Just a few hours until our annual gathering begins, once again being hosted at the Forth residence in East Greenbush. Hoist a glass, and offer a toast to all things Rotary.
Author: SRCrotary
A volunteer service club located in Rensselaer County, NY, that is part of Rotary International, the 1.23 million-member international organization of men and women serving their community and their world.
Looking for last-minute basket inspiration?
One of the highlights of our annual “Holiday Party” in December is the silent auction of themed gift baskets.
If you’re having difficulty coming up with an idea for this Thursday’s event, here are some more suggestions (an earlier batch can be found here) for putting together themed baskets from a quick one- or two-stop shopping trip.
Have you checked the Club Calendar lately?
You can plan your Rotary activities by making a habit of checking the ‘Club Calendar.” Just go to that page on our website page and click on the link that appears just before the program assignment chart. You’ll find more than just what our club is doing listed under “Events.”
Save the date for an evening of comedy dinner theater
If you like interactive dinner theater, save Saturday, February 18, for a special Rotary fundraising social night out.
Enjoy an evening of fun and laughter while you try to solve the crime during an interactive comedy called “A Wee Bit O’Murder,” involving leprechauns and stolen gold.
The event, sponsored by the Schenectady East Rotary Club, will be held at The Hibernian Hall, 1746 State Street in Schenectady, just north of the Blue Ribbon Diner. The deadline for reservations is February 10.
The pre-show dinner menu:
Garden salad
Sliced sirloin with mushroom-cabernet demiglace
Parmesan roasted baby potatoes
Sautèed green beans
Dessert
Reservations are $40 per person, $75 per couple. Cash bar. To reserve seats call Sue Mackey at 368-8520 or email her at mackeys97@gmail.com
Will we be seeing you at our Holiday Party?
We hope so, but if you haven’t yet emailed your RSVP to host Murray Forth you’re quickly running out of time.
The deadline for responding to him at mmforth51@gmail.com is Monday (December 19) for the Thursday dinner party, being put together in part by club member Jim Mendrysa’s Talk of the Town catering service.
To flesh out Jim’s prime rib menu with all the fixin’s, members whose surnames begin with A through K are asked to bring a dessert serving six; those with surnames beginning L through Z are asked to bring a similarly-sized appetizer. Beverages will be provided.
And, of course, we’re looking to see how imaginative everyone is this year in creating themed baskets for the always-popular silent auction.
The weather forecast for Thursday calls for rain, but with temperatures in the mid-40s, no snow. We’ll take it!
Meanwhile, stay warm, finish up those baskets, and get ready for another fun evening of food, fellowship and frivolity.
It’s that time of year; start spreading the word
The first of our annual winter series of Indoor Simulator Golf Tournaments at Burden Lake Country Cub will be held in just a few weeks.
We need every member of the club to help spread the word in any way they can during this holiday period when people’s attention might be on other topics. The more notice we can give the public the better.
All SRC members are being emailed a copy of the attached flyer today. (It already has been posted on the club website, Facebook and Twitter pages.) We ask that you forward it to friends who like to golf, post a copy on your Facebook page, get it posted at your place of work, where you shop or have a beer, at the YMCA, library, churches, schools, etc. Encourage people at such places to get a foursome together for the event. It is open to people of all skill levels.
These tournaments are major sources of funding for our many community service projects, scholarships, grants, etc. Remember, every cent we earn goes toward such initiatives.
A convention minute with the RI President
Meetings of 12/15/16: Bylaws vote postponed
Dinner Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
December 15, 2016
Members Attending (11): Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Jim Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Dick Drumm, Dean Calamaras, Phil Kellerman, Carol Orvis, Stewart Wagner, Ray Hannan.
Guests: None
BUSINESS
Because we did not have the minimum number (12) of members in attendance to constitute a quorum, the scheduled vote on a set of proposed changes to the Club Bylaws could not be held, and no other official business could be transacted. President Debbie Rodriguez said she will reschedule the vote for sometime in January.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
• HOLIDAY PARTY — A reminder that Murray and Maggie Forth are hosting the annual Holiday Party & Basket Silent Auction at 6 p.m. Thursday, December 22. If they have not yet done so, anyone wishing to attend must contact Murray at mmforth51@gmail.com no later then Monday, December 19, to let him know how many will be coming. Persons whose surnames begin with A through K are asked to bring a dessert serving six, and those with names beginning with L-Z an appetizer serving six. And, of course, a themed gift basket for the silent auction.
• HOLIDAY GIFTS — Donations of gifts for Christmas have been very generous again this year, with adopted families provided through Circles of Mercy (headed up by April Dowd) and Doors of Hope (headed up by Terry Brewer) as recipients. … In addition, staff and students from Columbia High School led by John Sawchuk are adopting seven families. … Dean Calamaras reported that donated gloves and hats he and Doris collected have been delivered to needy persons.
• RESOLVED TO RECYCLE — Our New Year’s paper and electronics recycling day will be held on Saturday, January 14, at Wainschaf Associates Construction, located behind Target on 3rd Avenue Extension in Rensselaer. Details are on a flyer that has been sent to all members and placed on our website and Facebook page. Members are asked to help distribute flyers as widely as possible.
• SHARING THE WORD — Debbie and Becky Raymond attended a meeting in Colonie of the Capital District Rotary Club to talk about our work supporting the Freedom From Fistula Foundation. That club is a two-year-old group of mostly young adults who meet in-person monthly but online in between sessions and for project work.
• MILITARY AID — Grants supported by our recent “Bowling for Vets” event will be given at our January 5 meeting to representatives of the Blue Star Mothers military family support group and the Capital District Nordic Alliance for its adaptive sports programs for vets. … Phil Kellerman is continuing to sell specialty coffees with proceeds to be divided between those two groups.
• SIMULATOR GOLF — Two dates have been confirmed for Saturday indoor simulator golf tournaments at Burden Lake Country Club — January 21 and March 11. A flyer for the first event will be distributed to all members and posted on our website and Facebook page in the next week or so.
• ROTARY HOME COOKING — Dean and Doris Calamaras will host the first event in this annual winter series of small, member-hosted dinners. The date for their event is Friday, January 27. They can accommodate six to eight guests, with reservations taken as always on a first-come, first-served basis.
Breakfast Meeting
Greenbush Area YMCA
East Greenbush, NY
December 15, 2016
Members Attending (9): Shannon Romanowski, Terry Brewer, Andy Leyhane, Jim Butterworth, Becky Raymond, Matt Smith, Jim Leyhane, Mike Dewey, Murray Forth.
Club member Andy Leyhane spoke about his work as a biochemist at AMRI (formerly known as Albany Molecular Research Institute).
How often do you visit our calendar?
This is a screen grab of the illustrated events calendar posted on our club’s Facebook page. You can link to it directly from the website (on the “Club Calendar” page) or bookmark it for a quick connection.
A perfect time to clean out the basement and garage
Here are the details of a promising fundraising effort being spearheaded by club members Mike Dewey and Matt Smith, with the venue being donated by Josh Wainman.
Please spread the word, share the flyer (on Facebook would be good!) and take this opportunity to make your New Year’s Resolution to clean out your basement and garage at a very low cost.
If you’ve been wondering for soooo long how to safely get rid of those personal paper records, those old computer keyboards and electronic games, and similar things taking up valuable space in your home, here’s the answer.
And, 100% of the profits will go right back into your community by supporting Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club projects that benefit people and organizations in need.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 