Avon Rotary Newsletter

Issue #9 2008-08-31

President's Message

Laurie Vonglis opened our meeting of August 26 with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and Bert Croop offered a blessing. There were lots of celebrations by Avon Rotarians that night.

Sue O'Hearn celebrated her grandson's first birthday. Doctor Hayes celebrated some time spent in the Adirondacks, and two grandchildren going off to college. Kelly Cole celebrated a group dinner at Jerry Dougherty's home. Hans Koomen celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary, and brought his wife Trisha to prove it.

Fines proved lucrative for the club. Ted Coyne had to admit to a new truck purchase and Joe Callahan, also. Steve Stephenson was a "no show" for an appointment to interview Chamber of Commerce honoree Frank Antinore, and Kelly Cole had to conduct the interview solo. That put quite a strain on Kelly's capabilities, and Steve paid for his default.

We enjoyed an excellent presentation by returning exchange student Andrew Lloyd. Andrew's year was in Wiener Neustadt in Austria. His photos and narrative showed his presentational skills, and we thank Andrew. Family present included dad Bill, mom Meg, and sister Maggie as club guests. Andrew heads to Skidmore College this week.

Announcements:

Karl Sawicki announced his company's sponsorship once again of the Muscular Dystrophy fundraiser on September 18 at Mill Creek, Mumford.
Kelly Cole encourages all Avon Rotarians to attend the Chamber of Commerce gathering on Thursday, September 4, at Charlton Bed and Breakfast, to honor long-time business owner Frank Antinore, a.k.a. Frankie the Barber. Hours for the get-together are 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. Rotarian Sue O'Hearn will be preparing and serving the snacks.
Tom Vonglis burned ten copies of the DVD which Margo Harper had prepared, showcasing our July 15 lakeside picnic at Jerry and Kim Dougherty's house. Copies are still available, if you did not get one that night.
Margo Harper acknowledged our gratitude for her substantial contribution to a new bathroom building at Camp Sam Wood. The new building was long needed and Margo's contribution helped make it a reality. Thanks again, Margo!!!
Jerry Dougherty announced the "Breast Cancer 3-Day" the first weekend in October, in which two of the Dougherty "children" will be participating. The event will be in Washington, D.C. and the Board of Directors will consider a contribution to this charity. A fundraiser at the Beachcomber September 20 will feature a buffet, bands, and a cruise raffle. Contact Jerry for more details.
Laurie Vonglis, Party Planner Extraordinaire, reminds everyone of the Corn Fest Appreciation Party, Saturday, September 27, to be held at the Doughertys' home. Be sure you have given Laurie the names of EVERYONE who should be thanked for contributing to the success of our Corn Fest this year. Flyers are available on-line or from Laurie.

Big winner of the 50/50 raffle was Bob House. Fortunately, Bob knows how to share his winnings.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, September 2 -- HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE LABOR DAY, ALL!!! and the next meeting of the Board of Directors will be Monday, September 8, 7:00 p.m. at Hurricane Technologies' conference room.

That's all the news for this week, except to remind all Avon Rotarians:

District 7120 Golf Tournament September 12, at Island Oaks, Lima. Since our club is being asked to provide some door prizes, we may as well have some golfers there in person. Contact District Secretary Bill Redden by September 5.
Volunteer is STILL needed to attend the District 7120 Literacy Seminar on September 18 or September 25. Our club should be represented at this seminar presentation. Contact President Barbara for details and to volunteer.

Remember, ROTARY "MAKES DREAMS REAL"!

President Barbara Herman

Looking back on...

Tue 8/26	Regular Meeting
Program:	Returning Exchange Student Andrew Lloyd
Attendance:	Absentees were not reported. President Barbara encourages all who missed a meeting to call another AWOL and do a make-up together. For nearby make-up options, check the back of our paper directory or the on-line directory of District club meeting times and places. If you do a make-up, please tell Secretary Diana about it right away, so the correct numbers are reported to the District.

Looking forward to...

The Avon Rotary calendar is also available at http://www.avonrotary.org/calendar.php.

Koomen's Korner

There has been some discussion about the proper use of the Avon Rotary mailing list, and hopefully all Rotarians now know that they might be looking at some stiff fines if they abuse their privilege by sending anything that isn't directly related to Rotary, no matter how funny or important or exciting they think it might be.

What some members may not realize is that up until today, there were a number of people on the mailing list who aren't Club members but had an interest in our Club's affairs. These might be former members, or Rotarians outside our Club (e.g., District officers), or incoming and outgoing exchange students, or friends and relatives of Club members, etc. To avoid potential public confusion or embarrassment, the Board of Directors has approved the creation of a second group, Avon Rotary Friends, intended for anyone who is not a Club member but has an interest in keeping informed about our Club.

The old group, avon-rotary@googlegroups.com, will continue to work as it has in the past -- i.e., any group member can post anything any time (but, be fine or be fined!). However, group membership is restricted to honest-to-goodness, dues-paying, card-carrying Club members.

The new group, avon-rotary-friends@googlegroups.com, is "our public face". Anyone can belong to this group, but only the president and the president-elect can send messages to this group. This public group will receive Club newsletters and other announcements of Club events and activities that are deemed to be of interest to the public.

If you know of anyone whom you think might be interested in staying informed about our Club, please feel free to invite them to sign up: all they need to do is to send an email message to avon-rotary-friends+subscribe@googlegroups.com. All they need to provide in the email message is their name and the nature of their connection to the Club.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Thoughts for the week

This week's thoughts are courtesy of Charlie Pease.

The Washington Post published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are:

Coffee
n. The person upon whom one coughs.

Flabbergasted
adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

Abdicate
v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

Esplanade
v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

Willy-nilly
adj. Impotent.

Negligent
adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

Lymph
v. To walk with a lisp.

Gargoyle
n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

Flatulence
n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

Balderdash
n. A rapidly receding hairline.

Rectitude
n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

Pokemon
n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

Oyster
n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with yiddishisms.

Frisbeetarianism
n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

-- (Origin could not be verified)

Please submit your favorite sayings, noteworthy events, jokes, and I'll gladly include it here (as long as it is politically / socially / morally / culturally / philosophically / ... correct, of course. :-)

The Avon Rotary Newsletter, instigated by Pres. Jim Tompsett, continues to be published weekly
during Pres. Barb Herman's reign. Day of issue hovers around the end of the week.
If you have any items you'd like to include in the newsletter, please send Hans a note by Friday!