1 New Milford Rotary Club Chartered January 12, 1960 May 2015- Issue 175 (That s Rotarian Spelled Backwards) Rotary International Theme 2014-2015 Light Up Rotary District 7890 Charles J.Junz, Publisher Janet Junz, Editor junzter@aol.com cjjunz@charter.net Memorial Day May 25 Never Forget! Duck Race The date is Monday, May 25, for our 21st Annual River Duck Race. This is one of our largest fund raisers, so we need every member s support, by attendance and participation, and for placing as many adoptions as possible! Reserve the date on your calendar! Each member has received a supply of Adoption Certificates, so go to work arranging the adoptions! We re counting on each member to place at least 20 ducks! We have great prizes, and the weather will be great! May 10 We will be meeting at the MAXX May 19 Rotary Foundation Bus Persons May 5 Mark/ Katherine May 12 Dennis May 26 TBA Shredding Day Saturday May 2 Once again, we had our Annual Document Shredding Day, Saturday May 2 at Lore s Plaza. Thanks to Art, it was a huge success, and we raised a near record $2,700! See page 5. Armed Forces Day May 16 Upcoming Meetings & Events May 5 U.S. Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty/ Food Donation Day May 12 Dave Elmore Recently returned from a trip to Cuba, and will share highlights and slides. May 13 (Wednesday)- District Assembly at Holiday Inn in Enfield. May 19 Team Waramaug vs. Team Rotary Academic Smackdown! May 25 (Monday)- 21st Annual River Duck Race. May 26 Greg Van Antwerp Confessions of an Urban Archeologist. August 19 (Wednesday)- 31st Annual golf outing The Jim Faure Memorial At Fairview Farm Golf Club. May Birthdays May 4 Arthur Klein May 19 Rob Belden May 29 Ivan Shiffman May Anniversaries May 8 Peter and Pauline Lang May 15 Tom Larkin May 20 Peter and Elaine Daubner May 25 Ralph and Priscilla Williams May 27 Andrea and Jim Wilson Raffle Prizes Thanks to Cheyrisse, for donating the ticket package to The Historian, Peter Lang, for the many prizes for our Community Service Day, and Bill Kocher for the camera. We can always use some more items for the raffle. If you have something to donate, please let President Ann or Charlie know.
2 Programs PAGE 2 April 14, Janice Wohlschlager, and Leslie Schlemmer, volunteers with the Northeast Organ Bank and Donate Life, CT., spoke to us about tissue donation and transplantation. Leslie is an organ donation recipient, and is well known to us, as a NM Library worker. Janice s son, Joseph (Joey), unfortunately, became an organ donor at the young age of 11. He and his mother had discussed organ donation, and he was very positive about the program, never knowing that he would become a donor (see page 3). For more info, go to: www.ctorganandtissuedonation.org April 28, William Sadler was our guest speaker. He is a renowned star of stage, screen, and television. His best known appearances are in The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, and Die Hard 2. recently he was on the television show, Madam Secretary. He spoke to us, on behalf of Healing the Children, where he is a member of the team. He is part of the movie, The Historian, a film movie screening event to support Healing the Children, at the Ridgefield Playhouse, May 16. Cheyrisse and Healing the Children Board member, Britt Nisco, join in welcoming and introducing Bill. April 7, Tracy Brady joined us and gave a very interesting program of You be the Judge. She related several court cases and challenged us to predict the outcomes. The opinions and actual outcomes were very surprising! To wear the Rotary pin is an honor. What does the Rotary pin convey to the wearer? You can rely on me. I am dependable. I am reliable. I give more than I take. I am available. Local Rotary Clubs for make-up meetings Litchfield-Morris-Thursday 12:00 Noon at the Forman School / Housatonic Valley Greater Danbury Rotary Club Monday 6:15 PM- John s Pizza Shop Rite Plaza/ Danbury Wednesday 12:15 P.M. at the Ethan Allen Inn ewtown Monday 6:15 P.M. at The Inn in Newtown Washington Tuesday 12:15 P.M. at First Congregational Church
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4 April Student of the Month Music Teacher Robert Keck joins Rob in welcoming and congratulating Amber Levine, our April Student of the Month from the Music Department. Amber was a member of the Spanish Honor Society, is a present member of the Honor Society, President of the NMHS Dramatics, and steering committee for N.A.M.E.S. She set up the school carnival, set up and performed in the Haunted House at Sarah Noble School, and community service for Civics. She will attend WCSU Theatre Program, and plans a career as an actress or Secondary Ed. Teacher. The Object of Rotary Membership Our membership has dropped somewhat, and we are always looking for good, new members. Less than 10% of our members ever bring in a new member, for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is that they just don t think of it. If you are proud to be a Rotarian, and especially a member of our club, then it is your duty to keep our club vibrant and productive. Don t ask a prospect to come and join just invite them to come and have lunch. If they like what they see and hear (and we are sure that they will), then is the time to talk membership. There are a lot of businesses and professions that are not, and should be a part of our club, but we are simply not asking them to come and visit us, to see what we do. Rotary Foundation PAGE 4 We only have a few weeks left!! If you are not sure if you have sent your $50, check your lunch badge to see if there is a sticker on it. If you have not, please consider sending in your $50, or give it to the treasurer, now. In order to rid the world of Polio, and help in the many humanitarian accomplishments, it is very important that we meet our challenge- Every Member Every Year, We are hoping every member will join us this year, in meeting our challenge. Rotary Park The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise, and, in particular, to encourage and foster: First: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity to serve; Second: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian s occupation as an opportunity to serve society; Third: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian s personal, business, and community life; Fourth: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service. Our Jack Straub Memorial Park continues to be a greeting point into our town. The daffodils and tulips bloomed, Peter has planted marigolds, and the various trees and bushes are doing well. Thanks to Sharon, and Peter Lang for their continued vigilance. The committee is working on plans for more colors, later in the season. When was the last time you visited our park?
5 PAGE 5 Mighty Klein Congratulations! President Ann presents an award to Arthur, on behalf of District 7890. The Woodruff Key Award is presented by the District, to a club member who does outstanding work for the club, quietly. At right, our own (and Arthur and Hillary s daughter), Carly KleinStern was honored by NM Public Library, as Volunteer of the Year. Her volunteer spirit is well known to our club, as she has helped us many times, she has matured into the fine young lady that she has become. 2015-2016 Officers Shredding Day Day Saturday May 2 President Ivan Shiffman President Elect Ralph Williams Vice President Darren Piper Secretary Tom Larkin Treasurer Bonnie Blackman Sgt. at Arms Ann Fisher Board Cheyrisse Boone Brad Kamp Tom Mott Katherine Webster O keefe 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 GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? 4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? Once again, we had great weather, good volunteers, plenty of customers, and the greatly appreciated donation of truck and equipment, by our friends at EcoShred.
6 Community Service PAGE 6 We were so pleased to honor Ray Crawford and Diane Dubreil, April 21, as our 2015 Community Service Recipients. We invited all previous recipients, from 1995, to the present. Some are no longer with us, some are out of town, and a few had prior commitments, but 30 of the 51 recipients were with us! What a great day, and what a huge number of community hours of dedicated service! See next pages for more pictures of the presentations, and guests. Thanks to Lennie for the donation of flowers, and Bridget Holland Stone for the pictures. We have selected Our 2015 Community Service Recipients. Diane Dubreil is an artist who has given freely of her time to The Commission of the Arts, since 1989, has volunteered and served as a Board member of the Historical Society for over 15 years. She nurtured and expanded the Edwin Kinkade Annual August concert on the Green, as well as the Annual Carol Sing on the bandstand, and many more volunteer efforts. Ray Crawford had a much decorated career in the military, with the Green Berets and Special Forces, during the Vietnam War. He volunteers as a scuba diver with the Candlewood Lake Authority, and has been honored by the NM Police Department for his services as a diver, is involved with the McCarthy Observatory, has ridden his Harley to support toy collection efforts, volunteers for Friends of Harrybrooke Park, and many other numerous humanitarian works. He created and donated a sculpture, A Rough Road to Freedom, which is in front of the Historical Society. He graciously donated his time to engineer and coordinate the plaque, for our club, at the new Jack Straub Park, on East Street. Our annual honorees have been : 1995 Guy Samuelson, Mark Blanchette, Donald Woods Jr., and James Caldwell 1996 William Zehrung ll, Helen Marx 1997 George C. Fitch 1998 Sherrie McAuliffe, Biddie and John Roger, and Arthur Palmer 1999 Helen D. Strid, Merrill Golden 2000 David E. Bierce Jr., Roberta Buddle 2001 Glenn Miller, Libby Porter 2002 Donna Hespe, Norbert Lillis, and Lyn Miller 2003 W. Joseph Hine, Patricia and Laurence Tripp 2004 Jim Williams, Bonnie and Michael Shepherd 2005 Patty and Charles Bates, Donald and Nan Tutson 2006 Helen Lennstrom and Roland Miller 2007 Susan and Tom Fisher, and Monty Robson 2008 Joann Lillis and Herman Izzard 2009 Peter Orenski and Steve Kolitz 2010 Mary Daniels and Lillian Slater 2011 Paul Vorhees 2012 Mary Hibbard Roberts and Christian (Chris) Prause 2013 Suzanne O Neil Moros and Charles Chapin 2014 Pauline Lang and Susan Metcalf 2015 Diane Dubreil and Ray Crawford
7 PAGE 7 Community Service President Ann presented plaques, on behalf of our club, Mayor Murphy presented citations on behalf of the town, and State Representative Cecilia Buck Taylor, presented proclamations on behalf of the state. Our other guests enjoyed a great meal provided by our great staff at the MAXX!