August 5, 2015
 
President Nick opened the meeting at 12:15 p.m. Joyce led the Pledge of Allegiance, Nick led the Four-Way Test and Larry gave the invocation.
 
GUESTS:
Paul Salva, Visiting Somers Rotarian
Owen Kinne, Joyce's grandson
Ben Lupien, Garden's Dream, Nick's guest
 
JOE'S HISTORY MYSTERY
August 5, 1864
The Battle of Mobile Bay took place and the phrase "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" may or may not have been said.
1. Who was the commander of the Union naval forces in this last major naval battle of the Civil War?
A: Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
2. What was the name of his flagship (to which he was lashed)?
A: The USS Hartford
3. What was the name of the Confederate ironclad that was captured and was later recommissioned as a Union warship?
A: The CSS Tennessee
 
QUEEN OF HEARTS
Ed—$10; Joe—4 of hearts; Scott—$5
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Cindy has Historic Enfield calendars being sold by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Contact her if you would like one.
- Paul Salva announced the upcoming "Great Escape Road Race" in Somers on Saturday, Sept. 19. Please help him publicize the race (sponsored as always by the Rotary Club of Somers) and by all means participate. (Paul was instrumental in helping us get Cinco K Mayo off the ground.)
- Mike announced that the Amber Alert at the Warehouse Point Library has been moved to Monday, August 24, from 4-7 p.m. Anyone wishing to assist should let Mike know. The event will be open to the public, so there may be more than the usual number of crumb crunchers.
- We received a Thank You note from the Manchester Rotary Club for our $2,500 donation to the Clean Water Project.
- President Nick reported on the outcome of our request for a District Grant to add a walking path and reading amphitheater to the area behind the library near the Accessible Playground. IT WAS APPROVED!!!! The District will match the money we raise for the project up to $1,500. Jeff Tingley and Ed Palomba have volunteered to lead a committee and are looking for Rotarians interested in assisting with this project.
 
PROGRAM
Two more of our newest members gave their "New Rotarian Talks."
Kathy Barron is Executive Director of the Network Against Domestic Abuse, a position she has held for the last eight years. With her previous experience on the Network's Board of Directors, her involvement totals 25 years. Her motto is "if there's a bad situation, turn it into something good."
 
Kathy has a Master's degree from Western New England University in Human Resource Management. She worked at a couple of aerospace manufacturing companies for 10+ years before coming to the Network. She's originally from Rockville and attended Ellington HS.
 
When asked what makes her lose sleep, she said it was funding for the Network. Because they have to provide all of their services at no cost, she has to depend on federal and state funding and fundraising. The Network's golf tournament and "Purple Event" provide much-needed income.
 
Mark October 30 on your calendars for this year's Purple Event, which will be held at the Hartford/Windsor Marriott on Day Hill Road. Joe's Fine Wine & Spirits will provide wine and beer and there will be plenty of good food and auction items. If you haven’t been to one of these events, you’re missing a wonderful evening that supports a worthy cause. Sponsors, raffle prize donors and attendees are invited to sign up to help. Chris Casey is helping organize the event; contact her for more information. 
 
Kathy enjoys golfing and especially traveling to St. Martin to enjoy the sun, sand and water. She always believes that there are better years ahead. "You can't change your age, so just move forward."
 
Our next speaker was undoubtedly impatient with having to wait nine months for his mother to deliver him. Mike McManus must have handed the obstetrician a business plan on the way out of the womb with an outline for his first 10 years. Once they were out of the way, he ramped things up to tackle the real world. He wasn’t old enough to have his own paper route, so he paid his sister to sign up for one that he could manage on his own. He made enough extra money to invest in the stock market – and this is before getting to middle school. He enjoyed woodworking class so much in middle school that he started making and selling tables and chairs. Then his interest shifted to landscaping and, before you know it, he had three and sometimes four people working for him.
 
He reluctantly gave up this business in order to go to college to study Construction Management. While in college, he also got interested in brewing his own beer. (What college student hasn’t thought along those lines?) When he graduated, he went to work for a large construction company, but it definitely wasn’t fulfilling. So he quit and turned his attention to opening his own microbrewery since his recipes seemed to be getting a very positive reception from friends and family.
 
Mike opened Powder Hollow Brewery in Enfield after many, many months of wading through applications and license requests that were hundreds of pages long. Not only did he put his design and construction expertise to work on the interior of the brewery, but he also designed and installed custom brewing equipment that passed all of the inspections with flying colors. He says that “waiting for approvals and licenses and inspections was one of the hardest parts of opening a business.”
 
Powder Hollow opened in November 2014 and now, less than one year later, Mike is looking at buying a bigger brewing system. More good news is that you can find Mike’s beer in more and more restaurants and bars, although Mike says “getting in” has been quite the uphill climb as well. Whatever you tell Mike McManus, make sure it’s not “you can’t do that.” He’ll definitely prove you wrong.
 
Extra notes from our previous New Rotarian Talks:
 
Eric Moody’s family owns Moody’s Diner in Walderboro, Maine. He worked there for many years before going to college. Eric has been with the Holiday Inn here in Enfield since 2009.
 
Jeff Tingley’s ancestors included the Pease brothers, who helped settle and establish Enfield. Jeff treats his employees at Sparkle Services and UniServe as his most important resource: he pays them 30 percent above the industry average and makes a point of personally handing out paychecks and saying “thank you” to every employee.
 
Thank you to all of our new members for these great introductions. We are very happy you’ve joined Rotary and know this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. We’ll hear from Adrian Garcia-Sega in September.
 
Mike Helechu, Guest Editor