This Thursday, March 6, 2025 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be holding its weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s on Route 4 in North Greenbush at 6:00pm. Joining us will be Marissa Multari from Rotary District 7180. Marissa will be upcoming events in District 7180 as well as CNY Rotary. If you are unable to join us in person you may join us remotely using the link located on the calendar page of our website.
Entree choices for the evening include: Chicken Rustica Salad, Lasagna, and Cheese Ravioli
This Thursday February 27, 2025 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be returning to its weekly in person meeting at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s located on Route 4 in North Greenbush. Joining as a presenter is SRC’s very own John Justino. John is going to be presenting on the ongoing merges and changes at SUNY’s campus. If you are unable to join us in person you may still do so remotely using the Zoom link located on the calendar page of our website.
Quick reminder there is a Rotary Foundation Grant Training taking place tomorrow night at 7:30 pm. Additional information on this training can be found at cnyrotary.org.
Menu choices for Thursday include the following: Antipasto Salad, Chicken Limone, or Baked Ziti
Due to a significant number of our members being out of town next week, there will be no meeting this upcoming Thursday February 20, 2025. We will be returning to Moscatiello’s on Thursday February 27, 2025. Please enjoy the break.
On Thursday February 13 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be hosting its weekly meeting via Zoom due to booking conflicts with Moscatiello’s. Joining us remotely will be Dan Maskin and he will be speaking on Community Action Agencies. The meeting will begin at 6:00pm and you may use the link below or the link located on our calendar page. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.
Due to the weather, the Rotary meeting was held via Zoom. In attendance were Roberto Martinez, Phil Kellerman, Jim Leyhane, Peter Brown, Kevin Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Carole Heaney, Charlie Foote, Pat Bailey, and Murray Forth.
It was reported that Margaret Pearson from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society would not be able to speak as originally scheduled. Pat said she would ask Margaret to speak at a later date in which she could appear in person.
Pat also asked if there were any members who still needed to fill out forms indicating what storage items they had taken. Kevin and Phil indicated that they still needed to get her their forms.
Phil spoke about reconciling the club’s finances – expenditures and income – onto Quicken, and said that the process was moving along. He was still working with Murray to fill in some information. Murray said that Phil, as assistant treasurer, could sign now for checks on behalf of the club.
Murray reported that the club is still waiting on word from the IRS on our tax-exempt status.
Concerning the bowl-a-thon, Phil said that he had communicated with the Maple Hill school principal, Robert Santarcangelo. He responded by saying that he had forwarded our information about wanting to have a bowl-a-thon on Sunday April 6th to Mr. Marvinney, teacher of the Connections Course. Phil reported that he had not heard back and would follow up.
Phil reported that an application for a benefit concert by the band Enjoyous was submitted by him to the East Greenbush Methodist Church for late April or early May.
Carole complimented Phil for bringing donated supplies over the Joan Nicole Prince Home for the Terminally Ill. Phil said that Toni Warren, director, gave him and his friend a great tour of the facility.
Roberto reported that he thought it was time to bring back the donation jar to raise funds for charity. The group agreed to have donations go to the eye clinic in Haiti, overseen by Anshu Chandra, who spoke to the group about the clinic.
More good news about the Global grant. Peter reported that the balance of $50,000 was sent to Kenya, and he expected the water project to possibly be completed in six weeks. Peter said it would be great if photos of the project could be uploaded to CYN news web-site.
Concerning the Cornhole tournament, Kevin said another meeting will be held at the superintendent’s office on Thursday Feb. 13th at 1 pm to continue discussion about the tournament. Phil said he could attend in Roberto’s absence.
Kevin also said that he met with a school speech therapist about the need for school back packs. Kevin was curious if the club could donate some funds but also inquired what kind of fund-raisers we could do to raise money for the project.
Pat reported that a defensive driving course would be offered on May 17 at the ambulance facility in Nassau.
Roberto reported that Dean had been interviewed about his recent book and the interview was available on Youtube.
Roberto also noted that the Albany Waterway Project was to receive an $85,000 grant for an engineering feasibility study to excavate and repurpose Lock One of the Erie Canal.
A talk on Crypto currency is of interest to the club. Peter reported that he had not heard from his original speaker of interest. Phil said he would speak to his friend, Tom Romero, about speaking as he knows quite a bit about the subject.
Terry and Carole expressed interest in holding a membership drive dinner as was done last year. Terry said the club may want to not only invite new folks but reach out to former club members who have dropped out to see if they would want to rejoin.
Roberto thought that with all the activities going on currently that the club should wait on discussing a fund-raiser via Cafe Capriccio.
Roberto also encouraged the club to access the CYN web-site which he said was excellent and listed in-depth information and district activities.
Roberto wound up the meeting by going over upcoming Pre-PEL zoom trainings and PETS trainings. Phil and Carole reported that they would be attending the RLI training in Johnson City on March 1st. Carole said she would be going to the International Rotary Conference in Calgary in June.
.Due to the uncertainty of tomorrow’s weather, our weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s has been moved to a remote only meeting. The meeting will begin at 6:00 and you may join using the link located on our calendar page or the link below.
This Thursday, February 6, 2025 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be holding its weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s on Route 4 in North Greenbush at 6:00pm. Joining us as our guest presenter will be Margaret Pearson from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society. If you are unable to join us in person you may do so remotely using the Zoom link located on our clubs calendar page of the website.
Dinner choices for the evening are Antipasto Salad, Chicken Lemon, or Baked Ziti. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.
Members in Attendance (13): Carole Heaney, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Phil Kellerman, Kevin Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Ray Hannan, Chris Bystroff, Murray Forth and Andy Leyhane.
By Zoom(1): Dean Calamaras
Guests (0):
President Roberto Martinez called the meeting to order.
Theme for the year: Grow membership, do good in the world, leverage social capital, & have fun!
Meeting Notes:
Storage: If you have things from storage, for historical record keeping, please fill out the form or send Pat Bailey a picture or list of the item(s) you have. Most members have submitted the Form.
Treasurer Update: Quicken is being used to monitor expenses and income and to delineate line items. About 90% of the imputing of finances has been completed. Next, Murray Fourth and Phil Kellerman will set up a budget.
Bowl-A-Thon: Per Phil Kellerman, the Bowl-A-Thon is scheduled for April 6th. It will cost $16 for 1 1/2 hours or $20 for 2 hours. The special is $90 per lane of 5 people ($17 per person) which includes 2 hours of bowling, shoes, and food (pizza and soda). Sponsorship is $50. Phil has not heard back from Debbie Oligue of Maple Hill.
Benefit Concert: Phil Kellerman spoke to the East Greenbush Methodist Church to hold a benefit concert to support a charitable project of the Church. The concert will be co-hosted with the Malta Rotary Club. The preferred date is May 3rd and will feature Enjoyous, an Albany based band. Their music is a mix of original rock and rhythm and blues. Suggested donations will be $15 for adults and $5 for children under 16. The Clubs will publicize the event.
Donation Jar: The Club discussed reinstating the donation Jar.
Global Grant: Per Peter Brown, they received a positive hydrological survey guaranteeing potable water. All questions were answered, and funding was sent to the Rotary account in Kenya. The next step is for the Rotary Club in Kenya to create a bid document allowing for drilling up to 500 meters. Then they will have to contract with the lowest bidder.
Defensive Driving: The AAA course will be held on May 17th at the Nassau Library from 9 am until 3:30 pm. We need a minimum of 25 people to sign up. If you are a member of AAA, the cost is $22. If you are a non-member, the cost is $27. Contact Pat Bailey if you wish to attend.
Community Project: Roberto Martinez and other Club members had met with members of the East Greenbush Central School District to discuss a possible project to benefit the community. The School members suggested a project about providing food over the weekend for about 150 children. The next meeting will be held on February 13th. Contact Roberto if you want to attend.
CNY News: Information on all of the following and more is posted to the website, cnyrotary.org.
Pre-PEL 1: Club Admin, Feb 2nd , 7 pm.
Pre-PEL 2: Finance/ Risk Management, Feb 11th, 7 pm.
Pre-PEL 3: Public Image/ Branding, Feb 19th 7 pm.
Pre-PEL 4: Membership and Leadership, Feb 27th, 7 pm.
RLI March 1, Johnson City, NY. LI is $25, L2-G is $40. The Club will cover tuition. Sign up at http: //www.rlinea.org. Phil Kellerman and Chris Bystroff may be attending.
Rotary Presidential Peace Conference: To be held February 20-22, 2025, at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel and Conference Center in Istanbul, Turkey. Register at rotery.org/istanbul25.
RI Conventions: Calgary, June 21-25, 2025. Carole Heaney will be attending.
Next Meeting: Thursday, February 6th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. The guest speaker will be Margaret Pearson from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society.
Entry Choices will be Antipasta Salad, Chicken Limone and Baked Ziti.
Rotary Leadership Institue
Carole Heany attended the Rotary Leadership Institute. She liked hearing about other Rotary Clubs and what they were doing. She also learned about things she could ask her Club. So, she wanted to know what made members want to become Rotarians. The answers were varied. Most people were asked by family members, co-workers and/or friends who were already Rotarians to join. Some members started out hosting a Rotary exchange student(s) and accompanied them to Rotary meetings. Some members started out as invited speakers. One member joined when Rotary began allowing women as members. Another member noticed a sign in the restaurant window where the Club was meeting and dropped by to check it out.
Carol also asked “what does Rotary do?” Again, answers varied. Rotary cares. They help build community, support good projects, foster friendships, provide service and promote local and international connections. Rotary is the biggest club in the world. Many people did not know what Rotary can do. Rotary produces 17 million hours of volunteer work per year. Rotary develops leadership. Their projects benefit communities.
This Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 6:00pm the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be holding its weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s on Route 4 in North Greenbush. Presenting this week will be SRC’s own Carole Heaney, Jim Leyhane, and Roberto Martinez. They will be speaking of topics they learned from their experience at the Rotary Leadership Institute. If you are unable to join us in person, you may still join us remotely using the Zoom Link located on our calendar page.
Entree choices for the evening include a choice of Chicken Caesar Salad, Portabello Mushroom Ravioli, or Sausage and Peppers. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 