interning at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. The Marshall Center is a research institute jointly run by the US Department of Defense and German Ministry of Defense. He is working on a conference covering irregular warfare and hybrid threats, as well as, a project tracking the Peoples’ Republic of China’s security cooperation and activities in the western Balkans, eastern Mediterranean, and Caucasus. During his second year, he will finish his internship and complete his thesis.
George reflected on his first year in Europe during the Russia-Ukraine Conflict and its effect on the economy and other factors.
Special Announcements
None this week.
Mail Bag
None this week.
Photo Credits
Screen Shots by editor
Technology Credits
Zoom platform management expertise by Mike Mezheritskiy.
Editor's Notes
Submission Deadline: Members are kindly encouraged to submit all materials for each week's Early Riser as early as possible. Please note that some editions may be published and distributed as early as the Saturday following our meetings, and during those weeks further contributions to the Early Riser will be included in the subsequent week's edition.
“The FOUR-WAY TEST of the things we think, say or do”:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all Concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
.png)
Gary Miller was happy to have had a great weekend in Vermont with his grandchildren. They accomplished a lot of work on the family tree farm and survived well on Miller Farm Maple Milk. The milk comes from his cousin Paul Miller's dairy farm in Vernon, VT. Gary is sure the cows are fed maple sugar candies or maple leaves--something like that!
Rollie Sterrett reported in on Zoom from Washington, DC, where he and Brian O'Donnell (pictured left) joined other veterans at a Vietnam Wall ceremony for Veterans Day. Each participant was given 40 names to read. Rollie said the reading brought many to tears. 
