Members in Attendance (13):  Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Murray Forth, Ray Hannan, Kevin Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Andy Leyhane, Len Leonidas and Debbie Rodriguez.

By Zoom (0):  

Guests (4): Noah Albanese, Hans Albanese, Janet Harris and Don Harris.

President Peter Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

Water for Kenya: During Peter and Debbie Brown’s recent trip along with Janet and Don Harris to Maasai Mara Kenya, one of their guides, Tony Kasura, 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 spoke to Nerris Dansou, the person in charge of water projects at Rotary International. There is a grant available to develop water projects. The Rotary Club of Enkare Karok has agreed to partner on this project. Peter has been speaking with Edith Kenara. Per Ms. Kenara, the Club of Kenkare Karok has already completed a community assessment. Both Ms. Kenara and Mr. Kasura had identified different areas for the well. They were supposed to speak. Peter is waiting to hear from them. Peter also has a hydrogeological survey and proposal submitted by Topmast Engineering. The cost for the well will be $45,000. A water tower accounts for about fourty percent of the cost.

Becky Ramond is interested in working on the grant. She will identify other organizations such as the Peace Corps who may have people in the area to participate in the project. Per Jeff Simon, the students from the East Greenbush Central School District might be interested in this project.

The Global Grant request must include provisions for training and maintenance, have an assigned owner of the water supply and at least 15% of the grant funds raised must come from outside the country. The Club will need members to work on the project, fundraise and determine further details.

Adopt-a-Family: Thank you to Debbie Brown and Debbie Rodriguez.

Holiday Party and Silent Auction: Thank you to Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez for setting up the holiday party and to Phil Kellerman for organizing the silent auction. Per Phil, the Club raised over $600.

Iron Giraffe Bowl-a-Thon: The bowl-a-thon will be held on Sunday April 14 from 2 pm until 4 pm. The cost will be $13 per person for 50 bowlers or $14 for less than 50 bowlers. Per Phil Kellerman, the next step is to ask for sponsors. He has all the sponsor signs from last year. Fifty percent of the funds raised will go to the Maple Hill Iron Giraffe project and the other fifty percent will Anchor Food Pantry.

St. Joseph’s Place: Phil Kellerman delivered the check for $234 for bus fares to St. Joseph’s Place and observed their operation. Everything was exactly as described. Phil also recommended that the Club deliver all checks in person or use a post office envelope.

Membership: Becky Raymond had an inquiry from a potential member. Peter Brown responded to the inquiry and Roberto Martinez followed up with an application.

Dues: Per Murray Forth, those members who split their dues into two payments, the second payment of $87.50 is due. There is one membership payment outstanding.

CNY Rotary: Per Peter Brown, Central NY Rotary announced that our 2026-27 President will be Pamela Baker Gratton from the Auburn Rotary Club. She is a Past Club President, Paul Harris Fellow, mom, and long-time non-profit worker who comes to the team with a lot of professional experience in working with volunteers.

Moscatiellos: Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane announced that we expect a price increase in the next year.

Next Meeting: Thursday, January 11th 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. Our speaker will be Stephen Fine from the Melanoma Education Foundation.

Entree choices will be Antipasta Salad, Lasagna or Linguini with baby clams.

Noah Albanese is a senior at Gettysburgh College. He majors in political science and economics. Noah is the nephew of Rotary member Len Leonidas. He was supposed to study abroad in the Czech Republic for a year but was unable to do so due to the pandemic. He recently spent six months in Taiwan learning Mandarin Chinese. He lived in an apartment and attended class for three hours per day at the Mandarin Training Center. He received a Boren Scholarship from the U.S. Department of Defense to study language in a country of political importance. In exchange, he will work in a civil service job after college for a year.

Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign island with its own language and culture influenced by the Chinese, Japanese and 16 indigenous tribes. It was a Japanese colony from 1895 until 1945. There are approximately 23 million people living in Taiwan. After the Chinese revolution, the Nationalist retreated to Taiwan and eventually established a democracy. Taiwan is located between two tectonic plates with high mountains in the middle, surrounded by ocean. Tea is grown in the mountains, and they are known for their microchips. They have very good and inexpensive public transportation system. Both sides of the island are connected by tunnels through the mountains.

Noah showed pictures of places he visited in while he was in Taiwan. Historical places included the National Palace Museum. the National Marter Shrine, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the Night Markets. He had pictures of Taoist, Confucius and Bundist Temples, as well as Mazu, goddess of the ocean. She is the most powerful god and has the most commonly found temple. It was noted how beautiful and lush the island is.