Chris Lamadrid got to meet Sean each Friday morning when she arrived early for her Secretary duties. Sean always greeted her with "Good morning, Sunshine." He always asked if she would need change or anything else for the meeting.
Salin Low recalled that meetings never ran as smoothly as when Sean was present. She was pleased that she met Sean at ShopRite recently and was able to get a hug from him.
Greg DeManche remembers when Sean's sister, Holly, was the speaker at one of our meetings. She came to talk about Camp Wightman in Griswold. Greg had been the waterfront director at the camp.
Rollie Sterrett remembers when Sean first joined the Avon Old Farms Hotel staff. Sean served in the Air Force and was stationed in Germany. He was in the medical unit in Wiesbaden when injured service members arrived for treatment of war wounds. Rollie always enjoyed Sean's patriotism especially on Veterans' Day and Pearl Harbor Day. Sean had a vast amount of knowledge of Pearl Harbor and displayed lists of sailors killed during the raid on US warships in the harbor.
Gary Miller was proud to have a US Navy flag given to him by Sean after one our meetings honoring veterans. He also noted the Sean always let the current club President know when he would not be available to set up for the meetings, but that he had ensured that another hotel employee had been briefed.
Chris Heath said she would never have had breakfast at our meeting were it not for Sean always bring a special one for her. (Scribe note: He also did the same for Lisa Barall-Matt)
Scott Nardozzi recalled that after his car accident, Sean said his prayer group was praying for Scott during his recovery.
Rollie Sterrett remembered the day of Sean's Paul Harris Fellow presentation.
Ann Clark said that $75 was being sent to the Camp in Sean's memory.
Chris Lamadrid asked members to think of ways the club could honor Sean and then read the following quote:
“And I think of him as living in the hearts of those he touched,
for no one loved is ever lost and he was loved so much”
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CLUB FORUM
Sarah Leathers who was on vacation provided an extensive update on Healing Meals. She started with a testimonial from the sone of one of their clients who praised their efforts for families like his. Healing meals celebrated its 5th anniversary last week. During their first week in operation 5 families received meals. 7 youth volunteers joined on the first day and 6900 meals were delivered in the first year. Today youth volunteers are directly involved in all facets of the operation including sitting on the Board and chairing several committees. Volunteers write personal notecards to each client every week. The youth volunteers earn a Blue Apron for 50 hours of service and a Chef's Coat for 100 hours. Last year Healing Meals received a $50,000 grant from NBC/Comcast. Sarah will do a full presentation at a future meeting.
Josh Gillooly gave an update on TOTV. The lifting of some COVID-19 restrictions gives us hope of being able to meet our goals of entertaining a nearly normal audience. The number of spirit and food vendors is increasing. Colleen is working on various ticket options. For now we are trying to keep everything as electronic and contactless as possible. The TOTV website is open for ticket and sponsor sales. The list of vendors is being updated weekly.
Gary Roman reported the the Community Service Committee normally has an outreach budget of $27,000 but the budget was reduced to just under $19,000 for this year. About 50% of the money has been distributed this year. The committee seeks to fund area projects without becoming a routine part of the various groups' annual budgets. Gary asked that members help to identify potential grantees and welcomed additional members to join the committee.
Yvonne Gardner is the new Chair of the International Service Committee. She thanked Don Bonner for his great support during the transition. The committee will be reviewing a request from the Tanzania Nursing Project. They have already granted funds to Guiding Light Orphans, Kateri Medical Clinics, Guatemala Water Project, and Nigeria Education Project.
Jolly Lux is leaving for a return trip to Uganda in 3 days. She will review progress on the hydrologic survey and assess the current situation at the clinic after a year of COVID-19. She is taking drugs and other supplies for the next three months. She recently participated in a virtual conference as part of International Women's Week. She gave a seminar to a group of high school girls from Venezuela under her JAL Visionary Solutions banner. She described the work she has done in Uganda and all the lessons she has learned. She challenged the girls to find solutions and raise awareness.
