Members in Attendance (14): Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Ray Hannan, Murray Forth, Dick Drumm, Kevin Leyhane, Laurie Pferr, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Terry Brewer and Andy Leyhane.

By Zoom (1): Carol Heaney.

Guests (0):

President Roberto Martinez called the meeting to order.

Theme for the year: Grow membership, do good in the world, leverage social capital, & have fun!

Meeting Notes:

Membership: Membership is ongoing and is everyone’s responsibility. The membership meeting is in three weeks. Carol Heaney and Terry Brewer and working on it. Zoom is not available for this meeting.

Treasurer Update: Per Phil Kellerman, he contacted the government again. The paperwork was lost. They confirm payment and will do a deeper dive to find it. Thank you to Phil Kellerman and Terry Brewer for persevering.

Bowl-A-Thon: Per Phil Kellerman, there were 44 bowlers at the Bowl-A-Thon. We raised over $1500. $200 was raised from the raffle. The combo five person bowling team plus pizza was a hit. Phil dropped off a check and the food to Paula at the foodbank. If you pledged a donation, please make sure that Murray got the funds. The Stretch Zone team donated a gift card which will be used at the concert. They also offered to place a food collection box at their Delmar location. Community Care is also sending in a $100 donation. Ian, a bowler from Maple Hill, has invited Rotary to come and speak to his class. Thank you to all who helped.

Benefit Concert: Per Phil Kellerman, the band has been rehearsing. They plan to do 10 songs. During intermission, representatives from the SRC Rotary Club, the Malta Rotary Club and the St. Paul Center will speak. He is asking if the Church can provide coffee. They are planning on a snack table. Please bring seltzer, water and snacks. They are asking for a $15 donation for concert attendance.

Publicizing:  Our Town did a great write up on the concert. Please join the SRC Rotary Facebook page. Carol Heaney mentioned adding Instagram and reestablishing the social media group. Thank you to all who got the Facebook page up and running.

Image Grants: The retractable banner was finished in time to take to the District Conference. Thank you to Carole Heaney for making that possible. `

Global Grant: Per Peter Brown, the water from the well is being testing. The drilling company, Crown Heights wants to dig deeper. At 200 meters, there is not as great a water flow as expected.

Defensive Driving: The AAA course will be held on May 17th at the Nassau Library from 9 am until 3:30 pm. We need a minimum of 25 people to sign up. If you are a member of AAA, the cost is $22. If you are a non-member, the cost is $27. Depending on your insurance, you can save 10% to 15% off the cost of your insurance and it should be good for 3 years. Contact Pat Bailey if you wish to attend. Nine people have signed up.

Community Project: The next meeting for the backpack project is scheduled for 4/22 at 1:30 pm. So far, Roberto, Jim, Terry, Peter, Phil and Kevin are attending. Let Roberto know if you wish to attend. Per Peter we should determine what the schools need and where the money will be going.

Fun Run: Kevin Lehayne is planning a “Fun Run” to be held in June to raise funds for the backpack program.

Star of Hope: Terry Brewer and Debbie Rodriguez met Wednesday with Jeff Simon, his management team, the architect, landscape architect and Turner Construction. In phase one, the stones will be removed from between the Library and the YMCA and relocated to Columbia High School near the athletic field. They are going to determine what is still usable and come up with a design and determine cost. Phase 1 should be completed in June. In phase two, another area will be created for dedication stones.

Scholarships: Terry Brewer sent out the letters to the Schodack, East Greenbush and Rensselaer School Districts asking them to select one student each to receive a $1000 scholarship. Students selected should meet the Rotary goal of service. May 29th has been set aside for the scholarship presentation.

Peace Pole: Carol Heaney will contact the Town of Schodack about the Peace Pole.

Circles of Mercy 2025 Cate’s Kids Easter Basket Program Schedule: The Club collected over 25 Easter baskets. Carole Heaney will contact Richard and set up a delivery date and time. The baskets will given to the client families during Holy Week (April 14 thru April 18) before the Easter Sunday Holiday on April 20.

Valley Cats: The game was rained out last year. The Club tickets rolled over to this year. Debbie Rodriguez dropped off the contract for this year to the box office. The Club would like to attend the August 7th game. If you did not sign up last year but wish to go this year, let Debbie know. She will pick up the tickets in July.

Member Engagement: Phil Kellerman will be speaking on the 16th at the Glenville Rotary on immigration.

CNY News: Information on all of the following and more is posted to the website, cnyrotary.org.

CNY Budget: The Club approved the CNY budget and Roberto signed it.

CNY Member Orientation is held every 4th Tuesday of each month. The next will be held on April 22nd.

District Conference: Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane attended the Conference on April 4-6th, Hilton Downtown Albany.  Fifty of our inbound and outbound Youth Exchange students were present. SRC Rotary donated funding for their food and housing. We received many compliments on our banner. Peter and Debbie Brown spoke about the Global Grant water project in Africa. Many Rotarians inquired about the project.

CNY Epic Day of Service: Hold the date and more to come 05/17/25.

RI News

2026 Rotary Peace Fellowships Applications are open until May 15, 2025.

RI Conventions: Calgary, June 21-25, 2025. Carole Heaney will be attending.

Next Meeting: The next meeting is Thursday, April 17th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. The speaker will be Tony Romero on the topic of Crypto Currency.

Entry Choices are Antipasta Salad, Chicken Marsala and Eggplant Parm.