Members in Attendance (15):  Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Murray Forth, Ray Hannan, Mary Alice Caldes, Charlie Foote, Debbie Rodriguez, Ron Annis, Monica Annis, Dick Drum, Phil Kellerman, Kevin Leyhane, Carol Heaney and Andy Leyhane.

By Zoom (1): Becky Raymond

Guests (1): Richard French

President Roberto Martinez called the meeting to order.

Theme for the year: Grow membership, do good in the world, leverage social capital, & have fun!

Meeting Notes:

Storage: Per Murray Forth, bought the boxes and items from storage. After the meeting, members went through the boxes and took home items to save.

Membership: Chris Bystroff will submit the membership fee.

Meetings: The holiday party will be held on December 12th at the Browns. If you did not sign up at the meeting tonight, please let Debbie Brown know if you are attending. The December 19th meeting will be held at the Spinney. The meeting will be catered. The price is $30 per person. Bring a drink. Afterwards, there will be cake and ice cream to celebrate Lois’s 75th birthday.

Circles of Mercy, Cate’s Kids Adopt-A-Family Program: Gifts to be delivered to Circles of Mercy December 16^th. Richard from Circles of Mercy was notified that we would adopt a family. He will have the list by Thanksgiving. Carol Heaney will coordinate.

CNY News: Member Orientation: Nov 26, Tues at 7pm, and December 17, Tues at 7pm. Town Hall, December 5^th at 7pm. Every club is encouraged to send at least one member to obtain information to bring back to them.  Information on all of this and more is posted to the website, cnyrotary.org.

Rotary Gift Giving: To be held on Tuesday, Dec 3rd. This Global Day of Generosity is an opportunity for all members to make a big impact with a gift of any size. A donation to the Annual Fund-SHARE supports projects you’re passionate about, both in your community and around the world. A gift to PolioPlus helps transport vaccines and immunize children to keep them safe.

RI Conventions: Calgary, June 21-25, 2025.  Minneapolis 2028.  Chicago 2030.

Rotary Presidential Peace Conference: To be held February 20-22, 2025, at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel and Conference Center in Istanbul, Turkey. Register at rotery.org/istanbul25.

Next Meeting: Thursday, December 5th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Gretchen will speak about the Wiskers Cat Rescue.

Entry Choices will be Rustica Salid, Lasagna and Baked Ziti.

Richard French volunteered at the DeFreetville Fire Company in East Greenbush. He served twice as Chief. He remains an active firefighter. He joined the NYS Office of Emergency Management in 1998. He served as the State Liaison Officer at the Incident Command Post and Emergency Operations Center following 911. After hurricanes Francis and Ivan in Florida, he served as the Operations Section Chief. He also served as Operations Branch Director after hurricane Dennis and as Safety Officer in Jackson County, Mississippi after hurricane Katrina. In NYS he responded to hurricanes Irene, Lee and Sandy and to the Lake Ontario flooding.

Disasters include natural hazards such as fires, floods, winter storms, earthquakes, landslides and tornados. Disasters also include technology failures such as power failures and health hazards such as pandemics. Disaster response for families starts with planning ahead. Families can build a disaster kit, be financially prepared by making copies of bank and credit card information, passports and birth certificates. They should have a plan for any pets, for shelter and for evacuation. They can also obtain safety skills such as basic first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Businesses and governments should also plan ahead. They should have impact analysis, risk assessments, mitigation, and all-hazard comprehensive plana and they should train their employees. Others, such as FEMA, Volunteer Organization Aiding in Disaster (VOAD) and faith-based organizations can help. Per Mr. French, “all disasters start and end locally.”

Happy Thanksgiving