President Jeff Kruck casually rang the bell at 12:30 pm and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
John Plate gave the prayer of the day. John asked for a special blessing for Estella Rodriguez (our server) and her family during this difficult time.
We should also think of
. Thanks John!
Bob Murphy pitched in again today helping with greetings, meal choices and attendance.
Thanks, Bob.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests:
There were 14 members in attendance today.
Visiting Rotarians included Eric Rubin from the Saugus Club and Derek Scialdone from the Hamilton/Wenham Club.
Make Ups:
Carrie Dick made up at
on August 7
Jeff Kruck made up at
on August 17
Bob Luscinski made up at
on August 13
Gretchen Marks made up at
on August 3 and August 17
Harry Martin made up at
on August 13
Oscar Padjen made up at
on August 10
and at
on August 20
John Plate made up at
on August 13
Bill Shannon made up at
on August 13
Jan Sinclair made up at
on August 11
and at
on August 18
Joanne Travers made up at
on August 13
If you missed today's meeting, you have until September 2, 2009 to complete a makeup.
If your days are full, consider a make up at eClub One. Log on to www.rotaryeclubone.org/ and follow the instructions for a make up. You should spend 30 minutes on the site.
Click for
where our members have made up recently.
Don't forget, the meeting of August 12 was not held at Angelica's. Instead, President Jeff Kruck has requested all members to make up this meeting by attending a meeting at another Rotary Club. Members are also requested to bring some insight back to TBM for discussion.
In accordance with Article VII, Section 1a of the TBM Club Constitution, this make up should occur between July 29 and August 26. Be sure to get a "Make Up Card" from the secretary of the club where you make up.
Announcements
President Jeff Kruck reminded us that we still need a club secretary. He said something about not wanting to have to listen to Interim Secy. Harry's whining! Pres. Jeff is looking for someone to volunteer for this position. As of yet no volunteers.
Pres. Jeff asked for someone to head up the dictionary project this year. To Jeff's surprise, Bob Murphy is already on top of that. He has already started the process he just needs board approval on the cost.
"Bob you are the Man".
Pres. Jeff thanked Steve Mooney for doing a great job as program chair.
The club was approached by the Topsfield playground committee about rehabbing the playgrounds in town. If any members would like to personally get involved that would be great. Pres. Jeff will check with the board to see if there is any money in the budget to help out at all. The project is going to cost about $160k.
Pres. Jeff is looking for input from the board on a meeting date.
Raffle:
When it came time for the raffle Joe Long told Bob Murphy he should just stand up.. because we all know what usually happens...surprisingly Bob's # was not pulled this week. There is a first time for everything.
Carrie Dick's number was pulled first this week...
Then Steve Mooney
No winners or "No Banana's today" as our President Jeff said.
Fines and Happy Dollars:
Our SAA was MIA this week
Joe Long was kind enough to step in for SAA Peter MCAllister.
Bob Murphy had 2 happy dollars this week because he got the meals right!
Gregg Silvano had a happy dollar because he actually showed up last week, or was it a sad dollar since there was no meeting. That's the story he is sticking with anyway.
Lisa Foley is still working on organizing the road race. She encourages all members to reach out to past sponsors with whom they are familiar and ask it they may be willing to be a sponsor again.
Gretchen Marks informed us that Bill Shannon put new rotary decals on the Kiosk in Topsfield. Nice job Bill!
Bob Alert:
The Bob's were not unanimous today!
We wondered where Bob L went for a make up!
Getting To Know You:
Today we had an interesting lesson from Gretchen Marks on Mussels (the food not the body part). Gretchen got the mussels as her meal choice today, the rest of us at the table had never had them before.
Derek Scialdone asked if mussels and clams were the same thing.
Pres. Jeff said one was brown and one was white, but our mussels expert set us straight.
Gretchen was very pleased and impressed with her meals choice.
Angelica;s did an excellent job with the mussels, just an FYI for any one who might want to try them next time.
Visiting rotarian Eric Rubin told us about his business. He runs an elder care facility and is currently looking for a new location in Topsfield, Boxford or Ipswich. He has seen many interesting properties in his search. We hope to get Eric in a speaker some day to tell us all about his business.
Mid way through our meal Pres. Jeff tried to begin the meeting but Ira Singer quickly informed him that his table was in the middle of a conversation so we would have to wait...Ha
Program:
Today's program could have been titled as "Confession Is Good For The Soul"
Pres. Jeff asked every member about where they did a make up last week:
Harry Martin informed us that he made up in Ipswich where he is known as "Rob's Dad". He commented that the introduction of guests and visitors was done by Ipswich members who were at the table with them. This seemed to work well except that he didn't hear Bob Luscinski, who was also there, introduced. Maybe they think he is a member!
Harry also noted that the speaker they had was absolutely outstanding.
Finally, Harry pointed out that the name of the restaurant "Autumn Harvest", which was located in an elderly care facility, made him think of a 1973 futeristic movie titled Soylent Green.
Joanne Travers also made up at Ipswich. She was the speaker!
Be careful, Joanne, With all that praise, Harry is probably going to try to get you to do one of his jobs!
Joanne said that the SAA at Ipswich walked through the room with a bulletin board with clippings attached. He told the members to check the clippings on the way out and be prepared to pay appropriate fines. He diligently guarded the exit door when it was time to leave.
Bill Shannon made up at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina while on vacation. The Kitty Hawk club had 14 members total and almost as many visitors. Bill mentioned a program they do there where they prepay their meals for the year. This may be something we want to look into.
Gretchen Marks went to Danvers. She told us a little about how the SAA collected fines there. He quietly visited each table during the meal, extracting appropriate sums from each member. After the meal, he took the floor and read from a list the fines he collected, from whom and the reason for the fine. Danvers has a long tradition of raising significant funds through fines.
Gretchen feels we could do something similar and make it more entertaining. This would also give the SAA the opportunity to collect more money. Something to think about.
John Plate made up in North Andover. Actually, he got credit for the make up. He went to the location listed on the district web site, but no one else did. There was even a posted notice announcing that he was at the North Andover Rotary meeting place!
It seems, however, that the club has moved to a new meeting place. There's a lot of out of date information that should be cleaned up.
Carrie Dick made up at Hamilton/Wenham. It was a nice breakfast meeting. The meal was good and they were in and out in 40 minutes. They have no speaker during summer months.
When Pres. Jeff finished, Harry asked where he had made up.
Pres. Jeff said he had gone to Rotary eClub One.
Harry questioned this since he had not received a make up confirmation for Jeff from Rotary eClub One.
After a mild protest from Pres. Jeff, Harry suggested a show of hands as to whether this passed the 4 Way Test. Someone murmered "Maybe we should think 3 way test"
Suddenly, everyone else started claiming they had also made up at Rotary eClub One. Harry wouldn't buy it!
President Jeff actually did find a nice quote on the Rotary eClub One web site about Rotary:
"Rotary is an organization who's members save and change lives."
This really gets to the point!
Pres. Jeff is still encouraging everyone to go out and experience other clubs.
Membership Moment:
A strong membership is so important to the overall success of any organization. Growth and retention have to be in the spotlight constantly. As membership chair I have been charged with heading the largest committee in the Club...each and everyone of us. Collectively we can make TBM stronger, more involved in the communities we serve and fun.
When was the last time you asked a friend, a neighbor or business associate to come to a TBM meeting? I admit, it's been a while since I put out an invitation and I have a goal to find one person to join our ranks during this Rotary year.
I ask everyone to please share your thoughts and ideas as to how we can grow the ranks of TBM.
