“Project Legos,” meant to refresh the spirit of Xavier Schmitt, Debbie and Chuck Rodriguez’s grandson, as he goes through a long and arduous treatment for leukemia, continues to do its work.

The latest batch of building pieces arrived in time to break the monotony of Xavier’s latest hospital stay in the Hartford, CT, area. He is expected to go home over the weekend,

The periodic delivery of Lego seats was devised and funded by Jim Leyhane, with several other SRC members providing some financial support. If you would like to be one of them, please contact Jim.

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Two of SRC’s favorite things are on the menu for this Thursday’s dinner meeting at Quigley’s:

• Ziti and meatballs, with antipasto salad, veggies, bread, beverages and dessert.

• Youth education, in the form of club member Mike Bennett, who is assistant superintendent for the Schodack Central School District, bringing Maple Hill High School principal Ron Agostinoni and three of the four students our club sponsored for the 2016-17 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program.

After dinner, the students will fill us in on their experience with RYLA, a signature youth program throughout the world of Rotary.

The following people have indicated their intent to attend this Thursday.  If your plans have changed or you and/or a guest wish to be included in the reservation count, please email dinner coordinator Debbie Brown at mdbrown@nycap.rr.com no later than Tuesday evening.

1. Ron Annis
2. Pat Bailey
3. Mike Bennett
4. Geoff Brewer
5. Terry Brewer
6. Debbie Brown
7. Peter Brown
8. Bill Dowd
9 Dick Drumm
10. Murray Forth
11. Ray Hannan
12. Phil Kellerman
13. Jim Leyhane
14. Roberto Martinez
15. Becky Raymond
16. Debbie Rodriguez
17. Carole Spencer
18. Ron Agostinoni (guest)
19. Meg Albanese (guest)
20. Kassidy Berger (guest)
21. Matt Riordan (guest)

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A rare dry spell this week allowed concrete footer work to be carried out as the next phase of the Viking Gym project at Schodack Town Park goes on. Here are some images from today’s work session.

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The Viking Gym project being constructed at the Schodack Town Park as an Eagle Scout project with major assistance from Rotary now has signage letting the public know what is going on. Ron Annis, who is coordinating the work, shared these images along with a thanks to Murray Forth for creating the sign centerpiece.

The park is located at 479 Poyneer Road, Nassau. It was created in the 1990s by volunteers and crews from the Town Highway Department, with support from town government and local businesses. You can download a brochure explaining the park’s amenities by clicking here.

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Question No. 1: What’s on  the menu for this Thursday’s Rotary meeting?

Answer No. 1: Chicken Marsala with chef-selected sides, salad, bread, dessert and beverages.

Question No. 2: What else?

Answer No. 2: Trivia.

Yes, it’s time for our 3rd annual Great North American Whizbang Trivia Test, that yearly opportunity for Rotarians and guests to clear all that useless trivia knowledge out of their brain pans and make room for more knowledge.

WebTriviamaster Bill Dowd has put together a five-category quiz you’ll be taking as individual players (no teams). Prizes to the top three  finishers. The categories:

• Television
• Food & Drink
• American History
• Sports
• Geography

Be sure to invite a friend, relative, colleague, etc., anyone who enjoys good-natured competition. Just be sure to email dinner coordinator Debbie Brown at mdbrown@nycap.rr.com no later than this Tuesday evening. The following people already have signed up, but we’d like to have a lot more:

Ron Annis
Pat Bailey
Geoff Brewer
Terry Brewer
Debbie Brown
Peter Brown
April Dowd
Bill Dowd
Dick Drumm
Murray Forth
Ray Hannan
Phil Kellerman
(*) Jim Leyhane
Roberto Martinez
Debbie Rodriguez

(*) Defending champion

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Work has begun on the Viking Gym  project at Schodack Town Park.  These images show the groundbreaking for the setting of logs which will stabilize/make the gym.

Pictured are:  Leonardo Gonzales, the Eagle Scout project leader from Troop 41; helpers/friends Matthew Kelly and Billy Lindemann, and Ron Annis of the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club who is the project coordinator.

The gym will be an  outdoor training and exercise station, with this phase laying  the groundwork, with other Scouts expanding the resource year-to-year, eventually covering an approximately 100 square foot area. The project is based on a Viking playground design created in Sweden. It is being developed in conjunction with the our sister Rotary Club in Gefle, Sweden, the hometown of Ron ‘s wife  Monika.

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Southern Rensselaer County Rotary’s second electronics recycling and paper shredding effort of the year, held Saturday at Wainschaf Associates Construction in Rensselaer, was another successful effort: six large packing boxes of electronic devices and three vans crammed full of old television sets — including a vintage floor model, laptop computers, computer monitors, etc. — as well as untold pounds of paper documents recycled.

We had a large contingent of SRC members, family and friends on hand to make the day go smoothly. They included Debbie Rodriguez, Terry Brewer, Murray Forth, Debbie Brown, Josh Wainman, Andy Leyhane, Peter Brown, Matt Smith and Guilana Gianfarani, A.J. Amato plus wife Ann and A.J.’s  office staff, Mike Dewey, Charlie Foote, Pat Bailey, Becky Raymond, Jim Leyhane, Julius Frankel and Roberto Martinez.

Here are some images from the day.

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