Members in Attendance (12):  Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Debbie Rodriguez, Ray Hannan, Kevin Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Andy Leyhand and Jeff Simon.

By Zoom (1):  Charlie Foote.

Guests (1): Pam Simon.

President Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

Holiday Schedule: There is no Rotary meeting next week.

Adopt a Family: Richard Zazycki, Executive Director of Circles of Mercy, will assign either a family of six or two familes of three to the Club. They are in the process of getting the gift lists from the families and will contact us when the information is complete. Donations are due by Friday, December 15th. Debbie Rodriguez and Debbie Brown will collect the donations and deliver them to Circles of Mercy.

Holiday Party and Silent Auction: The party will be held on December 14th at Moscatiellos. The cost is $30 per person. If you have not yet done so, please contact Roberto Martinez and let him know your intention to participate and the number in your party. Phil Kellerman is organizing a silent auction this year. He is seeking donations. Please call or email him at philkellerman77@gmail.com about your donation. Past donations have included gift baskets, bottles of wine and gift cards.

Water for Kenya: During Peter and Debbie Brown’s recent trip to Maasai Mara Kenya, they connected with the local people in the area. They found that there is a need for a well (bore hole). Women walk long distances to obtain water which creates both physical and economic issues. Peter Brown spoke to the person in charge of water projects at Rotary International. There is a grant available to develop water projects. We need a partner club in the Kenya/Ethiopia District. Peter is looking into which club in the area is appropriate for the project. They must have the capacity to do the project. He is focusing on Narok County. Per Jeff Simon, the students from the East Greenbush Central School District might be interested in this project.

Next Meeting: Thursday, November 30th, 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 Krueger from Saint Joseph Place.

Entree choices are Chicken Ceasar Salid, Cheese Ravioli or Spaghetti and Meatballs.

One District, One Community, One Book Update on the Elephant in the Room Project

Jeff Simon, Superintendent, East Greenbush Central School District

Jeff Simon came up with the idea of starting a District wide book club. The district has 4,000 students and 800 staff. The district had worked through a lot of challenges and a book club would be a way of bringing everyone together incorporating diversity, inclusion, belonging and promoting connections. The Committe to Promote Global Education implemented Superintendent Simon’s idea. The Committe selected the book “The Elephant in the Room” by Holy Goldberg Sloan, about a girl, missing her mother who befriended an autistic boy and the widow of one of her teachers who won a lottery and rescued an elephant from a circus. The book was appropriate for elementary, middle and high school students. Everyone in the District was invited to join the project.

With the help of local organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis, the Elks, the Green Meadow PTO, the East Greenbush Teachers Association and Wayne Pratt and Sons, enough books were purchased so that anyone who wanted a book got one.

The project ran from March through April 2023. Families were encouraged to read the books together. Guest speakers were recruited to read chapters. The district set up a guest speaker Video Library which was posted on their website. They hosted family reading nights at the school with discussion groups. The “Where is Vita?” part of the project involved students visiting community businesses and organizations such as, the YMCA, Hannaford, Stewarts, and the Nassau and North and East Green Libraries where they looked for the stuffed elephant, Vita (which traveled around the community). If they found Vita, snapped a picture and posted it at school, the student was eligible to participate in a raffle for prizes.

The service portion of the project involved the collection of spare change for earthquake relief in Turkey. The students raised around $1,200 dollars. Students also worked together. High school students went to the elementary school and helped the students with writing and art projects based on the book. The author, Holy Goldberg Sloan, visited with 4th and 5th graders on April 3rd and spoke about her writing process, career and the importance of reading. The visit was video streamed to the rest of the schools.

Per Superintendent Simon, the project was a great success. They received a lot of positive feedback. They do plan to do the project again.

Members in Attendance (8):  Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Debbie Rodriguez and Ray Hannan.

By Zoom (1):  Charlie Foote.

Guests (1): Chris Bystroff, Ph.D., Professor at RPI.

President Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

YMCA Caring Community Basket Brigade: Roberto Martinez spoke to Shannon Romanowski about the YMCA Thanksgiving baskets. They are fully covered for volunteers and funding this year.

Adopt a Family: Roberto Martinez will speak to Richard Zazycki, Executive Director of Circles of Mercy, about when the families will be assigned for the Cate’s Kids Adopt-a-Family Program this year. The Club will adopt a family. Donations are due by Friday, December 15th. Debbie Rodriguez will collect the donations and deliver them to Circles of Mercy.

Holiday Party and Silent Auction: The party will be held on December 14th at Moscatiellos. The cost is $30 per person. If you have not yet done so, please contact Roberto Martinez and let him know your intention to participate and the number in your party. Phil Kellerman is organizing a silent auction this year. He is seeking donations. Please call or email him at philkellerman77@gmail.com about your donation. Past donations have included gift baskets, bottles of wine and gift cards. If you have sponsored a new member, please make sure you invite them to the holiday party.

Holiday Schedule: There will be a Rotary meeting on December 21st. There will be no Rotary meetings on December 28th and January 4th. The first Rotary meeting of the new year will be held on January 11th. Speakers will be needed for next year.

Water for Kenya: During Peter and Debbie Brown’s recent trip to Maasai Mara Kenya, one of their guides told them about the St. John Fischer Nursing School Clinical Program that sends student nurses to Kenya for a week of clinicals. Peter spoke to Vivianne Cunningham, of St. John Fischer, and discussed the possibility of SRC Rotary helping with the program. Due to unrest in the region, the College will not be doing the clinicals. However, a well (bore hole) is needed. Women walk long distances to obtain water which creates both physical and economic issues. Previously drilled wells often fail over time due to lack of maintenance. Peter Brown is interested in looking into this project. There is a Rotary Club in the Rift Valley. Peter Brown spoke to the person in charge of water projects at Rotary International. There is a grant available to develop water projects. The Global Grant request must include provisions for training and maintenance, have an assigned owner of the water supply and at least 15% of the grant funds raised must come from outside the country. The Club will need members to work on the project, fundraise and determine further details.

Foundation Dinner: will be held on November 16th at the Edison Downtown in Schenectady.

Next Meeting: Thursday, November 16th, 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. Jeff Simon, Superintendent of the East Greenbush School District will provide an update on the Elephant in the Room project.

Entree choices are Chicken Rustica Salid, Chicken Florentine or Penne in Pesto Cream Sauce.

Contraceptive Vaccine Project

Chris Bystroff, Ph.D., Professor at RPI

Growing populations utilize greater resources. Eventually resources are exhausted leading to starvation and death. Therefore, the need for birth control. According to Dr. Bystroff birth control has existed since the beginning of time. Early birth control included cultural taboos regarding sex and the use of various herbs which blocked ovulation or caused a miscarriage. Modern methods include barrier (condoms, diaphragms), hormonal (the pill, the patch) and long-term methods (IUDs and sterilization).

Per Dr. Bystroff, 55% of pregnancies are intentional. The other 45% are unintentional. Unwanted children perpetuate the cycle of poverty. In 2016, 41.3 million pregnancies were unwanted. Dr. Bystroff began researching contraceptive vaccines at his laboratory at RPI With funding from the Grantham Foundation. Why contraceptive vaccines? Vaccines are widely accepted worldwide, they last a long time, they are safe and cheap, and they are reversable.

Recently, his first research paper entitled “Bacterial production of recombinant contraceptive vaccine antigen from cat sper displayed on human papilloma virus-like particles” was published. One of the four virus studied worked very well in mice. It has taken five years to get to this point.

The global fertility rate is declining due to the decrease in the number of children per woman. Families are smaller and some women elect not to have children.

Members in Attendance (10):  Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Debbie Rodriguez, Ray Hannan, Terry Brewer and Phil Kellerman.

By Zoom (1):  Edmund Kellerman, Speaker

President Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

YMCA Caring Community Basket Brigade: The YMCA is looking for volunteers to help assemble Thanksgiving baskets with donated food (including turkeys), or drive baskets to designated families (always 2 drivers together) on November 18th. They are set to serve 1500 families this Thanksgiving season. To volunteer, please follow this link. https://cdymca.volunteermatters.org/project-catalog/602. Peter Brown and Roberto Martinez will contact Shannon Romanowski to find out how much support is needed and if the need is in food products or assembly.

Adopt a Family: The Club received an email from Richard Zazycki, Executive Director of Circles of Mercy, requesting Club participation with Cate’s Kids Adopt-a-Family Program this year. The Club will adopt a family. Donations are due by Friday, December 15th. More information to follow.

Holiday Party and Silent Auction: The party will be held on December 14th at Moscatiellos. The cost is $30 per person. If you have not yet done so, please contact Roberto Martinez and let him know your intention to participate and the number in your party. Phil Kellerman is organizing a silent auction this year. He is seeking donations. Please call or email him at philkellerman77@gmail.com about your donation. Past donations have included gift baskets, bottles of wine and gift cards. If you have sponsored a new member, please make sure you invite them to the holiday party.

Holiday Schedule: There will be a Rotary meeting on December 21st. There will be no Rotary meetings on December 28th and January 4th. The first Rotary meeting of the new year will be held on January 11th. Speakers will be needed for next year.

Water for Kenya: During Peter and Debbie Brown’s recent trip to Maasai Mara Kenya, one of their guides told them about the St. John Fischer Nursing School Clinical Program that sends student nurses to Kenya for a week of clinicals. Peter spoke to Vivianne Cunningham, of St. John Fischer, and discussed the possibility of SRC Rotary helping with the program. Due to unrest in the region, the College will not be doing the clinicals. However, a well (bore hole) is needed. Women walk long distances to obtain water which creates both physical and economic issues. Previously drilled wells often fail over time due to lack of maintenance. Peter Brown is interested in looking into this project. There is a Rotary Club in the Rift Valley. Peter Brown has been trying to contact the person in charge of water projects at Rotary International.

Viking Gym: The Viking gym kits are stored in the town garage. There are eight pieces of equipment. Ron Annis reported that he assembled one of the pieces of equipment. Jim Leyhane will check with the Town to confirm that the Kiwanis Club will assemble some of the equipment. Jim will also contact the Elks Club. We will also need volunteers from our Club to assemble the rest of the equipment sometime after the holidays.

Rotary Leadership Institute: SRC Rotary will pay the $75 dollar fee for Rotary and Rotaract members to attend. The event will be held on November 4th with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. at the Albany Unitarian Universalist Association, 405 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY  12206.    There is free public parking on the street and in the Albany University lot across and kitty corner from the site. To register, go to RLINEA.org and scroll down to the Albany event and hit the button that says “Learn More.”  If you don’t remember your log-in name, register as a Guest for Part 1, and as you complete your registration, there is a place to indicate which Part you really want to take. 

Foundation Dinner: will be held on November 16th at the Edison Downtown in Schenectady.

Next Meeting: Thursday, November 9th, 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. Chris Bystroff, Ph.D., Professor at RPI, will speak about voting machines. Do we trust them?

Entree choices will be Caesar Salid, Spaghetti with Meatballs, and Cheese Ravioli.

“The History of Political & Historical Memorabilia”

Ed Kellerman

Ed and his brother Phil grew up in New York City. Their interest in collecting started out with radio stations and stores who gave out pins. Over time, they became the largest procurers of political buttons on the web. “Behind every button is a story, both historical and sociological.” They joined the American Political Items Collectors (APIC). Proceeds from their sales of items funded their Harvest of Hope Foundation. Ed also makes his own buttons.

Pre 1896, coat buttons served to support political campaigns. In 1896 there was a dental conference in Ohio. Members of the McKinley campaign notices the pictures on the buttons and copied the idea for use in the presidential campaign. Many different types of pins were produced. Jugate pins had two heads portrayed on the pin, whereas, trigate pins had three heads. There are also commemorative buttons, anti-candidate buttons, third party buttons (made by the presidential campaigns) and grassroots buttons (made by citizens). You can also find political plates, golf makers, mechanical devices and hats.

What makes a pin valuable? It should be pristine, authentic (authorized by a campaign, possibly signed), and be very rare. It also should have beauty in design and production. The most popular buttons/pins are of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan. Most collections center on theme, candidate, issue or connection. In March of 2022, a Cox and Roosevelt pin sold for $185,850.

For more information go to the National Museum of Political Memorabilia at https://nmpm.net/contact-us and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) at https://apic.us/ .

Members in Attendance (9):  Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, John Justino, Ruth Samuels and Debbie Rodriguez.

By Zoom (0):  

President Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

YMCA Caring Community Basket Brigade: The YMCA is looking for volunteers to help assemble Thanksgiving baskets with donated food (including turkeys), or drive baskets to designated families (always 2 drivers together) on November 18th. They are set to serve 1500 families this Thanksgiving season. To volunteer, please follow this link. https://cdymca.volunteermatters.org/project-catalog/602.

Adopt a Family: The Club has not heard from Richard at Circles of Mercy yet.

Holiday Party and Silent Auction: The party will be held on December 14th at Moscatiellos. The cost is $30 per person. If you have not yet done so, please contact Roberto Martinez and let him know your intention to participate and the number in your party. We need at least 25 people to reserve the room.

Holiday Schedule: There will be a Rotary meeting on December 21st. There will be no Rotary meetings on December 28th and January 4th. The first Rotary meeting of the new year will be held on January 11th. Speakers will be needed for next year.

Water for Kenya: During Peter and Debbie Brown’s recent trip to Maasai Mara Kenya, one of their guides told them about the St. John Fischer Nursing School Clinical Program that sends student nurses to Kenya for a week of clinicals. Peter spoke to Vivianne Cunningham, of St. John Fischer, and discussed the possibility of SRC Rotary helping with the program. Due to unrest in the region, the College will not be doing the clinicals. However, a well (bore hole) is needed. Women walk long distances to obtain water which creates both physical and economic issues. Previously drilled wells often fail over time due to lack of maintenance. Peter Brown is interested in looking into this project. There is a Rotary Club in the Rift Valley.

Viking Gym: The Viking gym kits are stored in the town garage. There are eight pieces of equipment. Ron Annis reported that he assembled one of the pieces of equipment. Jim Leyhane will check with the Town to confirm that the Kiwanis Club will assemble half of the equipment. The Club will look for volunteers to assemble the rest of the equipment sometime after the holidays.

Exchange Program: Peter Brown reported that Maple Hill is still interested in the Exchange Program. Jason Chevrier, Superintendent of the Schodack Central School District, will be having a conversation with the Principal of the Middleburgh High School about their student exchange program.

Rotary Leadership Institute: SRC Rotary will pay the $75 dollar fee for Rotary and Rotaract members to attend. The event will be held on November 4th with registration starting at 7:30 a.m. at the Albany Unitarian Universalist Association, 405 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY  12206.    There is free public parking on the street and in the Albany University lot across and kitty corner from the site. To register, go to RLINEA.org and scroll down to the Albany event and hit the button that says “Learn More.”  If you don’t remember your log-in name, register as a Guest for Part 1, and as you complete your registration, there is a place to indicate which Part you really want to take. Part 1:  My Rotary World, Ethics and Vocational Service, Foundation 1:  Our Foundation, Engaging Members, Creating Service Projects, and My Leadership in Rotary. Part 2:  Rotary Opportunities, Effective Leadership Strategies, Attracting Members, Club Communications, Team Building, and Foundation II:  Targeted Service. Part 3:  Strategic Planning, Foundation III:  International Service, Public Image and Public Relations, Building a Stronger Club, and Making a Difference.

World Polio Day: was Tuesday, 10/14/23. Per Jim Leyhane, no information was disseminated. We will have a program on Polio eradication in January.

Foundation Dinner: will be held on November 16th at the Edison Downtown in Schenectady.

DAF Fund: Jim Leyhane reported that the Fund is almost back to its starting point.

Next Meeting: Thursday, November 2nd, 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. Ed Kellerman will speak about “The History of Political and Historical Memorabilia”.

Entree choices will be Antipasto Salid, Chicken Marsella or Penne Alla Vodka.

“The Application of Social Capital”

John Eberle

John Eberle is the President and CEO of the Capital District Community Foundation. He worked for not-for-profits for over thirty years. He also worked in construction.

The Capital District Community Foundation grows communities through philanthropy. They receive, manage and grow charitable dollars. They make grants to non-profits and help them with grant making. In 2026, they received $80 million, created 166 new funds and dispersed over $63 million into the community.

Their strategic framework includes inspiring and elevating the community. They provide training, mentoring, technical assistance and board development to nonprofit organizations. In response to a survey done several years ago which showed no diversity in leadership structures, they developed the Catalyst for Change Program for board inclusion training for individuals to advance diversity in nonprofit boards to better reflect the community.

For further information, please go to http://www.cfgcr.org.