Category Archives: Official DG Visits

Official Visit # 36 – Cheshire Rotary Club inducts a new member

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The Cheshire Connecticut Rotary Club added to their membership ranks last night by inducting Yan Lui as a new member. The Club currently has about 22 members; President Ellen McKinley has made membership and meeting vibrancy top goals of the club this year.

Cheshire CT, formerly a home town of mine, is an interesting historic town that was founded in 1780, occupies about 33 sq/miles and has a population of just under 30,000.

The Club is currently focused on one of their larger fundraisers; Their annual rose sale which is being run by Howard Baldwin. Send Howard an email if you wish to order Roses. Their other big annual fundraiser is a Pancake Breakfast. They are investigating options for a 3rd fundraiser as well.

The Cheshire Rotarians participate in many community activities and are known for recognizing The Fireman of the Year, generously providing scholarships, recognizing Unsung Heros and donating back to school supplies.

Program Chair Mary Rossi is always on the lookout for top notch speakers to enhance the quality of the weekly meetings. Please email her any info on interesting club speakers.

 The Cheshire Rotary Club meets at the Waverly Inn @ 286 Maple Avenue, Cheshire, CT  and rotates their meeting weekly between lunch & dinner to accommodate the demanding schedules of their members. It is a very nice place, with a welcoming group of Rotarians.

Official Visit #35 – Derby-Shelton Rotary – Inducts 3 new members today

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I had the pleasure of inducting 3 fabulous new members into the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club today as being the big speaker at Ernie Luise’s home club wasn’t enough fun!!

Inducted into our Rotary family today was:

  • Porter McKinnon (Director of Sales & Marketing at Allegra) and sponsored by Mary Ellen Samatulski
  • Kelly Morrisey (Personal Fitness Manager & Author at The Edge Fitness Club) and sponsored by Linda Holmes
  • Shaye Roscoe (Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club) and sponsored by Bill Nimmons

The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club is a very active (and fun) mid-sized club that has been around since 1927.

Some of the things that this club does especially well:

  • Generously give out scholarships
  • Team up with the Valley United Way to support unique gardening projects
  • Recognize outstanding Students of the Month
  • Actively participate in Amber Alert
  • Sponsor a community based Interact Club
  • Host Inbound Youth Exchange Students
  • Run Shelton Day
  • Run Hoptoberfest event
  • Generously support The Rotary Foundation

The Derby-Shelton Club recently (last year) dedicated a new 3,000 sq/ft pavilion at the Shelton Riverwalk. This was a massive multi-year six figure+ project by the club which yielded a beautiful community pavilion.

This is a club with an interesting mix of membership that is clearly on the move under President Bill Miller’s expert leadership. They get big things done and have big plans.

The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club meets on Thursdays for lunch at the Brownson Country Club in Shelton. It’s a nice place to make-up with a great group of Rotarians that also features fabulous views of the golf course.

Official Visit #34 – East Hampton Rotary inducts 2 new members

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The East Hampton Rotary Club grew their ranks to 62 members last night by inducting 2 new excellent members; Mark Cibula (Master Plumber) and and Kevin Reed (State Police Explosives Expert), both were sponsored by President Kevin Kuhr.

The East Hampton Rotary Club is involved in many activities including the Old Home Days in East Hampton an annual BMW raffle, selling “Glorious Burgers” and marching in the parade.  They also run an annual golf tournament each October and in December they throw a “Breakfast with Santa” event which is something not to be missed.  Additionally the Club serves pancakes to over 1,000 people and collects food donations for local food banks.

The Club also provides scholarships for graduating seniors, financially supports the local food and fuel banks in East Hampton and Marlborough and promotes and encourages reading programs for young children. They also actively seek ways to help other civic organization in their community.

The East Hampton Rotary Club is a good global citizen as they support eradication of  polio, help to provide clean drinking water and hospital facilities to those without,and various other projects to increase the quality of life for those that are struggling around the world.

Barbara Moore, Immediate Past President of the Club, has been the Champion Supporter in the Oklahoma Relief Effort for our District. Last Friday; Barbara, The East Hampton Rotary Club, The Colchester Rotary Club and another 1/2 dozen community based organizations held a dinner to support Oklahoma Relief and raised $4,000 towards the fund.

The East Hampton Rotary Club is also the home club to everyone’s favorite PDG and Rotary Coordinator at Rotary International; Alan Hurst.  Assistant Governor Jack Solomon also calls the East Hampton Rotary Club home.

With Jack and Alan as members and Red’s expert Club stewardship it should be not be a surprise that this is a Vibrant Rotary Club. Meetings are informative, fun and are held at  Angelico’s Lake House that boast some of the best water views available, some of the members even come to the meeting by boat. The East Hampton Rotary Club meets on Wednesday evenings and it is definitely worth doing a make-up there.

Official Visit #33 – Danbury Rotary Club Inducts 2 new members

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Daryle Dennis and Janice Perna-Nicholasare inducted into the Club

Daryle Dennis (center right) and Janice Perna-Nicholas (center left) are inducted into the Club with their sponsors standing by their sides

Daryle Dennis (Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at  Western Connecticut State University) and Janice Perna-Nicholas (manager of  the Ethan Allen Hotel) were inducted as the newest members of Rotary today during the official visit.

The Danbury Rotary Club has been in existence since 1926 and currently (as of 2 hours ago) has 33 members.

The club is famously recognized for it’s generous  scholarships to students that attend Western Connecticut State University or Henry Abbott Technical High School.  Scholarships are given from the club’s foundation which earns money from the club’s annual car raffle.

The Danbury Rotary Club is also one the district leaders in the Amber Alert ID program. They tirelessly run many sessions and participate in the BIG E ID drive each year.

President Mark and his board have 3 goals for the club this year:

  1. Increase membership
  2. Launch a new major fundraiser
  3. Increase attendance at the weekly meetings

The Danbury Rotary Club is home to Paula Greenberg and Ralph Welsh who both serve on the District Public Relations committee. Besides being the Beacon Editor Ralph is also the Editor of The Spoke, the club’s weekly newsletter.

The Danbury Rotary Club meets at the Ethan Allen Inn @ 21 Lake Avenue Extension, Danbury, CT on Wednesday’s for lunch. It is a beautiful facility with a great meal along with warm and inviting Rotarians. Be sure to wear your Rotary pin to the meeting or be prepared to pay a fine.

Official Visit #32 – Meriden Rotary Club – 5 Paul Harris Fellows awarded

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Cliff Carlson is the President of the Meriden Rotary Club this year; this is his second time leading this very active the club in the past 3 years. The club currently has 38 members and is looking to grow by Net 5 this year.

Throughout the past several years the Meriden Rotary Club has been able to support many worthwhile causes in their community and throughout world including:

  • Meriden Fire Department
  • Brian Davis Ash Memorial Fund
  • NAACP Awards
  • ARC of Meriden/Wallingford
  • EMS Explorer Post, First Aid Camporee
  • Young Business Leaders Strike Out Hunger
  • Meriden YMCA- Thanksgiving Day Dinner
  • My City Kitchen- Thanksgiving Day Dinner
  • Beat the Street Community Center
  • United Way of Meriden/Wallingford
  • Spirit of Giving
  • Salvation Army Bell Ringing
  • Women’s and Families Center
  • Martin Luther King Breakfast
  • Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce Leadership Summit
  • Survive the Drive
  • Jack Barry Little League
  • Literacy Volunteers Scrabble Tournament
  • Liberty Tree Memorial at Dunn Field
  • South Meriden Baseball League
  • Soap Box Derby
  • Project Graduation
  • Meriden Children’s Zone
  • Polio Plus
  • La Romana Dominican Republic Project
  • Haitian Health Foundation
  • Water Filter Project
  • Group Study Exchange
  • Amber Alert

The Meriden Rotary Club is able to support these causes through their fundraising initiatives such as:

and more….

Today the Meriden Rotary Club honored 5 of it’s members by awarding them Paul Harris Recognitions, the recipients were:

Meriden Rotary is the home club of Assistant Governor Tari Marshall-Day

The Meriden Rotary Club recently changed their meeting location to the Four Points by Sheraton 275 Research Parkway, Meriden, CT. They meet at Noon on Tuesdays.

Official Visit #31 – Beacon Falls Rotary Club

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The Beacon Falls Rotary Club is a small club with about a dozen members that was chartered in 2010.  Beacon Falls is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States that spans 9.9 sq miles with a population of 6,049 as recorded in the 2010 census.

For a small club the Beacon Falls Rotary Club certainly does many things including:

  • Annual Butterfly Release (see video from 2012)
  • Host Wine Tasting Membership Drives
  • Host a food booth at Beacon Falls Family Day
  • Collect for the Beacon Falls Food bank (Turkey’s @ Thanksgiving)
  • Participate in Youth Exchange
  • Sponsor an Interact Club
  • Support Pack 2010 Campership Fund
  • Provide Scholarships to the High School

Their big fundraiser is the Haunted Hayride coming up in late October (see photo above).

President Joe Dowdell has made growing club membership the top priority this year.

The Club is also the home club to one of our newest D7980 Assistant Governors; Dave Dlugos.

The Beacon Falls Rotary Club meets on Monday’s at 6 PM @ Santo’s Restaurant 152 Church Street, Naugatuck, CT   06770.