Members in Attendance (13): Carole Heaney, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Kevin Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Ray Hannan, Chris Bystroff, Murray Forth and Andy Leyhane.

By Zoom (1): Dean Calamaras

Guests (0): 

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: If you have things from storage, for historical record keeping, please fill out the form or send Pat Bailey a picture or list of the item(s) you have. Most members have submitted the Form.

Treasurer Update: Quicken is being used to monitor expenses and income and to delineate line items. About 90% of the imputing of finances has been completed. Next, Murray Fourth and Phil Kellerman will set up a budget.

Bowl-A-Thon: Per Phil Kellerman, the Bowl-A-Thon is scheduled for April 6th. It will cost $16 for 1 1/2 hours or $20 for 2 hours. The special is $90 per lane of 5 people ($17 per person) which includes 2 hours of bowling, shoes, and food (pizza and soda). Sponsorship is $50. Phil has not heard back from Debbie Oligue of Maple Hill.

Benefit Concert: Phil Kellerman spoke to the East Greenbush Methodist Church to hold a benefit concert to support a charitable project of the Church. The concert will be co-hosted with the Malta Rotary Club. The preferred date is May 3rd and will feature Enjoyous, an Albany based band. Their music is a mix of original rock and rhythm and blues. Suggested donations will be $15 for adults and $5 for children under 16. The Clubs will publicize the event.

Donation Jar: The Club discussed reinstating the donation Jar.

Global Grant: Per Peter Brown, they received a positive hydrological survey guaranteeing potable water. All questions were answered, and funding was sent to the Rotary account in Kenya. The next step is for the Rotary Club in Kenya to create a bid document allowing for drilling up to 500 meters. Then they will have to contract with the lowest bidder.

Defensive Driving: The AAA course will be held on May 17th at the Nassau Library from 9 am until 3:30 pm. We need a minimum of 25 people to sign up. If you are a member of AAA, the cost is $22. If you are a non-member, the cost is $27. Contact Pat Bailey if you wish to attend.

Community Project: Roberto Martinez and other Club members had met with members of the East Greenbush Central School District to discuss a possible project to benefit the community. The School members suggested a project about providing food over the weekend for about 150 children. The next meeting will be held on February 13th. Contact Roberto if you want to attend.

Interview: Dean Calamaras had an interview with the Boston Greek Radio Station last Monday morning about his book. Congratulations Dean. Nicholas Calamaras and the Greek American League – An interview with Dean G. Calamaras 01-27-25.

CNY News: Information on all of the following and more is posted to the website, cnyrotary.org.

Pre-PEL 1: Club Admin, Feb 2^nd , 7 pm.

Pre-PEL 2: Finance/ Risk Management, Feb 11^th, 7 pm.

Pre-PEL 3: Public Image/ Branding, Feb 19^th 7 pm.

Pre-PEL 4: Membership and Leadership, Feb 27^th, 7 pm.

RLI March 1, Johnson City, NY. LI is $25, L2-G is $40. The Club will cover tuition. Sign up at http: //www.rlinea.org. Phil Kellerman and Chris Bystroff may be attending.

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.

RI Conventions: Calgary, June 21-25, 2025. Carole Heaney will be attending.

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 6th 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. The guest speaker will be Margaret Pearson from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society.

Entry Choices will be Antipasta Salad, Chicken Limone and Baked Ziti.

Rotary Leadership Institue

Carole Heany attended the Rotary Leadership Institute. She liked hearing about other Rotary Clubs and what they were doing. She also learned about things she could ask her Club. So, she wanted to know what made members want to become Rotarians. The answers were varied. Most people were asked by family members, co-workers and/or friends who were already Rotarians to join. Some members started out hosting a Rotary exchange student(s) and accompanied them to Rotary meetings. Some members started out as invited speakers. One member joined when Rotary began allowing women as members. Another member noticed a sign in the restaurant window where the Club was meeting and dropped by to check it out.

Carol also asked “what does Rotary do?” Again, answers varied. Rotary cares. They help build community, support good projects, foster friendships, provide service and promote local and international connections. Rotary is the biggest club in the world. Many people did not know what Rotary can do. Rotary produces 17 million hours of volunteer work per year. Rotary develops leadership. Their projects benefit communities.