Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
January 11, 2018
Members Attending (17): Roberto Martinez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Dick Drumm, Jim Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Ray Hannan, Terry Brewer, Dean Calamaras, Becky Raymond, Geoff Brewer, Julius Frankel, A.J. Amato, Charlie Foote.
Guests: None.
BUSINESS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
WELCOME — President Roberto Martinez welcomed members to the first dinner meeting of 2018. He also thanked A.J. Amato for the strong stock market. And, he noted that April and Bill Dowd have been ill for several weeks.
NEW PRESIDENT-ELECT — Andy Leyhane has been unanimously voted President-elect for 2018-19 by the SRC Board. Andy, who will succeed co-PE’s Jim Butterworth and Ron Annis who resigned the post, has been serving on the Board as an At-Large member. In addition, we are looking for candidates for Vice President and Secretary for the 2018-19 Rotary Year. Please see Roberto ASAP if interested.
PEACE SUMMIT — Communication from District Governor Fred Daniels reported that more than 50 high school students from throughout the region participated in the Peace Summit for Youth held in Mechanicville on November 16. The District hopes to make this an annual event, with the next such session in the spring of 2019. It also will be expanded to offer participation from Interact and Rotaract clubs within the District.
ROTARACT UPDATE — John G. Justino, director of the Center for Global Health at the University at Albany School of Public Health, is SRC’s newest member. John also will serve as faculty advisor to the new Rotaract club recently formed at the school. Debbie Rodriguez, one of our club liaison people with the Rotaract club, reported that the new club has 15 members, has elected officers, and will next meet on Monday, January 22. They are planning a Valentine’s Day event at the Greenbush YMCA, and they have expressed interest in participating in SRC’s annual “Bowling for Vets” fundraiser, which probably will be held in March. They also invited SRC to participate in a Thursday, March 22, event at the School of Public Health. Thus, SRC’s normal dinner meeting scheduled for that date will be held at the School.
ROSE PARADE — The Rotary International float in the Rose Parade held in California on New Year’s Day won the Princess Award. Go here for details on the project.
FUNDRAISING RESULTS — The club realized $625 from the gift basket silent auction portion of the annual Holiday Party, hosted by Murray and Maggie Forth. The funds go to the general treasury to support various programs. … And, we realized $3,980 for our scholarships program as a result of our second sold-out Communty Celebration dinner at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant.
POLAR BEAR FREEZOUT — The annual Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser in Lake George was cancelled this year due to severely cold weather and concerns over health and safety.
BAG SALES — The branded cooler tote bags have arrived. They are available to members and others at $10 per bag, with $5 of that going to the club treasury. A District Public Relations Grant of $250 has been secured to help offset the cost of the initial purchase of bags. A bag will be given to each guest speaker.
ROTARY HOME COOKING — The annual series of member-hosted events will begin on Saturday, January 27, at the Castleton residence of Debbie and Peter Brown, with the theme “A Taste of New Orleans.” Three seats remain, and reservations are required. Details on the full schedule here.
FOREIGN STUDENT — Although we are not part of this year’s Rotary Youth Exchange program, we do have a visiting student from Italy studying at Columbia High School on a private scholarship. Her father, a Rotarian, has contacted SRC with the request that we invite her to visit us, and we will extend an invitation.
ODDS & ENDS — Phil Kellerman reports he has moved his office to Delmar, and will be a guest speaker at the Delmar Rotary’s upcoming meeting. … District 7190 is looking for anyone interested in becoming involved in the District Governor succession track. Anyone with an interest is asked to contact Roberto. Applications are due by January 15. … Terry Brewer, lead of the District’s Membership Committee, reports that, worldwide, Rotary is experiencing strong growth.
NEXT MEETINGS — Thursday, January 18, will see a 7 a.m. breakfast meeting at the Greenbush YMCA, and a 6:15 dinner meeting at Quigley’s, with speaker Richard Zazycki, executive director of Circles of Mercy.
PROGRAM: Club Updates
President Roberto updated us on the first half of the 2017-18 Rotary Year. Among accomplishments: restructuring the club’s committee makeup, creation of an initiative documentation process to better plan and track our activities and goals, and finding candidates for club offices.
He also enumerated the many activities we’ve held or been involved in since the year began on July 1. A sampling:
Financial and manpower support of the Viking Gym project at Schodack Town Park; underwriting RYLA participation for five high school juniors; contributing $500 to Doors of Hope in memory of Russ Edberg; school supplies and holiday adopt-a-family drives for Circles of Mercy; food drive for The Anchor food pantry; supporting creation of a new Rotaract club at the University at Albany (see above); creation and approval of e-voting for Board actions; enrolling eight members in the annual Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) workshops.
New members accepted so far during 2017-18: Kevin Leyhane, Jeff Simons, Adam Roberts, and John Justino.
Under the current committee structure, we have Membership, Foundation, Public Relations, Youth Programs & Scholarships, Fundraising, and Community Service. Under the proposed restructuring, we would have:
— Club Sustenance (chaired by Terry and Murray)
— Foundation & International (Jim Leyhane and Bill Dowd)
— Youth (Jim Butterworth and Becky Raymond)
— Programs and Community Service (Debbie Rodriguez and Becky Raymond)
Next steps are to accept the new committees, fill chairs and committee member slots, and create mission statements.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 