Rotary Spoke

It was an overcast fall day of 70 degrees. The luncheon fare was Caesar salad, cold cuts, spaghetti and meatballs with cream tomato sauce, with cookies for dessert and a choice of beverages. There were 31 Rotarians, 1 visiting Rotarians and 2 guests to give a total of 34.

Raffle gifts were donated by Walpole Cooperative Bank , Busa Wine & Spirits, Arlex Oil, PP Bill C., PP Doug H.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by PP Don M., 1^st Verse of America was led by PSAA Charlie V., PDG Jack M. gave the invocation and the Welcome song was led by PP Dan O.

Fines and Happy Dollars: PP Jim S. eloquently advocated, against the table guest fine indicating that all 3 guests were sitting one table but to no avail. Ken W. provided happy dollars for climbing Mount Madison, elevation 5,367’, President Dave S. for his birthday, Diane P. for wedding anniversary, Julie P. for raising $6,500 for the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, PP Don M. for being married, PP Dan B.’s wife Jody’s 29^th (60^th) birthday celebrated on the Cape, PP Frank S. gave $5 for each week his daughter, Jade was at the Lexington Minuteman and not the Police Blotter, PP Jim S. for the Senior Citizen’s BBQ going so well with thanks going out to PP Jim F and Brookhaven for supplying the food and Meaghan M. for pick-up and delivery of same. PP Nick C. proposed a $5 fine on PP Dan B. for his snide (insightful) remarks. President Dave was fined for forgetting the Welcome song. PP Jim Shaw asked whether a milk carton missing person ad needs to be taken out for PP John O’.

The following announcements were made:

• President Dave reminded people September was 100% attendance month. People have 2 weeks from today to complete make-ups.

• President Dave will be sending an email out about “Friends Forever” event at the end of the month.

• Next week’s meeting will be at the Inn at Hastings Park, Lexington.

• PP Jim S thanked everyone for helping at the Senior Citizen’s BBQs. Special thanks went to PP Dave E. for working with the housing authority, Megan M. for transporting items back and forth from Brookhaven and PP Jim F. for donating the food.

• Steve M, plugged the Cash Raffle which will be on 14^th November, 6:30 pm. Bucket raffle items are needed. Tickets will be printed next week.

• Lexington will be hosting Burlington Rotary Club on 24^th November at Waxy O'Connor's.

• PP Dan B. suggested that both schools should be made aware that it is just the captains of the football teams who attend the Thanksgiving Meeting,

• Treasurer Donna mentioned that the quarterly bills will be going out; one cash raffle ticket will be included in the bill.

The 50/50 Raffle Winner was PP Bob O’ for an amount of $90.

Speaker today was Robert Steele, who served in the CIA, was a former Connecticut congressman, a nominee for governor of Connecticut and author of the 2012 novel “The Curse”. The novel’s plot is centered on the gambling seduction of a small New England town weaving a tale of greed, politics and town and tribal conflict; drawing upon facts from the gambling explosion that occurred in Connecticut in the 1990’s. Robert decided to write a fiction novel since it allowed him to come at the topic from a different angle from the existing non-fiction books on the market.

In 1988 Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. No one was aware of the Pandora's Box that it would open. State after state invited casinos in so to offset the raising of taxes. Today 39 states have casinos. More people go to casinos today the all the professional sports combined. Foxwoods (1992) and Mohegan Sun (1996) were the first casinos to open on the East Coast, creating 20,000 jobs and generating 100 million dollars per year for the State Treasury. Today there are 57 casinos in the 12 states of the North East, soon there will be 77. Because of the growing competition Connecticut has seen slot revenues decline which has led to layoff of employees and has cause some casinos to default on loans. Connecticut is suffering its worst financial crisis. In order to counteract this casinos are turning inwards to attract more local residents.

Casinos have created a pervasive gambling culture in Connecticut. There has been a 400% increase in arrests for embezzlement. In 1999 Congress became concerned and set-up a National Commission, which made recommendations.

Today casinos are a 63 billion dollar industry. They do more harm than good. They lead to addiction, debt, bankruptcy, and crime. New casinos are slot barns catering to the low and middle earners. Modern slot machines have transformed gambling; they have sophisticated computer programs which are designed to make people place repeated bets. Casinos represent a regressive tax.

On-line gambling has been legalized in Delaware and a couple of other states. Pressure is building to legalize on-line gambling elsewhere. Addiction experts are concerned.

Diane P.