Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
January 12, 2017

Members Attending (14): Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Jim Leyhane, A.J. Amato, Roberto Martinez, Dick Drumm, Terry Brewer, Phil Kellerman, Becky Raymond, Julius Frankel, Charlie Foote.

Guests (2): James Arrington, Jean Marie Niederhoffer.

Program: “Health Care Benefits for Veterans”

Charlie Foote introduced James Arrington, senior program manager at the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center.

James explained his role as being responsible for health care benefits at the VA Center. His presentation covered: “Who is a Veteran?” and “The Basic Veteran Statuses.”

A key is establishing eligibility with form 10-10EZ, which is available online, The enrollment system is broken into groups of priorities depending on needs. Other questions addressed included  “What am I eligible for?”,  and preventive care services that can include even eyeglasses and hearing aids.

A common question, obviously, is “What do I have to pay?” James said there are limits to benefits, and a means test is part of a financial assessment. He explained  that the Veterans Administration now can offer payment for services provided outside the VA facility. It also will provide non-VA emergency Care under certain circumstances.

James also addressed a number of questions from then audience, including those on tele-medicine, the high suicide rate among veterans, and reimbursements to outside suppliers.

Note: More details of his presentation are available on our Program Presentation Archive website page.

Announcements/Business

RECYCLING DAY — Terry Brewer reported that we are set for Saturday’s “Resolved To Recycle” fundraising effort, with a good number of volunteers for three shifts to staff the paper- and electronics-recycling event at Wainschaf Construction. And, several members have stepped up to contribute money toward the cost of the shredding machine rental.

SIMULATOR GOLF — Murray Forth said a signup sheet for volunteers to staff the January 21 event at Burden Lake Country Club will be circulated next week. Also, we now can accept Visa and MasterCard credit cards.

ROTARY HOME COOKING — Four seats remain for a “French Bistro” dinner to be hosted by Dean and Doris Calamaras on January 27, the first in this year’s series of member-hosted home dinners. Anyone else wishing to attend is asked to contact Dean directly.

COMMITTEE FOLLOWUP — At last week’s meeting, members broke up into their committees to discuss their efforts. Tonight they reported.

Jim Leyhane spoke about Ronald McDonald House and Easter baskets by the Boy Scouts; CPR usually is handled by Ron and Monika Annis of Top Form; no strong need was seen for raffles; no interest in participating in fairs; we may wish to support Blue Star Mothers in sending packages overseas to troops.

Murray spoke about fundraising possibilities, and said there is no interest in resuming the Rotary Run; we should consider an information event with vendors and local craftspeople, maybe at the Goff School parking lot and consider charging a fee to the vendors.

Debbie Brown reported lots of good discussion on youth efforts, especially spreading the knowledge of Rotary to students. Student foreign exchange program and scholarship program was discussed; possibility of holding a youth leadership program at CASDA; we should require recipients of our leadership programs to report back to the club as a way for us to find and mentor students. Terry said A.J. has done an excellent job with not much support with Maple Hill. We cannot fund more than $3,000 in annual scholarship funds, so if we wish to include Averill Park High School we may need additional fundraising efforts or decrease the amount of each scholarship.

2 MEETINGS NEXT WEEK: Third Thursday breakfast meeting at 7 a.m. at the Greenbush YMCA. Executive Director  Jim Butterworth will speak on his work with CASDA — the Capital District School Development Association. Then, at 6:15 p.m. at Quigley’s, webmaster Bill Dowd will take us on a tour of our website and social media resources, and is asking everyone to bring a cellphone, laptop or tablet so this can be a hands-on experience.

Dinner Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
January 5, 2017

Members Attending (14): Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Jim Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Geoff Brewer, Julius Frankel, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Becky Raymond, Phil Kellerman, Charlie Foote.

Guests (4): Russ Myer of Capital Region Nordic Alliance, Donna and Gerry of Blue Star Mothers, and Guests (1): Jean Marie Niederhoffer.

BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

VETERAN AWARDS — President Debbie Rodriguez presented checks of $1,450 each to representatives of the Capital Region Nordic Alliance (top photo) and Blue Star Mothers (bottom photo) veterans assistance organizations. She also presented several no-sew blankets made by the club to the Blue Star group, and Phil Kellerman’s coffee sales effort raised additional funds for the Nordic Alliance. Russ Myer of the Alliance reported that he had just returned from a two-day event with veterans, and spoke about introducing them to various snow events. Five more events are scheduled.

BASKET REVENUE — President Debbie welcomed our guests, wished all a good New Year, and thanked Murray and Maggie Forth for hosting our holiday party in December. Treasurer Murray reported that  $535 was raised by the gift basket silent auction to go toward support of our community service projects.

BYLAWS CHANGES — Changes in the Club Bylaws regarding the new-member process, additions to the types of membership categories, and changes in the dues structure were offered for member approval. Terry Brewer moved acceptance of the changes, Murray seconded the motion, and the motion was approved without discussion and without dissent. As a result, annual dues will be reduced to a cap of $150 beginning with the 2017-18 Rotary Year, “Corporate” and “Family” categories will be added to the member categories, and the process will be streamlined for proposing and accepting new members. (Updated version of the Bylaws, with specific new language, available by clicking here.)

ROTARY HOME COOKING — The first member-hosted dinner of the annual winter series will be hosted by Dean and Doris Calamaras on Friday, January 27. They have just four seats remaining, and anyone interested in attending is asked to contact them ASAP. As always, all reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

RECYCLING PROJECT — Terry Brewer circulated a signup sheet for volunteers willing to work the “Resolve to Recycle” day on Saturday, January 14. There will be three shifts of two hours each, and four or five people will be needed for each shift. In addition to widespread social media notices, an article has been published in The Advertiser about the project.

INDOOR GOLF — Plans are proceeding to host the first of two Indoor Simulator Golf Tournaments at the Burden Lake Country Club, set for Saturday, January 21. Volunteers are needed to staff the event, and anyone interested is asked to contact Murray ASAP.

COMMITTEE ACTIVITY — Debbie explained that the focus of the evening’s Club Assembly will be on Youth, Scholarship, Fundraising, and Community Service committees. Members were asked to pick a group and choose someone to take notes and be able to report back next week.

NEXT MEETING: 6:15 p.m. Thursday, January 12, at Quigley’s. A representative of the Stratton VA Medical Center will offer a presentation on services to veterans.