Avon Rotary Newsletter

Boy does this bring back nightmares Š oh, I mean memories. Misspelled words or omissions, I am not responsible for. The Men's Quartet from the United Methodist Church started us out for the evening after Tom Ippolito said the pledge with our patriotic song. The guests tonight included Mark Blakely, Nancy Sullivan and Becky Koomen. Mark Evans started out the celebrations with his accounting of his 17 day road trip to Denver for (you guessed it) The Democratic National Convention. He had his picture taken with Walter Mondale, and he briefly appeared on the Tonight Show, I believe he said. He also passed around his floor pass from the convention. Doug Reed was the next to celebrate his officially being on days and off of nights at his job. He promises to be in a more jovial mood at the meetings so hold him to it. Helen Zamboni celebrated her MS bike tour. They rode 108 miles on Saturday (boring ride according to Helen who likes the challenge of the hills, not all flat riding). They also rode 53 miles on Sunday. I'm tired just thinking about it. Helen's number was 5 because she was the 5th highest fund raiser last year. Good going Helen for a wonderful cause. Kirk passed around the sign up sheet for the appreciation party on September 27th. Hans celebrated BeckyÕs 5 months in Africa and her safe return home. Charles Feller celebrated his Paul Harris Award at the end of June, he was grateful and thankful for his peers who put in a donation for this award to honor him and his contributions. He also told us how he was told to go to church a particular Sunday and to dress up, I wonder what socks Charles wore. The rector called him up to the pulpit and they gave Charles some bling, The Saint George Award. Congratulations, Charles. Past President Bill celebrated being in New York with his son and grandchildren while helping with their bathroom. Hope everything came out OK. Tom Ippolito told us about his Zion House meeting and that next week they are having an open house meeting to get the public involved. Need more information, see Tom. Charlie Pease celebrated our guest from last week, and Eagle Scout Candidate. Margo Harper confessed her treks to Michigan and their 42-10 win. Becky Koomen reported on her trip to Africa, and how she is adjusting to life again here. Becky thanked us for our contributions to her going to Africa. She had incredible experiences, including several muggings and bouts of Malaria and hospital visits. She helped a lot with Roots and Shoots and spent time with Jane Goodall. She said she is glad to be home but misses Africa a lot. She is looking forward to coming back to our meeting in November to present us with a program. We also look forward to this. Tim Dickinson introduced us to our program for the evening. They are Tim, Bruce Burritt, Bruce Amey (all fellow Rotarians) and Mark Blakely who they are trying to bring into our group. They are the MenÕs Quartet from the Avon United Methodist Church. They started their group a little over a year ago. They sing together for the fun and glory to God. They also thanked Nancy Sullivan for her help this evening. They sang us several songs which got our toes tapping and they sang praise. It was wonderful and we all enjoyed and wanted more. Maybe next time. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talents. Tom Ippolito told the group that he was glad that he stayed for the program and didn't leave when he needed to. Past President Bill reported that the Board meeting was quiet this month. They voted to donate money to the Breast Fest and they talked about the scouts. The 50/50 winner was Ben Siragusa. Congratulations. See you next week.

Submitted by Marcia Cameron.