Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
January 11, 2018

Members Attending (17): Roberto Martinez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Dick Drumm, Jim Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Ray Hannan, Terry Brewer, Dean Calamaras, Becky Raymond, Geoff Brewer, Julius Frankel, A.J. Amato, Charlie Foote.

Guests: None.

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BUSINESS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

WELCOME — President Roberto Martinez welcomed members to the first dinner meeting of 2018. He also thanked A.J. Amato for the strong stock market. And, he noted that April and Bill Dowd have been ill for several weeks.

NEW PRESIDENT-ELECT — Andy Leyhane has been unanimously voted President-elect for 2018-19 by the SRC Board. Andy, who will succeed co-PE’s Jim Butterworth and Ron Annis who resigned the post, has been serving on the Board as an At-Large member. In addition, we are looking for candidates for Vice President and Secretary for the 2018-19 Rotary Year. Please see Roberto ASAP if interested.

PEACE SUMMIT — Communication from District Governor Fred Daniels reported that more than 50 high school students from throughout the region participated in the Peace Summit for Youth held in Mechanicville on November 16. The District hopes to make this an annual event, with the next such session in the spring of 2019. It also will be expanded to offer participation from Interact and Rotaract clubs within the District.

ROTARACT UPDATE — John G. Justino, director of the Center for Global Health at the University at Albany School of Public Health, is SRC’s  newest member. John also will serve as faculty advisor to the new Rotaract club recently formed at the school. Debbie Rodriguez, one of our club liaison people with the Rotaract club, reported that the new club has 15 members, has elected officers, and will next meet on Monday, January 22. They are planning a Valentine’s Day event at the Greenbush YMCA, and they have expressed interest in participating in SRC’s annual “Bowling for Vets” fundraiser, which probably will be held in March. They also invited SRC to participate in a Thursday, March 22, event at the School of Public Health. Thus, SRC’s normal dinner meeting scheduled for that date will be held at the School.

ROSE PARADE — The Rotary International float in the Rose Parade held in California on New Year’s Day won the Princess Award. Go here for details on the project.

FUNDRAISING RESULTS — The club realized $625 from the gift basket silent auction portion of the annual Holiday Party, hosted by Murray and Maggie Forth. The funds go to the general treasury to support various programs. … And, we realized $3,980 for our scholarships program as a result of our second sold-out Communty Celebration dinner at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant.

POLAR BEAR FREEZOUT — The annual Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser in Lake George was cancelled this year due to severely cold weather and concerns over health and safety.

BAG SALES — The branded cooler tote bags have arrived. They are available to members and others at $10 per bag, with $5 of that going to the club treasury. A District Public Relations Grant of $250 has been secured to help offset the cost of the initial purchase of bags. A bag will be given to each guest speaker.

ROTARY HOME COOKING — The annual series of member-hosted events will begin on Saturday, January 27, at the Castleton residence of Debbie and Peter Brown, with the theme “A Taste of New Orleans.” Three seats remain, and reservations are required. Details on the full schedule here.

FOREIGN STUDENT — Although we are not part of this year’s Rotary Youth Exchange program, we do have a visiting student from Italy studying at Columbia High School on a private scholarship. Her father, a Rotarian, has contacted SRC with the request that we invite her to visit us, and we will extend an invitation.

ODDS & ENDS — Phil Kellerman reports he has moved his office to Delmar, and will be a guest speaker at the Delmar Rotary’s upcoming meeting. … District 7190 is looking for anyone interested in becoming involved in the District Governor succession track. Anyone with an interest is asked to contact Roberto. Applications are due by January 15. … Terry Brewer, lead of the District’s Membership Committee, reports that, worldwide, Rotary is experiencing strong growth.

NEXT MEETINGS — Thursday, January 18, will see a 7 a.m. breakfast meeting at the Greenbush YMCA, and a 6:15 dinner meeting at Quigley’s, with speaker Richard Zazycki, executive director of Circles of Mercy.

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PROGRAM: Club Updates

President Roberto updated us on the first half of the 2017-18 Rotary Year. Among accomplishments: restructuring the club’s committee makeup, creation of an initiative documentation process to better plan and track our activities and goals, and finding candidates for club offices.

He also enumerated the many activities we’ve held or been involved in since the year began on July 1. A sampling:

Financial and manpower support of the Viking Gym project at Schodack Town Park; underwriting RYLA participation for five high school juniors; contributing $500 to Doors of Hope in memory of Russ Edberg; school supplies and holiday adopt-a-family drives for Circles of Mercy; food drive for The Anchor food pantry; supporting creation of a new Rotaract club at the University at Albany (see above); creation and approval of e-voting for Board actions; enrolling eight members in the annual Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) workshops.

New members accepted so far during 2017-18: Kevin Leyhane, Jeff Simons, Adam Roberts, and John Justino.

Under the current committee structure, we have Membership, Foundation, Public Relations, Youth Programs & Scholarships, Fundraising, and Community Service. Under the proposed restructuring, we would have:

— Club Sustenance (chaired by Terry and Murray)
— Foundation & International (Jim Leyhane and Bill Dowd)
— Youth (Jim Butterworth and Becky Raymond)
— Programs and Community Service (Debbie Rodriguez and Becky Raymond)

Next steps are to accept the new committees, fill chairs and committee member slots, and create mission statements.

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It may not be a lot warmer than it was last week, but at least there’s less snow. Thus, after a one-week hiatus forced by a heavy snowfall, we’ll resume our 6:15 p.m. Thursday dinner meetings this week at Quigley’s.

President Roberto Martinez will be getting us up to speed on a variety of topics and activities, including a revamping of our committee system. And, in case you can’t let go of the holidays just yet, we’ll be serving a roast turkey dinner with antipasto salad, chef’s choice of sides dishes, bread, dessert, and beverages. Plus, the cash bar is always open.

Please be sure you let dinner coordinator Debbie Brown know via email (mdbrown@nycap.rr.com) no later than Tuesday evening if you plan to attend. This also may be a good opportunity to being a guest who is interested in finding out more about Rotary and its prominent impact in the community.

Here’s who has sent in RSVPs so far:

Brewer, Geoff
Brewer, Terry
Brown, Debbie
Brown, Peter
Forth, Murray
Hannan, Ray
Kellerman, Phil
Leyhane, Kevin
Martinez, Roberto
Rodriguiz, Debbie

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New Orleans will not celebrate Mardi Gras until February 13 this year, but you don’t have to wait that long for “A Taste of New Orleans.”

That’s the theme of the first “Rotary Home Cooking” event of 2018, to be hosted by Debbie and Peter Brown at their Castleton residence at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 20. Proceeds will go directly to the club treasury to support our many public service activities.

Warning: Only four (4) seats remain for the event, so be sure to contact the Browns right away if you want to reserve a seat at the table.

Here’s a peek at the menu:

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Appetizer: Shrimp and Hearts of Palm Remoulade
Soup: Treme (Mock) Turtle Soup
Entrée: Cajun Jambalaya
Dessert: Bread Pudding

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By FRED DANIELS
Governor, District 7190

Just before Christmas, I wrote an email to all Rotarians in District 7190 about “Hope.” It was a good theme for the time of year, a time when most people and most faith traditions are celebrating in some way or another. And, I always had in mind that I would follow my email about “Hope” with an email about “Fear,” which would be timed to coincide with the beginning of a new year.

Not to suggest for even one minute that we all should be fearful about 2018. Quite the opposite, actually. It would be too easy to succumb to fear, in a time when lots of our community and political discussions are focused on division and not unity, on differences between us and not the values we commonly hold.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking in front of a group of students from Giffen Elementary School in Albany. The Albany Rotary Club had organized an assembly event for them, and asked the chorus from the Beverwyck Senior Living Community to come and sing Christmas carols. When I got there, club president Moses Kunda asked me to speak for five minutes to the students. I hadn’t really expected that, but I told him I would.

A very small group of singers from the school got up to sing a few songs, which gave me a moment to think about what I might say. That’s when I spied one of those fantastic Rotary pull-up banners up on the stage, proudly displaying “The Four Way Test.” So, I decided I should try to explain to them how important the test is in the lives of Rotarians.

I stood up and pointed to the banner. I asked them if they always told the truth and if telling the truth was an important thing to try to do? Yes! And, what did they think about fairness? How did they feel if someone treated them unfairly, and did they feel better about themselves and others when things seemed to be fair? Yes! What about friends? Wasn’t it great to have friends, to play with and be with and do nice things for? Yes! And how about this big word – beneficial? What did that mean? It means that we can all do things which help other people out. Isn’t it good when someone helps us out? Yes!

When I was done I inducted them all into Rotary on the spot, making them “junior Rotarians,” and encouraged them to remember that telling the truth, being fair, making good friends, and helping others were good things to do all the time.

And then I sat down.

It was time for the chorus to sing, and they started in on all the holiday songs they knew the kids would like. As everyone was singing I started to listen to the words of these Christmas songs that I have sung for six decades. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly …’tis the season to be jolly” and “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” or “Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful,” and so on.

It suddenly dawned on me that most of the images from these songs were far removed from the reality of the daily lives for many of these kids. Giffen Elementary is in a tough neighborhood in Albany, and it’s not likely there are many fires in fireplaces or boughs of holly put up in their homes. And, for some, not many presents from Santa, either.

Yet these kids were singing and laughing, and they knew all the words and were all having fun. I realized they were enjoying a moment of community, of being together, in a safe place where the troubles of the world or their neighborhood were far away from them. And, that watching a bunch of old folks sing some songs up on the stage was what they needed at that moment because they were having a good time simply being in the moment.

I realized that our children are hungry for the things that can bring us together — a simple song in a safe place, with people who care about them. That it’s much less about the lyrics which might point to all the ways we are different, but rather the opportunities and experiences we can share together.

And, that’s the truth which is in “The Four Way Test.” When Rotarians try to live by it we are sharing values that bind us, that bring us together despite all the ways we are different. When we work in foreign places we don’t need to speak the language; what we do says everything necessary to explain who we are and what we believe. When we work in our own communities we don’t seek praise or acknowledgement; we just do what needs doing and demonstrate by our actions that we believe in truth, fairness, goodwill, friendships and beneficial service.

When we give our time and efforts to service, the work is hard and the benefit is sometimes hard to see. But, more often you can see the benefit right in the eyes of the person who sees you, who sees your eyes and the joy you are sharing with each other.

There is no fear of division or differences that can overcome this joy. And so, that is the promise of 2018 and beyond — that we work hard to better humankind in all the ways we can, and that we look right into the eyes of those we serve and say, “I see you. We are the same. We can solve these problems and make things better. Let me help you so someday so you can help another.”

Here’s to a joyous 2018, free of fear and filled with hope, promise and prosperity for all.

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A Rotary-sponsored social evening sounds like a good way to break up the winter doldrums.

On Saturday, February 17, the ACME Mystery Co. will present “Death Takes a Cruise,” an evening of theater, food and fun. Tickets are just $40 per person (reservations required) for the interactive play and a dinner of spinach salad, pork tenderloin with balsamic glaze, mashed sweet potato, and dessert (Cakes by Sue Austin).

The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Hibernian Hall, 1746 State Street, Schenectady. The reservation deadline is Saturday, February 10. Contact Suzanne Mackey by calling 518-368-8520, or emailing her Suzanne.Mackey@gmail.com.

Not familiar with the Syracuse-based ACME Mystery Co.? Here’s what they have to say about themselves:

“ACME provides interactive comedies in a mystery format in conjunction with a dinner. Our shows play on two levels: They are extremely funny and fun to watch, but there also is a very real mystery which each audience member gets the chance to solve.

“At every seat is a program telling you where you are, when you are, and who you are. It also tells you about the characters you will be meeting. Additionally, each table is given a clue and encouraged to exchange this information with other tables in an effort to put together the most comprehensive list so as to better solve the mystery.

“We write all of our own material to ensure quality and have been entertaining audiences throughout the Northeast since 1997. We’ve given over 1,000 performances in venues big and small from mansions to restaurants, hotels to local halls. We entertain at regular venues, semi-regular venues, annual events, and special occasions.”

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OK, we surrender!

The dire weather forecast and the already-tricky road conditions have combined to force the cancellation of tonight’s SRC dinner meeting at Quigley’s.

Please stay safe and off the roads as much as possible, and we’ll look forward to seeing you next Thursday for our regularly scheduled dinner meeting.

Here’s today’s hourly forecast from the U.S. Weather Service:

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Each year, hundreds of Rotarian volunteers from a variety of California communities, plus some visiting Rotarians from elsewhere, labor long and hard to create a themed float for the iconic Tournament of Roses Parade held in Pasadena, CA.

Before the hands-on work begins, a committee composed of 83 members from 27 Rotary Districts in the U.S. and Canada meets monthly to plan the design and logistics of the project.

The 129th annual extravaganza will begin at 11 a.m. (EST) Monday, January 1. You’ll have plenty of choices from among TV channels scheduled to show the parade — ABC, NBC, HGTV, Hallmark Channel, and RFD TV.

If you tune in to the telecast, you’ll be able to see the Rotary float in the 49th position in the parade, just after the University of Georgia Redcoat Marching Band and just before Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek riding in a 1924 Model TT truck.

Rotary’s theme this time around is “Planting the Seeds of Service.” It will depict a whimsical bunny gazing at a just-planted peach tree that appears in shape and form to be like any other float entry. As most people know, every surface of every float is required to be covered by living flowers, tree bark, grasses, and other such materials.

However, if you look beyond those components, you’ll see the Rotary float actually is the story of a child hungry for food, drinking bacteria-infested water; the story of a mother fighting to take care of her family; the story of a family living in a region of conflict struggling to survive. If you look deeper you will

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Click here to download the new Tournament of Roes Parade app.

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begin to see the bunny as a symbol of the watchful gaze of Rotarians, the tree as a symbol of life, growing the seeds of service provided by Rotarians worldwide, and bearing the fruit of Rotary’s “Six Areas of Focus” giving hope to all children, all mothers, and all families for a better world.

To enhance this message, a real sapling from one of Hiroshima’s atomic bomb survivor trees will be on the float. It later will be planted in one of Rotary’s Peace Gardens to help promote peace and a green legacy.

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Click here to access the Rotary Float Committee’s Facebook page.

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Thursday will be our last dinner meeting of this calendar year at Quigley’s.  It seems  hard to believe that 2017 is almost over, and we’ll be ringing it out the following week (December 21) at our annual “Holiday Party & Gift Basket Silent Auction” at the Forth residence.

Please be sure to let Murray and Maggie know if you plan to attend the party and whether you’ll be bringing guests (kids count). Attendees also are asked to bring a small appetizer plate. SRC member Jim Mendrysa’s Talk of the Town catering service will provide the rest of the meal.

As to this week’s dinner meeting, fellow Rotarian Dawn Vavala, owner of Nite Owl Marketing and someone who has “dressed” many of us in Rotary-themed attire, will be paying a visit and showing off some new wares.

The dinner menu will feature Quigley’s popular ziti and meatballs, an antipasto salad, chef’s choice of side dish, bread, dessert, and beverages. And, the cash bar will be available.

As always, please be sure to let dinner coordinator Debbie Brown (mdbrown@nycap.rr.com) know no later than Tuesday evening if you plan to attend. The following members already have done so:

Bailey, Pat
Brewer, Terry
Brown, Debbie
Brown, Peter
Dowd, April
Dowd, Bill
Forth, Murray
Hannan, Ray
Leyhane, Jim
Leyhane, Kevin
Rodriguez, Debbie
Vavala, Dawn (guest)

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The latest in a very long line of young men of Troop 41, co-sponsored by SRC,was installed as an Eagle Scout at a Court of Honor ceremony on Sunday at the Rensselaer Elks Lodge in East Greenbush.

Leonardo Gonzales, whose name will be added to the Eagle Plaque on display at Columbia High School, was the honoree. In addition to the 21 merit badges required to attain the Eagle rank, a special work project is mandatory. In Leonardo’s case, it was creation of a Viking Gym at the Schodack Town Park.

The gym is a rustic outdoor structure available to the public. (Photos here.) The project was completed in conjunction with Ron Annis and several other SRC Rotarians. Ron and Jim Leyhane offered remarks on the project as part of the Court of Honor ceremony.

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