Members in Attendance (9):  Peter Brown, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Phil Kellerman, Debbie Brown, Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Dick Drumm and Pat Bailey.

By Zoom (7): Edmund Kellerman (Speaker), Dena Sevayega, Robert Schullman, Ruth Russell, Charlie Foote, John Justino and Becky Raymond.

Guests (0):

President Peter Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

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. Proceeds will go to the Anchor Food Pantry and to the Maple Hill water project. We will also ask participants to bring a food item for donation. Phil Kellerman will speak to Christine Fowler regarding the number of students who will attend. Pat Bailey has volunteered to staff the entry table. More volunteers are needed. There is a press release in Our Town. Contact Phil if you are willing to be a sponsor.

Viking Gym: The Town Highway Department will clear the land the weekend of the 4th. Ron will work with the Highway and Park Departments to lay out the equipment location. The Town will partner with Keller Construction to dig the holes. Volunteers will be needed on March the 23rd at noon to put the equipment together and to hold the equipment in place during the concrete pour. All dates are dependent on the weather. Along with Rotarians, volunteers will be recruited from the community, boy scouts, Kiwanis and other groups. Pat Baily has volunteered to look into food and drink for the 23rd. Jim Layhane will order a Peace Pole from Rotary International. The cost will be closer to $500. It is white, 8 ft. tall with languages on leucite plaques. Once ordered, it will take about 6 weeks for delivery.

Membership: Each SRC Rotary member is asked to bring a friend to the Rotary meeting on April 11th. Terry Brewer will put a program together about Rotary, what the Club does and what we can do for individuals to interest them in Rotary. Members should be prepared to talk about why you joined Rotary. The Club will cover the costs for guests.

Water for Kenya: Peter Brown has received four proposals for the bore hole. He is comparing the proposals. Ms. Kenara and members of the Rotary Club of Enkare Naroch provided a needs assessment. Peter Brown will ask Sue Austin to review it.

Easter Baskets for Circles of Mercy: Lois Hannan is coordinating the collection this year. Richard Zazycki, Circles of Mercy, is asking that the baskets include coloring books, color pencils, facial tissues, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dental floss, hair combs, hairbrushes, small stuffed animals, toys, small games, small books, and different types of wrapped candy. Items can be dropped off every Thursday at Moscatiellos. Shannon needs the items for the baskets by March 20th so she can get the baskets to Richard by March 22nd. Easter is on March 31st this year. Per Lois. we could use some more candy and personal care items.

Gift of Life: Per Leyhane, 5,000 children around the world received heart surgery. If every Rotarian contributed $50 to Gift of Life, another child could receive a transplant. They are about halfway to their goal. To donate go to https://www.giftoflife.org/contrib#makecontribtoday.

Grants Management Training: The next training will be held via Zoom on Monday, April 1st, at 7 pm. Register for grant training at https://cnyrotary.org/. Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane and Debbie Rodriguez completed the training offered on February 7th.

Rotary District: The in-person PETS training will be held March 15th through 17th at the Double Tree in Syracuse. Register early to secure a hotel room. For further information go to  http://www.RotaryEmpireMDPETS.org. The majority of the meeting will be held on Saturday if you are considering attending for one day. Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez will attend the District PETS training.

Rotary Leadership Institute Northeast America: The Institute is holding a graduate class on succession planning on Saturday, March 2nd, at Johnson City High School in Johnson City, New York. The class will start at 7:30 am and end at 3:30 pm. The course includes suggestions on how to develop leaders. You must have completed the Rotary Leadership parts I, II and III to take the graduate course. Register at RLINEA.org.

Next Meeting: Thursday, March 7th 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 Courtney Russell from the Spinney.

Entree choices will be Chicken Rustica Salid, Penne Alfredo and Spaghetti with Meatballs.

Dr. Kellerman is a speech and communications specialist. He retired from the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication at the University of Florida. He has experience in helping political candidates with their campaigns. He had also set up a workshop via Zoom for 100 people who were considering running for office.

Why is one candidate more persuasive than others? By what criteria are candidates measured? If you do not speak well, people will think that you are wasting their time. Public speaking followed the rise in democracy. People judge you not on the merit of the issue but in how you speak.

People have communication anxiety. They fear failure, the unknown and/or rejection. The solution is to view public speaking as normal and natural and to practice desensitization. Start slow. Relax and breath. Visualize positively what you are doing.

When planning to speak, do an audience analysis. Know their attitudes and demographics. It is very important to keep to your time limit. Devote 10% of your time to the introduction, 80% to the body of the speech and 10% to the conclusion. Leave time for questions. When presenting a problem, explain how it applies to the audience and present workable, acceptable, cost-effective solutions that do not have unintended consequences. Support your ideas with research. Delivery matters. Make eye contact and, again, do not go over the assigned time limit. Running for office is a Herculean effort.