After President Rosemarie rang the bell, we launched into a spirited rendition of “God Bless America.” Peg Talburtt then provided a Thanksgiving inspiration. She said that even though the first thing that comes to her mind when Thanksgiving is mentioned, is “eat, eat, eat,” there’s much more to the holiday. She treated us to a short history of Thanksgiving, and read to us an excerpt from Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation. This proclamation was delivered on October 3, 1963, in the middle of the Civil War, and its intent was to unify the nation during a terrible time.

Next up, Don Duquette, this week’s song leader joked that the Rotary Song Book (aka “the hymnal”) was short on sports-related songs. Even so, he managed to find “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” then asked us to imagine we lived in New Orleans as we sang, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Guests were then introduced and birthdays announced, but then a more somber announcement was made: the passing of Chuck Ritter. Chuck joined the Club in 2008 and was well-liked by all. We all stood for a moment of silence on his behalf.

When we returned to our seats, we learned of two ways that our club is helping kids succeed. First, we heard from two recipients of our “Service Above Self” scholarships, Michael Kelly and Ali Kurmasha. Michael currently has a 3.87 GPA and is pursuing a course in radiology. Ali has a 4.0 GPA. His career goal is to become a dentist. We can certainly feel good about helping these young men succeed.

We also heard from Madison (Madi) Vorva. Madi is the young woman who got the Girl Scouts to use only “sustainable” palm oil in their cookies while still in high school. After completing her undergraduate studies, she was awarded a Rotary Global Grant (partially funded by our club) to study environmental issues at Darwin College in Cambridge. Via video, she updated us on her studies and her work.

Ken Fischer then introduced his good friend, composer Dave Barrett, composer of the theme song of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, “One Shining Moment.” Dave told us the remarkable story of how he came to write this song, and of how it came to be, as the Wall Street Journal wrote, “arguably the most famous song in sports.”

He wrote the song while living in the hamlet of Hazlet, MI. Although reluctant at first do anything with the song, he eventually sent it to his high school friend, Armen Keteyian, who lived in New York was was a writer for Sports Illustrated. Armen, in turn, sent it to CBS Sports Creative Director Doug Towey.

Towey first chose the song to be played after Super Bowl XXI, but the game ran long and it never got aired. CBS then asked Barrett if they could use the song after the 1987 NCAA championship game. Barrett, of course, agreed, and the rest is history. Barrett is rightfully proud of the inspiration it has provided to young athletes for more than 30 years now.