Category Archives: Official DG Visits

Official Visit #30.5 Woodbridge Rotary Club

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The Woodbridge Rotary Club of Connecticut is the only club in our district with 2 Presidents (Carol Yingling and Buddy DeGennaro); actually co-presidents. To quote Carol: “Carol does the bossy parts and Buddy does the nice parts”. The co-presidency seems to be a perfect working arrangement for this club at this juncture as Carol and Buddy, who are the nicest people anyone would every want to meet, complement each other’s strengths perfectly.

Since the club has 2 Presidents they will require 2 Official Visits; hence 1/2 for this visit and a 1/2 for another day. Our district has 61 clubs and it was fortuitous that this 30.5th visit put Woodbridge directly in the center of all of the Official DG Visits. (Of course they are good sports with this fuzzy math).

The Club has been in the process of rebuilding over the past several years and got a tremendous boost last year by the boundless energy of Immediate Past President Anna Dickerson. Anna was able to add 6 new quality members to the club’s roster under her tenure which has totally changed the dynamics of the club.

The Woodbridge Rotary Club just launched their Facebook page and would really appreciate it if people would please visit it and LIKE IT to help get it off the ground. (Say hi while you are there).

The club is made up of friendly energetic Rotarians that truly like each other. They recently held a picnic fellowship which was a blast and they are still talking about it.

Their Assistant Governor is everyone’s favorite AG in Area 7; Ron Osach. Ron is gelling with this club, and all of his clubs, it is easy to see and feel the bond of friendship that he has with the club when he walks in.

Woodbridge Rotary meets on Fridays with a hybrid schedule that has them meeting for breakfast twice a month (1st & 3rd Friday – Country Corner Diner 756 Amity Road, Bethany) and for lunch twice a month (2nd & 4th Friday at Carmine’s Tuscan Grille 1500 Whalley Avenue, New Haven).

To recap: Woodbridge enjoys the power of 2;

  • 2 Presidents
  • 2 Meeting locations
  • 2 District Governor Visits

Perhaps 2 yellow ducks as well?

Two Rubber Ducks

Official Visit #30 – The Stoningtons Rotary Club

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The Stoningtons Rotary Club is a morning club which sits on the Southeastern edge of our Rotary District and serves both Stonington and North Stonington Connecticut. This is a very active club for a small club with membership of just under 15.

In terms of Rotary years (as opposed to dog years) this club is a relative newcomer as they were chartered in the 1990’s. Since that time the club has had an important impact on their surrounding community, the district and the world. They contribute about $20,000 per year to agencies throughout their area and beyond – including Internationally. The Rotary Club of the Stoningtons has been recognized by the District and  Rotary International as one of the highest givers of all the clubs of their size.  

The Stoningtons Rotary Club runs a very successful Annual Fishers Island Golf Tournament which raises funds that make it possible for them to give back so generously. A partial list of the organizations that the club supports includes:

Stoningtons Organizations Supported

The club membership also generously supports The Rotary Foundation (TRF) including PolioPlus.

President Feng Xue Sure has ambitious membership growth plans for his club this year with a goal of adding 12 new members to the club’s roster.

Looking to play hooky from work on a Friday and head to the Cape, Watch Hill or a casino? Then you might as well drop into The Stoningtons Rotary Club for breakfast while you are in the area.

Official Visit #29 – Guilford Rotary

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With 75+ members the Guilford Rotary Club is running like a well tuned V8 engine firing on all cylinders. Guilford Connecticut is a town of about 22,000 residents and a vibrant Rotary Club of about 75 members.

The club does a number of interesting fundraisers and their members generously support The Rotary Foundation and numerous humanitarian causes.

Each June they run one of of the biggest Lobster events in the district at the Guilford Fair Grounds which has a nice family feel to it that many members of community turn out for year after year. It is a pleasant relaxed atmosphere where families and friends can spend an evening enjoying the music, food and the company of others.

Guilford Rotary Club Memorial Educational Fund  generously gives out scholarships each year, as do many Rotary Clubs, but they have a unique twist to their program in that they also provide no-interest loans for deserving Guilford residents.

The club also understands the importance of public relations. They maintain a website, a Facebook page and they make a promotional video for all of their events. Here are several samples:

  • Link to Frosty 5k Video
  • Link to Lobster Bake Video
  • Link to Roses for Autism Video

President Theresa (Terri) Bryant runs a well organized meeting that runs from 12:15 – 1:30 which has plenty of opportunity for fun it as well as club business. The happy bucks component of the meeting is hysterical as it is obvious that members really enjoy the company of each other.

The club recently moved from their old time location to The Maritime Grille located at 2548 Boston Post Rd in Guilford and they meet on Wednesdays for lunch. It’s certainly worth stopping in and enjoying a very nice make-up with a great group of Rotarians.

Official Visit #27 – Essex Rotary Club – New Member Induction and a Yellow Car!!

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The Essex Rotary Club is a mid-sized club with about 50 members that meets at the Essex Yacht Club, which is a beautiful picturesque location that is  truly a slice of heaven.  The club is made up a of happy energetic members. Last night they inducted their newest member, Susan Mallen.

The Essex Club even has their own doggie. Recall a few years ago when then DG Rupi Rupwani featured the NEADS project; the Essex Rotary Club stepped up and sponsored their own service dog for their community with a generous donation of about $5,000.

The Club is very active in the community with other numerous projects that include:

  • Donating and distributing dictionaries to 3rd graders
  • Providing Scholarships
  • Supplying fuel assistance

They are also good citizens of the world in that they support the following international initiatives:

  • Shelterbox
  • Clean Water
  • Deschapelle Haiti Library Project

They run three annual fundraisers to support their good works:

  • Shad Bake (heading into it’s 56th year next June)
  • Wine Tasting event (coming up on Sept 20th)
  • Scrabble Tournament

The Essex Rotary Club members also are generous supporters of The Rotary Foundation and have been for a very long time.

The Club can proudly brag about their very clean and easy to use website as well as their active presence in Social Media.

The Essex Rotary Club is a nice place to make-up a meeting on a Tuesday evening as the location, fellowship, meals and energy are all top notch.

Official Visit #26 – New Haven Rotary Club

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I always feel right at home in the New Haven Rotary Club, I’ve been there many times and know a good number of the members well. For me, any of the ‘Haven’ Clubs (East, West, North and New) is like coming home. I grew up in West Haven and have spent considerable time in all of the ‘Havens’ throughout my lifetime.

The New Haven Club  was charted in 1917, making it one of the oldest clubs in the District. The Club can proudly boast of a long rich deep leadership history at all levels of Rotary International, The Zone and District Service. Many District Governors have come from the New Haven Club including the most recent and everybody’s favorite;Colin Gershon. District Secretary Doug Lisk  and Area 7 Assistant Governor Ron Osach also hail from the New Haven Rotary Club.

The Club has big goals in that President John Karavas and his board are trying their best to Reengage Rotarians and to grow the membership of the club in creative entrepreneurial ways. The club is also looking to add a new annual major fundraiser.

The Club is a very active community partner and participates in the following:

  • Partners with Junior Achievement to bring JA programs to New Haven Elementary Schools
  • Significant Partners in Amber Alert
  • Camp Cedarcrest Cleanup
  • St Patrick’s  Parade Day parking
  • Salvation Army Fill the Truck
  • Lighthouse Park Beach clean-up
  • Hosting Moldovan Court Administrators

They are also especially proud to be an EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) Club three years running.

The New Haven Rotary Club meets at the Graduate Club in New Haven for lunch on Tuesdays and they have a great buffet. Well worth the visit for the fellowship.

Official Visit # 25 – Fairfield Rotary – New Member Induction Today!!

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The Fairfield Rotary Club is a Monday luncheon club that is about 80 members strong. The club will be celebrating their 75th Anniversary in 2014; look forward to a big celebration party!!!

In the meantime, it is all noses to grindstone as the club prepares for their annual Golf Tournament on Sept 23rd at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, CT. They are looking for golfers, sponsors and raffle donors. For more information contact Golf tournament coordinator: Bill Llewellyn 203-330-0630.

Today was a special day for Fairfield Rotary as they inducted Chris Neubert as their newest member into the club. Chris was sponsored by Jim Hughes. Congratulations to both of them!!! Chris for coming into a vibrant club and to Jim for being a great Rotarian!!!

So what does the Fairfield Rotary Club do? Well…

Community Service Projects:

  •  Amber ID – 4th year conducting this program for the public – this year’s event is on October 26th
  •  Operation Hope – Local organization helping homeless transition to renters and eventually owners, they also conduct food drives, serve at their food pantry and the put together the concession stand at their annual tag sale
  • Rescue Mission – serve people in need in Bridgeport, on their traveling food truck
  •  Golden Hill Methodist Church – Serving food, provided by the church, to those in need in Bridgeport  for over 10 years
  • Salvation Army Bell Ringing for over 30 years in December
  • Town Cleanup projects

Youth Services:

  •  2 active Interact clubs at Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe High Schools
  •  Rotaract Club at Fairfield University
  •  Student Recognition Luncheon for over 40 years each May to recognize 40 top students from the 4 high schools in Fairfield, Fairfield Ludlowe, Fairfield Warde, Fairfield Prep and Notre Dame

Fundraising: – Fairfield Rotary Foundation Annual Events

  • Celebrity Luncheon – 10 years and counting.  Prominent speaker each year, raising an average of $20,000 for Scholarships and Grants.  Usually have 300 people Plus attend each year in March at Fairfield University.
  •  Annual Golf Tournament at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield raising funds for Scholarships and Grants

Foundation Giving:

  • Over $20,000 per year in Grants each December
  • 4 substantial scholarships to top students who are community service oriented, per year

…and sometimes they just manage to have fun.

Fairfield Rotary is also extremely active at all levels of Rotary (Club, District, Zone and International) as many of their members are models of Service above Self. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Fairfield Rotary is the home club of Mac Leask (The Godfather of Future Vision); Mac has applied his personal touch to many of the policies and procedures that TRF is using worldwide today. It’s got to be easy for Mac to get that kind of work done when his partner has such a beautiful perpetual smile.

The Fairfield Rotary Club meets for lunch on Monday’s at the Gaelic-American Club in Fairfield. It’s definitely worth doing a make-up here as you are certain to have an enjoyable time and get the best Rotary Chicken that is available at any Rotary club on a Monday in Fairfield Connecticut.