Here are the details of our latest community service/fundraising event. You can participate at little or no cost, rid your garage or basement of unwanted items, get rid of those outdated tax records, and help do some good in the community.
All proceeds of the event go to the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club’s youth scholarship program and other community service activities.
Held at Quigley’s Restaurant
573 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY 12061
Members Attending (12): Andy Leyhane, Murray Forth, Phil Kellerman, Bill Dowd, Jim Leyhane, Pat Bailey, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Debbie Rodriquez, Roberto Martinez.
Guests (7): RYLA students Shannon Tacy, Derrick Rosetti, and Emily Smith; parents Paul Tacy, Terry Smith, and Karen Rosetti; teacher Jackie Hill.
MEETING NOTES: President Andy Leyhane welcomed members, RYLA students, their parents and teacher Jackie Hill. … Event coordinator Murray Forth reminded everyone the Recycling & Shredding Day this Saturday begins at 9 a.m. at the Wainschaf Associates facility behind Target. Anyone who can volunteer to help staff the day is asked to contact him ASAP. … Phil Kellerman thanked the club for supporting last week’s concert that raised $450 for the Oley Foundation. …
Jim Leyhane provided an update on plans for the Rotary 10K/5K Run in September. We have been working with the chief of the Chatham Police Department to coordinate security and safety from the Columbia County Fairgrounds with the sheriff’s department and State Police. He now advises that five months is not sufficient lead time to adequately plan for a 10K run and that we should consider reducing the event to only a 5K run. The problem with that is that 5K runs are extremely commonplace throughout the region, bring in far less money, and probably would put us in the red. The inclination is to postpone until the fall of 2020. Jim asks that anyone wishing to comment on the situation contact him ASAP.
Three of the four Maple Hill High School juniors who SRC sponsored for the 2018-19 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) session visited to talk about their experience.
They were Shannon Tacy, Derrick Rosetti, and Emily Smith. A fourth student, Emily Burns, was unable to attend.
Their participation in the course, which included students from throughout District 7190 as well as several Rotary Exchange students studying here for the academic year, covered numerous individual and group dynamic activities. For example: team building exercises, a public service project (making lap blankets for elderly invalids), planning and time management, public speaking, and improving self-esteem.
Their faculty advisor, Jackie Hill, expressed Maple Hill’s appreciation for SRC’s support over the years for RYLA participation.
We have only six dinner meetings left until our annual Presidential Changeover event, and we have a powerful lineup of programs scheduled in that span.
The first of the six is this Thursday at 6:15 p.m. when a group of 11th graders who participated in this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program visits with us to share thoughts about their experience.
Check out this chart, taken from our website’s CALENDAR page, to see what’s coming up. We’d particularly like to see SRC members who have been conspicuous by their absences in recent weeks so we can finish the Rotary Year on a high note.
SRC is nothing if not versatile in its program offerings. On Saturday, it sponsored a driver training course by Driver Training Associates, an every-three-years educational event, at Quigley’s.
More than two dozen Rotarians and friends attended, learning/refreshing defensive driving skills, new traffic laws, and earning 10% annual auto insurance discounts. Pizza and soft drinks helped the session along.
A few images from the event. Note the various interesting expressions as the “students” filled out their quiz books:
Held at Quigley’s Restaurant
573 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY 12061
Members Attending (17): Andy Leyhane, Murray Forth, Phil Kellerman, Julius Frankel, Jim Leyhane, Pat Bailey, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Peter Berry, Dick Drumm, Ray Hanna, Debbie Rodriquez, Roberto Martinez, Terry Brewer, Geoff Brewer, Becky Raymond, John Justino.
Guests (18+): From Rotaract, Lindsey Riback, Dustin Moore, Yisen Zheng, Christofer Joseph; from the Oley Foundation, Joan Bishop, Lisa Crosby Metzger, Roslyn Dahl, Mary Wootten, Natalie Wootten; plus, Robert Schulman, Debbie Reep MacLeod, Dave MacLeod, Mario Sevayega, Mike McCarthy, Cherrie Corr, Mary Drumm, Kara Leyhane, Betty Brewer, and various unaffiliated concert guests.
MEETING NOTES: President Andy Leyhane welcomed the 35+ members and guests. … Jim Leyhane issued a reminder of this Saturday’s 11 a.m. defensive driving course at Quigley’s. Walk-ins are welcome. … Danes Rotaract President Lindsey Riback reported that the club SRC sponsors will be donating another $200 to the Freedom From Fistula Foundation raised from proceeds from their happy hour fundraisers. She also said she and Yisen Zheng will be graduating from the UAlbany School of Public Health, where the Rotaract chapter is headquartered, at the end of the current semester. Dustin Moore will succeed her as president in September. …
Our next Recycling & Shredding Day, scheduled for Saturday, May 18, at the Wainschaaf Associates warehouse facility in Rensselaer, needs more volunteers to staff the event. Check the flyer, then contact Murray Forth to lend a hand. … At next Thursday’s dinner meeting, local high school juniors we sponsored for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program will join us to discuss their experience.
PROGRAM: “An Original Concert for the Oley Foundation”
Joan Bishop, executive director of the local chapter of the Oley Foundation, explained the program, introduced one of the patients, and thanked SRC for its ongoing support and for hosting the fundraiser.
The hour-long concert featured music from “One Step Forward,” a new CD created by guitarist/singer Michael Francis McCarthy and lyricist Phil Kellerman, an SRC member who organized the event. Flutist Deb Reep MacLeod of Albany was featured on two of six songs. Opening the show was international independent music artist Mario Sevayega, playing five original songs.
President Andy Leyhane offered comments on Rotary, noting that it can be what you want it to be as long as you are doing good. He gave as examples the polio eradication effort and Phil’s dedication to the Oley Foundation.
A few images from the event, courtesy of Roberto Martinez:
The latest Danes Rotaract happy hour fundraiser was held Wednesday evening at Wolff’s Biergarten in Albany.
As with previous such events, it was a fundraiser for the Freedom From Fistula Foundation. As you can see by the photo below, a good time was had by all.
Here’s an invitation to SRC Rotarians to join a social event this week with the Danes Rotaract organization we sponsor at UAlbany.
Feel free to share this flyer on your social media accounts. Developing leadership skills and a commitment to community service among young people has long been one of Rotary’s priorities. Check this website’s inside pages list for links to information on RYLA, Rotary Exchange, Rotaract, and other Rotary-affiliated organizations and activities suitable for high school- […]
Held at Quigley’s Restaurant
573 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY 12061
Members Attending (13): Murray Forth, Jim Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Bill Dowd, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Debbie Rodriguez, Dick Drumm, Charlie Foote, Ray Hannan, Pat Bailey, Terry Brewer, Becky Raymond.
Guests: None.
MEETING NOTES: Murray Forth and Phil Kellerman presided in the absence of President Andy Leyhane. … Terry Brewer and Bill Dowd reported on their participation in an organizational meeting for a Troy club. District 7190 has allocated $2,000 in seed money for startup costs, and SRC has been designated the sponsoring club. Another planning meeting and a public informational/recruitment event have been scheduled in May and June. …
Murray distributed a signup sheet for volunteers to staff the Saturday, May 18, Recycling & Shredding Day. … Phil Kellerman reported that plans have been completed for next Thursday’s special meeting, “An Hour of Live Music” fundraiser for the Oley Foundation. A pizza-and-wings member dinner will be held from 5:45 to 6:15 p.m., concert 6:30 to 7:30. The event is open to the public.
PROGRAM: “An Introduction to Yoga”
SRC member Becky Raymond, a certified yoga instructor, presented an introductory talk about the positive effects of yoga. That was followed up by a session of “chair yoga,” with Becky leading attendees in a series of stretching and bending exercises accompanied by a narrative of what such moves do physiologically and mentally.
To the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club:
Greetings from the Rotary Club of Madras South in Chennai, India.
We were chartered in 1960 [like the SRC] and we are celebrating our diamond jubilee in 2019-20. To share our joy on this great occasion, we are organizing a four-day fun and fellowship event in Chennai from December 18-22. We are inviting all clubs across the world who were chartered in 1960 like ours to share this special bonding.
We are hosting this event at NO COST for the participants, except travel. We will take care of accommodation, food, transport, sight-seeing and fellowship during your stay at Chennai. And, we are working out post-tour options for whoever is interested, on a paid basis.
We organized a similar international fellowship event in in January 2000. Twenty-one Rotarians and Anns from seven countries — Argentina, Australia, France, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Malaysia — joined us. It was four days of great fun, fellowship, and bonding for lifelong friendships with visiting tourist and cultural attractions, service projects, and shopping expeditions.
Some feedback from Rotarians who came in 2000:
• Hans Setz from Switzerland said, “It wasn’t a travel agent waiting for us at the airport, but an ex-Rotary Governor and his wife.” Hans returned three years later to attend the wedding of a daughter of another Rotarian.
• Liz and Olof Madebrink of Sweden said, “Our trip was like a dream from start to finish. We had a wonderful host couple who did everything for us.”
We invite you and your members to join us in December 2019. Due to logistics and other constraints we will be hosting maximum of 30 members on a first-come, first-served basis.
We will send you more details soon, meanwhile communicate this to your members and let us know who are all interested to join us. Looking forward for your reply and see you all soon in Chennai to experience “Incredible India” and our hospitality.
Warm regards,
Rotarian K. Saravanan
President, Rotary Club of Madras South
