MEMBERS ATTENDING (13): Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Kevin Leyhane, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Terry Brewer and Pat Bailey. Via Zoom: Becky Raymond and Charlie Foote.

GUESTS (2): Maria Coady and Dina Sevayega.

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order.

Theme for the Year: “Growing Fellowship and Service Locally and Globally.” 

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to President Kevin Leyhane or any board member who will be attending the meeting. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

MEETING NOTES

Club Email and Phone Number: The new Club email is SRCRotary1960@Gmail.com. The email and the Club’s phone number have been updated on website.  If you notice any information that needs to be updated on the Club’s website, please notify Kevin Leyhane. Roberto Martinez also suggested that the Club appoint Peter Brown as the Membership Chair so that he may make edits in My Rotary.

One District One Book: Jeff Simons, Superintendent of the East Greenbush Central School District, sent a letter on behalf of their Global Education Committee thanking the Club for our $1000 donation to purchase copies of the book “The Elephant in the Room.” The Committee is sponsoring a Project to have the entire District read the book by Holly Goldberg Sloan. The start date has not yet been determined because of delays in obtaining the books.

Iron Giraffe Project: Students from the Maple Hill International Club spoke last week about their fundraiser for Water for South Sudan.  The Club will donate fifty percent of the proceeds from the Rotary Bowling Event to the Maple Hill International Club for their fundraiser. In addition, the Club will also donate another $500 for the fundraiser.

Rotary Bowling Event:  Per Phil Kellerman, the event will be held on April 2nd (Sunday) from 2 pm until 4 pm. Phil will also check to see if the event can be held from 1 pm until 3 pm. To date, Phil has commitments for 12 sponsorships at $50 a lane. He would like 16. He proposed a raffle for a $50 gift certificate. It was suggested that participants who bought food to donate to the Anchor Food Pantry will get a free ticket. Phil contacted the Pantry. The Pantry suggested donations of peanut butter and jelly, toiletries, instant mashed potatoes and cereal. Please let Phil Kellerman know if you are planning to attend. Pat Bailey and Ray Hannan are helping Phil plan this event.

Rotary Plaque for Moscatiello’s: Moscatiello’s management approved the plaque and will place it by one of the doors.

Albany Water Project Presentation: Len Tantillo, noted historical artist, and B.J. Costello will speak on March 9th about the proposed waterway in downtown Albany. Attendance is limited to 50 people. A buffet will be served. The cost is $25 per person. The buffet choices will be Penne with Marinera Sauce, Chicken Lemone and Sausage and Meatball with Cannoli for dessert and coffee. Capacity has been met, anyone else interested in the presentation is invited to join via Zoom.

Pre-PETS Schedule: Roberto Martinez joined the February 15 meeting on Club Finances and Insurance. They discussed taxes, budgets and membership counts. The new District will consist of 100 Clubs with 3,000 members. PETS training will be held in Syracuse. Let Kevin Leyhane know if you are interested in attending.

Next Meeting: Note that there is no meeting next week. The next meeting will be Thursday, March 2, dinner at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page.

Entree choices for March 2 will be Penne Ala Vodka, Rustica Salid and Baked Sausage and Peppers.

Dr. Maria Coady joined via Zoom to speak about LEAD (The Foundation for Language Education and Training).

Dr. Coady is Professor of Multilingual Education and is the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity at North Carolina State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual, Multicultural and Social Foundations of Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She has been a teacher, teacher-educator and advocate for English language learners in the US and abroad for over 30 years. She also provides educational professional development in the US, Ukraine, China and the United Arab Emirates. She was awarded the American Educational Research Association “Exemplary Contributions for Practice-Engaged Research” in 2020 for her work with rural, multilingual communities.

There are over 5 million multilingual learners (ML) students in grades K through 12 in the US who are learning English as an additional language. Seventy-five percent of these students are Spanish speaking. In North Carolina, 80 percent of the counties are rural and have population growths attributed to Spanish speaking families. North Carolina has 1.4 million students in grades K through 12. Of these, there are 270,000 students who speak a language other than Englis with Spanish is being the most widely used. The rural districts have found an increase in the number of students from Haiti. Only 50% of rural districts offer English as a second language (ESL) compared to city districts where 89% offer ESL Bilingual education is more effective than ESL.

Dr. Coady did a Talking Tour, speaking with ML educators about problems they have encountered. There are issues with teacher retention, teacher to student ratios that vary significantly, no access to bilingual social workers and psychologists, no native language assessment materials and ML family engagement.

The LEAD Foundation was incorporated in 2013. They provide scholarships for high achieving students whether they are documented or undocumented, migrant or ML. Students submit applications, their GPA and usually an essay about what they want to study. Their submissions are reviewed. The applicants are interviewed by Phil Kellerman regarding what obstacles and challenges they have overcome, their goals and plans as to how they will finance the remainder of their education after the $1000 per semester scholarship is awarded. These students contribute back to their communities. To learn more about LEAD, go to http://www.languageeducate.org.

MEMBERS ATTENDING (12): Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Kevin Leyhane, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Charlie Foote and Pat Bailey.

GUESTS (6): Debra Oligny, Chris Fowler, Vivian Palmer, Hailee LaRose, Thomas Webb and Jack Willett.

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order.

Theme for the Year: “Growing Fellowship and Service Locally and Globally.” 

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to President Kevin Leyhane or any board member who will be attending the meeting. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

MEETING NOTES

Email Account:   The new Club email is SRCRotary1960@Gmail.com. Kevin Leyhane will update the website.

Pre-PETS Schedule: Peter Brown, Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez joined the Zoom PETS training session on the Topic of Goals and Learning Center this past Tuesday night. Per Peter Brown, members can now access Rotary through my.rotary.org. The website has more system capability. This was the first of four virtual sessions. Members are invited to participate in these trainings. The remaining sessions are Wednesday February 15 on Club Finances and Insurance, Thursday February 23 on Meeting Formats and Friday February 27 on the RI Foundation. All sessions start at 7 pm. Members must activate their MyRotary account. at Rotary.org.

Rotary Bowling Event:  Per Phil Kellerman, the event will be held on April 2nd (Sunday) from 2 pm until 4 pm. It will cost $16 per person for 2 hours of bowling and this includes the shoes. Phil suggested the Club offest the cost of bowling by $3.50 per participant so that they would be charged $12.50. Phil also suggested sponsorships at $50 a lane. He would like to split the funds raised between the Anchor Food Pantry and the Maple Hill Iron Giraffe Project. Pat Bailey and Ray Hannan volunteered to help Phil plan this event.

One District One Book: Jeff Simons, Superintendent of the East Greenbush Central School District, sent a letter on behalf of their Global Education Committee requesting that Rotary consider purchasing 400 copies of “The Elephant in the Room” for approximately $1500. The Committee is sponsoring a District Wide Project to have the entire District read “The Elephant in the Room” by Holly Goldberg Sloan. The Club agreed to give the district $1000 towards this project.

Rotary Plaque for Moscatiello’s: Roberto Martinez will share the plaque with Moscatiello’s management.

Albany Water Project Presentation: Len Tantillo, noted historical artist, and B.J. Costello will speak on March 9th about the proposed waterway in downtown Albany. Kevin Leyhane proposed limiting the attendance to 50 people. Let Roberto Martinez know ASAP that you plan to attend. Over 40 people are already on the list. Those interested, after capacity has been met, will be invited to join via Zoom.

Viking Gym: Ron Annis emailed Kevin Koing, the Town of Schodack Parks Superintendent, the quote for 10 pieces of equipment for the Gym. The total cost for all 10 pieces of equipment is $24,067.19. Based on the amount of funding already raised, several pieces of equipment can be purchased with additional equipment to be purchased over several years.

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 16, dinner at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Our speaker will be Dr. Maria Coady from LEAD joining via Zoom.

Entree choices will be Antipasto Salid, Chicken Marsala and Cheese Ravioli.

Vivian Palmer, Hailee LaRose, Jack Willett and Thomas Webb, students from Maple Hill’s International Club presented on their Iron Giraffe Project.

They are raising $1000 for Water for South Sudan. Water for South Sudan is a non-profit organization dedicated to digging wells in order to provide clean water in South Sudan. Only 10% of the population has access to clean water. Non-clean water causes water-borne illnesses. It also takes time to walk to water and carry it back to the village. Access to clean water prevents illness and allows people to focus on other things like going to school. Salva Dut founded Water for South Sudan in 2003. It costs $15,000 to drill a well. They have dug 557 wells and also teach about hygiene.

The students were inspired to raise money for Water for South Sudan after reading the book “A long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park. The book is about Salva Dut’s life story and about a girl named Nya who walked twice a day for 7 months a year to get water. As a child, Salva Dut was displaced by war in South Sudan. He became separated from his family and walked to a refugee camp in another country. After years in the camp, he had the opportunity to relocate to the United States. He later found that his father was alive in South Sudan but had a disease he got from dirty water. This inspired Salva Dut to start Water for South Sudan.

Why do they call their project the Iron Giraffe Project? The machines that dig the wells look like giraffes. So far, they have raised $230. If you wish to donate, send a check to the Maple Hill Student Activities Fund for the class of 2028. If they make their goal of raising $1000, they have a chance to meet Mr. Dut and Linda Sue Park.

Peter Brown, spoke to the students about the Student Exchange Program and the Summer Exchange Program. There will be a parent information night in March and will be taking applications starting in March. In order to do this, there must be enough families willing to host the exchange student.

MEMBERS ATTENDING (14): Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Becky Raymond, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Charlie Foote. John Justino, and Pat Bailey. By Zoom: Terry Brewer.

GUESTS (1): Cathy Stone.

President-Elect Peter Brown called the meeting to order.

Theme for the Year: “Growing Fellowship and Service Locally and Globally.” 

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to President Kevin Leyhane or any board member who will be attending the meeting. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

MEETING NOTES

District Reorganization:  Our three upstate NY districts (7150, 7170, and 7190) will become one district as of July 1, 2024. We are not looking at this as a “merger,” but as an opportunity to create something new, called CNY Rotary. Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane and Dick Drumm joined the District Zoom session this past Monday night to learn more about the direction CNY (Central New York) Rotary is heading.  The new District will have a President instead of a Governor. The CNY District will encompass 100 clubs. They are working out the details of the executive and club structures. The districts will be combining their expertise. District 7190 does a lot of projects, whereas the other two Districts excel at attracting new members. The Exchange Programs, Shelter Box, Polio and donations to the Foundation all remain unchanged. The district’s financing will have to merge. Many things are still in the discussion stage. There are a few more opportunities to find out about the District Reorganization. The next Zoom meeting will be held on February 9th. We also encourage you to visit the CNY Rotary Website (CNY Rotary.org), District 7190 website and visit the FAQ, and the Facebook page.

Rotary Bowling Event:  Per Phil Kellerman, April 2nd (Sunday) is available. The lanes open at noon. It will cost $16 per person for 2 hours of bowling and this includes the shoes. We can do noon to 2 pm and/or 2:15 pm to 4:15 pm. If we choose two sessions, then we have to change sides and lanes. We can accommodate 48 to 80 participants per session. We can also do a food drive for the local food pantry and offer a discount for each food item donated. Phil requested a decision by next week.

Bylaw Change: The Bylaw changes were read again and put to a vote. The changes were unanimously approved.

          Current Bylaw:  Section 3: Twelve (12) members constitute a quorum at the regular meetings of this club. Written proxy votes submitted to the president in advance of a meeting may be counted toward achieving a quorum.

          Proposed Bylaw:  Section 3: Ten (10) members constitute a quorum at the regular meetings of this club.  Written and electronic proxy votes submitted in advance of the meeting to any board member attending the meeting may be counted toward achieving a quorum.

Viking Gym: Ron Annis Zoomed in from Sweden to join Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Dick Drumm and Debbie Rodrigez at the meeting at the Schodack Town Hall. Rotary members met with Charles Peter, Schodack Town Supervisor, and Kevin Konig, Parks Supervisor. Ron Annis had emailed some pictures of equipment from a company he identified. The equipment ranges in from $1100 to $3200 per piece. Shipping is included and we can do the installation. The equipment is guaranteed for 10 years. Per Mr. Peter, he has had a preliminary discussion with the Town Board about the project. Beside the current location at the Schodack Town Park, Mr. Peter also offered the land next to the Town Hall for the Viking Gym. Mr. Peter also wants to explore corporate sponsorships for the project which could be acknowledged on the donated pieces of equipment. Ron will send a pricing request for 5 to 10 pieces of equipment to the company. He will also draft a donation letter and a short description of the project.

Albany Water Project Presentation: Len Tantillo, noted historical artist, and B.J. Costello will speak on March 9th about the proposed waterway in downtown Albany. Family and friends are encouraged to attend.

Plaque at Moscatellos: It was suggested that a “Rotary Meets Here” plaque be purchased for Moscatellos. Per Roberto Martinez, the Restaurant management will need to see what it looks like.

“One District One Book: Jeff Simons, Superintendent of the East Greenbush Central School District, sent a letter on behalf of their Global Education Committee requesting that Rotary consider purchasing 400 copies of “The Elephant in the Room” for approximately $1500. The Committee is sponsoring a District Wide Project to have the entire District read “The Elephant in the Room” by Holly Goldberg Sloan.

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 9, dinner at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Our speakers will be students from the Maple Hill International Club.

Entree choices will be Chicken Caeser Salid, Penne in Pesta Cream Sauce and Linguini with Baby Clams in White Wine Sauce.

Cathy Stone presents on The Importance and Benefits of Therapy Dogs.

Cathy Stone has two therapy dogs, Henry Charles and Piper. Both are standard poodles. Poodles do not shed and are hypoallergenic. She has been working as a therapy dog owner for eight years. She got involved with having her dogs be therapy dogs because she wanted to volunteer and have it be meaningful. Owners and their therapy dogs are not paid. It is strictly a volunteer service.

Therapy dogs support people’s mental and physical well-being by providing affection and comfort. Dogs of any age can be a therapy dog. Dogs are temperament screened after birth and they must be very calm, friendly, not afraid of loud noises and not bark all the time. Their owner trains them to sit, stand, lay down, and come when called. They should meet the standards for the Canine Good Citizen Certification. Therapy dogs provide instant satisfaction and calmness. They are uplifting, bring joy, release strain and tension, can lower blood pressure and help with depression. Therapy dogs are used in such settings as pediatric clinics, hospitals, nursing homes and schools. Therapy dogs are not emotional support dogs.

Therapy dogs must be licensed by organizations such as Therapy Dogs International and Bright and Beautiful. These organizations screen the volunteer and the dog, provide liability insurance and memorandums of understanding with hospitals, schools and other organizations that use therapy dogs. They also provide education about the importance of having therapy dogs. The dog must be at least one year old to take the Therapy Dog test. There are 13 elements to the test and the dog must pass every element to receive a license. Such elements include food refusal, not responding to loud noises and being able to focus only on the owner in the presence of other distractions. Once licensed, the rest is on the job training. Licenses must be renewed every year.

MEMBERS ATTENDING (12): Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Terry Brewer. and Pat Bailey. By Zoom: Becky Raymond and Charlie Foote.

GUESTS (2): Betty Brewer and Mary Alice Cardes.

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order.

Theme for the Year: “Growing Fellowship and Service Locally and Globally.” 

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to Kevin Leyhane. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

MEETING NOTES

Guest Speakers, Meetings and Calendar:  The Calendar is filling up, make sure you check it when scheduling a speaker. There will be no scheduled meeting during the school break week for February 23rd. Becky Raymond suggested introductions before the meeting begins and giving members a chance to voice what is new in their lives before the meeting is adjourned. Roberto Martinez suggested that we schedule Club assemblies every six weeks. Phil Kellerman suggested asking if the Club could place a “Rotary Meets Here” sign at Moscatellio’s.

Albany Water Project Presentation: Len Tantillo, noted historical artist, and B.J. Costello will speak on March 9th about the proposed waterway in downtown Albany. Family and friends are encouraged to attend.

Clynk:  Please keep using Clynk. Theis is an easy way to raise funding for the Club’s projects.

Bylaws changes regarding Proxy votes: We are proposing to amend the bylaws to allow members to give their proxy vote to any board member who will be attending the meeting that the member will miss. Also, Terry Brewer has suggested decreasing the number of members to ten members to constitute a quorum at regular meetings.

Current Bylaw

Section 3: Twelve (12) members constitute a quorum at the regular meetings of this club. Written proxy votes submitted to the president in advance of a meeting may be counted toward achieving a quorum.

Proposed Changes:

Section 3:  Ten (10) members constitute a quorum at the regular meetings of this club.  Written and electronic proxy votes submitted in advance of the meeting to any board member attending the meeting the member will miss may be counted toward achieving a quorum.

Menu: Antipasto Salad, Penne in a pesto cream sauce, Rustica Salad and Chicken Florentine (5 chicken tenders sautéed in white wine with tomatoes and spinach over linguini) were added as menu items.

Cafe Capriccio Raffle:  The winner is …….Dick Drumm! There were 168 tickets sold. Thank you to all who participated. Special thanks to Terry Brewer and Andy Leyhane for planning and organizing the raffle.

Small Project Ideas: Currently, members suggested working on the Star of Hope Garden student memorial located by the WMCA. The stones need to be replaced and the garden refreshed. Roberto Martinez, Ron Anis, Dick Drumm, Jim Leyhane and Debbie Rodriguez will be meeting next week with the Town of Schodack about starting the Viking Gym project. It was also suggested that the Club plan a bowl-a-thon and plan service projects instead of having the traditional summer social meetings.

Districts Merge: Our three upstate NY districts (7150, 7170, and 7190) will become one district as of July 1, 2024. We are not looking at this as a “merger,” but as an opportunity to create something new, called CNY Rotary. You will have the opportunity to learn more about the direction CNY Rotary is heading.  We also encourage you to visit the CNY Rotary Website and visit the FAQ, and the Facebook page.

If you want to learn more about where the districts are in the creation of the new CNY Rotary, you are invited to attend the upcoming town hall meetings. To sign up for one or more Town Hall Events, please go to this link https://cnyrotary.org/ events/.

Rotaract: Per Becky Raymond, the Rotaract Board met earlier this week. They are planning a member meeting possibly combined with a social event. Ann Williams, US Peace Corp Recruiter, will be speaking at the School of Public Health about how the Peace Corps can be a step in a student’s career. This event is being sponsored by Rotaract. They are looking at planning a service and a social event every month. They also plan to participate in Healthy Kids Day at the YMCA on April 29th. Rotaract members were invited to attend a Rotary meeting.

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 2, dinner at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Our speaker will be Cathy Stone presenting on Therapy Dogs.

Entree choices will be Chicken Florentine, Meat Lasagna and Rustics Salad.

MEMBERS ATTENDING (10): By Zoom: Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, John Justino and Dick Drumm. By Proxy: Terry Brewer and Charlie Foote.

GUESTS: None

President Kevin Leyhane called the meeting to order.

MEETING NOTES:

Today’s meeting was switched to Zoom due to inclement weather.

Theme for the Year: “Growing Fellowship and Service Locally and Globally.” 

Hybrid Meeting:  Please let Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane or Roberto Martinez know if you plan to join the weekly meeting via Zoom.

Proxy Votes:  If unable to attend please submit your proxy votes to Kevin Leyhane. Proxy votes can also be submitted using the Remind App. Text to the number 81010.

Bylaws changes regarding Proxy votes: We are proposing to amend the bylaws to allow members to give their proxy vote to any board member who will be attending the meeting that the member will miss.

Guest Speakers and Calendar:  Following last week’s meeting we booked several speakers and the Calendar has been updated.

Len Tantillo Presentation: Len Tantillo, noted historical artist, will speak on March 9th about the proposed waterway in downtown Albany. Family and friends are encouraged to attend.

Cafe Capriccio Raffle update:  Due to inclement weather, the drawing was postponed to January 26th.

Clynk:  Please keep contributing, Kevin Leyhane will have barcodes for the bags at the next meeting.

Iron Giraffe Challenge:  The Maple Hill International Club fundraiser for Water for South Sudan.  Their fundraiser runs through April. A few students will join our meeting on February 9th to speak about their fundraiser.

East Greenbush Committee to Promote Global Education:  Kevin Leyhane, Jim Leyhane and Peter Brown attended the Committee meeting via Zoom. Peter Brown spoke about Rotary’s Student Exchange Program. Other attendees included District Administers, Building Principals and English as a Second Language teachers. The Committee is sponsoring a District Wide Project to have the entire District read “The Elephant in the Room” by Holly Goldberg Sloan.

DAF Fund:  Committee members will provide an update of the Fund at the next meeting.

Viking Gym: Kevin Konig, Schodack Town Park Supervisor, will be speaking to Charles Peter, the Town Supervisor, about moving forward with previously discussed plans for adding new equipment to the site at the Schodack Town Park. A Zoom meeting was proposed.

Rotaract: Per John Justino, tomorrow he will meet with Becky Raymond and Debbie Rodriguez regarding planning for this semester.

Next Meeting: Thursday, January 26, dinner at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Our speaker will be Julia Ritchie of Bees Knees Bakery.

Entree choices will be Baked Sausage with Peppers, Antipasto Salad and Manicotti.