Members Attending (15): Debbie Rodriguez, Kevin Leyhane, Dick Drumm, Terry Brewer, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Pat Bailey, Phil Kellerman, Charlie Foote, Becky Raymond, Jim Leyhane, Murray Forth, Roberto Martinez, Andy Leyhane (plus Bill Dowd proxy submitted).

Guests: None.

President Debbie Rodriguez presided over our first meeting at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant in North Greenbush.

• Murray Forth reported that Quigley’s has been sold, but no longer is a meeting-venue option for us despite earlier reports. We need to remove our memorabilia from the meeting room and put it in storage space Murray will secure. He will need help on Saturday to attend to that chore and will advise members of the time. All who can volunteer to assist are asked to please do so.

• Three SRC-sponsored foursomes will be participating in Monday’s Gift of Life Golf Tournament at Pinehaven Country Club in Guilderland.

• The NYSCR Danes Rotaract (the initials are for “New York State Capital Region”) we sponsor at UAlbany is working on several fall projects. Information on the efforts will be shared as they are firmed up.

• For the foreseeable future, we will be alternating dinner meetings at Moscatiello’s with Zoom meetings. Thus, next Thursday we will meet virtually from 7 to 7:30 p.m. (the Zoom access link will be available as usual on the club website calendar page), and the following week (September 30) we will be at Moscatiello’s with District Governor Bruce McConnelee as our guest (5:30 social period, 6:15 p.m. dinner meeting).

Here’s a save-the-date note:

District 7190 will host its annual Foundation Dinner on Thursday, November 18, at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia.

The theme this year is “Roaring Through the ’20s.” Reservations for event, which includes hors d’oeuvres, dinner, a cash bar, and live entertainment, are $100 each.

More details will be shared as plans are firmed up.

 

Rotary partners with a number of other public service-oriented organizations at various times. One upcoming event involves the Peace Corps.

Rotary-Peace Corps Week is coming up, with a webinar kickoff event called “Rotary-Peace Corps Partnership: The Future is Bright.” It is available to all Rotarians and Peace Corps members.

The event, set for 6:30 p.m. next Monday (September 20), will feature Rotary International General Secretary John Hewko and Acting Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn discussing the possibilities for partnering and their vision for the future.

Advance registration, which can be done online is required.

Our friends at Circles of Mercy are teaming up with students and staff at Maria College for a “Walk for Mercy” and they are inviting you to join them as volunteer walkers.

The flyer, cover letter, and signup sheet below have plenty of details, but the gist of it is:

The walk will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, September 28, starting at the Albany school located at 700 New Scotland Avenue. Proceeds earned through pledges will go to supporting programs and services at Circles and at the college.

Goal No. 1 for SRC in the 2021-22 Rotary Year is to regain some semblance of normality by resuming personal interaction among members, and continuing our record of 60+ years of community service. To that end, resuming a schedule of in-person events among our fully vaccinated members was a major component. It gained some momentum during the “Summer Casual” period, and will ramp up as of this coming Thursday, September 16. That’s when we will gather at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant on Route 4 in North Greenbush, just south of Hudson Valley Community College. (Allow for a bit of traffic at the under-construction traffic circle there; for those coming from the south, we advise trying I-90 Exit 8.) Arrangement have been made to meet there on that date as well as on Thursday, September 30, when our new District Governor Bruce McConnelee will visit us. The details are the same for both events — a $25 fixed price covering dinner (your entree choice this week of chicken marsala or cheese lasagna), a social period beginning at 5:30 followed by dinner and meeting at 6:15 p.m. No advance reservations necessary. In between these two in-person events will be a Zoom meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 23. Just check our club website’s calendar page for the hyperlink that gains access to the session. We hope to see the people we haven’t seen in a long time as well as the regulars we always enjoy seeing. Please join us.

(Access the meeting via the link on our website calendar at https://srcrotary.org/calendar)

After a year off caused by you-know-what, SRC’s annual “Summer Casual” visit to Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy for a pavilion picnic and a professional ValleyCats baseball game resumed on Thursday.

Yeah! Normalcy, of a sort.

A group of Rotarians, friends, and family, enjoyed menu of hot dogs, pulled pork, chicken, macaroni salad, etc.

Who attended? Rotarians Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Ray Hannan, Tony Morris, Kevin Leyhane, Andy Leyhane and 10 guests showed up despite the rainy weather that prompted some attendees to head for the exits when rain picked up in the second inning.

The final “Summer Casual” event of our July-August period is set for 6 p.m. next Thursday, August 26 — a cookout at the residence of Debbie and Peter Brown. If you would like to attend but haven’t yet submitted your RSVP, the deadline is Friday. Call 518-732-7178 or email mdbrown@nycap.rr.com. All fully vaxxed adults plus youngsters are invited.

Meanwhile, courtesy of Roberto, here are more images from Thursday’s damp gathering:

Thanks to Ray and Lois Hannan for hosting a “Summer Casual” dinner at the Schodack Diner on Thursday evening, one of the final July-August social events of SRC’s summer.

Next up is our annual picnic/baseball game outing at the Joseph Bruno Stadium at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. a Frontier League professional game between our own ValleyCats and the New York Boulders on Thursday, August 19, featuring a post-game fireworks show! (Tickets for that event have been sold out for some time.)

In addition to the Hannans, SRC members and guests who attended the dinner included Debbie Rodriguez, Pat Bailey, Phil Kellerman, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras, Jim Leyhane, Murray Forth, Roberto Martinez, and Mary Drumm.

We have just two events remaining before we resume in-person and Zoom weekly meetings. Please be sure to RSVP for the final “Summer Casual” social as shown on the following event chart.

As you can see by the above chart, we’re zipping right through our July-August “Summer Casual” schedule of events. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• If you plan to attend the pizza and ice cream social set for Pat Bailey’s residence next Thursday, the deadline for giving her your RSVP is Tuesday. Food and some beverages will be provided. Attendees may bring any desserts or apps they wish to share. All fully vaxxed Rotarians and friends are invited, along with the kids. You can contact Pat by calling her at 518-766-0215 or emailing her at baileyps26@gmail.com.

• Anyone with reservations for the “Dinner & a Show” outing on Thursday, August 5, in New Lebanon should plan to arrive at Mario’s Restaurant in time for the 5 p.m. dinner. Tickets for the Theater Barn musical performance afterward will be distributed at the dinner.

• Ray and Lois Hannan are hosting a dinner at the Schodack Diner, 1842 Columbia Turnpike in Castleton, on Thursday, August 12. The RSVP deadline is Friday, August 6. You can contact them by phone at 585-315-1385 (note this is NOT a 518 area code number) or by email at ray110b@yahoo.com

• We still have Thursday, August 26, available if anyone wishes to host or plan an event. Just let Debbie Rodriguez and/or Bill Dowd know if you’d like to do so.

SRC Immediate Past President Phil Kellerman has set up a Go Fund Me page to aid an acquaintance in Nicaragua who is a polio survivor in need of assistance.

“Berta Zamaro, age 50, needs physical therapy and a new brace,” Phil says. “She is suffering falls and injuring yourself.  Berta is the sister of a very good of mine who is an ESL [English as a second language] teacher in Georgia.”

Anyone wishing to make a donation to the effort may do so by clicking here. Phil has set a goal of $7,500 for Berta.

Also, anyone wishing to donate to Rotary International’s efforts to continue its global polio vaccination efforts that have helped to nearly eradicate the dreaded virus from the world may do so by clicking here. Donating this way will result in having your dollar amount tripled.