MEMBERS ATTENDING (14): Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Debbie Rodriguez, Charlie Foote, John Justino, Terry Brewer and Phil Kellerman. Via Zoom: Carol Orvis.

GUESTS (1): Marissa Multari, Assistant District Governor.

Vice-President Peter Brown called the meeting to order.

Theme for the Year: “Growing Fellowship and Service Locally and Globally.” 

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to President Kevin Leyhane or any board member who will be attending the meeting. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

MEETING NOTES

Donation: Jimmy Thomas, the speaker from last week, for Doggie Paddle for Veterans’ Service Dogs gave Roberto Martinez $200 for the Club to go toward attracting new members.

Grant Vote on the 4/6/23: Per Roberto Martinez, the meeting notes from last week should have noted that we approved the submission of the Scholarship Grant application for 23-24 Rotary Calendar year. Again, we will offer three $1000 scholarships. It is anticipated that 50% of the funding will come from the grant and the other 50% was raised through the Cafe Capriccio raffle. The Grant paperwork from last year’s grant is due in August.

Scholarships: Terry Brewer will send out the letters to the Maple Hill, East Greenbush and Rensselaer School Districts for their nomination for scholarships. He will arrange a date in early June for the scholarship recipients to attend a Club meeting to receive their scholarships.

Rotary Bowling Event:  Phil Kellerman spoke to Christine Fowler from Maple Hill. Phil will present a check for $544 to the School on Tuesday, April 18 at 9:50 am. The presentation will air over the school’s TV. The check will go to the Water for South Sudan Project, organized by 7th grade students from the Maple Hill junior/Senior School.  Roberto Martinez and Debbie Brown will also attend. Phil Kellerman dropped off the donated food along with a check for $544 to the Anchor Food Pantry last week.

Website:  Per Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez, we are in the process of updating club information on MYRotary (International), ClubRunner (District), and SRCRotary.org.  While using the websites, please make a note of old contact or other information that is not up to date.  Our information is posted in numerous spots, and we want to check for accuracy. Marissa Multari, the Assistant District Governor, offered to help the Club navigate through the issues experienced while trying to update the Rotary District and Interational websites. We have not been able to correct the incorrect information on the websites for our new member Tom King. Marissa also discussed the possibility of having more local training on the websites.

Viking Gym: Debbie Rodriguez emailed Ron Annis regarding any update on the Viking Gym and what the Schodack Town Supervisor will speak about next week.

Student Exchange Program: Peter Brown and Jim Leyhane sent a letter to Jeff Simon, Superintendent of the East Greenbush Central School District.

Dues: A reminder from our Treasurer, Murray Forth, that our yearly membership dues of $175 should be paid by June 1st or you can opt to make two payments. Members will not receive a bill.

New Member: Burke Adams submitted his application for membership.

World Malaria Day: John Justino reported that the UAlbany Center for Global Health is presenting a World Malaria Day Briefing on Friday, April 28^th at 12pm (ET) in-person in Classroom 4 on the Health Sciences Campus and via Zoom. They are excited to be hosting guest speakers from the CDC/President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and an SPH alumna from Jhpiego. Those wishing to attend, need to use this link to register in advance at https://forms.office.com/r/kB1pgy5jqq.

Rotaract: John Justino provided an update. Members of Rotaract participated in our bowling event. They have a core group of 5 people. They are planning on participating in Healthy Kids Day with the YMCA. They are trying to organize a presentation by Cathy Stone about her therapy dogs. Since Covid, it has been difficult to organize events. Faculty can work remotely five out of ten days.

Thinking Ahead: Jim Leyhane reminded members that now is the time to start planning for the summer. The Club voted to continue hosting at various homes instead of at Moscatiellos. We need volunteers to coordinate or host a summer event. The Valley Cats baseball game is July 27. Some other ideas mentioned included Mac Hayden, S & S Brewery and the Slater. Pat Bailey and Debbie Rodriguez are looking at participating in the Town of Schonack’s Summer in the Park. Phil Kellerman offered to help with that. Jim reminded us that the Circles of Mercy Backpack Project takes place in August.

Pets Training: Jim Leyhane reported on the PETS training that he and Roberto Martinez attended. Things changed this year. Hors d”oeuvers and an open bar replaced dinner. Experts rotated around the tables every 20 minutes. The Little Falls Rotary Club spoke to them about hybrid meetings, and they learned that Little Falls major fundraiser is selling football squares every week during the football season. Per Jim, there are lots of ideas and we need to listen to them. Jim suggested that everyone should have an elevator speech ready when asked “what is Rotary?” He suggested “who else in the world can take on Polio and win?” Did you know that 450 billion dollars are raised each year for charity and Rotary raises over 300 billion of those dollars? Roberto added that becoming a Rotary Club president gives one a tremendous opportunity to do good in the world. The were 165 people in attendance.

Marissa Multari asked why are you a part of Rotary? Rotary has a large impact. Over 3,600 Rotarians got together to fly a student exchange family to the States and hosted a remembrance service for his father. The family had not wanted to interrupt his exchange experience. That is an example of the impact of Rotary. She suggested hosting a membership mixer. The Club also discussed a satellite club for student exchange to include both the Maple Hill and East Greenbush Districts. Whitney will attend one of our meetings and speak about CNY.

District Training Assembly: Debbie Rodriguez reported that the Rotary theme for 23-24 is “Creating Hope in the World.” The were three breakout sessions in the morning with three topic choices each. The topics for the first breakout session included Club Culture Evolution, Rotary 101 and CNY the Latest and Greatest. The second breakout session included Grow Rotary & Innovative Clubs, Service Projects & Fundraising and My Rotary/Rotary Brand Center/Learning Center. The third session topics include the Rotary Foundation, Rotary Skills in Real Life and Public Image. Since Debbie attended via Zoom, she was limited to Rotary 101 which reviewed the history of Rotary; Service Projects and Fundraising which featured Jimmy Thomas who spoke about the Doggie Paddle for Veterans’ Service Dogs and an overview of the history and function of the Rotary Foundation. In the last session, DGE Whitney Pangburn presented the District Rotary Budget. You can learn a lot at District Training. Debbie, Peter Brown, Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane attended the Grants Management Seminar in the afternoon.

District Updates: Marissa Multari, Assistant District Governor, she needed a speaker for Gift of Life. Jim Leyhane volunteered to speaker and to sell tickets. She is also looking for Clubs to donate spirits for this years Barrell of Booze. They raised $5,000 last year. Tickets will be one for $20 or two for $30.

• Multi-District Conference – Thousand Islands, NY 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel May 05, 2023 – May 07, 2023.
• On April 26th, the Free Food Fridge of Albany will be talking at the Albany Rotary Club Mixer at Swifties on Everett Road at 5:30.
• On June 28th, The Albany Rotary Club will be hosting a Blood Drive at the Zologa Post on Everett Road. She would like other Clubs to co-host.

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 20, dinner at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Charles Peter, Schodack Town Supervisor, will be our speaker.

Entree choices will be Antipasto Salid, Cheese Ravioli with Marinara Sauce and Spaghetti with Meatballs or Marinara Sauce.