Members in Attendance (12): Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Kevin Leyhane, Murray Forth, Dick Drumm, Andy Lehane, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown and Chris Bystroff.

By Zoom (0): 

Guests (1): Sari Medick

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:

Treasurer Update: Almost done using Quicken to reconcile expenses. Phil Kellerman called the IRS. The package has been found. There was a 16 week wait period. The Club should be reinstated around March 24th.

Bowl-A-Thon: Per Phil Kellerman, the Bowl-A-Thon is scheduled for April 6th from 1pm until 3pm. 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. Proceeds go to the Anchor. Debbie Rodriguez and Kevin Leyhane will put sponsors on our website.

Benefit Concert: The concert is being held at the East Greenbush Methodist Church on April 26th. Donations will benefit the St. Paul Center. Phil Kellerman contacted all available media to advertise the concert.

Donation Jar: The jar was passed around to raise funds for the Global Eye Clinic in Haiti.

Global Grant: Concerning the Water Hole project in Kenya, Peter said that there had been a delay because the district in Kenya was informed that they may be paying too much for the drilling, and that a rebid of the project may have to occur.

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. Depending on your insurance, you can save 10% to 15% off the cost of your insurance and it should be good for 3 years. Contact Pat Bailey if you wish to attend.

Community Project: Kevin Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Peter Brown and Phil Kellerman, Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane will meet with members of the East Greenbush School District on Tuesday, March 18th, at 1:30pm. Peter Brown has been in touch with Jef about the backpack project to provide food over weekends for at risk students Kevin Leyhane will talk to the Athletic Director and co-workers about a possible fundraiser with the running clubs.

Star of Hope: Per Roberto Martinez, will be relocated to Columbia High School this spring.

Public Image Grants: Carole Heaney noted that the CNY Public Image Committee is offering grants for $250 in matching funds for branded materials. The March 1st deadline was postponed.

Circles of Mercy 2025 Cate’s Kids Easter Basket Program Schedule: Baskets are collected from February 24th to April 14th.The baskets are given out to our client families during Holy Week (April 14 thru April 18) before the Easter Sunday Holiday on April 20. Looking for leads to collect the baskets.

Valley Cats: The game was rained out last year. The Club tickets rolled over to this year. Available home game dates on Thursdays are: June 12th, June 26th, July 3rd, July 31st, August 7th and August 21st. Please check your calendars. We will vote on a date next week.

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

CNY Member Orientation is held every 4th Tuesday of each month. The next will be held on April 22nd at 7 pm.

In Person PETS Training: March 15-16, double Tree Syracuse. Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane and Phil Kellerman will be attending.

Foundation Grant Management Seminar: Foundation Grants Management Seminar, Zoom, Sunday March 23, 6-7pm, must preregister (Jim, Roberto registered, Debbie Rodriguez will register).

District Conference: April 4-6th, Hilton Downtown Albany. Registration required. Roberto Martinez will be going.

District Conference Learning Assembly: Friday April 4^th 8am-12p. Registration separate from District Conference. This is a FREE learning event designed to prepare club leaders in all roles – Secretary, Treasurer, Public Image, Membership, Foundation, DEI and more. It is open to all members, and you don’t need an official title to come learn something new! Come for general sessions, choose two breakouts based on your interest or role for next year, and enjoy a free breakfast. Registration is required!

Conference of Champions: April 4-6th, Hilton Downtown Albany Registration is open.  Fifty of our inbound and outbound Youth Exchange students will be present, you will have ample opportunities to connect with fellow members and CNY leaders, and we even baked in some site-seeing time before and during conference. Many volunteers are working hard to make sure you get a ton of value for your time and money to be immersed in Rotary all weekend! Register today at cnyrotary.org, Roberto, Phil, Jim going. Hoping for more attendees.

CNY Epic Day of Service: Hold the date and more to come 05/17/25

RI News

Advancing Women, Building Peace to Celebrate International Women’s Day 2025. Tuesday March 11^th in Chicago, 11am Chicago time.  Register and even if you can’t attend you will receive a recording of the session.  Any attendee?RI: Rotary PolioPlus Legacy: March 27, 2025, 10a EST, Live on Zoom2026 Rotary Peace Fellowships Applications open until May 15, 2025.

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

Next Meeting: The next meeting is Thursday, March 20th 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 Laurie Pferr retired from the NYS Office of Aging.

Entry Choices will be Antipasta Salad, Chicken Marsala and Eggplant Parm.

Sari Medick is the Regional General Manager and Chief Operating Officer for Stretch Zone. Jordan Gold established the business for his father who had diabetic neuropathy. With this system, certified practitioners use patented straps and tables to position the muscles for stretching to increases one’s stretch and range of motion. When the body is in balance you feel and sleep better. You can do more because your joints don’t hurt. Mr. Gold’s father was able to go from difficulty getting up from a chair to dancing at a wedding.

There are 400 Stretch Zones around the country. Locally, Stretch Zones can be found in Delmar, Colonie and Clifton Park. Next year they will add Stretch Zones in Niskayuna and Saratoga. They employ 20 people across the three locations. The first session is an hour appointment. Subsequent sessions last half an hour and cost $40 to $50 per session but specials for $36 per session can be found. They also work with clients with Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, tremors and hip replacements. They are open seven days a week by appointment only. For further information call 518-280-0870 or go to stretchzone.com.