Members in Attendance (10):  Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Debbie Rodriguez, Ray Hannan, Terry Brewer and Phil Kellerman.

By Zoom (1):  Edmund Kellerman, Speaker

President Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

YMCA Caring Community Basket Brigade: The YMCA is looking for volunteers to help assemble Thanksgiving baskets with donated food (including turkeys), or drive baskets to designated families (always 2 drivers together) on November 18th. They are set to serve 1500 families this Thanksgiving season. To volunteer, please follow this link. https://cdymca.volunteermatters.org/project-catalog/602. Peter Brown and Roberto Martinez will contact Shannon Romanowski to find out how much support is needed and if the need is in food products or assembly.

Adopt a Family: The Club received an email from Richard Zazycki, Executive Director of Circles of Mercy, requesting Club participation with Cate’s Kids Adopt-a-Family Program this year. The Club will adopt a family. Donations are due by Friday, December 15th. More information to follow.

Holiday Party and Silent Auction: The party will be held on December 14th at Moscatiellos. The cost is $30 per person. If you have not yet done so, please contact Roberto Martinez and let him know your intention to participate and the number in your party. Phil Kellerman is organizing a silent auction this year. He is seeking donations. Please call or email him at philkellerman77@gmail.com about your donation. Past donations have included gift baskets, bottles of wine and gift cards. If you have sponsored a new member, please make sure you invite them to the holiday party.

Holiday Schedule: There will be a Rotary meeting on December 21st. There will be no Rotary meetings on December 28th and January 4th. The first Rotary meeting of the new year will be held on January 11th. Speakers will be needed for next year.

Water for Kenya: During Peter and Debbie Brown’s recent trip to Maasai Mara Kenya, one of their guides told them about the St. John Fischer Nursing School Clinical Program that sends student nurses to Kenya for a week of clinicals. Peter spoke to Vivianne Cunningham, of St. John Fischer, and discussed the possibility of SRC Rotary helping with the program. Due to unrest in the region, the College will not be doing the clinicals. However, a well (bore hole) is needed. Women walk long distances to obtain water which creates both physical and economic issues. Previously drilled wells often fail over time due to lack of maintenance. Peter Brown is interested in looking into this project. There is a Rotary Club in the Rift Valley. Peter Brown has been trying to contact the person in charge of water projects at Rotary International.

Viking Gym: The Viking gym kits are stored in the town garage. There are eight pieces of equipment. Ron Annis reported that he assembled one of the pieces of equipment. Jim Leyhane will check with the Town to confirm that the Kiwanis Club will assemble some of the equipment. Jim will also contact the Elks Club. We will also need volunteers from our Club to assemble the rest of the equipment sometime after the holidays.

Rotary Leadership Institute: SRC Rotary will pay the $75 dollar fee for Rotary and Rotaract members to attend. The event will be held on November 4th with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. at the Albany Unitarian Universalist Association, 405 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY  12206.    There is free public parking on the street and in the Albany University lot across and kitty corner from the site. To register, go to RLINEA.org and scroll down to the Albany event and hit the button that says “Learn More.”  If you don’t remember your log-in name, register as a Guest for Part 1, and as you complete your registration, there is a place to indicate which Part you really want to take. 

Foundation Dinner: will be held on November 16th at the Edison Downtown in Schenectady.

Next Meeting: Thursday, November 9th, 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. Chris Bystroff, Ph.D., Professor at RPI, will speak about voting machines. Do we trust them?

Entree choices will be Caesar Salid, Spaghetti with Meatballs, and Cheese Ravioli.

Ed and his brother Phil grew up in New York City. Their interest in collecting started out with radio stations and stores who gave out pins. Over time, they became the largest procurers of political buttons on the web. “Behind every button is a story, both historical and sociological.” They joined the American Political Items Collectors (APIC). Proceeds from their sales of items funded their Harvest of Hope Foundation. Ed also makes his own buttons.

Pre 1896, coat buttons served to support political campaigns. In 1896 there was a dental conference in Ohio. Members of the McKinley campaign notices the pictures on the buttons and copied the idea for use in the presidential campaign. Many different types of pins were produced. Jugate pins had two heads portrayed on the pin, whereas, trigate pins had three heads. There are also commemorative buttons, anti-candidate buttons, third party buttons (made by the presidential campaigns) and grassroots buttons (made by citizens). You can also find political plates, golf makers, mechanical devices and hats.

What makes a pin valuable? It should be pristine, authentic (authorized by a campaign, possibly signed), and be very rare. It also should have beauty in design and production. The most popular buttons/pins are of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan. Most collections center on theme, candidate, issue or connection. In March of 2022, a Cox and Roosevelt pin sold for $185,850.

For more information go to the National Museum of Political Memorabilia at https://nmpm.net/contact-us and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) at https://apic.us/ .