MARCH 2021 - ISSUE 260 the Hartford Pond

Honorable Order of the Blue Goose, Int’l MARCH 2021 - ISSUE 260 The Hartford Pond

Hartford Ponderings

Kevin Brady’s MLG Memo

Inside Issue 260 Fellow Ganders,

KEVIN BRADY’S MLG MEMO Even though the Pond has suspended ED CALLO’S “WORD FROM THE WIELDER” physical meetings for well over a year, it’s been a very busy time for us. 2020/2021 CONVENTION SAGA On December 12th we hosted a fun event by combining CONVENTION COUNTDOWN: one of our December traditions and adapting it for DAYS OF FELLOWSHIP - OUR TWO DAY COVID. We held a drive by Ugly Sweater Contest and Gift Card collection to benefit the Prudence Crandall TENTATIVE AGENDA Center. I’d like to thank all of the Hartford Ganders CHEF ROB’S DINNER MENU who swung by my house to donate cash and gift cards for the PCC. And let’s give a Tip of the Goose Feather THANKING OUR CORPORATE SPONSORS to Dan Rich who was victorious in the Ugly Sweater THANKING OUR INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS Department.

DECEMBER GIFT CARD COLLECTION On February 24th I was honored to participate in an FEBRUARY VIRTUAL INITIATIONS! Eastern Region Meeting and Virtual Initiation. I read the MLG lines from the initiation ritual and was part of A PAIR OF MARCH FOOD COLLETIONS the team that added thirteen new Ganders to the Penn, NYC, Bay State and Hartford Ponds. A VIRTUAL ALL INDUSTRY BY ZOOM Just a few days ago, we held a Drive By Food OCEAN STATE PUDDLE -NEWS Collection to benefit the CT Food Bank and Foodshare and what was so encouraging about it was the way our

members worked together to set up two collection Next Newsletter around SUMMER 2021 po ints – upstate in West Hartford at Paula Pelletier’s House and downstate in Fairfield at the offices of Shoff Darby Insurance and Fairfield County Real Estate. The

event was sponsored by Crystal Restoration through the efforts of Jean Walker and Mea Anderson. Thank you

Crystal, and Ron and Cristine Kern of ERS for trucking The Hartford Pond all of the c ollected food to their destinations. chartered July 1954 bluegoosehartfordpond.com Next month we’ll partner with the NECEA for a virtual Officers Roster 2020-2021 All Industry Event on April13 in support of our long- Most Loyal Gander time charity - the Arthur C. Luf Children’s Burn’s Kevin Brady - 860 416 7848 Camp. [email protected] Supervisor of the Flock As a member of the Convention Committee we’ve all Ron Kern -860 999 1014 [email protected] been super busy planning three and cancelling two conventions. We have a fabulous event planned for you Custodian of the Goslings Lorin Falvo 203-823-1564 in July and you should hear a lot more about it very [email protected] soon.

Guardian of the Pond OPEN We are hopeful to be able to organize our first live meeting in quite a while in May. We’re monitoring the Keeper of the Golden Goose Egg & situation and local directives, so there is “more to Golf Chairman, GNB Bob Partridge, PMLG - 860 951 6387 come ” as soon as we know more. [email protected] Wielder of the Goose Quill So, th ere you have it . E ven though we haven ’ t been Ed Callo - 203 261 0056 together in the same room for a while, that doesn’t [email protected] me an the Pond hasn ’ t been busy supporting our Scholarships & Charity charities and keeping you all engaged in our work. Wendy Hubbard, PMLG 857-305-1909 [email protected] Best Regards, om Pond Chaplain Kevin Brady, Most Loyal Gander Craig Sikora [email protected] 203 619 3742

Pond Webmaster, GNB Kevin Brady - 860 416 7848 [email protected] A Word from the Wielder, by Ed Callo

Hartford Ponderings Editor / Pond Historian The Final Notices for dues went Most Loyal Grand Gander Dan Rich - 860 841 7833 out the beginning of March. The [email protected] Hartford Pond/Ocean State Puddle Australian Gander-At-Large still has 36 Ganders who have not Leo Fluitsma paid their dues so far. But [email protected] considering the past year that is not Remembering our Past Most Loyal too bad. For those that have not Grand Ganders & GN Historians paid please consider it, the Pond is still going strong Jerry Hale, PMLGG 2004 – 2005 even without regular meetings and we could use your Gordon Crowther, PMLGG 1975-76 support. If you are unsure if you have paid your dues feel free to reach out to me to check. There are still 5

Ganders who have not paid for the past 3 years and they will be dropped by the end of the month as I have tried to contact each of them a number of times with no response.

The Hartford Pond currently has 137 members in the roster as we initiated a number of new Ganders. Read all about them elsewhere in this issue. Of the total, 13 are Ocean State Puddle members (including 4 Goslings). There are 9 total goslings. There are 5 Goslings for the Hartford Pond and 4 for the Ocean State Puddle, leaving us with 128 full Ganders (up 2 from my last report). Fourteen of our Ganders are Life members giving us 114 dues paying members. Of those, 36 still haven’t paid their dues for this year. All of the above stats include our Dual members.

The Long Strange Trip of how the 2020 Convention became the 2021 Convention and finally the 2021 Days of Fellowship

“Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime Lately, it occurs to me What a long, strange trip it's been”

(Jerry Garcia; Bob Weir; Phil Lesh)

The history of how the Hartford Convention took a long strange trip and shape-shifted from 2020 to 2021 and then into a Days of Fellowship is a saga that unfurled over six years of planning starts, a stop, a second start, a second stop, and an eventual reimagination.

Our convention committee started planning the 2020 convention in 2015, when I succeeded the National Capital Pond’s Bill Olson as a Grand Nest Officer for the Eastern Region. As 2015 slowly gave way to the years that followed, our team assembled an ambitious fun filled convention for 175- 200 Ganders and guests to be held at the Hartford Marriott in July 2020. A 60’s themed Welcome Party, live performances of the national anthems, remarks from Jim Calhoun, a golf tournament, a dinner cruise with a steel drum band, a trip to a vineyard, ballroom dancing with

mimosas, a magician, a spouse program, a children’s program, a gala Banquet and Ball, a registration website, and corporate and individual sponsors were all set and ready to go. Decorations and goodie bags were ready. We were just four months away.

And then came along March 2020 and we all learned a new word – “Coronavirus”. As the virus spread, we started to see Blue Goose events cancelled on both sides of the border. We were first optimistic that things would be fine by the summer, but that turned out to be wishful thinking and we had to postpone the July 2020 convention and reschedule it for the following year.

That involved a lot of moving parts, as Blue Goose needed to move the Grapevine, TX Convention from 2021 to 2022 and the Whistler, BC Convention from 2022 to 2023. This required a lot of behind the scenes work, but we got all of our geese in a row and were thrilled to see all of the dominoes successfully fall into place.

We had to reschedule every single speaker, performer, and activity to move from 2020 to 2021, and miraculously we were able to do just that.

But as we entered late 2020 and early 2021, the public health picture was still bleak, and it was becoming clear that our vision of a large “conventional” convention at the Hartford Marriott for 175 people just wasn’t in the cards for a second consecutive year. So, we cancelled our Marriott contract as well as all our contracts with Tunxis Country Club for golf, two restaurants, two bands, a magician, Coach Calhoun, a dinner cruise, and a transportation company.

And now we’ve planned a third version of our summer get-together, albeit a slimmed down and very different version. It will be a two-day affair held live in Glastonbury with live streaming available to any member that would like to be a part of this historic event.

Some of the event will be familiar to you Convention veterans -you’ll see the delegate voting for, and the installation of the officers, charity presentations and an activity, and the Memorial Service. Some of the event will have a different look, like an afternoon visit to a winery and an outdoor socially distanced dinner.

None of this would have been possible without the best and hardest working Convention Committee in the 215 years of Blue Goose history. Thank you, Mark Angiletta, Kevin Brady, Jon Hale, Wendy Hubbard, Lisa Kane, Lori Kovanda, Bill Mullen, Bob Partridge, Paula Pelletier, Sue Rich, and Meeting Planner Extraordinaire Cheryl McShane.

I also want to thank my colleagues on the Grand Nest for their support, advice, understanding, flexibility and most of all, their friendship.

Dan Rich, Most Loyal Grand Gander

Blue Goose Days of Fellowship Agenda (Times are tentative and subject to change)

Sunday July 25, 2021 -Split Session 11:00 -1:00 and 2:00 - 4:00

8:00 am to 11:00 Hotel Breakfast Meeting Room Opens a) ALL OF TODAY’S SESSIONS WILL BE LIVE STREAMED b) AV TEAM ON SITE TO RECORD THE PROCEEDINGS TO BE EDITED INTO A PROFESSIONALLY PRODUCED HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

Welcoming Remarks -Dan Rich MLGG 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Invocation by Hartford Pond Chaplain Craig Sikora National Anthems (Live or Recorded) Delegate Roll Call Officer nominating speeches, second & close by acclimation Delegate Vote Installation Ceremony Memorial Service -Bay State Pond 1:00 am to 2:00 pm Hotel Lunch

Charity Speaker -Arthur C. Luf Children’s Burn Camp and check 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm presentation Charity Committee Presentation Dan Rich -Reflections on 2 Years in Office MLGG Linda Meik Address of Acceptance GGN Wendy Hubbard Address of Acceptance Kevin Brady- Raffle Drawing

6:00 pm -8:00 pm Group Dinner -Walk to Maggie McFly’s

Meeting Room Reception 8:00

Monday July 26, 2021 Hotel Breakfast 9:00 am Interactive Charity Event – “Fill the Backpacks” Remarks by Carolyn Jasper -Prudence Crandall Center 8:00 am to 3:30 pm Morning and early afternoon Free Optional Golf

Lunch On Your Own

NO LIVE STREAM - AV TEAM ON SITE TO RECORD THE PROCEEDINGS TO BE EDITED INTO A PROFESSIONALLY PRODUCED HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

4:00 Vineyard Tour

3:30 pm Bus leaves hotel 5:00 Wine and Cheese Reception for Priam Vineyards - 6:00 Wine Dinner with Chef Rob Maffucci Colchester, CT 8:00 Bus Returns to Glastonbury

Save the date for Days of Fellowship on

Sunday July 25 and Monday July 26.

Election of Grand Nest Officers, meeting events, group lunch and dinner on Sunday

in Glastonbury at hotel TBD.

Monday will start off with an interactive charity event as we fill 60 backpacks with

school supplies for the Prudence Crandall Center. Later that day, we’ll bus to Priam Vineyards in Colchester for a Day of

Fellowship. End the day with Four Course Wine Pairing Gourmet Dinner

Watch Soon for Registration News

FOUR COURSE WINE DINNER AT PRIAM VINEYARDS WITH CHEF ROB MAFFUCCI OF V's Rolling Stone LLC

Salad Arugula salad with smoked salmon, fresh fennel and goat cheese croquette

Appetizer Giant scallop on pork belly confit

Entree Choice of Rack of Lamb or Grilled Swordfish with Salsa Verde, both with Seasonal grilled vegetables

Dessert Lemon tart

Vegetarian Dinner Option

Salad Caprese salad, heirloom tomato, fresh mozzarella fig, with balsamic vinegar and fresh basil

Appetizer Roman style artichoke - Long stem artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese with roasted tomato butter

Entree Vegetable Ratatouille-Summer vegetable medley and the fresh tomato Ragu

Dessert Lemon tart

Many thanks to our Corporate Sponsors for their unwavering support.

CONSTITUTION LEVEL - $10,000 DND Construction Services The Bay State Pond, Blue Goose, International

HARTFORD LEVEL - $5,000 Who wants to be our first? Be a trendsetter!

NEW HAVEN LEVEL - $2,500 Envista Forensics Sedgwick J.S. Held, LLC. Young & Associates Sloane and Walsh, LLP

NUTMEG LEVEL -$1,000 United Cleaning and Restoration Bulova’s Restoration Dunn Rite Construction Rice Corporate Services, (Temporary Housing) EDP Adjusting, LLC Sabel Adjusters, LLC Sal’s Clothing Restoration Associated Design Partners, Inc. First General Services of Hartford & Eastern Connecticut Crystal Restoration Services Of CT ServiceMaster Restoration By Wills Disaster Restoration Services Robert James Restoration, LLC Warren Forensic Engineers and Consultants

Thank you, Juliana Kulak for your amazing convention logos

You can also help us by becoming an individual sponsor, so jump on the party bus as it rolls across the countryside to pick up Ganders across North America. Please join us as we swing by your zip code or postal code and add your name to the guest list as we wind our way closer to our “Days of Fellowship” Climb aboard and be named a "Party Bus Passenger" by making an individual donation to support us. Your $220 donation will get you a convention keepsake, and the first 50 passengers will also receive a bonus gift! Many thanks to all on board. What a cool passenger list! You can score a seat on the bus by registering at

https://hartfordpond.wufoo.com/forms/x9a7d7d08pg34p/

If you would like to explore our individual sponsorship opportunities, you can learn more at https://hartfordpond.wufoo.com/forms/x9a7d7d08pg34p/

December Drive-By Collection for the Prudence Crandall Center

COVID-19 was powerless to prevent the Hartford Pond from supporting our long-time charity, the Prudence Crandall Center, Inc.

In lieu of our Holiday Party, we held a drive-in collection of gift cards and cash for their benefit. Mega props go to MLG Kevin Brady for setting up this spiffy collection point, decked out with a tent, a firepit, and a cooler full of refreshments or hot coffee on this chilly day.

Several of Kevin's neighbors dropped by out of curiosity and tossed some cash into the basket. We wanted our late friend and mentor Jerry Hale to be a part of the Character, Charity and Fellowship, so his smiling image was there to remind us of why all of us do what we do across Canada and the U.S.

A special shout-out goes to Linda Maffucci Brady for hand crafting our Super Goose's Coronavirus mask and to all of you for participating.

After we converted the cash and checks into gift cards, we were able to donate a total of $925 in gift cards to Walmart, Stop and Shop, Shop Rite, Target and Visa.

December 9-12, 2020 Collection for PCC

Blue Goose Eastern Region Holds Virtual Initiations

On February 24th, twenty-three Ganders from across the U.S. and Canada joined an Eastern Region Zoom meeting highlighted by the initiation of thirteen new Ganders from the Penn, NYC, Bay State and Hartford Ponds.

The MLGs and Wielders of those four Ponds worked together to identify our uninitiated goslings, a meeting date was set, initiation parts were assigned, and the goslings were invited.

Hartford Pond MLG Kevin Brady was the driving force behind the event, and after he introduced himself, he welcomed Grand Nest Officers MLGG Dan Rich, GSOF Linda Meik, and GNH John Bishop.

We played the Charity presentation from the Edmonton Convention to reinforce the importance of charity to our new Ganders.

We asked the Goslings to wear hats so we could identify them easier and we saw a fine display of wing flapping during the initiation.

The initiation ceremony saw Kevin Brady handle the MLG role, Penn Pond MLG Frank Marx read the Admonition, MLGG Dan Rich read the Charge, and Hartford Wielder Ed Callo wrapped up the presentation and adlibbed that we’ll be mailing out the membership pins.

Thank you all to everyone that participated. It was a terrific evening.

March 27th Drive-By Food Collection to Feed the Hungry Just as FoodShare and the CT Food Bank joined forces to feed the hungry, so did our upstate and downstate Hartford Pond Ganders.

We held a two-pronged attack on hunger with a simultaneous collection of non-perishable food donations in two locations.

Location # 1 was at Paula Pelletier’s house in West Hartford where Paula welcomed Kevin Brady, Ron and Cristine Kern, Bob Partridge, and Dan and Sue Rich. We had a great time enjoying each other’s company and chatting with each other and Paula’s generous friends and neighbors who came by to support the cause. Many thanks to the Kerns who offered their ERT-ARS truck to haul away the donations to FoodShare in Bloomfield. Location # 2 – was in Fairfield, CT and was sponsored by CRYSTAL RESTORATION SERVICES OF CT, who partnered with Shoff Darby Insurance and Fairfield County Real Estate. The CRYSTAL truck was packed to the rafters with a mountain of canned goods and boxes. We are so grateful to Mea Anderson and Jean Walker who put together quite a network and team to support the collection. Thank you Shoff Darby Insurance, Terry Keegan of Fairfield County Real Estate for letting us use his parking lot and for his very generous donation, The Waterbury Association of Insurance Professionals (WAIP) Crystal Restoration Services of CT for providing the van, Carlos and Maribelle for sorting and loading the donations, and so many of you who supported the downstate collection by dropping off food at Shoff Darby or Crystal. The upstate collection netted 320 pounds of food, and although the downstate collection didn’t give us a report, we suspect their yield was at least double. So, it’s very likely that through all of your efforts, we donated half a ton of food! THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Virtual All Industry Set For April 13th

The Hartford Pond & New England Claim Executives Association invite you to a Fundraiser to benefit The Arthur C. Luf Children’s Burn Camp for kids ages 8 to 18 from around the world who have survived life-altering burn injuries.

For many years, the Hartford Pond’s All Industry Night was held to benefit the Arthur C. Luf Children’s Burn Camp. Watch this inspirational video about the Camp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhmt0BD7_qg

The Camp gives children who have suffered catastrophic burn injuries the opportunity to gather with others similarly afflicted in a summer camp environment to share experiences and gain support from each other.

Unfortunately COVID has made holding the All Industry impossible. Instead, Blue Goose and the NECEA have invited Ms. Kathlene Garrity, Director of the CT Burns Foundation to be our guest speaker at an April 13 ZOOM meeting (6:00 PM EST).

We hope you can join us and make a donation to the camp. If you can attend and/or would like to make a donation please visit us at https://lnkd.in/gDKTvAH. If you will be attending, we'll send you a link for the ZOOM meeting. Charities have been hard hit by COVID, fundraising events are way off, and their costs continue.

Thanks for your support, Here's some photos from our 2019 All Industry

Ocean State Puddle News

Board Members Needed !

When COVID-19 becomes a thing of the past, the Puddle will be looking for a return to its Glory Days. Do you remember the Puddle’s September 16, 2015 Golf Tournament at the Cranston Country Club?

It was a huge success and was the Puddle’s high-water mark. We had 73 golfers, 83 diners, and 18 sponsors. Golf Chair Tracy Cale, and her Committee members Jade Lupinacci and Brendan Smith did a great job planning all of the details that culminated in what may have been the greatest day in the history of the Ocean State Puddle.

Tracy has left the insurance industry, and her position as the Puddle’s Golf Chair has been open for quite some time.

We also have some openings for the other officer slots, and we really need a few folks to raise their hands and step forward.

So if you have any experience running a golf outing or leading an organization, the Puddle really needs your help and your leadership to keep the Puddle going. Please contact any puddle Officer to volunteer.

Ocean State Puddle Officers 2020-2021

Custodian - OPEN Loyal Gander Eric Guilmette Supervisor Beth Markowski-Roop

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Wielder Susanne Hubbard Golf Chair OPEN Guardian -OPEN

Please mail this application to Dan Rich at 25 Minister Brook Drive, Simsbury, CT 06070

Most Loyal Ganders of the Hartford Pond

1954-55 C W Chapplear 1987-88 John Fisher 1955-56 Joseph Sorge 1988-89 George Schultz 1956-57 Lewis Geis 1989-90 Donald Garrigan 1957-58 Andrew Carlin 1990-91 Donald Garrigan 1958-59 William Davis 1991-92 Robert Harris 1959-60 Gordon Crowther 1992-93 Ronald Pizzano 1960-61 C. Wallace Bailey 1993-94 Gerald Hale 1961-62 G. S. Tompkins, Jr. 1994-95 Kristine Russo 1962-63 Harold Porter 1995-96 Kim Gleason 1963-64 John "Jack" Ellen 1996-97 Daniel Rich 1964-65 Robert Bordeaux 1997-98 Lisa Mullen 1965-66 William Coughlin, Jr. 1998-99 Robert Partridge 1966-67 Richard Adams 1999-00 Christine Ouellette 1967-68 Arthur Jacobs Daniel Rich 1968-69 Craig Heston 2000-01 Kevin Prast 1969-70 John McCoy Robert Partridge 1970-71 J. Paul Harris 2001-02 Paul Plouffe 1971-72 Frederick Peck 2002-03 Leo Bowler . Robert Uricchio 2003-04 Robert Partridge 1972-73 Kenneth Lynch 2004-05 Geoff Graham 1973-74 Ray Hitchcock 2005-06 Lori Kovanda 1974-75 Ray Hitchcock 2006-07 Paula Pelletier 1975-76 Paul Goyette 2007-08 Wendy Hubbard 1976-77 Bradley Barna 2008-09 Kimberly Albert 1977-78 Robert Gannon 2009-10 Edward Phinney 1978-79 John Bartick 2010-11 Jim Gustin 1979-80 L. Ray Labbe 2011-12 Jonathan Hale 1980-81 Ballard May 2012-13 Jonathan Hale 1981-82 Ronald Pizzano 2013-14 Greg Buonocore 1982-83 William O’Neill 2014-15 Kimberly Latka 1983-84 William Dillon 2015-16 Craig Sikora 1984-85 Elbert Henderson 2016-17 Cathy Finlayson 1985-86 Daniel Flynn 2017-18 John Mastroiani 1986-87 John Fisher 2018-19 Cristine Kern 2019-2020 Allyson Kataja

If you want to become a new advertiser, please call for rates. Business card = 1/8th page

Quarter-page Half-page

Full-page Contact Dan Rich for details

860 841 7833 [email protected]

COURTESY OF BILL MULLEN, IN LOVING MEMORY OF LISA MULLEN AND HER DEVOTION TO THE CHARITABLE PURSUITS AND SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS OF THE HARTFORD POND AND THE HONORABLE ORDER OF THE BLUE GOOSE