Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Please enjoy your time with your family and friends and thank you for your service.

Once again, the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club partnered with Circles of Mercy to support to local families as part of their adopt a family program. Club members donated their time, money and gifts to make this time a year special for these families. Despite a small delay due to weather, all of the gifts were delivered to Circles of Mercy and our partnership continues to grow.

Quick reminder, our next meeting is January 5th at Moscatiello’s, so enjoy the time with your families and friends. As you gather with family and friends over the holidays, it is a great time to promote and sell raffle tickets for our Cafe Capriccio dinner.

On December 15, 2022, thirty-nine Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club members, their families, and guests gathered at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant to spread holiday cheer and fellowship at our annual Holiday Party. The night featured fine dining and drinks with the occasional carol. The night was also not without service, tickets for our Cafe Capriccio private dinner raffle were sold, gifts for our Circles of Mercy Adopt-a-Family were collected, and our annual gift basket silent auction was held. The gift basket action raised $675 for our youth initiatives, and overall the night was a very enjoyable success.

The club is on holiday recess for the next two weeks, and we look forward to our return to Moscatiello’s in the new year on January 5th, 20223. Enjoy the time with your family and friends, and Happy Holidays everyone.

As the Holiday Season marches on, wanted to share some information during this busy time of year.

This Thursday’s meeting will be held at Moscatiello’s on Thursday at 6:00pm. Our usual room has been booked for another group so we will be meeting in the back room on the far right of the building. Our presentation will be from Megan Keil, a U.S Peace Corps Recruiter and fellow Rotarian. Meagan will be joining us via Zoom which means the meeting will be hybrid using the zoom link posted on the top of the calendar page of our website. We are sharing the link with other clubs in our district.

The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club’s Annual Christmas party will be held on Thursday December 15, 2022 at 6:00pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant. The menu is a choice of Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Caesar salad, Meat Lasagna, or Chicken Marsala plus a side salad and cookies. The cost is $30 each and any accompanying children can order off the kid’s menu at the posted prices. We look forward to seeing everyone at this annual tradition.

Our annual Christmas Party also means it is that time of year for our most creative fundraiser of the year, the gift basket silent auction. Each family is asked to create and bring a themed gift basket (roughly $35 value) similar to the ones above and below. The baskets will be place on a table during the event and throughout the night members and guests will have time to look over and bid on the baskets in a silent auction style. At the end of the night all baskets are awarded to the highest bidders and all proceeds will be used for future youth programs. So start planning and searching the internet for those gift basket ideas. If you have invited guests to our Christmas Party, be sure to reach out and ask if they would like to create and donate a basket.

Cafe Capriccio Raffle: Once again we are raffling off a private dinner for 12 in the Chef’s Dining Room at Cafe Capriccio. The cost of the tickets is $20 each with the funds being designated for community and youth initiatives. The drawing will be held at our meeting on January 19. 2023 with the winner being posted on this website. Cafe Capriccio will work with the winner to select a date for the dinner.

Adopt-a-family update: Successful progress is still being made for our two adopted families. An updated gift list is posted below. Red indicates the gifts have been purchased, green indicates someone has purchased a gift in the category but more may be purchased. All gifts should be wrapped and labeled. If you need the full name of an individual for the gift, please email Kevin. Richard Zazycki from Circles of Mercy will be attending our Christmas Party and has agreed to take the gifts with him when he leaves. So plan on bringing donated gifts to our party, or if you are unable to attend contact a board member to arrange delivery to our party on the 15th.

This Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 6:00pm we return to Moscatiello’s for another fascinating presentation scheduled by Becky Raymond. Joining via Zoom will be Megan Keil a recruiter for the United States Peace Corps, New Hampshire Office, and she is a fellow Rotary Member. Megan will be speaking on the mission of the Peace Corps, and how the Peace Corps and Rotary intersect. She will be discussing new opportunities for service in over 60 countries around the world.

The meeting will be run as a hybrid with those who can’t make it too Moscatiello’s can join us remotely using the link posted on our club calendar page. We are also reaching out to other clubs in our district and sharing the link so others may join us for Megan’s presentation. The presentation is set to begin at 6:00pm. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.

This week SRC Rotary returns to Moscatiello’s for a regular scheduled meeting, and will feature a presentation from Line Hendriksen. Line is the Operations Manager for Apparel Impact. Apparel Impact is a family and veteran-owned and operated business that focuses on the recovery of textiles and the support of communities throughout the country. Their primary mission is to reduce waste and improve the environment. Nearly 10% of all trash in local landfills is textiles. You have probably seen Apparel Impact’s green bins at many locations. Come Thursday night and find out what happens to the clothes and shoes that you drop in the bins. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday at 6:00 pm.

Once again we have partnered with Circles of Mercy to adopt two families this year. We have been very successful supporting Circles of Mercy in the past and we look forward to continuing our support during these challenging times. All gifts are to be wrapped and labeled and delivered to Kevin no later than December 12th. This wish lists are posted below.

Here is how the lists will work this year. Select which item or items you wish to purchase, and notify Kevin. You can email at Leyhaneke@egcsd.org or send a message using the remind app. Kevin will respond to the messages with the name of the individuals so that gifts may be labeled. When messages are received the list on the website will be updated using a color code which is posted. Items in White are available for purchase and have not been claimed yet, Red items have been purchased and are considered done, and items which are Green have been purchased but more can be purchase (clothing, for example).

The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club’s annual Christmas party will be held on Thursday December 15, 2022 at 6:00pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant. The menu is a choice of Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Caesar salad, Meat Lasagna, or Chicken Marsala plus a side salad and cookies. The cost is $30 each and any accompanying children can order off the kid’s menu at the posted prices. We look forward to seeing everyone at this annual tradition.

Our annual Christmas Party also means it is that time of year for our most creative fundraiser of the year, the gift basket silent auction. Each family is asked to create and bring a themed gift basket (roughly $35 value) similar to the ones above and below. The baskets will be place on a table during the event and throughout the night members and guests will have time to look over and bid on the baskets in a silent auction style. At the end of the night all baskets are awarded to the highest bidders and all proceeds will be used for future youth programs. So start planning and searching the internet for those gift basket ideas.

Wishing all a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving today. May you all enjoy your time with family, friends, and loved ones. Thank you all for your fellowship in Rotary!

Friday, November 18, 2022

Dane Rotaract officers, Monica Barrera and Meghan Lippa, together with Becky Raymond, joined YMCA Executive Director, Shannon Romanowski and the volunteers at the Greenbush YMCA to set up the stations for the Basket Brigade. The Brigade assembly was held Saturday the 19th, resulting in 450 “baskets” of Thanksgiving dinner for families in Rensselaer and Warren counties.