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Today, President Michael was joined at Cafe Spiga by 11 members and 3 guests, including Will Dzvonar, Sr. and 2 prospective club members, Michael Christian and Brian Hoerger. This was a General Membership Meeting. Following an inspirational prayer read by our President, he welcomed us and had our newest prospective member, Brian, introduced by Eric. Michael C. will be eligible for induction as a new member by month's end- perhaps at our November 29th evening meeting. Michael B. then reminded us that the Executive Board will meet via Zoom this Friday, November 18th, at 8 AM. All members are invited to attend. Contact him for the Zoom info. There will be NO MEETING next Tuesday, November 22nd. Enjoy the holiday and your family! On Tuesday, November 29th, we will have an evening social gathering, 5:30-7 PM, at Sunrise Senior Living in Setauket- located just west of the Setauket Post Office (and sharing the same driveway) on Rte. 25A in Setauket. Michael Christian will be our host. (FYI: It has been agreed that we shall not meet between Christmas and New Years.) Michael B. reminded our members that gift-purchasing participants should have received the Annual Holiday Gift Purchase List that includes the names of the 99 children, clients of The Open Cupboard, who will be this year's recipients of the gifts, and the club members who agreed to be tasked with fulfilling their needs/wishes. Instructions about the purchasing and labeling of gifts has been included with this list. All members are invited to The Annual Gift Wrapping Party, which will take place on Tuesday, December 6th, after 2:30 PM, in the PJ High School cafeteria and will, as usual, involve Rotarians, family members, and Interact students. If all goes according to plan, the adults will celebrate the season at Billie's once the wrapped gifts have been delivered to The Open Cupboard. (Mike S. has offered his office as a drop-off point for purchased gifts if you are unable to be part of the wrapping party.) There will be no noon meeting on December 6th! Last week, President Michael received a request for information about placing a memorial bench with plaque inside the Chandler Estate Park. Pat shared the information, and, as a result, the lady who asked will be purchasing a bench that will eventually be installed along a path in the park. Will our club participate in the PJ Chamber of Commerce Annual Santa Parade on Sunday, November 27th,beginning at 3 PM at the LIRR station, walking down Main St. to East Main, and ending at the Village Center on East Broadway? Kindly let President Michael know ASAP if you wish to join a group representing our club in this parade. What a great way to both celebrate the season and advertise our club's service to the Greater Port Jeff community! Erika is working on gathering information re. the Rotary Youth Exchange. Michael B. and Mike S. shared info on how to publicize Rotary. Suggestions included the purchase of license plate signs, magnetic signs for our vehicles, Rotary shirts, vests, and other such items. While these things can be purchased through the Russell Hampton Co., Bob suggested a less expensive company that handles group purchases of clothing with the Rotary logo. Bob will be sending out shirt & vest information to see if members want to make orders. On behalf of the Terryville-Port Jeff Station Chamber of Commerce, Jenn invites you to bring your family and friends to The Train Car for the "Polar Express Experience" on Friday, November 18th, December 2nd,9th, and 16th from 6-8 PM, Saturday, November 19th, December 10th and 17th, from 12-2 PM, 3-5 PM, and 6-8 PM, or Sunday, December 4th and 11th, 3-5 PM and 6-8 PM. The cost is $20 p/p (all ages need a ticket) and includes the movie, popcorn, a cookie, hot cocoa, and a photo op with Santa. Want to be a host for the Spring visit of a group of Italian Rotarians- 5 couples and 2 singles? The visit of around 5 days duration will take place in early May. Host families will be expected to provide beds & breakfasts, but afterwards, the guests will be participating in a variety of activities that will keep them busy until after dinner. Bob, who will be a host, is looking for suggestions on what activities/sites the guests should visit in order to get the full Long Island Experience. Being hosted by Rotarians abroad is certainly special in that the guests often get to see and take part in activities and visits that most tourists- and even natives- never experience. If you are interested in hosting or in having a unique travel experience, check out the District website for Rotary District Friendship Exchange news. For more info, contact Bob and/or Exchange Chair Rose Quaranta. (The next Exchanges are being planned for Italy and South Africa). Mike S., Golf Outing Committee Chair, announced that our Annual Winter Golf Event now has an official date: Saturday, March 4th. Please save this date! He reminded us that the past 2 events brought in between $20,000-$40,000. Kim will be Publicity Chair. It's time to start asking friends, relatives, acquaintances, businesses, etc., for sponsorships for our event. Danfords Inn will be our Clubhouse- the starting and ending point of the day. Jenn and Rob are going to create a restaurant contest. 9 or 10 of the Village's restaurants will host the tournament's 9 holes. Each will also provide simple food samples to our guests, who will be given a number of tickets for free beverages. The host restaurants' food offerings will be reviewed by our guests. Erika, who chairs the Raffle Committee, requests that our club members plan to obtain gift baskets (from businesses or associates) or items for our Gift Basket Raffles. Baskets or items should add up to approximately $100. Options suggested for baskets include wine or cordial bottles, gift cards, handbags/wallets, candles, sports equipment, toys, candy, and gift certificates for restaurants, movies, hair salons, etc. There will be 3 kinds of raffles including the baskets and a 50/50. Erika will plan for groups of 2 members each to visit all Village businesses asking for in-kind donations. Business donors will fill out in-kind donation forms giving their information so that they can be properly thanked. Our members are invited to donate their unwanted Christmas gifts, including sports or other event tickets and art works. Again, everyone is expected to donate a basket OR a sponsorship OR form a foursome and have a business or individual sponsor our event. All donations must be dropped off at Erika's office by January 31st. The event brochure, which will soon be available, and our webpage will describe the different kinds of sponsorship. If you go to the Member Section of our Clubrunner page, you will be able to find the event documents needed for sponsors, etc. Erika requests that we advertise the event with other Rotary clubs and social groups. Ask for sponsorships NOW, while businesses are drawing up their budgets for the New Year. Finally (for now), we need volunteers for all aspects of our event, from hole watchers to folks to help set up and break down the event. Get your family and friends involved! Cindy picked the blue raffle ticket that won her the chance to pick a card from the deck and hope for the Ace of Spades to win the growing pot. Alas, she picked the 7 of Spades (So close!). So the pot continues to grow. Next meeting, will you win it? Ya gotta be in it to win it! Kim, our awesome Sergeant, based her questions on Thanksgiving Trivia. Do you know how many calories are consumed per person at a Thanksgiving Dinner? (Would you believe 4,500 + 220 grams of fat?) How many turkeys are prepared each year in the U.S.? ( 46 million) We were asked to name the 10 most popular Thanksgiving meal foods and then the 5 most disliked. Strangely enough, all of the latter were on the most popular list, too (greenbean casserole, cranberry sauce, sweet potato with marshmallows, pumpkin, and turkey!). When was the 1st Macy's Thanksgiving Parade? (1924) When did the 1st balloon appear in the parade? (1927) The 1st balloon? (Felix the cat). Etc., etc., etc. Happy $$$ were donated for a number of reasons, including: kudos for Jenn's daughter Daphne, who took a medal in her 1st gymnastics competition; the fact that Erika's sons came home for a visit, including the X-Country champ; the Giants won again; Cindy's back is feeling a bit better; and we were happy to see our prospective new members at this luncheon. *****************HAPPY THANKSGIVING!********************************* ******************************************************************************************************************************************* |
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