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.

Foundation Dinner a success for all

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The SRC contigent (from left): A.J. Amato, Ella Cancio, Murray Forth, Mary Drumm, Dick Drumm, Roberto Martinez, Carole Spencer, Jim Leyhane.

The annual Foundation Dinner, held at the Saratoga National Golf Club on Thursday night, was a well-attended affair.

The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club had a contingent of eight in attendance, including our Youth Exchange student Ella Cancio who got an up-close look at one of District 7190’s most important fundraising efforts as well as an opportunity to socialize with Rotarians and guests from all around the region.

Here are a few more scenes from the evening, courtesy of Roberto Martinez:

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Murray, Ella and A.J.
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The silent auction basket of Rensselaer County-made products assembled by Debbie Rodriguez, April Dowd, Pat Bailey and Debbie Brown for the occasion.
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Dick and Mary Drumm.
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Carole and Jim.

Breakfast meeting of 11/17/16: ‘Chamber of Commerce’

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SRC Breakfast Logo

Third Thursday Breakfast Meeting
Greenbush Area YMCA
1 Community Way
East Greenbush, NY

Members Attending (15): Shannon Romanowski, Ron Annis, Pat Bailey, Melissa Bill, Terry Brewer, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Murray Forth, Marko Koshykar, Andy Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Becky Raymond, Debbie Rodriguez, John Sawchuk, Matt Smith.

Guests (2): Maureen McGuiness, Matt Wiseman.

PROGRAM: Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-12-22-23-amRensselaer County Chamber of Commerce executive Maureen McGuiness was our guest speaker. She shared information on Chamber activities with not-for profit organizations and community organizations.

She also discussed the not-for-profit showcase held annually, the Chamber’s Award Leadership Program, building connections and networking with more than 900 businesses and 40 professional development programs.

Maureen said a club such as Rotary can join the Chamber for approximately
$500 per year.

Announcements/Business

OPENING: The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation by Jim Leyhane.

BOWLING FOR VETS: Treasurer Murray Forth  reported that the second annual event raised  more than $3,600, of which $3,000 will be donated to the Blue Star Mothers and other veteran groups, with the remainder going to the club treasury.

HOLIDAY PARTY: The annual Holiday Party and Theme Basket Silent Auction will be held at the Forth residence on Thursday, December 22. More information will be provided at a later date.

BASKET BONANZA: Terry Brewer reported that 10 Thanksgiving baskets were provided to the Community Cares group for distribution, with Shannon Romanowski coordinating the activity. The value of the baskets was $500.

ADOPT A FAMILY — April Dowd  is coordinating with the Circles of Mercy organization our annual holiday effort. She has sent information via email to all members. … Terry is coordinating for a family with Doors of Hope in Averill Park. He will share information at the December 1 dinner meeting.

Screen Shot 2016-11-28 at 12.39.58 AM.pngRECYCLING DAY — A Recycling Day fundraiser will be held on Saturday, January 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for paper and small electronic items. The location is Wainman Construction on Third Ave. Ext., Rensselaer. Details will be shared at the December 1 dinner meeting.

NEXT 3RD THURSDAY MEETING: 7 a.m. Thursday, December 15, at the Greenbush Area YMCA. Club member Andy Leyhane will provide the program.

Breakfast only this week

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SRC Breakfast LogoOur monthly Third Thursday breakfast will have the meeting stage to itself this week.

While our usual dinner session will take a week off, the breakfast meeting will be held from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Greenbush Area YMCA. The speaker will be Maureen McGuinness, membership manager for the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce. She will be discussing the Chamber’s work with businesses and community organizations in the county.

The cost of the continental breakfast is $5, with all proceeds going toward YMCA camp scholarships.

Please let Terry Brewer or Shannon Romanowski know no later than Wednesday noon if you plan to attend.

Rotary.org getting a new year makeover

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Rotary’s official public website hasn’t had a facelift in a long time, and it looks it. But, that will be remedied when a redesign now getting the finishing touches is unveiled in January. Above is an example of just one new-look page you’ll be seeing.

And, once that rollout is accomplished, the web designers will be creating a new version of the My Rotary site available to members only.

 

UN Day exciting from start to finish

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District 7190 Governor John Mucha and wife Nina (standing) at the UN.

The District 7190 contingent that attended Rotary Day at the United Nations Screen shot 2016-08-31 at 4.29.52 PMon Saturday ran into news main events at both ends of the trip.

Here’s what District Governor John Mucha had to say about it:

“We had around 50 youth (Exchange students and siblings, RYLA students, Interact students) and chaperones, and about 20 Rotary adults and guests attend.

“The students saw our democracy in action with political demonstrations blocking several streets. [And] We all were affected by the lockdown at Crossgates Mall, where we left our cars at 5 a.m. and had to have a police escort to return there at 11 p.m. Quite a day!”

 

Meeting of 11/10/16: ‘Retirement Planning’

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screen-shot-2016-10-16-at-7-10-54-pmMeeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
November 10, 2016

Members Attending (13): Debbie Rodriguez, Roberto Martinez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Bill Dowd, Jim Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Mike Dewey, April Dowd, Dean Calamaras, Ray Hannan, David Taylor, Julius Frankel.

Guests: None.

PROGRAM: “Retirement Planning”

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Mike Dewey

Club member Mike Dewey, a certified financial consultant, presented a talk on retirement planning.

He stressed throughout that the keys to successful planning include starting as early as possible — which he conceded sometimes is difficult to get young adults to do; having a mix of deferred taxation and non-taxable savings; and, being sure to consult with someone certified in the field who is able to provide solid comparisons of various investment options rather than simply selling insurance.

Mike gave a version of the same presentation at the club’s Third Thursday breakfast meeting in June. The slides are available on the club website’s “Program Presentation Archive.”

Announcements/Business

OPENING — President Debbie Rodriguez, presiding, welcomed all members, and Jim Leyhane offered the benediction.

src-bowling-logoBOWLING FOR VETS — Treasurer Murray Forth reported that we cleared about $3,600 from Sunday’s fundraising event at the East Greenbush Bowling Center, most of it coming from the sale of lane sponsorships. He suggested 20% go to the club treasury for support of our community programs, and the remainder be divided among veterans-related organizations as decided by the Board at its scheduled December 1 meeting. He also reported $102 was realized from a raffle at the event that will go to Ronald McDonald House.

DOORS OF HOPE — Dean and Doris Calamaras are collecting new and gently used winterRead More »

Did you cast your vote today?

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screen-shot-2016-11-08-at-3-42-34-pmHere in New York State, the polls stay open until 9 o’clock tonight. So, if you weren’t able to get to the polling spot earlier in the day, you have plenty of time to do so.

While Rotary is a non-political organization and endorses no parties or individual candidates, it does encourage all eligible voters to exercise their civic responsibility.

Remember, while what we’ve been hearing about the most is the presidential race, there are numerous “down ballot” decisions to be made that will affect your communities and state. Don’t let Election Day end with your voice not being heard.

 

New sponsors list is ready to use

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Screen shot 2016-05-09 at 6.42.24 PMOur lane sponsorship program for the 2nd annual “Bowling for Vets” fundraiser was a huge success.

We had more than 30 businesses, families and individuals sponsoring lanes at the East Greenbush Bowling Center, bringing in more than $3,000 in that category alone for our initiatives to help veterans and military families.

Some of the sponsors are repeat ones, but we also have many newcomers. As always, we urge you to consider patronizing these businesses when you are in need of such goods and services.

We have included live links to the companies’ websites for your convenience. Just go to the “Our Sponsors” page where you will find the logo shown here. We thank them one and all for their cheerful support of our community service efforts.

 

How is Nigeria Rotary reacting to polio flareup?

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Nigerian Rotarians pose with local victims of polio and wheelchairs donated by a Maryland Rotary Club.

• From AllAfrica.com

A group of Rotary Clubs in the area of Lagos and its suburbs in northern Nigeria just carried out a polio walk across several communities to mark World Polio Week. Despite the belief that the African nation was polio free, several cases recently were reported in the area that had been in the hands of Boko Harum terrorists who forbade immunization.

Eboigbe Olaiye, assistant governor of District 9110 which covers Lagos and nearby cities,  said the purpose of the walk was to create awareness of polio. He called on parents to take their children to the nearest primary health center for polio immunization, while urging the national government to create more awareness and emphasize to people living in rural areas that the vaccine is free.

Santoch Kakade, chairman of Rotary’s Polio Service and Blood Donation, said the sudden outbreak of polio requires renewed sensitization in Nigeria.

District 9110 last Saturday brought together students from various schools with a target of 4,500 to break the Guinness Book of World Records’ human mosaic record of 4,200  people. Dr. Tunki Funsho, chairman of Nigeria’s National Polio Plus Committee and a past district governor, said the effort was to create more awareness towards eradication of polio in Nigeria.

In a related development, the Rotary Club of Amuwo also staged an awareness campaign through the media on plans to eradicate the disease. It called on members of the public to donate funds to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

Club President Aniekan Essienette said, “Our call to action is to enlighten the public to report any new case of limb weakness among children up to age 15 to the local council authorities or World Health Organization (WHO) close to them.”

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The Rotary Leadership Institute Class of 2016 flashes the “This Close” Rotary sign in its fight against polio. SRC members in the photo are Bill Dowd (3rd from left) and Debbie Rodriguez (3rd from right) in the top row. The photo was shot during the recent RLI graduation ceremony at Siena College.