Twenty-nine Rotarians were at the meeting today. That is the best we have had in a while, and I attribute the increase in attendance on my gentle nudge in the COGs last week.  We had people there that we haven’t seen in months or even years.  Wasn’t it great to see Mike Warshaw at a meeting.  Some of the new members didn’t know who Mike was, but Jim introduced him with a fine.  Seriously, it was great to see Don back also.

 

Some new guy was running the meeting in Ken’s absence.  I was told that he is the Prez Jr., but I find that hard to believe.  If he is, PETs better be really good this year.  You remember how long it took to train Bill Donnelly, well this one may take longer.

 

We met down stairs at the Club and they didn’t have a piano.  Teddie was there so we invited her to join us for lunch.  She is always welcome, and I understand that her husband is doing better.  Speaking of the walking wounded, however, Warren fell while in NYC and broke his leg.  He is back and rehabbing in Shrewsbury.  Warren, come back soon, we all miss you, but I, for one, miss you the most.  Haven’t done the COGs in years and it shows.  Chuck Panella is in the hospital, and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

 

A couple of announcements you may want to note: 9-22 is the Satellite Club’s Meet and Greet at the Bella Vista.  10-17 is the Golf Outing, and Nov 12^th is the Rotary UN Day. Nov 11^th is the District’s Foundation Giving Dinner when they award the District Grants.  Oh, and by the way, Oct 8^th is the RLI program in Vineland. 

 

Again, Addie needs gifts for the baskets, and Chuck had a list to sign up for getting $100 gift certificates at restaurants.  It is a good idea.  Let’s get out there Guys and Girls, and get those certificates.  The golf outing is FIVE, count them, FIVE weeks away.

 

Jim was there and stepped up to fine everybody.  If you didn’t get fined, you were probably in the rest room.  The only legitimate ones were for lateness, Mike T. and Harry.  Doesn’t anybody else remember Ken saying that there were not going to be fines this year?  So much for that.

 

Darren, that’s his name, I knew I would remember, read off the birthdays and anniversaries.  He read them so fast I couldn’t catch any of them, so I just ignored the whole thing.

 

HAPPY $ were given by Mike D. for the article on the Foundation in the local magazine.  Addie gave one, but I missed for what, and Harriet gave $5 for spending the weekend with her great grand nephews.  Mike W. gave for being there, and Chuck gave for having US Open tickets last week.  Dan Skaggs gave a buck for his brother being away until Tuesday.  When someone woke up Lou, he gave $3 for the three meetings he missed, and Denise gave for the Can-a-thon which is going to be Nov 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th. 

 

The speaker for the meeting was Pat Bohse from SCAN.  Scan stands for Senior Citizens Activities Network   Now, why anyone thought that a program about senior citizens would be appropriate at our club is beyond me.  Anyway, it turns out that Scan is located in the Monmouth Mall, and it provides activities and learning opportunities `for seniors. They have art classes, language classes, health and wellness classes, and technology classes among many others.  In all, they give some forty classes three times a year.  Primarily, the program is sponsored by a number of local business such as N J Natural Gas, United Health Care, Investors Bank, and others. It was interesting to learn that these types of programs are available, and I think that some of you more seasoned Rotarians should consider taking advantage of them.

 

The 50-50 was won by Chris Ryan and once again, there was no secret word in the COGS.  TTFN.

 

 

OK people, we have reached a new low.  Not only do you have me back writing the Cogs for a few weeks, but only 10 Rotarians showed up for the meeting.  In all my years in Rotary, I can’t remember a more poorly attended meeting. 

Some good and bad news.  Robin is home for the hospital after her back operation and is doing well, but we missed Teddie because her husband went into the hospital.  Hope he is doing well, Teddie.

 

The meeting started off with the singing of “America” and Bill S. gave thanks for our meal.  We 4-wayed and then we were off to a wonderful lunch of steak, mashed potatoes and green beans.  The highlight of the meal was the carrot cake.  Barbara may lust for chocolate, but my weakness is the carrot cake.

 

The happy $ consisted of Bill D giving $5 for my driving to the RLI annual meeting in Trumbolt CT. with Bill, Chuck and Harriet.  He also went on to describe how my driving affected Harriet who was in the front seat.  Anyway, I gave a buck because next trip he is sitting up front.  Ken gave $20 sad dollars because his parent’s dog passed away and Jim gave a dollar because he has lost between 39 and 40 pounds.  Addie said he looked great, but nobody else wanted to go that far.  Better, Good maybe, but not great.

 

I know I am going to miss some of the announcements but these are the ones I remember. October 8^th is the RLI session in Vineland NJ, and they are offering the three levels and the graduate program.  I think Bill, Chuck, Harriet and I will be some of the facilitators but that shouldn’t dissuade any of you for signing up.  Remember, the club pays for the training.  October 17^th is our Golf Tournament at Deal Country Club.  I believe that November 11^th is our District’s Foundation dinner and November 12^th is Rotary UN day.  I have never been to the UN event, but I understand that it is great and sells out fast.

 

Addie reminded everyone (the 10 of us) that she needs gifts for the silent auction at the golf tournament.  She puts in a tremendous amount of work on this event and it behooves each of us to get her our restaurant certificates and other gifts so she can plan and wrap these in the beautiful baskets for the auction.  Apparently re-gifting is encouraged. 

 

Our own Bill D spoke to the (small) group of us about the RI Convention taking place June 10^th to 14^th, 2017 in Atlanta Georgia.  The reason he spoke to us is because he couldn’t get the sound working on his video.  This convention marks the 100^th anniversary of the founding of The Rotary Foundation.  It is being billed as the largest Rotary convention in history, and they expect some 48,000 Rotarians from around the world to attend. Nine or ten of us from the club are planning on attending, and I would encourage any of you that want a great Rotary experience to consider going.  Do consider quickly, however, because the hotel space is filling up fast.

 

 Many of you don’t know that I was born in Atlanta and spent the first 8 years of my life there.  As an added attraction, I will be conducting a tour of some of the places I lived and where I went to school and played.  It should be a fun filled way to spend two or three hours seeing some of the lesser known sights in the beautiful city.  The cost is only $20 per person. 

 

Our speaker for the day was Stephanie Karlo who serves as the Executive Director of the Greater NJ chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  She talked briefly with us but we have rescheduled her to come back when there is a better attendance at the meeting.  It was an embarrassment. 

 

For those of you who have scrutinized this issue of the Cogs for the secret word - tough.  there wasn’t any.

Let us all make an effort to get to next week’s meeting. TTFN