Rotarian and farmer, Bill Dufford with his friend, Sandi Rose of Roses's Berry Farm

Thanks to our wonderful guest speaker, Sandi Rose of Rose’s Berry Farm for a lovely visit.

We tried to take some photos of her presentation but truly, we don’t do the colors and warmth justice.

It’s probably best if you stop by the farm and see for yourself just how amazing a place it is.

To see all the photos taken, please click here to go to the album on Facebook.

Congratulations to the 2013 Paul Harris Award winner, Glastonbury Rotarian Craig Wellman.

Craig is pictured here with Glastonbury Club President Jeff Bodeau.

Thank you to Pamela McCue for submitting the photo and John Lord for his fine work as Socials Chair. 
We all enjoyed a great night at the Glastonbury Hills Country Club.

 Glastonbury Rotary Club President Jeff Bodeau presents a check in the amount of $1,250 to Glastonbury Family YMCA Executive Director Kristen Pollard to help start a new program for cancer survivors called LIVESTRONG.

Please refer to the Glastonbury Family YMCA for more information by clicking here.

Our club was chartered March 15, 1948.
Exactly one month later on April 15, 1948, 10 members held the club's first meeting in conjunction with the East Hartford Rotary Club and members of the media.

We are 65 years strong and took this photo to commemorate the occasion. It should be noted that original Charter member, John "Coach" Dufford who attended that very first meeting, is celebrating his 65th year of membership. You may find him in the row that is seated, wearing a burgundy jacket.

Thank you, Coach for your many years of devoted service.

We'd also like to thank our guests - members of the Rotary GSE Team who are headed to Turkey. They shared a wonderful presentation with us and we wish them safe journeys. Anyone who wishes to follow their adventures, please use this link to access the Rotary District 7890 GSE Team Blog.

Best wishes to Danny Lee, Liz McCoskrie, Marty Fins, Sally Umlauf and Lauren Alex.

(Also pictured in this photo is Rotary Club of Glastonbury President Jeff Bodeau.)

It's that time of year again.

Lobsterfest preparations are in full swing.

We'd like to express our thanks and appreciation for this year's Chairman, Chuck House of House Brothers Plumbing Contractor for all of his hard work so far.

We're looking forward to a spectacular event!

Our ticketmaster, William "Bill" Fochi distributed tickets on Monday, April 8th to club members.
They are officially available for sale with a plan to cap the event at 2200 dinners.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Dinner service begins at 5 PM

Tickets are $55 each

Tables may be reserved in groups of 10

The event features live music during dinner

A DJ and dancing on a custom dance floor till 11 PM

All the steamers you can eat (till we run out)

Choice of lobster or steak

Side Salad

Roll

Corn on the Cob

BYOB

Never been?

There's a great blog review of the 2012 event from Caitlin Croswell of Cait Plus Ate.

She documented her Lobsterfest adventures.

Check out the blog HERE.

The best thing? You help us help others.

Our club made donations valued at over $90,000 over the past 12 months.

They're listed on the back of the ticket.

It's a grand time! Don't miss out.
For more details, click here to access the Facebook event!

See you there!

Monday night's meeting brought the club together for fellowship shared over a wonderful meal. We had the opportunity to learn more about two of our newer members who prepared classification speeches.

We'd like to thank Corey Turner of Corey Turner Home Improvement Contractors, Inc. and Jonathan Larabee of Manchester Honda for taking the time to prepare their speeches and for sharing what Rotary means to them.

Both gentlemen stressed their desire to give back to the community and their appreciation for the variety of service projects performed by our club.

Corey Turner

Jonathan Larabee

Photos by Maria Tralongo, Social Media Chair

 What a productive business meeting!

Socials Chair John Lord announced the date of the Paul Harris Award as Sunday, April 28.

Details and event set up on Facebook to come.

There'll be a celebration of our 65th Anniversary as a club as well.

Of course, the big news is the printing of the Lobsterfest tickets.

Our one and only fabulous ticketmaster, the inimitable Bill Fochi is already working on his distribution list.

The tickets are printed and will be available to the public within the next few weeks.

We're selling 2200 tickets to the best party of the summer.

Interested in what we do with all the funds raised from our events?

Last year, $25,000 went to a scholarship fund.

More than $90,000 got distributed within the community to various charities and groups in need.

We work on multiple community projects.

They'll all be listed on the ticket this year.

You're not just attending an awesome party and enjoying a good meal with friends, you're helping us help others.

And kudos to Mark Greer for his little prank on Lobsterfest Chairman Chuck House. 

Our Monday, March 25 meeting was very special. We welcomed CT Patriot Guard Riders State Captain, Gregg Barratt who presented information on the mission of the PGR.

Just that morning, Mr. Barratt along with many other PGR members provided a flag escort for the body of US Army Captain Andrew Pedersen-Keel, KIA. Those PGR members not on escort detail assembled at the church to form a flag line to show honor and respect for Captain Pedersen-Keel.

With permission from Pattie Ptak, we are sharing a selection of her photos from the day.

The PGR performs many missions to honor those who serve. Regardless of weather conditions, PGR will stand a line or escort for those deploying, soldiers returning home, military or veteran funerals and special missions for which PGR participation is requested.

The group raises funds to help veterans and veteran causes. Every dollar raised is given away.

You do not have to be a motorcycle rider or a veteran to participate. There is no associated cost. The only requirement is respect.

For more information on this amazing group, please click the link above to go to their website or click here to go to their Facebook page.

Thank you again to Pattie Ptak for sharing her photos.

Happy 65th Anniversary, Rotary Club of Glastonbury! 

Our club was chartered on March 15, 1948.

It is with gratitude and appreciation that we post this photo of John "Coach" Dufford taken at the Mission Complete ceremony for Manny's Place on Addison Road.

Coach is an original charter member of the club, also celebrating his 65th anniversary in Rotary.

Thanks, Coach, for your years of service!

What a great night at Rotary! Cheers and thank you to Vice President Robert “Bob” Zanlungo for standing in for President Jeff Bodeau. Bob did a great job leading the meeting.

Last night we hosted visitors from the Rotary Youth Exchange. District 7890 sends approximately 275 kids out to other countries and takes in about the same number. The idea is to allow these young people to experience different cultures, food and language while promoting relationships between the two countries. Annually, between 8,000-9,000 teenagers participate in the exchange program around the world. We enjoyed the company of students from France, Bolivia, Germany, Finland, Brazil and Denmark. They’ve been here since July and spoke to us about their experiences. They’ve been able to travel to NYC and even to Great Barrington for skiing. A trip is planned to Washington, DC in April. Through their schools, they’ve participated in sports, often for the first time. Others have appeared in high school productions – singing, acting and dancing.

We also had the chance to talk to US students who are outbound to Ecuador, Spain, Belgium, Norway and Chile. They talked about their hopes, fears, the idea of taking on new languages and meeting a new family. Vice President Zanlungo presented all the students with Peace Through Service pins. To see more photos, please click here to access the album on Facebook.

All photos by Maria Tralongo, Social Media Chair.

President Jeffrey Bodeau makes final preparations to lead our business meeting.
We thank him for his time and dedicated service to the club and the community.

Photo by Social Media Chair, Maria R. Tralongo

 What a great night at Rotary!

We'd like to offer sincere congratulations on many years of service by members celebrating club anniversaries:
Don LaBombard and Gil Wolf, 35 years
Bill Dufford and Bill Henry, 43 years!

Special thanks to our wonderful speaker, Glastonbury Police Chief David A. Caron who discussed the proactive efforts and initiatives by the Glastonbury Police Department to keep the town safe. He answered our questions about school safety, traffic, and a range of other topics with great thought, patience and deliberation. His perspective was refreshing and gave us all a lot to consider.
There was a smidge of smack talk related to our annual Glastonbury Rotary versus Glastonbury PD softball game so we're planning to get our team in order early this spring!
Thanks again, Chief. You're welcome to join us anytime!

As is our custom, a wheelchair was donated to Wheels of Hope in Chief Caron's name.
This group provides wheelchairs to victims of polio in Nigeria.

Photo credit: Maria R. Tralongo, Social Media Chair, Rotary Club of Glastonbury 

 Here's a great photo of long time member (and Lobsterfest Ticket Master) Bill Fochi.
He's holding up his engraved keychain!
Special thanks to our very thoughtful President, Jeff Bodeau who ordered a name-engraved keychain for each member.
It was a lovely way to kick off the first meeting of the 2013 year.

Photo by Maria Tralongo, Social Media Chair.

We enjoyed a brief presentation by three members of the crew team who are raising monies in order to fund the purchase of a new boat, oars and oarlocks. Their goal is a $56,000 grand total, with 25% of the monies raised to be split between two organizations - the VFW and Give2Troops - as a donation. The 75% balance will be used to fund the purchase of necessary equipment.
Donations may be made to Friends of Glastonbury Rowing, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) by contacting Matt Bristol at 860 657 4371 or mbskiking@gmail.com. Multiple sponsor levels and recognition honors available. To see more photos, please click here to access the Facebook album.
Photo by Maria Tralongo, Social Media Chair, Rotary Club of Glastonbury. 

Accelerated Fitness Solutions held their first Fitathlon in Glastonbury at the Smith Middle School on September 1^st. The fitness-focused company of personal trainers generously pledged a portion of the proceeds from the event to the Glastonbury Rotary Club Scholarship Fund which awards money to Glastonbury students who achieve academic excellence and need financial help to attend college. Last year the winner of the scholarship was awarded $20,000.

Accelerated Fitness Solutions President Doug Dorsey and Cromwell Managing Partner, Kevin Carlson presented a check in the amount of $1,000 to Glastonbury Rotary President Jeff Bodeau at their new Glastonbury AFS location at the rear of 122 Naubuc Avenue.

For more information on upcoming Fitathlon challenges, click here. For more information on Accelerated Fitness Solutions and their locations, please visit their website or their Facebook page.

Photo by Maria R. Tralongo, Social Media Chair, Rotary Club of Glastonbury.

Pictured:

Top row: Salvation Army drivers, Shawn Collier and Angel Vasquez

Middle row (L to R): Jim Gordon, Dir. of Public Relations & Marketing, So. NE Div, Salvation Army, Rich Rapp, Kevin Feeney, Rotary President Jeff Bodeau, Lisa Cretella, Dir. of Development, Salvation Army, Bob Zanlungo and John Heagle

Kneeling (L to R): Ed Quinn, Kevin Quinn, Brendan Ristaino and the Salvation Army’s Area Coordinator, Brian Glasco.

Rotarians gathered at the Homestead Suites in Glastonbury at 7:30 AM on a very rainy and windy morning to load boxes of baby food products into a truck for donation.
Thank you to our four participating grocery stores:
Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, Gardiners Market and Highland Park Market who each donated $250 worth of baby food. We could not do it without you.
The Rotary Club of Glastonbury’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to triple match each store's donation to bring the grand total to $4,000 of goods.
Thank you also to Pamela McCue of the Gallery Restaurant who hosts the special picnic dinner meeting to help us raise extra funds.
Photo by Maria R. Tralongo, Social Media Chair, Rotary Club of Glastonbury. To see the complete album on Facebook, please click here.

 Pictured: Past-President Kevin Flanagan, sorting toys

The Rotary Club of Glastonbury provides volunteers to staff the Salvation Army collection point at the Homestead Suites in Glastonbury for toys and non-perishable foods. We'd like to thank Don LaBombard and Mary Pallos for their organizational magic.

And, we'd like to recognize the following volunteers, some of whom worked more than one shift:
Dennis Weir, Garrett Ludwig, Jeff Bodeau, Kevin Feeney, John Vullo, Bill Mogensen, Maria Tralongo, Kevin Flanagan, Tom Kane, Jr., Woody Baird, Corey Turner, Bob Zanlungo, Brendan Ristaino, Craig Wellman, Bill Dufford, John Heagle, Mary Pallos, Dave Larson, Donna Finocchiaro, Chuck House, Gil Spencer, Ron Brousseau, Rich Rapp, Gene Langan, Scott Knights and John Lord.

Photo by Maria R. Tralongo, Social Media Chair, Rotary Club of Glastonbury.     

On Sunday, December 9th, club members gathered together at 2 Hopewell in Glastonbury for our annual holiday celebration. Music, good food, great company and lots of cheer made for a fabulous evening.
Special thanks and acknowledgement to our Social Events Chair, John Lord who took great care in making the arrangements.
He's the smiling fella on the far left in the photo. 

Special thanks to Pam McCue who took all the photos and submitted them for posting. If you'd like to see more, take a peek at our album list (links at the top of the page and on the lower left portion of the dashboard) and click on 2012 Holiday Bash!

Enjoy!

Last night, our club presented the slate for the 2013/2014 year. We'd like to extend sincere thanks to all for service to the club and the community. Thanks to Mark Greer, Bill Henry, and Kevin Feeney for serving on the nominating committee.

The slate is as follows:
President Robert "Bob" Zanlungo
Vice President Brendan Ristaino
Secretary Richard Rapp
Treasurer Thomas Kane
Past President Jeff Bodeau
Senior Past President William "Bill" Dufford
At Large members: Kristen Pollard and Charles “Chuck” House 

Santa made a special appearance at the Gallery in Glastonbury on Saturday, December 1st!
He flew all the way here on his sleigh just to attend the Rotary Club of Glastonbury's Annual Kids' Christmas Party!
Thanks to Pam McCue of the Gallery for submitting this wonderful photo of Santa as he prepares to get on with his duties.
Santa passed out presents and listened to the wishes of our young guests.

Special thanks to our wonderful Social Events chair, John Lord for arranging all the details.

Additional thanks to Pam and her amazing crew from the Gallery. They always provide great care when hosting our events.

We'd like to give three cheers to Glastonbury Rotarian Christopher "Chris" Fraleigh who jumps in feet first every year to spearhead efforts to help out Foodshare with their Thanksgiving Drive. This photo shows Chris with Rotary member, Donna Finocchiaro as they solicited turkeys and donations for the Foodshare "A Turkey and Thirty" event.
We're so proud of Chris and grateful for all members who pitched in to help.
We'd also like to thank the members of our very generous community.
The results of all this hard work? A record-breaking 640 turkeys and $15,100 in cash for Foodshare to feed families in need.
Amazing.

What a phenomenal presentation! Thank you, thank you Lynn A. Damon, photographic artist for taking the time to share your work on the Farm Project last night. The photos are amazing.

Lynn started the Farm Project in 2010 with an eye to documenting the farms in Glastonbury. Working with the Historical Society of Glastonbury, Lynn set out to visit all the farms and create images for the entire community to appreciate. The photos are artistic in presentation and focus on animals, landscapes, produce, flowers and a few of the farmers as well. The project is ongoing. If you're interested in seeing some of the images, stop by Lynn's website and click Landscapes in the Gallery section. The link is "http://www.lynndamon.com/gallery.html". The images are for sale. We encourage you to contact Lynn and bring home some of the images.

As is our club's custom, the Club donated a wheelchair in Lynn's name through Wheels of Hope to a victim of polio in Africa. 

Check presentation (from left to right):
Chris Fraleigh, Rotary Club of Glastonbury; Beth Stafford, Executive Director of Manchester Area Conference of Churches (M.A.C.C.); Sue Philipchik, Glastonbury Branch Manager, Liberty Bank; Jonathan Larabee, Rotary Club of Glastonbury

Once again the Rotary Club of Glastonbury partnered with Liberty Bank and the Liberty Bank Foundation to raise funds in the hope that all of our neighbors would be able to share in a bountiful Thanksgiving celebration. Club members, under the leadership of project co-chairs Chris Fraleigh and Jonathan Larabee, worked to collect funds in the community.

Special thanks to Gardiners Market and Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt, both of whom allowed club members to solicit donations from customers.

Thanks are also in order to the following businesses who allowed us to leave collection tins at their businesses: Constantine Hardware, Towne Barber Shoppe, TCBY, Sweet Frog, Cofiells Sport & Power, Daybreak Coffee Roasters, The Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce, 2Hopewell Restaurant, Birch Hill Tavern, and YMCA of Glastonbury.

Thank you to the club members who worked so hard to make this a successful project, the members of the Glastonbury Interact Club and the Glastonbury community without whose generosity we would be lost.

The Rotary Club of Glastonbury presented a total of $6,565.27 to Manchester Area Conference of Churches comprised of monies raised within the community, a club donation and a 25% match by the Liberty Bank Foundation. The M.A.C.C. was founded in 1973 with the specific intention of meeting emergency needs (food, shelter, clothing) with the community. It is currently comprised of 36 churches from the Manchester, Bolton, South Windsor, Glastonbury and Storrs communities. The group anticipated serving over 300 meals for the 2012 Thanksgiving holiday at its respective churches.

Our club donated $1,500 to Glastonbury Outreach for their Holiday Fund. The monies will be used to purchase food and holiday gifts for 150+ Glastonbury families in need during the upcoming holidays (including this Thanksgiving).

Pictured are Katie Wilt, Human Services Outreach Social Worker and Rotary Club of Glastonbury President, Jeff Bodeau.

Here's Vice President Bob Zanlungo with guest speaker, Darren Sweeney of NBC30 Connecticut.
Darren was a superb speaker & discussed the challenges involved to get "good weather information" out to the public in the social media age. He was funny, interesting and we could just imagine a weather map behind him as he spoke.
The club members truly enjoyed his visit.
As is our custom, a wheelchair was donated in Darren's name to a group called Wheels of Hope, which provides wheelchairs to victims of polio in Nigeria, Africa.

We’d like to introduce Glastonbury Rotary member, Joseph “Joe” Jaconetta. Inducted in 1996, Joe is a Past Rotary Club of Glastonbury President, a Paul Harris Award winner and has 15 years of perfect attendance to his credit. Whenever a project is in swing. Joe pitches in – we saw him quietly arrive at Manny’s Place on Addison in the evenings to clean up after workers, removing large receptacles of trash. In the midst of preparations for Lobsterfest, Joe carried in tables for placement under the tent and directed traffic for the parking committee. He is always willing to lend a hand.

As a partner in Jaconetta, Burnham & Wimer, LLC, Joe is an attorney with twenty years of experience in estate, business and tax planning. He’s active in the local community and is not only on the Executive Board of the Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce, but participates on committees, often taking leadership roles.

Over the years, Joe’s dedication to wellness and health has not been obstructed by his very busy schedule and commitment to service. He trains for triathlons, marathons, and other fitness competitions. Our club is proud of Joe for all of his accomplishments.

We’d like to share this photo of Joe running the 2012 ING Hartford Marathon. He completed the race with a time of 03:04:19 and came in 2^nd in his age division. We’re truly proud of him and glad to have such an amazing member in our ranks.

When you sit down to your Thanksgiving feast, do you ever think about what the holiday would be like if you couldn’t afford to feed your family? Unfortunately, too many families in our area struggle with that problem. That’s why Liberty Bank and the Liberty Bank Foundation teamed up with 27 local Rotary Clubs with an important mission on mind: to make sure all of our neighbors may share in a bountiful Thanksgiving Feast. Since this drive’s inception on 2004, it has provided almost $600,000 to put turkey and all the trimmings on tables for families in need. All 43 Liberty Bank offices collect donations for the drive. Funds are deposited in accounts for each of the respective, participating Rotary Clubs.

On November 19^th, the Liberty Bank Foundation will add matching funds of twenty-five cents for every dollar, up to a total of $25,000. Each Rotary Club then withdraws the funds and uses them to either purchase/deliver foods or make a donation to a local non-profit that provides Thanksgiving food to needy residents. In 2011, the drive provided a record total of more than $132,000 in food.

Last year, the Rotary Club of Glastonbury participated in this fundraiser for the first time, raising $3,514. The Club made an additional contribution of $820. The Liberty Bank Foundation made a matching contribution of $978.This is a grand total of $5,312! The Rotary Club of Glastonbury is once again rising to the challenge with hopes of providing even more help to those in need.

Won’t you help us help others? Stop at any branch of Liberty Bank and make a donation to the drive specifying the Glastonbury Rotary Club account or watch for our members at local grocery stores on the weekends in coming weeks. We’ll be collecting funds out front.

Once the funds are totaled, our Club has agreed to make a matching donation dollar for dollar, up to $2,500. The Liberty Bank Foundation will then make its matching contribution of 25%. The funds will be distributed within the community by November 21st.

Here's a bit of cheer!
Glastonbury Rotarian Mary Pallos sent in this wonderful photo of her daughter, Jackie who made the cheer-leading squad at the University of Hartford!
Go Hawks!
Congratulations, Jackie!!

Day Two at the Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival brought a mix of weather conditions, but fearless vendors manned their booths and the crowds happily wandered, ate and had a grand time. Thanks to Glastonbury Rotarian and GHS Interact Club Chair, Attorney Deborah Eisenberg who spent the day at the Rotary booth as the Interact members ran the Putt for Pies contest. Thanks also to Rotarian Bob Bentley of Bentley Electronic Systems for making sure the tent was set up, manning the tent during the day and handling the wind-related flying tent pole crisis. Thanks to Pam McCue of the The Gallery for making sure two photos of me ended up in the album. Midway, petting zoo, dunk tank, vendors, fair food, live entertainment and loads of apple pie – wow, what a fun time!! We salute the Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce and their army of volunteers who make this event run so smoothly.

Want to see more? Click over to the album on Facebook for photos using THIS LINK.

Our Monday Rotary meeting brought with the usual suspects. Lots of fun, laughter and fellowship. Woody Baird continued his role as Sergeant at Arms, issuing fines to members while making us laugh.

Pam McCue and her hardworking staff at the Gallery served an amazing meal. This is a glimpse of one of the courses. (This is Pam's idea of a small piece of chicken.)

Best. Stuffing. Ever.

Attorney Deborah Eisenberg and Realtor Margaret Wilcox showed off their leopard themed fashion sense. Way to go, ladies!!

 Past President Kevin Flanagan (left) receives a check from Dick Gordon, Past District Governor (right) in the amount of $500 as a simplified grant to reimburse the club for expenses incurred related to Shelter Box.

Thank you as always to President Jeff Bodeau for leading a great meeting!

We gathered at the Gallery in Glastonbury for our usual Monday night meeting led by President Jeff Bodeau.  

Sergeant at Arms, Woody Baird amused us all and assessed fines as necessary.

We’d like to extend our thanks to guest speaker, Jon Picoult, Founder of Watermark Consulting in Simsbury who reminded us of the benefits of providing a positive customer experience. He was funny, articulate and on-point. He also stayed within his allotted 15 minutes!

For all photos from the evening, please click one of the album links on this page or hop on over to our Facebook page by clicking this link, direct to the album.

A FITATHLON is coming to Glastonbury!!




Volunteer! Compete! Bring your best to the day!

A portion of the proceeds benefit the Glastonbury Rotary Scholarship Fund - a truly worthy cause!
Help others and channel your inner athlete at the same time.

All levels welcome to compete with a $69 entry fee and prizes awarded to top male and female competitors.

Saturday, September 1, 2012 at the Smith Middle School. Click the link here, for more details and online registration! 
 

Thursday, June 7, 2012: Arrival of the Big Tent

Chairman Douglas Brown at the Elks Grounds

  Friday, June 8, 2012: Work Begins in Earnest

The day before Lobster Fest is an intense work day. Fuel lines are set up. Pots are cleaned and set in place. Peter Deich, Tom Wieleba and Tom Kane, Jr. began work on the dance floor. Craig Wellman plotted fence lines, Jay Cofiell groomed the grounds and Rotarians carried tables into the tent.

Saturday, June 9, 2012: All Hands On Deck

Rotarians got busy with final preparations for 2200 guests. First order of business? Shuck a few thousand ears of corn, prepare the salads and sides for distribution and stare at Chief Concierge Langan and Deputy Chief Concierge Zanlungo until they finish preparing the best breffie sandwiches ever made – egg, cheese, choice of bacon or sausage on a roll – hot off the griddle. Tables are covered and labeled, a task that was well-managed by Table Master John Lord. Chairs are brought in and placed. Poles are driven into the ground, fencing is rolled out and secured.

Chief Concierge Gene Langan

Deputy Concierge Bob Zanlungo

John Lord, Table Master

President Kevin Flanagan Brings in the Chairs

 Saturday, June 9, 2012: Party with 2200 Close Friends

The late Dave Cox traditionally wore full yellow slicker gear during Lobster Fest. His wife, Emma presented the club with Dave’s hat complete with a photo of our old friend. It was hung on the front of the pavilion so Dave could watch over us.

Saturday afternoon brings a frenzy of last minute preparations and final staging is completed.

The parking committee is in full work mode as 2200 guests begin to arrive.

Music, food and good friends – what more could anyone want?

We even received a visit from blogger Cait Croswell whose blog Cait Plus Ate gave us a fine review. Thanks again, Cait!

Kevin Cofiell prepares for steamer duty

Corey Turner Steps into Protective Gear

Scott Knights Prepares the Grill for Steaks

Welcome Visiting Rotarians from The New Britain-Berlin Rotary

Cooking Platform (photo courtesy of Cait Crosswell)

Steamer Table (photo courtesy of Cait Crosswell)

Dennis Weir (photo courtesy of Cait Crosswell)

The Cracking Table in Action (photo courtesy of Cait Crosswell)

Food Lines (photo courtesy of Cait Crosswell)

Fun Under the Tent (photo courtesy of Cait Crosswell)

While guests danced, chatted and laughed under the tent, Rotarians began the process of breaking it all down.

On Sunday, hardworking Rotarians returned to the grounds to clear trash, stack chairs and tables and rake the grass clean. 

Lobster Fest was done.

We’re already planning the 37^th Annual Lobster Fest. Chairman Chuck House is expecting you.
Mark your calendars, we look forward to welcoming you on Saturday, June 8, 2013. 

For more photos, click on the album section at the top of the home page. Don't forget to LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with events, news of interest and community service work.

This much anticipated annual event is scheduled for Friday, April 27, 2012, 6-10 PM at the Glastonbury Hills Country Club. Tickets are priced at $50 each. To obtain a ticket, please contact any Glastonbury Rotarian, call Event Chairperson Donna Finocchiaro at (860) 836-6244 or leave a message on the wall of the Facebook event page. The page admin, Maria Tralongo will send you a private message with information.

We'd like to extend thanks and a warm welcome to our new wine sponsors, 2Fly Wines, Chris and Carolyn Didden.

The evening features passed hors d'oeuvres and a buffet which will include scallops in bacon, bruschetta, spinach & cheese phyllo, crab rangoon, deviled eggs, beef satay, hot sausage with provolone, beef tenderloin, penne alla vodka, a beef carving station, tossed salad and rolls.  There is also a stationary table of cheeses and crackers, hummus and baked brie.
 
2Fly's five piece house band In Deep is performing from 5:45 to 8:45 PM.
 
The tasting, stationary food and passed apps will begin at 6 PM.  The buffet is scheduled from 7:15 to 8:00 PM.  The Silent Auction will end at 8:15.  

All ticket holders are issued an auction packet and have the opportunity to bid on silent and live auction items. When tickets are purchased, we request the name, address and phone for all ticket holders so that we may contact people as needed if their bids win an item. This data base is not shared or used for any other purpose.

If you would like to be a sponsor or donate an item for auction, please contact the Event Chairperson, Donna Finocchiaro at (860) 836-6244 to discuss the details.

We're looking forward to having you as our guests for this incredibly fun evening!

MarineManny Jimenez, a corporal in the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines lost hisleft arm, the hearing in his left ear and partial sight in his left eyeafter a homemade bomb detonated near him while he served in Afghanistan.Purple Heart Homes, a non-profit operated by wounded veterans JohnGallina and Dale Beatty has stepped up to work with the Town ofGlastonbury and the Rotary Club of Glastonbury inorder to build an accessible home that meets Manny's special needs.This will enable Manny to continue the pursuit of his dream to go tocollege to become a physical education instructor. In the meantime,Manny continues his passion of competitive running and is in trainingfor the Marine Corps Marathon.

For more information about Purple Heart Homes, please click the link above to visit their website or find them on Facebook.

The Rotary Club of Glastonbury is administering a page on Facebook for the project. You may follow along, acquire information, and see photos by "liking" Manny's Place on Facebook.

Purple Heart Homes is gratefully accepting donations for this project - if you'd like to make a monetary contribution, please stop at any American Eagle Federal Credit Union office and deposit it to the Purple Heart Homes/Manny Jimenez account.

THANK YOU for your support! 

On Monday, February 27, 2012, the Rotary Club of Glastonbury welcomed its newest member, Jonathan Larabee of Manchester Honda. Jonathan's family watched as membership director Dennis Weir made Jonathan's acceptance official. For more photos of Jon's induction, please click the link here to go to an album on our Facebook page.

Pictured are :

Dennis Weir, Jon Larabee, Jon's dad & President Kevin Flanagan 

On January 23, 2012, our club President, Kevin Flanagan challenged each of our dinner tables to collect $75 so that each table could buy a wheelchair for people in Nigeria stricken with polio. Our members more than met his challenge. We raised $1,434. In addition, the Board voted to generously add to that amount. The Club is mailing a check to “Wheels of Hope” for $4,302 for the purchase of 57 new wheelchairs for those in need.

To see more of that they do, take a peek at their web site, Wheels of Hope and like them on Facebook.  They also have an additional site here.

Richard Borden presenting a Simplified Grant Check to Rotary President Kevin Flanagan in the amount of $500 for our House of Bread project.Cheers to past President Chris Fraleigh for his efforts to make this happen.

The Glastonbury Rotary Club has partnered with Liberty Bank for their annual Thanksgiving Day drive to raise money for needy families in the community. Liberty Bank has been doing this fundraiser for 8 years with other Rotary clubs. Liberty Bank will provide matching funds of 25 cents for every dollar raised for a maximum of $25,000.  The Glastonbury Rotary Club has elected to also make a matching 25% contribution  against funds it raises for a maximum of $1,250. The money will be distributed to Foodshare on Monday, November 21st in order to see that asmany turkey dinners as possible areprovided to needy families in our community.

Pictured below is our turkey mascot, Rotarian Maria Tralongo along with our Rotary President, Kevin Flanagan.

Have a chance to greet the turkey mascot & pose for photos. The turkey LOVES to take pics with kids, too!

You can meet the turkey at the Sunday night singles dance at the Gallery Restaurant, 7 pm - midnight on October 8th (details at the Gallery website "http://www.thegallery141.com/singlesdances.html") .

You may also meet the turkey all day Saturday and Sunday, October 15 & 16 at the Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival. Just head over to the Rotary booth!

We'd love to say hello! Details on Apple Harvest Festival may be found on the Glastonbury Chamber's website.

                   "http://www.glastonburychamber.net/wcevents/eventdetail.aspx?EventID=509". 

Like our Facebook page to keep up with all the appearances and fundraiser information. The link is at the top of our main web page.       

Our clubmembers will be all over town in the next few weeks along with having donationcans in local businesses.  Thank you foryou continued support.