Tag Archives: Fundraiser

Shelton Day brought to us by The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club

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Shelton Day is a street festival consisting of approximately 150 booths featuring food, crafts, interactive activities and information.  There are also multiple stages with continuous entertainment. Bridge Street and Howe Ave are shut down as the events spans the downtown area on Howe Ave.

Shelton Day was founded and first organized by the Shelton Business District Association in the mid 1980’s as a small street fair. Their goal was to bring people into downtown Shelton and introduce them to the business community. It has now grown into a citywide festival and celebration, and is sponsored and run by the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club.  All proceeds received from Shelton Day are put back into the community, in the way of Scholarships for High School students in Derby and Shelton.  The funds are also used for other community projects such as the “Welcome to Shelton” signs.

This is one of the largest fundraisers the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club runs each year. Congratulations to the club on running such a successful event today!!

North Haven Rotary Club hosts 12th Annual Wine and Roses event

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The North Haven Rotary Club successfully ran their 12th Annual Wine & Roses event at the Forget Me Not Florist Shop in North Haven today. The event, one of two major fundraisers, drew about 400 attendees who judged and enjoyed the homemade wines, the international cuisine, the music and the fabulous fellowship. This year the event was run by President-elect Nick D’Ambrosia. Nick has done a great job in raising the bar for this event by expanding the diversity of food, by introducing sponsors into the mix and by expanding the geography.

This event is unique in that it is really a wine competition (that is who makes the best wine(s), not who can drink the most). Dozens of Winemakers compete for significant trophies and bragging rights in numerous categories. The wines are judged by some professional judges and all of the willing attendees. All attendees receive a Rose as a gift for attending (Wine & Roses).

The North Haven Rotary Club has 46 very active members and this event is pretty much ‘an all hands on deck’ for members and friends. Rotarians and volunteers sell tickets, round up (and make) silent auction items,  arrange for winemakers, setup tables, chairs & tents, coordinate food, pour wine and generally have a pretty great time doing so.

Many more photos are available on Facebook by click here

A special thank you to the Rotarians that came from the Orange, Woodbridge & New Haven Rotary Clubs.

Congratulations to Deep River Rotary on their Oktoberfest Celebration

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The Deep River Rotary Club knows how to throw a successful fun fundraiser.  Last night they ran their 2nd Annual Oktoberfest Celebration event in the Deep River Town Hall to a standing room only crowd.

Authentic German food and cake was generously served along with a seemingly endless stream of beer and wine. There were abundant raffles, a robust silent auction, a great deal of music and a German cake eating contest.

All attendees seemed super happy with the stellar job the Deep River Rotarians on this event. Besides being very well attended by the community; Rotarians came out from the Chester Rotary Club, the Essex Rotary Club (and technically the North Haven Rotary Club) to support this successful event.

President Lorianne Panzara-Griswold commented to me that the Deep River Rotary Club is a small but mighty Club and she is absolutely right as it is extremely difficult for small clubs to pull off events like this one but these Rotarians made it look as simple as child’s play.

New Canaan Lobsterfest draws the crowds in this weekend

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The New Canaan Rotary Club ran their annual Lobsterfest this weekend on Friday and Saturday. At $30 for a Lobster dinner it was clearly the best meal value to be had in New Canaan this weekend. Many Rotarians, friends and family members pulled together and worked extremely hard to help make this event a success.

This event is the largest fundraiser held by the New Canaan Rotary Club, with all proceeds going to many worthy causes, such as Staying Put in New Canaan; New Canaan Food Pantry; a project with the Rotary Club of Westport to reduce the scourge of Dengue Fever in Indonesian villages; and the worldwide project that has been the focus of Rotary Clubs all over the work, the eradication of polio which has been reduced to three small pockets in third-world countries. (source)

Wilton Rotary Carnival – Rotarians At Play

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The Wilton CT Rotary Club ran their annual Carnival at the Wilton High School this weekend. The 3-day long carnival is currently their biggest annual fundraiser so it was all hands on deck for this event and no clowning around (they need big yellow shoes first).

The weather mostly cooperated and crowds came in surges with everyone seeming to be having a great time on the rides, enjoying the carnival food and the games of chance. They even added a ‘Frog Pond’ game in PDG’s Rupi’s honor but he was no where to be found.

The Wilton Rotary Club is a highly motivated and very organized mid-sized club that is always a pleasure to visit.

Orange Rotary Lobsterfest is a well buttered machine

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Today was a perfect day for the 17th Annual Lobsterfest in Orange Connecticut as the Orange Rotary Club did a great job feeding the large crowds that turned out for their event. Attendees were treated to either twin lobsters or a delicious steak plus all of the fixings. The lines moved steadily without backup, the volunteers were friendly, smiling and helpful…pretty much a well buttered machine.

The event was well attended by the public as well as Rotarians from New Haven, Woodbridge, West Haven, East Hampton, Housatonic Valley, North Haven, Bridgeport, Devon and Milford. (Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone).

All proceeds from the event will go towards supporting Rotary’s initiatives both in the local community and abroad, including supporting the Orange Food Bank and the Annual Scholarship Program.