Meeting Minutes, January 4, 2017
 
Our meeting was called to order at around 6:10pm.  Attending Rotarians were: Wendell Avery, Bruce Posocco, Tony Scussel, Joe Introvigne, Fran Moriarty, Pat Slattery, Stephanie Irving , Kathy Geryk and Ilene Whitmarsh
 
Pledge
4 Way Test
Invocation
 
Budget Report – We are in good shape going into the 2nd half of 2016-2017.  Both the Road Race and Farm Day met their proposed budget for income.
Stephanie will be working on a more detailed report for next month…
 
Balloon Report –There were 14 Balloon bouquets delivered to Evergreen recipients this afternoon... Rotarians attending were Bill Burkey, Sue Cook, Kathy Geryk,Bruce Posocco, Joe Introvigne and Ilene Whitmarsh....
 
Vote on 2 new members – Sue Cook and Bob Palmatier were unanimously voted in as new members.   Congratulations to Sue and Bob!
 
Year to date update:
Rotarians have been busy this year.  We are accomplishing our  goals and are on track for the 2016-2017 Budget Year
 
In September we had Farm Day – We exceeded our monetary goal and came away with some insights and new ideas for next year.   One main idea is for a company to sponsor the  farm tour ride and make them free to the public. We think that will increase enthusiasm and attendance for the public and perhaps attract more vendors……We had help from service club and explorers – Kelly Brengi did a great job as Chair!
 
In November we had our Beaupre 5k Road Race and walk.   We came in over budget . We had lots of  help from the service club and Ron Houle was kind enough to cook for the participants….Bruce Possocco and Ilene Whitmarsh co-chaired with hopes that Jonathan Knight will take back Chairmanship next year….
 
In November Anna Murphy received a Paul Harris award at the foundation dinner at Chez Joseph in Agawam
 
In December we made and delivered 135 fruit baskets. We had lots of help from Rotarians the Boy Scouts and the high School Service club….
 
In December Tami Rossi , District Grant Chair,  delivered the 16 sets of Kitchen supplies for the homeless vets. There will be a grand opening on January 17th and I am hoping that Rotarians will attend. We will finish up the reporting  early this year and request our matching funds from Rotary international…….
 
We also had our Holiday Party with the Lions Club.  We have agreed to have a chair from each club next year to work together to make it a success
 
Our monthly responsibilities of the Soup Kitchen thanks to Fran Moriarty (and Kelly Brengi)  and the Evergreen Birthday balloons(thanks to Bill Burkey) have been ongoing with Rotarian support and seem to be running smoothly ……
 
Thanks to Barbara Bresnahan for organizing and posting photos on Staffordctrotary.org and The Rotary Club of Stafford Ct. Facebook Page….!!!!
 
Thanks to Peter Rossi for doing our signs and making up posters and postcards for our many events….
 
Our food basket at the Library is always getting donations that go to the Stafford Emergency food bank.
 
We have lost Scott Goodrich as a member due to business priorities,  but have gained Kathy Geryk and Barbara Bresnahan and now also Sue Cook and Bob Palmatier.
 
Thanks to all the Rotarians who helped to make the above projects and events a success! 
 
GOALS FOR THE LAST HALF OF 2016-2017
 
  1.  We need to hire an accountant. I contacted Ernie Brousseau today and asked that he help us get to non profit status and to file our tax returns. I am hoping to hear back from him soon
  2. A successful Golf Tournament – The Golf Tournament is our major fundraiser.  It was very successful last year and we would like to see it grow and bring in more $s to fund our programs….   We will start with save the Date postcards to be sent out by end of February.  We are already signed up for June 5th , 2017 at Cedar Knob in Somers Ct……Fran Moriarty was kind enough to write down the companies on all the tent signs and we will be contacting all of them to see if we can increase our sign sponsorship.
  3. We need to brainstorm for a project to apply for a matching grant in 2017-2018.  I was hoping that this year we could work with the Police Department and maybe do a drug prevention project  like DARE or sponsor an educational program at the middle school……
  4. Continuing support for the Rotary Track Meet at the High School-with more photos and promotion online
  5. More media – with Barbara Bresnahan joining, she has put up photos on our facebook page and on staffordctrotary.org .   I am hoping we can have more media presence in the next half of the year to expand community awareness of who we are and what we do…We may need to add $s in our budget to boost are facebook posts .
I am hopeful that we can increase member awareness of Staffordctrotary.org and our facebook page “Rotary Club of Stafford Ct”
  1. More members – Kathy Geryk  is our new membership chair – she will be reaching out to businesses and seeing if there is an interest in joining our club.
  2. Food Boxes – we have  4 food boxes that are not being used. Once Peter finishes the new boxes   I will  need to appoint someone to chair this project and place the boxes at businesses or schools or the town hall.  The Chair would be responsible for collecting the food on a monthly basis and delivering it to the emergency food pantry….
  3. An orientation for new members – I am hoping to put one together for our February or March program meeting – it benefits all to attend so that we have fresh information and can constantly try to attract new members by being informed and supportive about what we do.
  4. Continuing to support the Stafford Citizens scholarship foundation with a donation of $750
  5. Continuing to do bi-monthly or quarterly Student of the Month Awards – again, with more media recognition.
  6. Continuing to support Youth Services with sending two students to the Leadership meeting  and hosting events for incoming/outgoing exchange students.
  7. Continuing to be open for requests for donations to community organizations and causes.
New Business
We have received an invitation to the Dedication Ceremony for Woodland Springs
On Jan 17th at 9:15 am.  It would be nice to have a good representation from our club……
Upcoming Events
January 13 – soup kitchen at the Methodist Church across from CVS – cooking starts at 3:30-
January 17th – Woodland Springs Dedication  9:15 am
January 18th – Program Meeting – Speaker and or Program to be announced –
February 1st-business meeting and Birthday Balloons at Evergreen
February 8th- Pre Pets Meeting
 
Joe Introvigne made a motion to adjourn , it was seconded and meeting was closed.