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

Members Attending (14): Phil Kellerman, Pat Bailey, Terry Brewer, Bill Dowd, Murray Forth, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Andy Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Kevin Leyhane, Wells Packard, Charlie Foote.

Guests (1): Jean Carazza.

MEETING MINUTES: President Phil Kellerman welcomed members and guest Jean Carazza. This gathering was one of the periodic Club Assemblies intended to discuss club matters. … We began with setting February 20 — a date on which there will be no regular meeting because of school vacation week — as the date for the next Board meeting. Phil will contact all Board members to arrange location and details. … Discussion was held on restating our policy on financial responsibility for dinner guests. It was emphasized that program presenters will be guests of the club, but non-presenters will be required to pay for their dinners rather than having the club foot the bill. All members who schedule presenters are asked to determine precisely who and how many people are involved in the program and (a) be sure dinner coordinator Debbie Rodriguez is informed, and (b) be sure the presenter knows any other people attending are responsible for paying for their meals. … The annual Rotary Home Cooking series of member-hosted dinner events will take place this year. We have three such events accounted for — to be hosted by Wells Packard, Terry Brewer, and Murray and Maggie Forth — with specific dates and themes/details to be announced. Historically, hosts have created themes for their events ranging from historic menu recreations to wine-centric events to whimsical themes. …

Phil and Wells Packard reported on their participation in the recent District 7190 Membership Training Session. Wells noted that key to the effort are use of signage in the community and the meeting venue, and creation of brochures to distribute at community events. It was noted that we have had a brochure Bill Dowd created but have not distributed it for some time. We will review it to ascertain what updates may be needed. Since East Greenbush Town Supervisor Jack Conway is scheduled to be next week’s speaker, we will check with him at that time to see what we need to do to have a Rotary emblem posted on town limits signs. …

Wells also reported on the Rotary Youth Exchange program he is working on. He was the RYE liaison for his former club, and is gathering information on club involvement in the 2020-21 academic year exchange. … Terry Brewer reported on a Finance Committee meeting with club member A.J. Amato, a financial planner, to gain information on how to improve our financial record-keeping and budgeting. We will schedule a Financial Committee meeting to put into place a variety of his recommendations, and report back to the club. … The next recycling/shredding day will be held at Wainschaf Associates in Rensselaer on Saturday, April 18. Bill Dowd will create a flyer to be distributed with all details.

We will hold our third Cafe Capriccio wine dinner raffle as a fundraiser for the general treasury. The dinner will be on March 28 at the Albany restaurant. Ticket sales will be held on March 19. … Bill Dowd reported that plans are advancing for the SRC 60th Anniversary Party on March 5 at Comfort Inns on Miller Road. Discount reservations are available for members and kids 12 and under through Valentine’s Dat. Details are available online. Terry Brewer moved that we appropriate $500 from the general treasury to support the event; it was secinded by several members and approved without dissent.