We now have a solid date for the planned cleanup and tree planting at the Star of Hope memorial area near the East Greenbush Public Library — 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 9.

If you are interested in participating, please email Terry Brewer at tlbrewer12piseco@gmail.com.

This will be a joint undertaking between SRC and a contingent from Columbia High School. The effort will be both a renewal of the memorial area as well as our participation in Rotary International’s worldwide tree planting project.

The memorial was created during the 2001-02 academic year by the CHS Interact Club to honor students who passed away before they could graduate. However, that club has been non-existent for a number of years and upkeep of the memorial has been lacking. The library-neighboring Greenbush YMCA will be watering and maintaining the site.

Dan Stec and Sue Austin, District 7190 Past District Governors who are the members of the District’s Rules, Regulations and Bylaws Committee, have recommended several changes.

Such an effort is undertaken every few years to ensure that our Bylaws reflect current activity, policy, and procedure.

They discussed the proposed changes with the District Board of Directors, made up of Rotarians who are on the District Governor track plus the two immediate past DGs. We made some minor adjustments to the proposals. In essence, the proposed changes must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of those present at the District Conference that will be held in June.

Click here to read the current Bylaws, last updated in 2015, and click here to read the proposed changes.

Debbie and Peter Brown are fresh off a trip to see the antiquities of Egypt and Jordan, the topic of the after-dinner presentation they will be making at this Thursday’s 6:15 p.m. meeting at Quigley’s.

We’ll begin the session with a meal of chicken Marsala, antipasto salad, chef’s choice of side dishes, bread, dessert, and beverages,

As always, if you plan to attend but haven’t yet signed up, please email Debbie at mdbrown@nycap.rr.com no later than Tuesday evening so she can arrange appropriate food and seating.

Here’s who has signed up so far:

Pat Bailey
Debbie Brown
Peter Brown
April Dowd
Bill Dowd
Charlie Foote
Phil Kellerman
Jim Leyhane
Roberto Martinez

A team of Rotarians and Rotaractors prepared Sunday dinner for 45 or so guests at the Ronald McDonald House facility in Albany.

The team consisted of SRC’s Bill Dowd, April Dowd, Phil Kellerman, and Julius Frankel plus Effie Frankel and two members of the Danes Rotaract that SRC sponsors at the UAlbany School of Public Health, Ashley Beaulieu and Annette Highley.

Ronald McDonald House provides temporary free lodging in a homelike setting for family members of pediatric patients being cared for at the nearby Albany Medical Center. A different SRC team prepared breakfast there a week earlier, and a variety of local business and organizations also regularly take part in meal preps there.

The Rotary team put together a menu of pulled pork barbecue and slider buns, lasagna, mixed salad, peas, corn, butternut squash, sweet potato fries, waffle-cut potato fries, meat-and-cheese platters, sliced tomato and basil platter, Puerto Rican bread, plus dessert choices of strawberry shortcake, chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, and individually-sized blueberry pies and apple pies.

Some of the RMH guests were circling the kitchen before we were finished laying out the buffet, including one really cute little boy who carried his plate around with him.

Here are a few scenes from the effort, courtesy of Bill and Phil:

Yet another financially successful “SRC Recycling & Shredding Day” is in the books.

A team of SRC members plus a pair of volunteers from the Danes Rotaract club at the UAlbany School of Public Health took advantage of a beautiful Saturday to accept and process a large number of obsolete TV sets, printers, PCs, and other electronic items as well as papers for shredding.

The net financial results of  the effort will be announced at Thursday’s 6:15 p.m. dinner meeting at Quigley’s, but we think we can safely predict that we will have cleared several thousand dollars for our ongoing scholarship programs.

Thanks once again to the volunteers — Murray Forth and Terry Brewer who organized the day and cleverly overcame some last-minute vendor problems, Matt Smith, Pat Bailey, Bill Dowd, Mike Dewey, Geoff Brewer, Charlie Foote, April Dowd, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Jim Leyhane, and Becky Raymond — and to Josh Wainman for making his Wainschaf Associates offices and grounds available to us.

Here are a few scenes from the event:

Carol Orvis (center), a longtime Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club member, recently was honored for her volunteer work in education by the East Greenbush Central School District. Included in this photo were SRC members Jeff Simons (far left), the EGSCD superintendent, and Jim McHugh (far right), assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
May 3, 2018

Members Attending (18): Roberto Martinez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Jim Leyhane, Bill Dowd, Andy Leyhane, Debbie Rodriguez, April Dowd, Debbie Brown, Maggie Forth, Becky Raymond, Charlie Foote, Kevin Leyhane, Marty Mahar, Dick Drumm, Carol Orvis, Ray Hannan, John Justino.

Guests (13): John Mucha, Jack Faddegon, Nina Mucha, Jeremy Forth, Kaitlyn Driesse, Ashley Beaulieu, Carolyn Stover, Annette Highley, Liam O’Connor, Alexis Russell, Cydney Miazga, Emilia Carlino, Shannon Hastings.

PROGRAM: Joint Induction Into the Rotary Family

The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club marked yet another milestone in its 58-year history on Thursday evening at Quigley’s in East Greenbush.

Several of the numerous people who joined us in 2017-18 plus a contingent of charter members of the new Danes Rotaract Club that SRC sponsors at the UAlbany School of Public Health were brought into the Rotary Family in our first-ever joint ceremony attended by more than 30 people.

Jim Leyhane, SRC Board Member At-Large, served as emcee of the evening. Past District Governor John Mucha and Area 8 Assistant District Governor Jack Faddegon delivered remarks.

New Rotarians inducted included Kevin Leyhane, John Justino, and Marty Mahar, and in absentia, Adam Roberts, Kasie Burrello, Jeff Simon, Phil Nasca, and Bonnie Nasca.

Here are a few other scenes from the event:

BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

YOUTH ACTIVITIES — Information on our scholarship program has been sent to local high schools — Columbia, Maple Hill, Rensselaer, and Averill Park. In addition, preliminary information on the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program has been sent, and a followup notification mentioning the link to our website where the 2018-19 RYLA brochure has just been uploaded will be sent out. (Click here to see it.)

STAR OF HOPE — Volunteers are being sought to help in the Saturday, May 19, cleanup project at the Star of Hope memorial at the East Greenbush Public Library. The memorial is to Columbia High School students who passed away before they graduated. The Greenbush YMCA is participating in the effort.

ROTARY HOME COOKING SERIES — We need your RSVP if you plan to attend the Saturday, May 19, “International Wine & Cheese Tasting” event at Roberto’s residence in East Greenbush, co-sponsored by Bill Dowd and Jim Leyhane. Despite the name of the event, it is being planned as a kid-friendly one. Reservations are just $10 per person, kids free, with proceeds going to the club treasury. The hosts are underwriting the cost of  the event. We will have eight international wines for the adults to try, plus nibbles and hors d’oeuvres, and stuff for the kids. Please be sure to make your reservations with Roberto ASAP. (Guests are welcome.)

RONALD McDONALD HOUSE MEALS — An SRC team prepared breakfast last Sunday for guests at the Ronald McDonald House in Albany. Click here for a look at it. This Sunday, another team will prepare dinner there for some 40 to 50 guests.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING — The annual Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) is scheduled for Saturday, October 20, at the UAlbany School of Public Health. All Rotarians are eligible to participate at any level available, and participation is strongly urged by the club. The norm is a three-level course completed over three years, with occasional graduate level offerings. SRC will pay the tuition charge for any interested member. See President Roberto Martinez if interested; if you would like to learn more about the program, see recent three-year graduates Bill Dowd and Debbie Rodriguez. (Click here for official details on RLI.)

RECYCLING & SHREDDING DAY — We will hold our latest such event this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wainschaf Associates headquarters in Rensselaer, behind Target. Volunteers still are need to staff the day. Please see Murray Forth if interested. Event details are on the flyer. Click here to see it.

CALENDAR UPDATES — Bill Dowd will represent SRC at District 7190’s Thursday, May 24, “Public Image and Social Media Seminar” in Clifton Park. If anyone else is interested in attending, please see Bill ASAP. … The deadline for applying for a Rotary Peace Fellowship is May 31. Click here for program details. … Registration is open for the annual District Conference, being held this year on June 1-3 at the new Rivers Casino in Schenectady. Click here for event and registration details. … SRC will be honored at the annual “Taste of Mercy” fundraiser for Circles of Mercy, scheduled for Wednesday, June 13, at the Shaker Ridge Country Club. Anyone who wishes to attend the gala is asked to contact Bill Dowd ASAP.

The 24-hour matching-funds online drive for ShelterBox began at noon today as scheduled. If you donate by clicking here before noon tomorrow (Wednesday, May 2), every dollar you donate up to $100 will be matched.

What this means is that even if you can afford only a few dollars, the impact can be doubled to help send relief emergency aid to people around the world who are victims of floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorism, and other disasters.

So, please take just a moment to make your donation. Someone somewhere will be glad you did.

We’ll be making history on Thursday evening when we hold a joint induction ceremony at 6:15 p.m. at Quigley’s for all who have joined SRC in the 2017-18 year, and for all charter members of the new Danes Rotaract club we’re sponsoring at the UAlbany School of Public Health.

Not only will this be our first such joint induction, it is the first Rotaract (ages 18-35) club we’ve ever sponsored in the 58-year-history of SRC, plus it’s the only such organization in District 7190. We’re hoping for a very strong turnout to welcome all the newcomers to the Rotary Family, so please make a real effort to participate even if you don’t usually attend dinner meetings.

Dinner coordinator Debbie Brown (mdbrown@nycp.rr.com) needs to know no later than Tuesday evening if you plan to join us so she can arrange for the buffet and proper seating for all. The following people already have said they will attend:

Bailey, Pat
Brewer, Terry
Brown, Debbie
Brown, Peter
Dowd, April
Dowd, Bill
Drumm, Dick
Forth, Murray
Justino, John
Kellerman, Phil
Leyhane, Andy
Leyhane, Jim
Leyhane, Kevin
Martinez, Roberto
Raymond, Becky
Rodriguez, Debbie