December 1, 2023Blue Path Service DogsBetty GoldfarbMeeting will be held at Golf Club of AvonThe 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.
Special Veteran's Day Invocation
Delivered by Gary Miller
On veteran's day we honor all,
Who answered to a service call.
Soldiers young and soldiers old,
Fought for freedom, brave and bold.
Some have lived, while others died,
And all of them deserve our pride.
We're proud of all the soldiers who,
Kept thinking of red, white and blue.
They fought for us and all our rights,
They fought through many days and nights.
And though we may not know each name,
We thank ALL veterans just the same.
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Sergeant-at-Arms Report
Rotarians Present: 38, all in person
Visiting Rotarians: Dave Tedeschi
Guests: Nate Mezheritskiy (son of Michael); Veterans: Mickey Bennett, Mike Filer, Johnny Guillot, Tim Healy, Ben Nascinbeni, John Regish, veteran spouse Betty Goldfarb.
Happy Dollars: $26
Raffle Winner: Club donating to the Salvation Army this month!
Birthdays: None Today
Happy Dollars
Joann Santiago: Donated one for veterans, one for her joy at receiving a piece of artwork from friend Don Bonner, and a third for her daughter Joelle who had recently taken her to a fabulous Dave Mathews Band concert.
Yvonne Gardner recently visited Charlestown, SC where she and her husband Greg toured several retired Navy ships as well as the exhibit, "the Vietnam experience." Learn more about Charlestown's Naval vessel exhibits here: https://charleston.com/charleston-insider/lowcountry-lifestyles/monumental-battleships-of-charleston, and about the "Vietnam Experience" here: https://www.gentryadventures.com/post/the-vietnam-experience . Yvonne is grateful to all our veterans for their service.
Salin Low donated one Happy Dollar for the upcoming bell ringers, and offered to make it five dollars, if someone will fill the one remaining shift. Someone did!
"Senior" Rotarian Larry Sullivan, shared a story about the late veteran Lemuel Custis then of Rocky Hill, who had been a Tuskegee airman, Hartford police officer as well as a president of the New England Air Museum at Bradley Airport. Mr. Custis once gave a talk about the Tuskegee airmen to our Club. During that talk Mr. Custis shared his disappointment with a former commander, a then Col. William Momyer who, Mr.Custis felt, had treated him and his Tuskegee airmen colleagues unfairly. Coincidentally, and many years later, our own RollieSterrett worked with then four-star General Momeyer. Learn more about Lemuel Custis here: https://www.tuskegeeneam.org/the-stories and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_R._Custis and also about William Momyer here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W._Momyer
Rollie Sterrett welcomed all his VFW comrades, and shared his recent return from a Viking cruise to the Panama Canal and Central America over 2 weeks, exhausted from relaxing. He noted that while the ports in Belize and Costa Rica were pristine, off the ship and away from the ports, third world poverty was very evident. Nevertheless, he highly recommends the trip.
Linda Pendergast attended Javier Colon Concert the previous night. In 2010 Mr. Colon was the very first winner of "the Voice" contest. He lives in West Hartford, and during the concert he performed 1980's songs, songs from the repertoire of James Taylor, and from Les Miserables, all of which made Linda feel young again.
Anne Clark offered a happy dollar for having breakfast with the veterans. She recalled that when we helped build the Avon war memorial, seven WW2 veterans were deeply involved and she was included as the "token female." She recalled those involved included Bob August, Don Studley, Bill McGinnis, George England, Bill Orshall and Charlie Kildore. She claimed she got to know them all well, and was subject to a bit of ribbing for how she had phrased that claim! The last surviving member of that group, apart from Anne, was George England who died just last year, aged 98. Whenever Anne looks at the memorial now, she thinks of all our veterans, but especially those seven, very special, men.
Gary Miller offered Happy Dollar for his fellow vets, and another for all those who have helped with the Turkey Trot since beginning his own involvement, around 2009. Gary named Yvonne, Alicia, Linda and Luke for their help in particular.
Bob Cave had a great golf outing this week, and also had a perfect score of lost balls. Don Bonner helped find many of them. Phil Ferrari helped with the "finding", including by looking in Bob's golf bag!
Jolly Lux is grateful for our veterans and also for future Rotarian Nate Mezheritsky, who is here today.
Tom Voorhees took the same cruise as Rollie, but on his "Uncle's" large, gray yacht, some years ago. He did not have much rest on his cruise though, and declared, "I'll go Viking next time."
Luke Violette thanked all attending Rotarians and all our veterans, and reminded the group that all our Happy Dollars will go to the Salvation Army this month.
Announcements
Cherie Walton reminded attendees about the Secret Santa project for FAVARH residents. Index cards were circulated which included FAVARH residents' Christmas lists. Our Club will be co-hosting the FAVARH Christmas party with the Simsbury-Granby Club on 12/13 at Canton High School. The ideal deadline for receipt of the requested gifts is December 1st. Please put the intended recipients name and also the name of their residence (FAVARH residences have distinct names.) on a card or note attached to your gift. The 82 residents we are serving will be evenly split between the two clubs, 41 for each. If you hate shopping, Cherie will do the shopping for you! For more details, contact Cherie!
Salin Lownoted the Lonely Rotarians' Society will meet next Friday, 11/24 at LaSalle Market, as per usual.
Christine LaMadrid announced that the past presidents will meet after the regular meeting today, to discuss potential board membership for the next year. Voting will be on December 8th.
Calendar
November 17, 2023 - VFW Veteran's Breakfast during the meeting; Past Presidents' meeting following the regular meeting to discuss board and officer slate for 23-24 Rotary year.
November 24 , 2023 - No regular meeting on the Friday after Thanksgiving. (See Lonely Rotarian's Society announcement above.)
November 24 & December 9 - Ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. See Salin for details.
December 12, 2023 - 5:00 p.m. - Club Christmas dinner hosted by Cal Miller-Stevens.
December 13, 2023 - FAVARH Christmas Party at Canton HS
Induction of New Members
None this week.
Special Presentations
President Luke Violette briefly introduced Joanne Santiago for presentation of Rotary Foundation jewelry to Brian O'Donnell, but with Brian currently circumnavigating Antarctica, the presentation was quickly put on hold. To be rescheduled.
Luke next recognized Mike Mezheritskiy, Nathan Mezheritskiy and Jolly Lux.
Mike related that his 11-year-old son Nate approached himseveral times to ask if he could make a donation to a worthy charitable organization, and Mike responded he'd give some thought to which charity might be appropriate. Mike and his wife further agreed to match Nate's planned donation 2 to 1. Mike then approached Jolly Lux about having Nate donate to Guiding Light Orphans, and arranged for today's presentation, which Nate indicated he wanted to do in person. Together the Mezheritskiy family decided to increase the total donation to GLO to $500.00. This was a proud moment for Mike as a parent, and he quipped that his kids think he "does Rotary for a living."Jolly expressed her love and appreciation to Mike and Nate, and because of the love Nate had shown, even asked to take Nate home with her! Jolly told Nate that his donation will save many people's lives by providing them clean water, and in turn allow them the time and freedom to attend school. "Children just like you will now have an education like you have, because of that clean water, and also food to eat because there will be additional water to irrigate the fields to grow that food", said Jolly. There was hardly a dry eye in the room.
Awards
None this week
Community and International Service Grants
None this week
Honoring Our Veterans
To open the Veteran's Day festivities, President Luke Violette introduced a short video shared by Larry Sullivan, in which the Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the U.S.A.”, was sung by Mr. Greenwood, virtually accompanied by multiple service members. Mr. Greenwood collaborated with the United States Air Force Band, the Singing Sergeants and the organization "Home Free", to produce this new version of his hit song. If you missed the meeting, or just want to see the video again, it can be seen here: https://youtu.be/0Japc8M8RQw
Next, Luke introduced Tim Healy, current Gilbert T. Consolini VFW Post 3272 Commander for his remarks. Mr. Healy said: "Talk about tough acts to follow", adding, "As Liz Taylor told all of her 4 husbands,'I won't keep you long' ", which cracked up the entire group, and put everyone at ease. Continuing, Mr. Healy said, "There's no better organization I'd want to be associated with than the VFW." Addressing the veterans present, he said, " You are worth it." He continued: "VFW has been around since 1946, just after WW2. As an individual, you serve as commander for 2 years, and in doing so I'm standing on the shoulders of giants, giants who were able to bring out the best in others. I've tried to maintain that theme. We get together for fellowship, group trips and community service activities. Right now, we are working with the organization "Integrated Refugees Integration Services (IRIS). We are interested in the Afghan forces who served us as interpreters and in other roles at the risk of their lives and their families' lives. IRIS and the VFW intend to bring one family here and integrate them into our community. We will introduce you to them and make them your friends and turn them into Americans. It will take generosity, it will take at least $20,000.00, as well as housing and job. We've already enlisted doctors and dentists to take care of their personal health needs gratis. We want to return their service and reward their loyalty." Concluding, Mr. Healy added: "We in the VFW are generous of spirit and want to continue to serve others. Please be proud of the VFW members in our community."
Luke then acknowledged all the veterans present, both Rotarians and non-Rotarian VFW members, and asked that they each rise individually and introduce themselves. Below are those veteran's comments, truncated in some cases due to acoustics and in others due to this Editor's inability to capture all that was said.
Ben Nascinbeni, an Avon native, served in Korea, and was "US Army drafted" on June 1, 1953. He caddied at the Avon Golf Club in his youth, where he also met his wife on a blind date.
John Regish, a Canton native, served in the Seabees in Vietnam between 1969 and 1970. He enlisted.
Mike Filer served in the Marine Corps, in several locations including off the coast of Cuba between 1965 and 1966. His son and grandson have also served in the Marine Corps.
Mickey Bennett served in the Air Force between 1969 and 1970.
Tom Voorhees, also a Rotarian, served in the Navy from 1949 through 1956, and as a 'weekend warrior' after that. Tom reiterated he'd choose a different cruise line the next time. ;-)
Johnny Guillot grew up in Putnam CT and "volunteered for the draft", at the New Haven recruiting center. There were ten recruits in the room and the Army got nine and the USMC took him. He served as a rifleman in Vietnam for 1-year, in the "03/11" (3rd Battalion, 11th Marines) He lost a lot of friends there, three in particular. He is here for those three best friends that didn't make it back. The Avon VFW Post is the best of the three VFW posts he has been a member of, as he's moved over the years. Learn more about the history of the 03/11 here: https://www.1stmardiv.marines.mil/Units/11TH-MARINE-REGT/3rd-Battalion/
Rollie Sterrett, also a Rotarian, served in the Air Force between 1966 and 1970. During Vietnam he served in the 7th Air Force, in the "Directorate of Targets" where he briefed General Westmoreland. Later Rollie served in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in Omaha, Nebraska, where he was selected to brief the highest ranking officers. For Rollie, his service was both "the best and worst of times."
Thomaston Class LSD: USS Thomaston LSD-28
Gary Hyde, famed former Rotary treasurer and 2023 Nancy Nation Service Award recipient, was born in Ridgefield, and served in the Navy from 1966 through 1969. His service included time in an amphibious force, on a type of ship known as a "LSD" (Landing Ship Dock, pictured above, and also at a Navy school command in Norfolk, VA. Gary is happy and proud to have been able to serve, and noted that the Lee Greenwood video and song also made him feel very proud. Learn more about the "LSD" here" https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169901/dock-landing-ship-lsd/
Gary Miller signed up in 1966 upon entering college on a ROTC scholarship, with his Navy commission beginning in 1970. He served shore duty, then 3-years embedded with the Royal Marines, including flying helicopters all over, and retired while stationed at Key West, in June 1970. Tongue in cheek, Gary likes to take credit for the long period of peace during his years in the service. "It was great to serve", added Gary.
Betty Goldfarb whose late husband served during the Vietnam era, met the VFW members at Beanz and Cole. She has valued their camaraderie and willingness to include her in their activities, as the wife of a veteran. They all meet at Beanz every Monday and Thursday. The VFW further honored her with a shirt in honor of her husband. "She's also a great bugler!", added one of the veterans.
Local veterans participating in today's Veteran's Day, 11/17/2023
Luke again thanked the veterans and concluded the meeting with these thoughts: "It's often said, it's not about the destination, but the journey," and added," it's also about the company." Continuing, "It's a privilege to be in the company of the members of two fine organizations, Rotary and the VFW, and I thank all for their service, past, present and future. For their sacrifice, for protecting us, for defending us, for what your service requires that you carry with you and for defending this great nation we call home, I wish each and every one of you a healthy and happy Thanksgiving."
Special Announcements
Editor's Note for Veteran's Day:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13
Mail Bag
None this week.
Photo Credits
Mike Mezheritskiy
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?
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