October 9, 2026/ Volume 39, No. 11
 

Christy Charise 

 Founding Partner and Chief Growth Officer

Saugatuck Financial 

 

 

Christy grew up in a small town in upstate NY where her parents were small business owners and she served as the New York State President of the FFA her senior year in high school.  After attending Cornell, she started her career at Goldman Sachs in their Fixed Income Division, leaving to pursue her MBA.

 

She was selected as one of 26 Park Leadership Fellows in her business school class, in recognition of professional and academic excellence, dedication to community service and demonstrated leadership.

 

After completing her MBA, Christy joined Bain & Co. as a strategy consultant in their New York office.  She spent time in both the general practice and their private equity group and later joined CT-based boutique consultancy Casey Quirk to focus exclusively on strategy work for public and private asset managers and hedge funds.

 

Christy co-founded Saugatuck Financial with her husband in 2009 and has led the growth, marketing and charitable initiatives of the practice as well as having served as COO for well over a decade.  She continues to lead various aspects of the practice including business development, marketing, and strategic initiatives and runs her own consulting for other financial advisors nationwide.  Her community involvement is extensive, from serving on the Board of Directors for the Westport Library and on the CT Planning Committee for Catch a Lift, to being the Assistant Scout Master for Westport Scout Troop 139.  She was the recipient of Northwestern Mutual’s Most Distinguished Community Service Volunteer Award in 2025 for her work with Catch A Lift.

 

Christy holds a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell. She loves living in Westport with her husband and two children, Austin and Ashley. Aside from spending time with family and friends, Christy loves traveling, cooking, and a good cup of coffee.

 

 

MEETING LOCATION

 

GREEN'S FARMS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

71 Hillandale Rd

Westport

 

CAN’T BE THERE? JOIN VIA ZOOM

 

ZOOM LINK - CLICK HERE

Come for coffee and breakfast at 7:00am. 

The meeting will start at 7:30am.  

Meeting Opener: Bruce Paul

Greeters: Bruce Paul and Joe Quinn

VENMO SUSTAINING MEMBER

($100 annual)

@Joseph-Renzulli-1

The Club Calendar is at the end of this newsletter. Please refer to it to see the meeting schedule, social events and more. It will be updated when speakers and events are added.



The updated Greeters and Openers schedule is also near the end of the newsletter, so please check to see if you are on there!

Friday Meeting - October 2

Dominic Carter - Award Winning

International Journalist, Author and 

WABC Radio Talk Show Host

   

Dominic Carter shared his story of overcoming adversity and the challenges he faced along the way. He spoke with gratitude about the support he received and the important role that service organizations like Rotary can play in helping people through difficult times. He was joined by his wife Marilyn and his son, Dominic Jnr.

======================================================

Joe Scordato opened the meeting and shared Australian slang since he returned from a wonderful trip to Australia

Theresa Green won the raffle

Joe and Alma are the greeters

 

 

Sunrise Rotarians marketing for the Westport Uncorked at the Slice of Saugatuck  

Eric Freeman, President of A Better Chance in Westport (one of our grant recipients) 

 

Roger Leifer is one of the The Great Duck Race and Wine Tasting donors.   

League of Women Voters at Westport have an upcoming candidate debate on October 13 at the Westport Town Hall 

GILLESPIE CENTER COOKING / SERVING SCHEDULE

 

One of our club’s ongoing and rewarding commitments to community service is our commitment to serving dinner meals on the first Saturday of each month at the Gillespie Center here in Westport.   

 

We are back to serving meals at the newly renovated Gillespie Center. We have the option to drop off prepared meals at 4:30 PM or to bring meals to serve in person at 4:40 PM (allow extra time if the meals need to be reheated). Meal service should include a main dish, side dish, vegetable, and dessert (no nuts or shellfish please). The number of meals to provide, currently 25, will be confirmed to you to in advance when it is your turn to serve.

 

If you choose to drop off prepared meals at 4:30 PM you have the option to prepare homemade meals, purchase prepared meals at the store/restaurant of your choice, or you can contact Fresh Market on the Post Road in Westport where you can purchase prepared meals (protein, two sides and cookies for $7 - $10 per meal). If you choose the Fresh Market option call Tory at 203 227-2910 on the Monday prior to your meal service to place your order. You can pay for the meals when you pick them up.

 

If you are unable to work on your assigned Saturday you will be responsible to call other Rotarians on the list to switch dates.

 

Thank you for your service,

Bruce Fritz

bufritz@gmail.com

203-247-1099

 

Meal Servers Schedule

October 3, 2026 Anil Nair, Katie Augustyn providing meals

Alma Sarelli, Rob Hauck serving meals

November 7, 2026 George Mausumian, Ken Bernhard

December 5, 2026 Luisa Fairborne, Bob Galan

 

Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Steve Violette
October 13
 
Join Date
Bob Galan
October 15, 1997
29 years
 
Jen Tooker Tooker
October 15, 2011
15 years
 
Paul Keblish
October 16, 2020
6 years
 
Bruce Paul
October 23, 2015
11 years
 

MEETING OPENERS SCHEDULE           

 

October        2   Scordato

                     9    Paul

                    16   Engelke

                    23   Monroy-Smith

 

November    6   Zielinski

                    13   Jaffe

                    20   Holtz

 

December    4  Chin

                   11   L. Wong

                   18  Wetmore

 

GREETERS SCHEDULE

 

October         Paul; Quinn

November     Haberstroh; Sarelli

December     Robinson; Mullen

 

 

2026

 

October

2: Dominic Carter, Radio WABC Host

9: Christy Charise, Saugatuck Financial

16: Bradley A. Dancer, WSHU Public Radio

23: New Member Bios

31: No meeting

 

 

                

President: Jim Ezzes

Immediate Past President: Mark Soboslai

President Elect: Joe Scordato

Treasurer: Katie Augustyn

Secretary: Yvonne Senturia

At Large Members: Ted Freedman, Aimee Monroy-Smith, Mukesh Kumar

Committee Chairs:

Charitable Giving: Yvonne Senturia

Youth Services: Thomas Engelke

Membership: Liz Wong

Fellowship/Social: Alma Sarelli

Fundraising: Bruce Paul

International: Ken Bernhard

Hands On: Rob Hauck, Bruce Fritz

Sunshine: George Masumian

Speakers: Steven Chin

Peace: Dennis Wong
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