Southbridge Rotary Club

SOUTHBRIDGE ROTARY CLUB

Bulletin for November 21, 2012

Meeting at the Southbridge Business Center, Mechanic Street, Southbridge

12:00 Noon, Wednesdays

SERVICE ABOVE SELF

Chartered May 13, 1927

SPEAKERS:

11-28-12 Patrick Morrill presents Bill Mason of John Paul 11 Food Share

12-05-12 MEETING TO BE HELD AT THE NEW HIGH/MIDDLE SCHOOL.

12-12-12 Al Lanni, TBA

12-19-12 DOD Center Shutdown

12-26-12 DOD Center Shutdown

VISITORS/GUESTS: Football team, Cheerleaders, coaches and administrators.

ATTENDANCE Not reported RAFFLE: None today

HAPPY DOLLARS: None today BIRTHDAYS: None ANNIVERSARIES: None

MAKE UPS: none FINES: None

BITS AND PIECES: Jeff mentioned that our meeting on 12-5-12 will be held at the new Southbridge High/Middle school. We will meet in the lobby for a tour of the facility and then have lunch in the cafeteria.

PRESIDENTS TALK: President Bill welcomed the students and faculty, and then handled the invocation and salute before turning the meeting over to Phil. He began the meeting by holding a minute of silence for Zeke.

SPEAKER: Once again, Coach gave us a run down on what to expect tomorrow. He stated that this is the 92 get together for the teams. Coach said this was a year of rebuilding after many key position holders graduated last year. This year’s seniors are pulling multiple roles to fill in the gap. The teams are going into the game pretty well matched so it should be a great game. He said that Southbridge will be playing basic football tomorrow and that the game will come down to blocking and tackling. They will try to run the ball to victory. Go Pioneers.

In Memoriam: This is an exciting week what with Thanksgiving Day and football but we must not lose sight of something far more important than that. Our Club has lost one of its finest and most dedicated members, Norman “Zeke” Plouffe. Zeke was a fixture in Rotary and almost nothing kept him from attending our meetings or participating in our fund raisers. He was every inch a Rotarian. During his Rotary career he earned the high privilege of being awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship, a richly deserved award. Zeke’s commitment to “Service Above Self” extended much further than just his Club activities. I remember, a few years ago when he got up at 4 a.m. to drive to Springfield to pick up some pastries for a friend who liked the offerings of a particular bakery there. We all saw how the wait staff at the DOD loved him. They would meet him at the door and with a girl under each arm, escort him to his table, taking special care to ensure that the meal in front of him was something his system could handle. Zeke always thanked them with chocolates that he carried with him for that purpose and with a box of chocolates for them at Christmas. On occasions, he and I would exchange Zane Grey books and we both enjoyed reading them. Who can ever forget his “Western” neckties and belt buckles? Seeing him in his casket was sad, but brightened somewhat when Dick Waddick presented his daughter Michelle with a Rotary pin which she promptly attached to Zeke’s lapel. We would not want to see him fined at the Pearly Gates for not having his pin. (Did you notice his ever present hat was there) Alex deserves a special note for all the times he picked him up and brought him to Rotary. That was truly “Service “Above Self” and we thank Alex for that. Zeke was a true gentleman and an era ends with his passing. As John Donne said: “Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Farewell Zeke, it is a sad bell that tolled for you. You will be missed.

Club Roster 2011-2012

P= Past President

Athanas, Joseph P. (P)

Blanchard, Bryan (P) Bousquet, Glenn L. (P2) Brenner, Jay

Carlson, Ronald P. Chernisky, Ronald (P)

Coderre, Joseph A. (P) Coderre, Robert E. (P) Colognesi, Theresa G. (P)

Clemence, Richard

Desautels, Clement T. (P) Desrosier, Bruce J. (P) Davenport, Jeffrey

Detarando, Jay DiGregorio, Albert J. (P) DiGregorio, Paul J.

Jalbert, Paul R. (P) Jawor, John

Keefe, Edward G. Knight, Robert H. (P)

Lanni, Arnold (P) Lannon, William Leboeuf, Eric

Lisle, terry Main, Jason (P) Mangion, Richard M.

Mills, Paul A. (P) Mitchell, Sean 4-25-12 Morrill, Patrick S.

Menard, Joan

Nikolla, Peter

Pettinelli, Philip (P) Plouffe, Normand E. Prokos, Alexander

Prohaska, Otto

Rizner, Kenneth E. (P) Rockwood, Marjorie (P)

Smalarz, Thomas J.

Tata, Constantino H. (Dino) Taylor, John E. Tremblay, Ronald

Waddick, James H. (P)

P = Past President

Officers and Directors

John Jawor President Dino Tata International Service

William Lannon President Elect Terri Colognesi Vocational Service

Jeffrey Davenport Vice president Peter Nikola Community Service

Paul R. Jalbert Treasurer Joan Menard Club Service

Theresa Colognesi Secretary Terry Lisle Sergeant At Arms

Joe Coderre Club Advisor Terry Lisle Attendance

Director Ron Chernisky Dino Tata Bulletin Editor

Director Bryan Blanchard Director Glenn Bousquet

Paul Harris Fellows

Joseph P. Athanas 1995 Paul A. Mills Richard Ayers Terri Colognesi 05-26-10

Robert E. Coderre John E. Taylor Zygmund J. Damian

Kenneth E. Rizner 10-30-1997 Paul R. Jalbert 2001 Marjorie Rockwood 5-11-2002 Glenn Bousquet.10-08-2008

James Waddick 2006 Bryan Blanchard 2006 Ronald Chernisky 9-03-2008 Jeffrey Davenport 1995

Constantino H. Tata (Dino) 2-26-04 Ronald Carlson 07-20-11

Deceased and Non-member Paul Harris Fellows,

Burns, Charles E. Laliberte, Oswald J. Leclaire, Romeo H. Moreno, Laurence

Mozley, George Ricci, Raymond A. Wilson, Calvin Witter, Simon E.

C. Stanley Knight C. Stanley Knight Charles T. Parham Judith Flannery (Non-member)

John CS. Crosbie Philip S. Morrill Albert J. DiGregorio 1960 Normand E. Plouffe 1995

Neighboring Clubs

Sturbridge Monday 6:00 Publick House, 277 Main Street Sturbridge, Ma.

Webster Dudley Wednesday 4:30 Point Breeze Restaurant, 114 Point Breeze Road, Webster

Putnam Tuesday 12:15 J. D. Coopers 146 Park Road, Putnam, Ct.

Auburn Wednesday 6:00 Heritage Coffee Shop, Heritage Mall, Rte. 12 Auburn

Brookfields Thursday 6:30 Wok Inn Corner Rte. 67 & Rte 9, W. Brookfield, Ma.

Worcester Thursday 12:15 Coral Seafood, 225 Worcester Street, Worcester, Ma.

The Four-Way Test

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build goodwill and better friendship?

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

ROTARY CLUB OF SOUTHBRIDGE

P. O. Box 51

Southbridge, Mass. 01550

Chartered May 13, 1927

Club No. 2588 District No. 7910