Guests: Chris Lamadrip (Prospective Member and Guest of Salin Low)
Joelle Satiago (Guest of Joanne Santiago)
Cal Miller and Sandi Trudeau (Guests of Capri Frank)
Jimmy Ssekawaabe (Guest of Dan Rodriguez-Prospective Member)
Terri Eickel (CT Cancer Foundation - Guest of Gary Roman)
Fines: None
Happy Dollars: $ 65.00
Raffle Winner:Gary Roman (Donated to CT Cancer Foundation)
Birthdays
Joanne Santiago celebrated her birthday this week. She clearly remembered how long she has been a member of the Rotary of Avon-Canton, especially with her daughter Joelle sitting by her side. 27 years ago Joanne was pregnant and carrying Joelle. She has enjoyed passing through the ranks of the various officer positions and being the Foundation Committee Chair.
Happy Dollars
Bill Barnes was happy to announce FVSO at the Movies on Saturday March 17th at the Hoffmann Auditorium, University of St Joseph. Two performances: 4:00 PM and 7:30 PM with a catered reception and auction from 5:30-6:30 PM. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for student and seniors. The reception costs $25. Tickets can be purchased at www.fvso.org or at the door for $20.
Joanne Santiago was happy to announce the names of three members who will be honored with Paul Harris Fellowships at the June 8th President's Installation Dinner: Don Bonner, Heather Pantano, and Colleen Grasso.
Heather Pantano announced that she would be gone for the next couple of meetings while visiting her in-laws in Florida.
Don Bonner wanted to let everyone know that Mike Mezheritskiy was attending PETS (President-Elect Training Seminar). He was also happy that Power was back in his house but Eversource was watching their street due to power lines in need of repair.
Gary Miller reminded everyone that the President's Installation Dinner would be back at the Farmington Woods Golf Clubhouse. The price for tickets would remain at $45. With a new chef, Gary was hoping to spice up the dinner a bit from last year.
Sandi Trudeau stood to thank the Rotary of Avon-Canton for all the good that we do. Today was the first day of her retirement after 65 years. She starting selling newspapers and eggs from their house on Arch Street in Avon when she was 6 years old. She was very happy to turn over the reins to Capri, who is now the President of Miller Foods. Cal Miller then arose to praise the new El Presidente, Capri!
General Announcements
President Don was happy that one of his major goals for this year is being realized as both Avon and Canton's Interact Clubs have been realized launched. Much thanks to Alicia Canning for all her hard work on this project. The Avon club now has 15 members. The Canton club has chosen their charitable causes. The local cause will be awareness on Opioid Addiction and in international service will be in the area of outreach to Puerto Rican families. He also noted that our Groundhog Wrangler from Roaring Brook Nature Center Katelyn Stryes had a baby boy named James.
Calendar of Upcoming Events
Thursday, March 15th: Rotary Club of Farmington - Rotary Madness in the Gardens - Farmington Gardens from 5:30 to 9:00 PM
Friday, May 18: Joint Rotary - FAVARH Yard Goats Game Event. See Paul for details.
Friday, June 8: 2018 President's Installation Dinnerat Farmington Woods Club House. President-Elect Michael Mezheritskiy and a new slate of Officers and Directors will be installed for the 2018-2019 Rotary Year. Don Bonner, Heather Pantano, and Colleen Grasso will receive Paul Harris Fellowships for club service. Tickets will be $45 each.
Awards and Community Service Grants
Gary Roman introduced Terri Eickel from CT Cancer Foundation. Terri is no stranger to our members. She has been a presenter at previous meetings and entertained us with her wonderful singing voice. Today she offered a vocal selection of Look to the Rainbow from the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow. Terri became involved with the Foundation after learning she had cancer following her debut aria. She was happy to report that she is 7 1/2 years cancer free! Terri was here to accept a check for $500 from the Community Service Committee. The CT Cancer Foundation helps to cover expenses of cancer patients during the period of the their treatment. The organization holds various fundraising events. The next Cycle Against Cancer event will be in Niantic on Saturday, March 24th. Paul Mikkelson participated in Cycle Against Cancer shortly before learning about his cancer diagnosis.
Following the presentation from Jolly and Kurt on GLO, the Miller Foods crew took the floor to make an award to honor Chuck Joseph for his assistance during the design and renovation of the Miller Foods store. Capri, Cal and Sandi couldn't thank Chuck enough for quiet, behind the scenes work. Capri said Chuck's very humble style made it difficult to get him to accept praise for his generosity. Miller Foods made a $500 donation to The Rotary Foundation for Polio-Plus in Chuck's honor.
Main Presentation
GLO Fall 2017 Mission
Jolly and Kurt Lux were our presenters this morning to give an update on Guiding Light Orphansand their fall 2017 mission in Uganda. Kurt reminded us that since their first mission in 2014 the hundreds of villagers served could not have been done without the support of Rotary. Kurt said that he and Jolly both shared a dream of serving the people in Uganda. He assured us that the people there know that Rotary, especially the Rotary of Avon-Canton, are the ones that help them.
Jolly used a slide presentation to update us on many activities undertaken by GLO. You can view the entire slide show by following this link: GLO-Fall2017-MissionTrip. Near and dear to her is the continuing success of Christine who is now able to get around on her own with the help of crutches and a wheelchair. The former storage container converted into a functioning clinic looks wonderful. At a recent Epilepsy Clinic, 221 patients were served. 85% are now seizure free. No one knows for sure why epilepsy is so prevalent in Uganda. Some funding is helping in the investigation. The club's rainwater harvesting project has made a huge difference in the community. The clinic regularly provides prenatal care and immunization. Jolly had a picture of their first prenatal customer. The clinic also provides education to community members on family planning and reproductive health.
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Slideshows and other materials from our morning meeting presentations can be found under the EarlyRiser Presentations section in the lower lefthand column of the Early Riser Newsletter.
Mail Bag
None today.
Photo Credits
Photographs courtesy of Phil Worley unless otherwise indicated.
Editors 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?
Gary Roman introduced Terri Eickel from CT Cancer Foundation. Terri is no stranger to our members. She has been a presenter at previous meetings and entertained us with her wonderful singing voice. Today she offered a vocal selection of Look to the Rainbow from the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow. Terri became involved with the Foundation after learning she had cancer following her debut aria. She was happy to report that she is 7 1/2 years cancer free! Terri was here to accept a check for $500 from the Community Service Committee. The CT Cancer Foundation helps to cover expenses of cancer patients during the period of the their treatment. The organization holds various fundraising events. The next Cycle Against Cancer event will be in Niantic on Saturday, March 24th. Paul Mikkelson participated in Cycle Against Cancer shortly before learning about his cancer diagnosis.
Following the presentation from Jolly and Kurt on GLO, the Miller Foods crew took the floor to make an award to honor Chuck Joseph for his assistance during the design and renovation of the Miller Foods store. Capri, Cal and Sandi couldn't thank Chuck enough for quiet, behind the scenes work. Capri said Chuck's very humble style made it difficult to get him to accept praise for his generosity. Miller Foods made a $500 donation to The Rotary Foundation for Polio-Plus in Chuck's honor.
Jolly and Kurt Lux were our presenters this morning to give an update on 
