By Ali Muldoon
The Rotary Club of Greenwich is a club that meets weekly at Greenwich Water Club for an afternoon filled with lunch and conversation. One of the goals of the club is “to keep one informed about what is going on in the community, nation, and world” as is stated on their website, explaining why the club often welcomes guest speakers to educate them on all sorts of business-related topics.
This week, the group welcomed Chris Moran, owner and manager of The Happy Coin in Cos Cob, to enlighten the rotarians on the intricacies of buying and selling coins and precious metals.
Moran, who is a member of The Rotary Club himself, started off by explaining how he operates his small business. During his speech, he discussed what types of collectables he sees most often, industry trends, and the most notable business interactions he has had in his time at The Happy Coin. Many were surprised to hear Chris say that “the vast majority of the collectable coin business takes place on Ebay.”
For professionals who spend so much time focussing on one field of practice, The Rotary Club meetings are a time for members to broaden their knowledge on all aspects of the business world. For example, all businesses were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but during the meeting Moran explained more specifically how his trade was impacted. He said that the store experienced an influx of phone calls from people who had luxury items they were looking to sell because “they were out of a job and didn’t want to sell their jewelry, or didn’t have jewelry to sell.”
Later, the members were given time during the meeting to ask questions and process all of the information they heard.
Not only is The Rotary Club about expanding members’ knowledge about the business world, but it is also about socializing and introducing similar-minded individuals into a subcommunity of Greenwich. In the Rotary Club’s 20 Reasons to Join Rotary, friendship is number one. At the beginning of every club meeting, they set aside a time for members to share the happiest parts of their week, whether it be a promotion at work or the pretty flowers they bought at the store.
The Rotary Club promotes personal growth through friendship and business development in addition to stimulating community growth. The club serves Greenwich in numerous ways both financially and through their community service in nursing homes and other areas of need.
When talking to member Marcia Preston, it was clear that she takes pride in her membership to such a prestigious club. She explained that it is an international organization that has been around since 1905, and as explained in 20 Reasons to Join Rotary, “It is a cross section of the world’s most prominent citizens from every background.”
The Rotary Club is always looking to add new members, so if any of this is of interest to you, find more information on their website greenwichrotary.org.
