Dawn Neilson was our guest speaker this week!  Dawn is in charge of marketing – under Justin Malley

• Rotary could commit to one Saturday – promote rotary!

• Mayor Ellen Zoppo is looking for people to serve on boards – contact Cathy Savino at 860-584-6250
• Public Works – “rockin it”
  • Ray Rogozinski  is the new director of Public Works
  • Lindsey Rivers  860-584-6103 interacts with community
    • in school systems working on a composting project using grants from Covanta.  Teaching kids how to compost, recycle.  What is and is not recyclable.
    • She is teaching an invasive species workshop– March 20^th – bugs that come in and invade the trees – sign up online

The Bristol Rotary Club will not meet in its regular location at the Oasis Restaurant on Pine Street in Bristol on the following upcoming dates:

Nov. 26 -- The club will hold its meeting at the Firefly Hollow Brewery, 139 Center Street Drive, By Rails, Bristol, from 5-7 p.m. This is a "bring-a-friend" event and will take the place of our regular morning meeting. Rotarians will get a tour of the city's new brewery and those who wish can purchase a variety of pints of this locally made beer at a special price.

Dec. 10 -- The club will hold its meeting at 7:30 a.m. in the cafeteria of Bristol Central High School. We will be hosted by the school's Interact Club. Rotarians will hear from the Interact members about what they've been doing this year.

Dec. 24 and 31 -- The club will not meet either of these weeks.

From left: Dana Fusco, Tom Kopchick and Suzanne Atwood with Bob Williamson, who did the honors. Bob, who has been in the club a very long time, does a great job with the induction ceremony. He said he could not remember the club ever bringing in three new people on one day.  

Schwartz & Reiche Scholarship presentations by Elmer Madsen

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We bid farewell to President Julius Aboagye & thanked him for a successful year as we welcomed incoming President Bob Dupont.  We added 2 new Paul Harris Fellows.

Nine local pizza shops took part in the Bristol Rotary Club Great Pizza Challenge, a new event that raised $2,000 for a college scholarship for a Bristol Interact student.

Held Sunday afternoon at the Giamatti Little League Center on Mix Street in Bristol, the fundraiser included sampling a wide variety of pizza and plenty of wonderful raffle prizes.

About 400 people attended. There were two dozen Bristol Rotarians there helping, and about 15 members of the Bristol Central High School Interact Club.

The club is deeply grateful to the Giamatti Center for the use of its beautiful facility, to the Interact club for all its hard work, to the pizzerias who signed on to something new and gave time and talent to a community event and to the many donors that made the raffle such fun.

Pizzerias signed on to donate 10 pies each to the contest but many of them brought in many more as the huge crowd devoured the delicious fare. Some shops reported serving 30 to 50 pies.

People attending paid $5 per person or $10 per family to sample the pizza and the club sold drinks separately. Many of those attending voted for their favorites in an array of categories: Best Sauce, Best Crust, Best Meat Pizza, Best Cheese Pizza, Best Pepperoni, Best Veggie, Best Specialty, Best Gluten Free, Best Gluten Free Crust, Best Gluten Free Sauce, The Rotarian and the President's Prize. Winners will receive custom made certificates for display and enough bragging rights to last a year.

A complete list of winners in all categories follows. Many more photos can be seen on the Bristol Rotary Club Facebook page. Please visit it and "like" the page so you'll find out what our dynamic and growing club is doing.

Best Sauce:

First Place – Chunky Tomato

Finalists – Hometown Pizza and People’s Choice

Best Cheese:

First Place – Chunky Tomato

Finalists – Hometown Pizza and People’s Choice

Best Meat Pizza:

First Place – Hometown Pizza

Finalists – L.J.’s Pizza and People’s Choice

Best Crust:

First Place – Chunky Tomato

Finalists – San Gennaro and Hometown Pizza

Best Pepperoni:

First Place – Hometown Pizza

Finalists – Corner Pizza and People’s Choice

Best Veggie:

First Place – Hometown Pizza

Finalists – Corner Pizza, San Gennaro and the Oasis

Best Specialty Pizza:

First Place – L.J.’s Pizza

Finalists – Hometown Pizza, Corner Pizza and People’s Choice

Best Gluten Free Pizza:

First Place – People’s Choice

Finalist – Hometown Pizza

Best Gluten Free Crust:

Luiza’s Diner

Best Gluten Free Sauce:

Chunky Tomato

The Rotarian goes to San Gennaro

President’s Prize goes to the Oasis

Three Fine Giants: Dr. Bob Williamson, Gerry Murphy and Al "Pinky" Pinkowish on Pinky's 90th birthday. They are three of the Giants of the Bristol Rotary Club. — at Oasis Restaurant.

Some of the Giants of the Bristol Rotary Club: Elmer Madsen, Les Kish, Bob Williamson, Gerry Murphy, Al "Pinky" Pinkowish, Paul Kelley and President Elect Olcott Snow. — with Olcott Snow at Oasis Restaurant.

The club had another great meeting with our young partners, the Interact Club of Bristol Central High School. A small number of Interact members joined Rotarians for breakfast and conversation. We are so proud of our Interact Club and grateful to its wonderful advisors. — with Kelly Monahan-Dinoia, Valerie Guarino, Julius Aboagye, Suzanne Atwood, Wilson Kyong, Jackie Majerus-Collins and Olcott Snow at Bristol Central High School.

RI President 14/15 Gary Huang message from Rotary International District Governors Assembly in San Diego.

This is my challenge to you. How you "Light Up Rotary", how you light your own candle, is up to you "Light up Rotary."

Confucius once said: "It is better to light a single candle, than to sit and curse the darkness." Although the Chinese philosopher died nearly 2,400 years before Rotary was founded, RI President 2014/15 Gary C.K. Huang calls him "the world's first Rotarian." Inspired by his teachings, Huang chose Light Up Rotary as his theme for 2014-15.

"There are so many problems in the world, so many people that need help. Many people say, 'There's nothing I can do.' So they sit there doing nothing. Meanwhile everything stays dark," Huang told the 537 district governors and their spouses and partners who are attending the 2014 International Assembly in San Diego, California.

"The Rotary way is the Confucius way. The Rotary way is to light a candle. I light one, you light one, 1.2 million Rotarians light one. Together, we light up the world," said Huang, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Taipei in Taiwan.

After announcing his theme at the opening session of the five-day training meeting, Huang urged club members to Light Up Rotary in the coming year by hosting a Rotary Day in their community and including local Rotaract and Interact members in their service projects.

"How you Light Up Rotary is up to you," Huang said. "You know where you are strong, you know what your community needs, and you know how you can help."

Huang also shared his membership development goals, including the need for more women and young adults and his goal to increase membership to a total of 1.3 million members. He asked Rotarians to invite their spouses, family members, and friends to join Rotary.

"We need to assume leadership for building strong clubs, and that starts with bringing in new members," he said. Addressing the status of the fight against polio, Huang noted that with the current momentum Rotary is on track to achieve full polio eradication by 2018.

"When we eradicate polio — and we will — we will have proved ourselves an organization capable of great things. And we'll be even better equipped for the next challenge we choose to take on. We'll have given the world a gift that will endure forever," he said.

By continuing to fight against polio, setting an example in local communities, and growing membership, Huang hopes to see Rotary shine brighter than ever.

"Light Up Rotary is our theme, but it is more than our theme. It is how we live in Rotary, how we think in Rotary, how we feel, how we work," Huang said. "It is how we make a difference — every day, in every club, every district, and every country where we serve."

Source: Rotary International

Read about RI President Gary Huang's Bio

2014-2015 Rotary International Theme is "Light up Rotary".

Bob Williamson and beautiful young contributor

Help Rotary International and spread the word! 

VOTE FOR ROTARY ANYONE can vote once daily on each digital device.

Click this link to Vote - http://www.10millioncharitymiles.com

The miles received do NOT go to travel for Rotarians or staff. The miles are used for humanitarian efforts, such as transporting children for the Gift of Life program. Review last years announcement.

Bristol Rotary Club signed on for the Thanksgiving Dinner Drive through the Liberty Bank Foundation. That means we tried to raise money to ensure that everyone in the community would have a bountiful Thanksgiving. The bank foundation matched our collection by 25 percent. The club teamed up with Meals for the Needy, a food pantry and soup kitchen serving Bristol for more than 30 years. Working together paid off, as the club was able to turn over a check for $13,223 to Meals for the Needy on Tuesday. In all, 29 Rotary clubs took part in the bank's Thanksgiving fundraiser and the Bristol club placed fifth in total raised. We're pleased and so is the food pantry, because the need is definitely there.

For the 23rd year in a row, golfers and sponsors showed up at Tunxis Plantation C.C. to support a plethora of community and charitable projects.

PRESENTATION OF OUR CARL REICHE AND KARL J. SCHWARTZ SCHOLARSHIPS

Be lucky like Past President Elmer and find the hat of your dreams May 17th at Bristol Eastern High School for the Second Annual Rotary Rummage Sale!

Daisy Minor, with escort Farmer Paul Minor, Joined our Club Tuesday Feb 5, 2007. Rotarian Gerry Murphy sneaks a kiss!  

Our most ambitious community project!