We’re all set for our annual picnic and pro baseball game at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, set for 6 p.m.  on Thursday, August 18. And, it promises to be a bigger Rotary night than ever.

Why? Coincidentally with our selection of that date for our outing, new District 7190 Governor John Mucha (pronounced moo-haw) has designated it a “District Rotary Night” and is urging Rotarians from all clubs to participate.

While the District is handling ticket reservations and has set up a Facebook page for the event, we still are handling our own SRC reservations, so please do not be confused by any information you see elsewhere.

As everyone should know by now, we are making every effort to centralize RSVPs for all of our “Summer Casual” events, and this is no different. Although Terry Brewer is coordinating the event, Bill Dowd still is the point person for accepting reservations; just $25 per person gets you a picnic dinner in the covered pavilion, a Tri-City ValleyCats game, and a souvenir hat. The ‘Cats are playing their New York-Penn League foe the Aberdeen (MD) IronBirds.

Please let Bill Dowd — not someone else — know via email whether you plan to participate and, if so, how many guests you’ll be bringing. It’s a true family event, and we usually have quite a turnout with a lot of kids.

The deadline for reservations is Thursday, August 4, but earlier is better. In case of an extra-strong turnout, a real possibility because of the recent growth of the club, we’ll need as much time as possible in case we need to acquire more than our initial bloc of 35 tickets.

NOTE: Even though we’re hoping to eventually get through to all members that only one sort of RSVP is desirable — that of responding to Bill’s RSVP requests via email — we still have members who keep responding verbally to hosts, or through third-party conversations, or using other ways. That makes it unnecessarily difficult on the event hosts or coordinators. So, once again, we ask your cooperation in following proper practice. Thank you.

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“Summer Casual” Poolside Picnic
Leyhane Residence
East Greenbush
July 7, 2016

Members Attending (18): Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Debbie Rodriguez, Roberto Martinez, Bill Dowd, April Dowd, A.J. Amato, Dick Drumm, Stewart Wagner, Ray Hannan, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Terry Brewer, Geoff Brewer, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown. Plus, about 10 guests.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• President Debbie Rodriguez asked attendees at this first event of our “Summer Casual” schedule to be sure to sign up for next week’s picnic at Roberto Martinez’s residence as well as other summer events on the signup sheet provided.

• Co-host Jim Leyhane said this evening’s funds — about $350 — will go toward the Freedom From Fistula Foundation, which also will be the recipient of this Rotary Year’s “Pocket Change” collection jug.

• Terry Brewer reported that the Maple Hill High School will be holding a memorial event for the late Bob Horan, a fellow club member and school superintendent who died unexpectedly on the Fourth of July. Funeral service times for Bob are on the club website.

• Bill Dowd thanked those who brought donations with them tonight for the annual “School Supplies Drive,” and asked others to keep them coming at our future events over the next five weeks. The shopping list is on the website, and also has been emailed to all members.

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SCENES FROM THE EVENT

The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club is planning to provide a breakfast for the Greenbush YMCA’s “Circle of Champs” kids group next Thursday, July 14.

The portion of the club that usually attends the monthly breakfast meetings hosted at the Y by executive director and club member Shannon Romanowski has volunteered to work the project, but anyone is welcome.

Says Shannon:

“Our YMCA ‘Circle of Champs’ program provides support and fun activities and programs to children who are fighting a life-threatening illness. We also provide families with memberships to the Y and include the families in all champs activities.

“I am suggesting that [the] breakfast be kept simple as the kids will be leaving on a field trip that day by 9:30 a.m. Perhaps assorted bagels, cream cheese, fruit and muffins would work best as the kids could easily carry it with them if they wish to.”

To that end, Shannon is asking for club members to formally sign up to help shop for the breakfast items and go to the Y the morning of the event to help serve and spend some time with the campers.

Please contact Shannon at 477-2570 or by email at sromanowski@cdymca.org as soon as possible if you wish to help.

NOTE: If you’d like to learn a little more about the “Circle of Champs” program, click here.

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The first dropoff date for this year’s “School Supplies Drive” is our Thursday pool party cookout at Jim Leyhane’s residence in East Greenbush.

You’ve been given all the details of the effort multiple times, plus details are on the club website if you somehow inexplicably missed them.

This is a simple, low-key way to make Rotary’s presence known in the community.  We ask your help in making it work. The fate of the effort is up to you.

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We hope everyone had a wonderful and inspiring celebration of our nation’s 240th birthday today.

And now, on to our SRC “Summer Casual Schedule” of family-oriented events.

As we all know, first up is a pool party at 6 p.m. this Thursday, co-hosted by Jim and Andy Leyhane at Jim’s East Greenbush residence. (If you need his address, check the “Member Contact Page” on the club website. Everyone was given the page password some time ago.)

Chef Jim will be cooking barbecued boneless chicken breasts and providing the usual beverages. Beer connoisseur Andy will be holding a tasting of craft beers you may not have experienced. And, the pool is open for kids and adults alike.

Each member is asked to bring a dish to serve six — those with surnames A-K an appetizer, those with surnames L-Z a dessert.

We have heard from some members whether they will be joining us, but there still are 25 Rotarians who have not yet responded at all. We need to know your intentions no later than Tuesday evening, including whether you are bringing guests. PLEASE DO SO ONLY BY RESPONDING TO THIS EMAIL.

Here’s what we have so far:

WILL ATTEND

Jim Leyhane
Andy Leyhane and 3 guests
Pat Bailey
Melissa Bill and one guest
April Dowd
Bill Dowd
Geoff Brewer
Terry Brewer and guest
Dick Drumm and guest
Roberto Martinez
Ray Hannan and guest
Debbie Rodriguez
David Taylor

REGRETS

Carole Spencer
Becky Raymond
Monika Annis
Ron Annis

RESPONSES STILL NEEDED

Debbie Brown
Peter Brown
Murray Forth
Marko Koshykar
Rommel Tolentino
Len Leonidas
Stewart Wagner
Jim Butterworth
Mike Dewey
Michael Bennett
John Sawchuk
Josh Wainman
Phil Kellerman
Julius Frankel
Charlie Foote
Dean Calamaras
Doris Calamaras
Bob Horan
A.J. Amato
Carol Orvis
Jim McHugh
Jim Mendrysa
Rob Mangold
Shannon Romanowski
Matt Smith

Thank you for your cooperation. We look forward to seeing many of you and family members and friends on Thursday.

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HERE’S WHAT WE’LL BE DOING THIS SUMMER:

THE BAD NEWS:

Our summer signup sheet has gone astray. That means anyone who filled out their week-by-week preferences at last Thursday’s cookout or earlier is not recorded.

THE GOOD NEWS:

Our summer events don’t begin until this coming Thursday, July 7, so we have time to get back on track.

Please, do not RSVP in any fashion except via response to our weekly email request. We must have an accurate headcount in one place for each event this summer to make the way smoother for hosts and event coordinators. Having a confusing mix of phone calls, verbal reservations, and emails to various people leads to a mess. And, as we know, life is messy enough.

THE PROCESS:

First and foremost, please respond to this email no later than Tuesday whether you will or will not attend the  cookout at Jim Leyhane’s residence at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 7.

If you are planning to come, be sure to indicate how many guests (including kids) you plan to bring with you. The event will be a multi-level one:

• Jim will be serving barbecued boneless chicken breasts and fixin’s.

• Beer connoisseur Andy Leyhane will be hosting a mini beer-tasting of brews you may not be familiar with.

• Each member-attendee is asked to bring a dish — appetizers from surnames A-K, desserts from surnames L-Z, each to serve about six. (Please note, we’re asking one dish from each member, not each household.)

• Plus, the pool is open for adults and for kids.

BY THE WAY:

You’ll see above that all eight weeks of our hiatus from formal meetings is filled with activities of all sorts. If you would like to RSVP in advance for any of the events, please feel free to do so when you send your response for the July 7 cookout/pool party/beer tasting event.

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The summer calendar is full! We’ve added a waterside August 4 event to our “Summer Casual Schedule” of events, giving us eight consecutive Thursdays full of a variety of family-friendly activities.

Next up is a pool party and cookout co-hosted by Jim Leyhane and Andy Leyhane at Jim’s residence in East Greenbush on Thursday, July 7. If you don’t have his address, simply use your password to go to the website’s “Membership Contact Data” to get it.

A procedural note:

Bill Dowd is coordinating attendance at all of these events. Please let him know directly if you plan to attend, and how many guests you plan to bring. Please do NOT send notes or make calls to other people and assume your RSVP will be passed along. We have had several instances of people using the wrong way to respond, resulting in some confusion over the correct headcount.

We’ll never turn anyone away, but we do like to make it as easy on our hosts and event coordinators as we can.

You can put your information on the signup sheet that is circulated each week, or simply RSVP to Bill’s weekly emails that ask you for the same info.

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