Pakistan is one of the few countries in which polio is endemic. In addition to having to overcome violent resistance by anti-Western terrorists to polio immunization programs, Rotary is working to minimize the difficulty of treating migrant population.
Go here for a dramatic story describing the situation, and showing what our ongoing support of polio immunization efforts now is accomplishing with the cooperation pf Pakistani government and health entities after years of neglect.
Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
February 2, 2017
Members Attending (14): Debbie Rodriguez, Roberto Martinez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Bill Dowd, Jim Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, A.J. Amato, Carole Spencer, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Ray Kellerman.
Guests (1): Jennifer Felts.
Program: “Our Towne Magazine”
Pat Bailey introduced Jennifer Felts, publisher of Our Towne Magazine, a monthly print publication based in East Greenbush and covering Southern Rensselaer and Northern Columbia counties.
Jennifer, a virtual one-woman band, handles all aspects of the publication, from ad sales to graphic design to editorial content, to create what she refers to as “a happy read.” Her emphasis is on positive information without politics or controversy as well as connecting different parts of the community.
Jennifer assumed ownership of the publication with no previous experience in the field. She learned all aspects of it during an intensive six-week tutelage from a friend from whom she purchased Our Towne. The magazine had been a franchise spun off from the original in Bethlehem, but eventually became an individually-owned publication when the franchised collection disbanded.
She noted that Our Towne is printed in Massachusetts by a company that handles a particular process no company in the Capital Region offers. She said she has some assistance from her father in the monthly physical distribution of the magazine, and has lined up a professional graphics artist to create some specialty advertising layouts. She does the bulk of the ad creation work at no extra charge for customers. She also utilizes a Facebook account as a value-added exposure for her advertisers, and has grown distribution from 9,000 to 21,000 homes.
Jennifer, who explained that her work week often runs 100 hours although she is able to take off about one week a month, said she sees her role in the community as connecting businesses that might be able to benefit from each other: i.e., being a matchmaker at no charge to anyone; being involved in such efforts as sitting on the board of the Greenbush YMCA; and also channeling 20% of her revenue into supporting programs in the community. As an example, upon hearing at this meeting that SRC is sponsoring a community recognition awards night later this month, she volunteered to be one of the event sponsors.
Business/Announcements
GREETING — President Debbie Rodriguez presided, and welcomed members and guests.
ROTARY HOME COOKING UPDATE — We raised $210 at the initial event of the 2017 series, a Greek dinner 
hosted by Dean and Doris Calamaras for the Gift of Life project. The next event in the series of home-hosted dinners is “A French Bistro Dinner” scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, February 11, at the residence of Debbie and Peter Brown. The menu, taken from the book “Bistro Cooking” by Patricia Wells, will feature: Provencal beef stew, gratin of macaroni, a green salad, a cheese plate, and chocolate mousse, and beverages appropriate to the menu. There are just four reservations remaining at $35 each. This is an excellent opportunity for socializing. If interested, please contact the Browns ASAP. All proceeds will go to the club treasury to support our community service projects. The Brewers will host a March event, and the Dowds will host “An Agave Evening” on Saturday, April 8. As always, reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
RI BIRTHDAY PARTY — This year marks the 112th anniversary of Rotary International and the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Foundation. Those milestones will be celebrated with a birthday party from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, February 24, at the Brookside Museum, 6 Charlton Street, Ballston Spa. Admission is $20 per person. Details are available by clicking here.
MEMBER APPLICATION FORMS — Updated forms for individuals and groups (corporate, family) reflecting recently-enacted rules changes on the local and international levels now are available from Treasurer Murray Forth, Secretary Pat Bailey, or the club website. … Jim Leyhane reported that former members, and past club presidents, Rommel Tolentino and Len Leonidas will be rejoining the club as part of the Community Care Physicians’ corporate membership application.
A COMMUNITY CELEBRATION — That is the title of an awards recognition event being spearheaded by John Sawchuk and sponsored by our club to honor people in numerous walks of life in the community for their service. A buffet dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 28, at Moscatiello’s Restaurant on Route 4 in North Greenbush, adjacent to Hudson Valley Community College. Awards will be given in such categories as schools, veterans affairs, Read More »
On New Year’s Day, a hardy band of District 7190 Rotarians participated in the annual “Polar Plunge” at Shepard Park in Lake George.
The go-jump-in-the-lake event in frigid waters is a major fundraiser for Rotary’s anti-polio efforts.
To warm up afterward, they joined other Rotarians in the annual “Bowl Over Polio” event.
Says District Governor John Mucha, “We’re hoping to exceed $10,000 with pledges and donations, and with the [Bill & Melinda] Gates [Foundation] match, that’s $30,000 to fight polio. ”
As of today, we are a mere three weeks (!) from one of our best-attended annual events — the “SRC Holiday Party & Themed-Basket Silent Auction.”
That’s right. Just 21 days. The dinner and festivities are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, December 22, at the Forth residence in East Greenbush. (And, an advance “thank you” to Maggie and Murray for once again volunteering to be our hosts.)
The basket auction portion of the evening is always a display of ingenuity, and prompts a lot of bidding that supports our club’s many community service projects.
Deciding on a theme, then creating a basket around it, is something everyone can participate in, no matter their artistic skill levels. And, to give you some ideas to jump-start the process, take a look at these examples:
The second shipment of what we are calling “Project Legos” has arrived in the home of Debbie and Chuck Rodriguez’s grandchildren in Connecticut. Was the package welcome? These photos say it all. (Go here for a look at the first round.)
The catalyst for the project, conceived by Jim Leyhane, was their grandson Xavier’s diagnosis of leukemia and the need for ongoing treatment. Jim thought it would be a smart move to have something fun and constructive for him to do, along with his brother. Several other members agreed, and have been helping finance the ongoing effort. If you’d like to pitch in as well, just get in touch with Jim for details.
And, from President Debbie, a heart-felt thank you to all in the club who have been so supportive of her family.
Our monthly Third Thursday breakfast will have the meeting stage to itself this week.
While our usual dinner session will take a week off, the breakfast meeting will be held from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Greenbush Area YMCA. The speaker will be Maureen McGuinness, membership manager for the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce. She will be discussing the Chamber’s work with businesses and community organizations in the county.
The cost of the continental breakfast is $5, with all proceeds going toward YMCA camp scholarships.
Please let Terry Brewer or Shannon Romanowski know no later than Wednesday noon if you plan to attend.
• From AllAfrica.com
A group of Rotary Clubs in the area of Lagos and its suburbs in northern Nigeria just carried out a polio walk across several communities to mark World Polio Week. Despite the belief that the African nation was polio free, several cases recently were reported in the area that had been in the hands of Boko Harum terrorists who forbade immunization.
Eboigbe Olaiye, assistant governor of District 9110 which covers Lagos and nearby cities, said the purpose of the walk was to create awareness of polio. He called on parents to take their children to the nearest primary health center for polio immunization, while urging the national government to create more awareness and emphasize to people living in rural areas that the vaccine is free.
Santoch Kakade, chairman of Rotary’s Polio Service and Blood Donation, said the sudden outbreak of polio requires renewed sensitization in Nigeria.
District 9110 last Saturday brought together students from various schools with a target of 4,500 to break the Guinness Book of World Records’ human mosaic record of 4,200 people. Dr. Tunki Funsho, chairman of Nigeria’s National Polio Plus Committee and a past district governor, said the effort was to create more awareness towards eradication of polio in Nigeria.
In a related development, the Rotary Club of Amuwo also staged an awareness campaign through the media on plans to eradicate the disease. It called on members of the public to donate funds to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
Club President Aniekan Essienette said, “Our call to action is to enlighten the public to report any new case of limb weakness among children up to age 15 to the local council authorities or World Health Organization (WHO) close to them.”
After the rough-and-tumble of a bitter election season, it will be over tomorrow. So, at our Thursday meeting we can enjoy a round of “comfort food” that should be enjoyable no matter how your candidates made out at the polls.
The menu calls for Quigley’s popular Chicken Parm, plus an Italian salad, chef’s choice of sides, bread, dessert and beverages.
Our after-dinner speaker will be our own Mike Dewey, presenting from his perspective as a financial consultant. This is a very good opportunity to invite a friend or colleague who might have an interest in the topic.
As always, if you haven’t RSVP’d to dinner coordinator Debbie Brown, please do so no later than Tuesday (mdbrown@nycap.rr.com) — and, please be sure to let her know if you will be bringing a guest — so we can give the Quigley’s kitchen a proper headcount.
Here’s who has signed up so far:
• Pat Bailey
• Terry Brewer
• Mike Dewey
• April Dowd
• Bill Dowd
• Murray Forth
• Ray Hannan
• Jim Leyhane
• Roberto Martinez
• Debbie Rodriguez
• David Taylor
We look forward to seeing all of you this Thursday.
Some “Rotary kids” — a/k/a “members in waiting” and presumptive heirs to the fortunes of current SRC Rotarians — were among the many who went trick-or-treating in the Capital Region tonight.
As examples, do the names “Leyhane” and “Koshykar” ring a bell?
Our globetrotting club member Dean Calamaras will be presenting an Alaskan travelogue as the after-dinner program this Thursday.
While the cooks at Quigley’s are not able to come up with a Baked Alaska for the occasion, they will be dishing up a dinner of spiral-sliced baked ham, veggies, salad, bread, dessert and beverages.
As always, the deadline for reservations is Tuesday evening. So, if you haven’t yet let dinner coordinator Debbie Brown know if you plan to attend, please quickly email her at mdbrown@nycap.rr.com –and, PLEASE, let her know if you plan to bring guests so we can give Quigley’s an accurate headcount.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 