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Russell Hampton
ClubRunner
ClubRunner Mobile
Bulletin Editor
Larry Haber
Speakers
Aug 27, 2021
Opening Canton Schools in 2021-2022
Sep 03, 2021
Sep 10, 2021
Recent Legislative Session
Sep 17, 2021
Sep 24, 2021
Footwear With Care
Oct 01, 2021
Hartford Artisans Weaving Center
View entire list
Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Immediate Past President
 
Secretary
 
Treasurer
 
Membership
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
 
Foundation Chair
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Board Member-at-Large
 
Interact Chair
 
Club Information
Rotary of Avon-Canton - Founded 1973
Avon-Canton
Service above Self
Fridays at 7:30 AM
Golf Club of Avon
160 Country Club Road
Avon, CT 06001
United States of America
Fax:
(860) 760-6364
In person starting July 9, 2021. Zoom will also be available for those unable to attend in person.
DistrictSiteIcon
District Site
VenueMap
Venue Map
 
March 12, 2021
Revisiting Healthcare
One System at a Time
 
Michael Waterbury
CEO of Goodroot
 
The meeting will be held on Zoom. 
Watch for an email from the Club.
We are now using a recurring ID, etc.
 
Sergeant-at-Arms Report 
 
Participants: 37
 
Visiting Rotarians: None
 
Guests:
Elaine Chagnon - Speaker for African Education Project
Father Thomas Furrer - Guest of Speaker
Seshu Badrinath - Guest of Sarah Leathers
Grace Bilodeau - Rotary Interact Member 
Emma Maclaren - Rotary Interact Member 
Paula Noriega - Rotary Interact Member 
Melissa Varney - Rotary Interact Member 
 
Plus additional Interact Members
Happy Dollars Moments: More valuable when they are shared
Raffle Winner: No Raffle. No Winners. No Losers.
 
Fines: None today.
 
Birthdays:
 
Alicia Canning - March 3   Feels this club is like family and it is such a great pleasure to be your president.  Thank you!
 
Sarah Leathers - March 7 Sarah loves being part of this group and part of an organization that really is about service above self.  She gave a shout out to Nancy Nation who really modeled the meaning of service.
 
Joanne Santiago - March 8 For Joanne, it has been 30 years that she has been a Rotarian.  She refers to the club as her family.  She has had a lots of ups and downs and the club has always been there through both.
 
Happy Moments - More valuable when they are shared
 
Sue Budde Reported that she and Bill got their first Covid Shot on Tuesday.  She will have her 2nd shot on 3/22 and then go give Scott a hug.  She also talked about her step-son Ryan who has just taken a job in LA.  He will be leaving around the 22nd.  They will celbrate with a dinner at Dish n' Dat where she will be able to see her father now that they both have been vaccinated.
 
Yvonne Gardner Wanted us to know that on March 7th is her husbands 60th birthday and then on March 9th is her mom's 80th birthday.  March is a great month.
 
Gary Miller has not been out of the state in over a year.  Now that they have gotten their shots, they will finally be able to use their Epic Ski passes and they are headed up to VT for a couple of days.
 
President Alicia wanted to make sure that everyone understood that early detection saves lives.  She is proof of that.  She is going to be reminding the club on the first Friday of every month that we all should do a breast self-exam, including the men who can also get breast cancer.
 
Steve Morris Ran into Phil Worley at the dog park.  Phil wanted him to say hello to everyone.
 
Jolly Lux shared her happiness over the story of one of their girls who has epilepsy and was abused within her family.  The girl has now graduated from high school and they have a place for her, where she won't have to go back home.
 
Greg DeManche informed the club that until this year there was only one certified specialty in the practice of law, which was Workers Compensation.  They have just added Residential Real Estate Specialist and he is in the inaugural class of the first 9 attorneys to earn this designation. 
 
 
Announcements
 
President Alicia will be out for at least the next two weeks following her upcoming surgery.  She asked that the new member induction be postponed until she is back.  She also thanked Chris for setting my a meal train for her and everyone who volunteered to participate.  It is greatly appreciated.
 
The club has both a 501c3 and a 501c6 tax designation.  Most clubs only have the 501c# to handle their charitable work.  Our current system requires a lot of needless work on the treasurers part.  The finance committee has voted to only have the 501c3 going forward and to dissolve the 501c6.  The board will meet on this recommendation today.
 
Joanne Santiago is looking for nominees for the Paul Harris award who have gone above and beyond in service in the club and outside of the club. For suggestions of the next recipient, reach out to Joanne. 
 
Per Rotary International - There should be no in-person meetings for the remainder of the Rotary year to negate the spread of COVID-19.
 
March 30, 2021 - Rotary Global Grants presentation session (Details at "Eileen Rau", Happy Dollars section, above)
 
May 15, 2021 - Taste of the Valley Event - Plans are going well, and there should be at least 100 allowed inside, with up to 200 outside. The allowable number may go up. Members are asked to donate wine and liquor.
 
June 18, 2021 - President's Installation Dinner (at the Golf Club of Avon)
 
 
Awards
 
 
 
 
Speaker
 
Africa Education Partnership
Elaine Chagnon
 
 
Elaine, who has spoken to the club before, has recently retired from her role as a teacher in the Granby Public School System.  She has al Master's Degree in Education.  She is involved in the Africa Education Partnership which is headquartered in South Windsor and established in 2011.  Its mission is to promote peace and reconciliation through education in Nigeria. Elaine has gone on 10 trips to Nigeria and is the Project Director for a number of project in Nigeria and also serves as their educational consultant.  Since 2017 our club, through the International Committee, has donated $5,500 the the Partnership.
 
 
With the pandemic, we weren't able to travel last year nor will we be able to travel this year, but she wanted to bring us up to date on their work.  
 
 
One of the first projects that they were able to do was to help one of their 3 rural schools to finish up a new building.  We were able to help with putting on a new roof and running electrical wiring for them.  These 3 schools, when Elaine first visited them had no water, no electricity, and no sanitary facilities.
 
 
They also helped with the building of desks for the school.  They are made of iron with a laminate top and each desk can seat two children.
 
  
 
Our funding has been used to help with a project for clean water.  With this funding and help from others they were able to complete 4 water projects this year.  There partner in the project was able to buy in bulk and they were able to get 4 well for the price of two.   The top left on the third picture shows the storage containment tank to hold the water.  This was set up in a village that had no water prior to the work.
 
  
 
In addition to the water, sanitary facilities were needed .  You can see the facilities under construction and the finished building above.
 
  
 
In addition to building the schools, improving the water supply for school and community, providing for sanitation.  The children still need to get to school.  This school bus more than doubled their capacity to get the children to school.  The blue cannisters are filled with spare parts.
 
 
 
School is only required until the 6th grade.  High Schools are few and far apart.  Dormitories are critical for allowing girls to continue their education.
 
Na Gode!  -Thanks!
 
 
 
 
Special Announcements
None this week.
 
Mail Bag
None this week.
 
Photo Credits
Scribe's screen grabs.
 
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?