Held at Quigley’s Restaurant
573 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY 12061

Members Attending (14): Andy Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Doris Calamaras, Dean Calamaras, Ray Hannan, Bill Dowd, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Becky Raymond, Phil Kellerman, Dick Drumm, Charlie Foote, Peter Berry.

Guests: None.

MEETING NOTES: President Andy greeted attendees, noting this meeting had been designated as a Club Assembly to discuss current business and projects. … Medical updates: Murray Forth’s knee replacement went well this week and he is recuperating at home. Terry Brewer continues recuperating from his knee replacement, and says he will rejoin us when he gets medical clearance to drive. … Several attendees asked if a new date had been set for the “Recycling & Shredding Day” postponed from this Saturday due to a conflict with Rensselaer County’s free recycling day. Webmaster Bill Dowd reminded them that everyone should already have been aware of the new date — Saturday, May 18 — because they had been emailed a revised flyer back on April 5 with the new date and other information. Plus, the new date has been posted on the website and Facebook page and entered into the website Calendar page since April 5.  …

Discussion was held concerning plans to apply for a 2019-20 District Grant. Becky Raymond and Bill Dowd reported on the grants management seminar they attended last Saturday on behalf of the club. Details of the grant plans will be on the discussion agenda of the next SRC Board meeting (scheduled for next Thursday, April 18, after the regular meeting). Currently, we are considering applying for one $1,500 grant to cover both youth scholarships and support for the Freedom From Fistula Foundation. … We will have a student contingent joining us on May 16 to talk about their Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) experience. Several suggestions were made about requiring, rather than simply inviting, all students who receive RYLA tuition from SRC to attend a dinner meeting to discuss their experience, and to speak to their schools about the series to help spark ongoing student interest. …

Jim Leyhane reported on a meeting with the police chief and the new mayor of Chatham in conjunction with planning for the October 12 trail run we are organizing. The event, for which we hope to include food trucks, entertainment, and so forth to create a festival atmosphere, will  be held at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. … Terry, who is the District Membership Committee lead, and Bill are working with Past District Governor Fred Daniels to help facilitate the resurrection of the Troy club that folded several years ago, leaving SRC as the lone Rotary club in the county.  … Roberto Martinez volunteered to look into setting up a credit card account for the club to be used to accept payments for dinner meeting fees, recycling day payments, and other needs.

COMING UP: Next Thursday, April 18, Bill Dowd will present a reading of original short stories involving offbeat travel. … The following Thursday, April 25, we’ll hold the 5th annual Great North American Whizbang Trivia Test. Guests are welcome to this event which has had a different winner each year. … Becky Raymond will lead a brief exercise as part of her May 2 program “Exploring Yoga.” We’ll have dinner after that, rather than at the beginning of the meeting. … Phil Kellerman reminded everyone of the benefit concert scheduled for Thursday, May 9, at Quigley’s to benefit the Oley Foundation, a national nonprofit that provides education, advocacy, and networking opportunities to people living on home IV nutrition and/or tube feeding. The hour-long concert will feature music from a new CD titled “One Step Forward.” Go here for more details.