The annual District 7190 Conference, a virtual event for the second straight year, will take place Saturday. If you haven’t registered but have had a change of heart and would like to participate, you still can do so even though you’re cutting it close.
All you have to do tonight or Friday by 1 p.m. is go online to sign up, and the event organizers will send you an access link.
The event will take place in three phases:
• The social gathering beginning at 8 a.m.
• The business meeting, which includes a roll call of clubs, a number of committee reports, a vot by the clubs on the proposed district budget for the 2021-22 Rotary Year, and “a few surprises.”
• After a short break, the Remembrance Ceremony will honor Rotarians in the district who have passed away since last year’s convention. That will be followed by recognitions and awards.
Note: The agenda and the proposed budget both have been attached to emails sent to all Rotarians by DG Rich Griesche.
MEMBERS ATTENDING (14): Dick Drumm, Debbie Rodriguez, Bill Dowd, Ray Hannan, Phil Kellerman, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Pat Bailey, Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras, Murray Forth.
GUESTS: None.
• IN-PERSON MEETING — Our first in-person meeting of the 2020-21 Rotary Year will be a subs-and-soda picnic at Roberto Martinez’s East Greenbush residence, co-hosted by Jim Leyhane, at 6 p.m. (note the time) Thursday, June 3. Anyone who is fully vaccinated and wishes to attend is asked to let Roberto know no later than Tuesday, June 1.
• MEETING VENUE SEARCH — Several members are checking on the possibilities of various places to host our weekly meetings since Quigley’s is out of business. Dick Drumm is checking on the Schodack Diner, Debbie Rodriguez on Moscatiello’s Restaurant, Ray Hannon on the Crisp Cannoli, Jim Leyhane on the American Legion in Rensselaer. (We queried the East Greenbush Elks, but it already hosts a Thursday event.) All will report back to the membership.
• SPEAKERS: David Harris, Schodack Town Supervisor, will review the state of the town at our May 20 Zoom meeting. Christian Multunas, a doctoral student in nanotechnology at RPI, will speak at our May 27 Zoom meeting.
• FINANCIAL GRANTS: Treasurer Murray Forth reported that checks have been sent for money designated by club donors for specific organizations: Circles of Mercy ($600) and a trio of food pantries — The Anchor, Doors of Hope, and CoNSERNS-U ($185 each).
• SUMMER CASUAL EVENTS: Three of our eight “Summer Casual” events for July and August have been scheduled: Thursday, July 8, 6 p.m., picnic at the Brown residence; Thursday, July 15, 6 p.m, at the Calamaras residence; Thursday, July 22, 6 p.m., the Leyhane residence. Debbie Rodriguez is looking into a possible outing to Bruno Stadium for a ValleyCats baseball game. Anyone else wishing to reserve a date to host or arrange an event is asked to let Debbie and/or Bill Dowd know so the date can be reserved and publicized.
Now that most adults have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and state attendance restrictions on in-person gatherings are being eased, we’re nearing the return of SRC outdoor gatherings.
Our first will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 24, with a picnic at the Drumm farm to mark our annual “Presidential Changeover,” when Dick will be handing the gavel to Debbie Rodriguez.
And, we now have the first of eight “Summer Casual” dates reserved in July and August. Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez will co-host a picnic and pool party at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 22, at Jim’s residence.
Details and signup dates for both events will be shared closer to those dates. Meanwhile, reserve them on your calendar.
According to the latest CDC guidance, people who are fully vaccinated can associate with other fully vaccinated people with only “miniscule” chance of a COVID problem. Thus, we’re asking any club members and significant others who wish to attend any events to do so only if fully vaxxed.
Meanwhile, if you would like to hold some sort of “Summer Casual” event or to plan an outing for the club, please let incoming president Debbie and/or webmaster Bill Dowd know so the date can be reserved and publicized.
Traditionally, each July and August we suspend our weekly formal meetings in favor of a “Summer Casual” schedule.
For those of you who are among our newer members, that simply means we like to socialize, renew acquaintances with members’ families, and share a picnic, a drink, a game, a field trip, or anything that works as a summertime activity.
In normal times — remember those? — we have had pool parties, picnics and a baseball game at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, an evening of summer theater at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham, etc. This summer, we’ll be pressed to come up with some alternatives, given the state’s pandemic-era restrictions. (However, the ValleyCats will be playing this summer in the Frontier League, and Mac-Haydn says it will have some sort of season starting in mid- to late-summer rather than in May as usual.)
What helps is that, to the best of our knowledge, all club members have been fully vaccinated. According to the latest CDC guidance, people who are fully vaccinated can associate with other fully vaccinated people with only “miniscule” chance of a COVID problem. Thus, we’re asking anyone who wishes to attend any events — significant others included — to do so only if fully vaxxed.
We have four Thursdays each in July and August to fill. We already have word from Debbie and Peter Brown that they will host an outdoor get-together at their home and from Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane that they will do likewise at one of their residences. No specific dates have yet been announced, but we now know we have at least six dates open.
If you would like to hold some sort of “Summer Casual” event or to plan an outing for the club, please let incoming president Debbie Rodriguez and/or webmaster Bill Dowd know so the date can be reserved and publicized.
MEMBERS ATTENDING (14): Dick Drumm, Murray Forth, Bill Dowd, Debbie Rodriguez, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras, Tony Morris, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Terry Brewer, Phil Kellerman, Pat Bailey, Charlie Foote, Roberto Martinez.
GUESTS: None.
MEETING NOTES:
• DISTRICT CONFERENCE: The annual event is scheduled for Saturday, May 15, but the keynote speaker will be appearing via Zoom on Tuesday, May 11. Both events are available to all Rotarians, but advance registration is required. To do so, simply go to the club website to (a) read the details, and (b) click on the appropriate links on the calendar page.
• DONOR ADVISED FUND (DAF): Our new financial unit, officially designated The Dr. Richard Drumm Fund, has received more than $10,000 from the club general fund and several member donations. That money has been invested via the Rotary Foundation, and we continue accepting donations.
• DISTRICT GRANTS: Roberto Martinez said he and Jim Leyhane have submitted an application for a District 7190 grant to support our scholarship fund effort for 2022. Once we receive the names of the graduating seniors at Rensselaer, Columbia, and Maple Hill high schools who will receive our scholarships in June, they will complete the grant paperwork for 2021. Our scholarships total $3,000, and the district grant equals a 50% reimbursement.
• RI CONVENTION: Roberto reminded members that registration is open for the virtual event. Go to the club website for details and a registration link.
• IN-PERSON EVENTS: Because virtually the entire club has received COVID-19 vaccinations, we will begin phasing in a resumption of in-person events with an outdoor Presidential Changeover picnic at the Drumm residence at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 24, when Dick hands over the presidency to Debbie Rodriguez. Details to come. … We still are looking for hosts for outdoor events for July and August, traditionally our “Summer Casual” period. So far, Peter and Debbie Brown and Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane have volunteered, although no specific dates have yet been announced. … We also discussed potential indoor meeting sites, but came to no conclusions. The restaurant industrywide problems with staffing, seating protocols, pricing in the face of rising food and labor costs are making it difficult to find and secure a spot. No word yet on the fate of Quigley’s, our former meeting site that is permanently closed and up for sale. It also was discussed whether to alternate in-person meetings with Zoom sessions.
If you’re the first person in the world to do something, chances are you’re a pretty unusual individual.
Any Rotarian who would like to meet such a person is invited to a virtual event at which Dr. Sylvia Whitlock will be the keynote speaker.
In 1987, Whitlock became president of the Rotary Club of Duarte, CA, making her the first woman to hold such a position within Rotary International. That club’s charter had been revoked in 1978 after it violated RI’s policy by admitting women. The club filed suit in a California court, claiming that Rotary Clubs are business establishments subject to regulation under a California civil rights act that bans discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or ethnic origin. It won the case and RI appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of the United States.
On May 4, 1987, the Supreme Court confirmed the Californian decision supporting women, in the case Board of Directors, Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte. After the ruling, Rotary International ended its policy of gender restrictions.
According to a Wikipedia entry, Whitlock was born in New York City and educated in Kingston, Jamaica. She returned to New York City after high school and earned a B.A. in psychology from Hunter College. She later moved to California where she earned a master’s degree in education from Cal Poly Pomona and a Ph.D. in education from Claremont Graduate School. Whitlock earned a second master’s, in marriage and family therapy, from Azusa Pacific University. She also was an elementary school principal in Duarte, CA.
She will be speaking at 7 p.m. tonight (May 3). Register here for access.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 