Rotary Log: June 28, 2012 (change of the guard)

Change of the Guard and all things Greek.  Today we celebrated the time honored Rotary Club change-of-the-guard event.  As luck would have it, we transitioned from one president to another, both of which share a Greek heritage.  The bounty of Greek flags made sure we all knew.  I’m sure we all enjoyed the Greek fare including the Pork, the “other Greek meat”—who knew?

In staying true to the Greek theme, Reverend Allen reminded us to beware Greeks bearing presents; Saint Anthony found out the hard way and lost his head in the process—literally.  Thanks Reverend for the sage advice.

Now-former President Tony introduced us to his family including his wife Patty, children, brother and mother.  He gave a moving tribute to his late father as well.  A particular note of gratitude was given to his wife for the sacrifices she made as the spouse of a Rotary club president.  Further thanks were given to the executive committee (Nancy, Dave and Patricia) as well as the unheralded many—the silent helpers—who do so much without any formal direction that “things just happen” as aptly stated by Tony.  In parting, Tony answered two questions always posed to Rotary club presidents.  First, what is it like to be President?  Answer: “men envy me and women crave me.”  Who says Rotary club presidents can’t daydream?  Second, are you glad you did it?  Answer:  “in a word, yes”.  Enough said.   We would be remiss not giving many thanks to Tony for a very enjoyable Rotary year, a sentiment surely held by all.

Nancy followed by introducing her family and identifying the new officers and board members for the coming year.  Mention was made about how the club is 90 years old and that women first were allowed to join 20 years ago—sweet progress.  Tony was then given the traditional Rotary parting gift.

Now for the fun stuff—after a barber shop quartet parody of the song Amoré to serenade Tony, fine masters Neil and Butch issued a number of “Tony” awards.  Before getting to the awards, we were all stymied by this unanswered riddle, “what is the difference between an epileptic oyster shucker and a prostitute with diarrhea?”  This one will go unanswered.

Carl Brage won the “Tony the Terminator” award.  John Lyons won the “No-Show” award.  Rick Page won the “Longest at the Mike” award.  The “Biggest Loser Table” award went to none other than Walter Liff’s table.  Mort Schmidt won the “Funniest Rotarian” award.  The “Snow and Ice Management” award when to Justin Gamester.  Bill Hurley won the “Longest Running Member of the Board Who Has Not Been President.”  And the Biggest Challenge to the Four Way Test” award went to all the attorneys in the club.  Bob Field graciously accepted on behalf of that most August group.  Each award recipient received a plaque with a vial of dirt from the Paul Harris Memorial Building in Wallingford, Vermont.  These should be big sellers on eBay. 

Maureen Sullivan continued the festivities by giving us a snap shot of Tony’s tenure as President with a series of poster boards bearing reminisces in . . . wait for it . . . Greek.   And it truly was Greek to all of us.  Nancy provided her best translation to help us along.  Tony kicked in his two cents as well.  That was followed by a retrospective of annual club events that were dropped in the past year about as quickly as the Greek economy.  We gave a fond farewell to the Chicken Barbecue and the Polar Swim among others.

Next came the formal president walk-out—Greek mafia style.  Butch, John Lyons, John Pappas and Mo Sullivan headed the procession all the way to the …………………… Moose.  How can you tell the difference between a Greek moose and a Canadian moose?  I don’t know, better ask Neil, but I bet it has something to do with pork.

Cliff Taylor won the 50-50 raffle and there was no match.