Full Disclosure: The North Haven Rotary club is my home club, which means that I couldn’t go with a stock speech at my own club as the members have heard it all before.

Instead the talk was highly customized with my institutional knowledge of the club and focused on the many accomplishments of the club including them having a clear leadership succession plan as well as recognizing the many Rotarians that are involved with Vocation, Community, International, Youth Service at the club level, the district level and the RI level.

The North Haven Rotary club has several major fundraisers each year the largest are; Wine & Roses and The Pancake Breakfast in additional to running food booths at the concerts on the green and other various events.   The club generously supports and contributes to many non-profits each year.

The North Haven Rotary club has grown it’s membership from about 20 in the late 1990’s to 46 members today through a deliberate and consistent multi-pronged retention and recruiting effort which involves fellowship, working at events, public relations, family with wine being the glue that holds it all together.  While Past President Ralph Cook has been an excellent Membership Chair over the past 5+ years in bringing quality members in the front door, the rest of the club has cemented the deal by ensuring that they stay.

President Debbie Volain is off to a great start and has a well defined roadmap of where the club will be going this year. She’s already proven that she can roll with the punches by having an unexpected Inbound Youth Exchange student dropped in her lap without notice and handling it like a true professional. Debbie is working closely with President-elect Nick D’Ambrosia as they plan for the Wine & Roses event on Sept 29th.

Visit the North Haven Rotary club on Tuesday mornings at the Breakfast Nook in North Haven and be sure to bring your happy bucks with a good story.