Minutes: Rotary Meeting, April 3, 2025

An SRC Rotary meeting was held in person. Attending were Roberto Martinez, Ray Hannan, Pat Bailey, Phil Kellerman, Dick Drumm, Jim Lehayne, Terry Brewer, Murray Forth, Laurie Pferr, Kevin Lehayne, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown and Andy Lehayne. Carole Heaney participated via Zoom.

Roberto thanked Deb Rodriguez for taking last week’s minutes. Roberto also welcomed our newest members: Laurie Pferr and Christine Fowler.

Guest speaker was Marguerite Pearson, Marketing Director of the Mohawk-Hudson Humane Society.

Marguerite said that she worked for Animal Protective Services for 15 years and has been with the Humane Society for 9 years. In 2019, the Society got a new building which enabled the organization to expand it services greatly.

The agency now has 70 staff and two full time vets with an annual budget of around $5 million. Private donations make up the majority of their budget. They now have an X-ray room and had 2049 adoptions last year of cats and dogs. The agency rescues abused cats and dogs, does surgeries and has a behavioral and enrichment program to bring pets back to health. Volunteers walk dogs and field trips allow dogs to get exercise. About 76,000 pet meals are provided each year. The agency works with law enforcement to take in severely abused pets. Children are invited to volunteer to read to the pets.

Marguerite invited members to tour the facility. 

In regular business, Roberto reminded everyone to think about bringing a guest to the membership dinner on May first. Terry said that we should target potential members who are new and those that used to be members in the past.

Roberto also reminded the group about the upcoming April 5th downtown CNY Conference and said that he, Jim, Phil, Murray, Deb and Peter would be attending. Deb and Peter would be presenting about the water well project in Kenya. Roberto and Jim will set up a exhibit table to sell soap to raise money for scholarships.

Phil gave an update on the annual bowl-a-thon on Sunday April 6th. He said Maple Hill School signed up 12 bowlers. Along with Stretch Zone and friends and families of the club, Phil expected that 35-40 bowlers would show up. He said over $1,000 had already been raised via sponsorships for the Anchor Food Bank.

Roberto encouraged members to continue to purchase Easter Baskets for the Circles of Mercy Easter Drive.

Phil said that there has been considerable publicity about the benefit concert on April 26 at the East Greenbush Methodist Church. He said that representatives from the St. Paul Center would attend to speak about the shelter for homeless women and children.

Andy reported that our club Facebook site is up and running, and is able to post club activities. Phil said that it was important to get more “friends” to the site to generate more exposure of what our club does.

Peter had very good news about the water well project in Kenya. He said drilling had begun and that water had been found. He shared a photo of church members surrounding the drill in celebration.

Another meeting with the East Greenbush School District will be held on April 22nd to discuss our involvement with the Backpack Program. Kevin said a “Fun Run” to raise money has been tentatively scheduled for June 13th.

August 7th has been scheduled for a Valleycats game.

Pat reported that five members have signed up for the defensive driving class on May 17.

Roberto said he wanted to schedule a board meeting soon.