Held at Quigley’s Restaurant
573 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY 12061

Members Attending (15): Andy Leyhane, Jim Leyhane. Pat Bailey, Phil Kellerman, Bill Dowd,  Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Debbie Rodriguez, Peter Berry, Terry Brewer. Geoff Brewer, Ray Hannan, Dick Drumm, Robert Martinez, Charlie Foote.

Guests (1): Betty Brewer.

MEETING NOTES: President Andy greeted attendees. … Medical update: Terry Brewer returned this evening, recuperating well from knee replacement surgery. Murray Forth, who last week underwent the same procedure, is expected to return in a few weeks. … Project coordinator Debbie Brown reported that 106 baskets were delivered to Circles of Mercy for the organization’s annual Easter baskets drive for needy kids. Our partners this year providing a combination of donations, packaging, and delivering the baskets were the Greenbush YMCA, Cub Scout Pack 253, and the Danes Rotaract club. Thanks to them and to all SRC members and friends who donated basket items. … Jim Leyhane shared information on Rotary shirts available from Dawn Vavala and her Night Owl Marketing company. They come in 18 different colors and several different styles. See Jim if interested. …

A little more than $200 was raised at the most recent Rotary Home Cooking dinner, hosted by Dean and Doris Calamaras. This was the second event in the series, but we have no others on the schedule. Anyone who would like to create and host an event for May or June is asked to contact President Andy ASAP with details of theme and date. … Members were reminded to save the date of Saturday, May 18, for our next Recycling & Shredding Day (click on the link for details), a major fundraiser for youth scholarships and other community service efforts. Next week we will circulate a signup sheet for volunteers for the event. It’s a fun few hours for any who wish to participate, and a easy way to be involved in community service. …

Terry, who is the District Membership Committee lead, reiterated that he and Bill Dowd are working with Past District Governor Fred Daniels to help facilitate the resurrection of the Troy club that folded several years ago, leaving SRC as the lone Rotary club in Rensselaer County. Several options have been presented, including folding any interested Troy people into the existing Hudson Shores club (Watervliet, Green Island, etc.), or recreating a standalone Troy club with SRC as its sponsor. …. Phil Kellerman reminded everyone of the benefit concert scheduled for Thursday, May 9, at Quigley’s to benefit the Oley Foundation, a national nonprofit that provides education, advocacy, and networking opportunities to people living on home IV nutrition and/or tube feeding. The hour-long concert will feature music from a new CD titled “One Step Forward.” That week only, the club dinner will be held from 5:45 to 6:15 p.m., with the concert at 6:30.  Go here for more details. … Next Thursday, April 25, we’ll hold the 5th annual Great North American Whizbang Trivia Test (click on the link for details). Guests are welcome to this event which has had a different winner each year. This year’s winner will receive a copy of the “Jeopardy” all-time champ’s book, “Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions In 365 Days.”

PROGRAM: Bill Dowd, who is working on a collection of his original short stories based largely on travels during more than four decades of journalism, read four of the stories to the audience.

They included, “Headed South In North America, and Vice Versa,” a trip to the Canadian border and to Mexico; “Into the Sort-of Rain Forest,” a strange interlude with wild boars and beer on the Caribbean island of St. Croix; “Times Are Tough In Bunker Hill,” antiquing and haggling in the West Virginia panhandle portion of the Shenendoah Valley, and, “A Lemon Frock and a Cold Wadadli,” a journey to a steel drum concert on the former British island colony on Antigua with an ephemeral  visitor.

Held at Quigley’s Restaurant
573 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY 12061

Members Attending (14): Andy Leyhane, Jim Leyhane, Doris Calamaras, Dean Calamaras, Ray Hannan, Bill Dowd, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Becky Raymond, Phil Kellerman, Dick Drumm, Charlie Foote, Peter Berry.

Guests: None.

MEETING NOTES: President Andy greeted attendees, noting this meeting had been designated as a Club Assembly to discuss current business and projects. … Medical updates: Murray Forth’s knee replacement went well this week and he is recuperating at home. Terry Brewer continues recuperating from his knee replacement, and says he will rejoin us when he gets medical clearance to drive. … Several attendees asked if a new date had been set for the “Recycling & Shredding Day” postponed from this Saturday due to a conflict with Rensselaer County’s free recycling day. Webmaster Bill Dowd reminded them that everyone should already have been aware of the new date — Saturday, May 18 — because they had been emailed a revised flyer back on April 5 with the new date and other information. Plus, the new date has been posted on the website and Facebook page and entered into the website Calendar page since April 5.  …

Discussion was held concerning plans to apply for a 2019-20 District Grant. Becky Raymond and Bill Dowd reported on the grants management seminar they attended last Saturday on behalf of the club. Details of the grant plans will be on the discussion agenda of the next SRC Board meeting (scheduled for next Thursday, April 18, after the regular meeting). Currently, we are considering applying for one $1,500 grant to cover both youth scholarships and support for the Freedom From Fistula Foundation. … We will have a student contingent joining us on May 16 to talk about their Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) experience. Several suggestions were made about requiring, rather than simply inviting, all students who receive RYLA tuition from SRC to attend a dinner meeting to discuss their experience, and to speak to their schools about the series to help spark ongoing student interest. …

Jim Leyhane reported on a meeting with the police chief and the new mayor of Chatham in conjunction with planning for the October 12 trail run we are organizing. The event, for which we hope to include food trucks, entertainment, and so forth to create a festival atmosphere, will  be held at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. … Terry, who is the District Membership Committee lead, and Bill are working with Past District Governor Fred Daniels to help facilitate the resurrection of the Troy club that folded several years ago, leaving SRC as the lone Rotary club in the county.  … Roberto Martinez volunteered to look into setting up a credit card account for the club to be used to accept payments for dinner meeting fees, recycling day payments, and other needs.

COMING UP: Next Thursday, April 18, Bill Dowd will present a reading of original short stories involving offbeat travel. … The following Thursday, April 25, we’ll hold the 5th annual Great North American Whizbang Trivia Test. Guests are welcome to this event which has had a different winner each year. … Becky Raymond will lead a brief exercise as part of her May 2 program “Exploring Yoga.” We’ll have dinner after that, rather than at the beginning of the meeting. … Phil Kellerman reminded everyone of the benefit concert scheduled for Thursday, May 9, at Quigley’s to benefit the Oley Foundation, a national nonprofit that provides education, advocacy, and networking opportunities to people living on home IV nutrition and/or tube feeding. The hour-long concert will feature music from a new CD titled “One Step Forward.” Go here for more details.